i think this is an area where those that travel most often will pick flight times that are most suitable.
when you start out going abroad on holiday, you pick the resort you want and then the hotel/apartments and take what you get with the flights/transfers.
after a couple of holidays getting up at silly times in the morning to go away, and arriving home in the small hours you start to realise that there are other ways to do this.
this is where you pick a resort or hotel first, then check flight times, then choose another resort or hotel with more suitable times and so on until you get a package you are happy with.
there is a trade off between staying in a hotel you have set your heart on, and travelling in a more relaxed manner.
this is another reason why more people are booking DIY as you can book your own flights at a suitable time, and get the hotel/resort you want.

I'd see if you could keep your room till 6 o clock and then it'll be perfect leaving at about 10pm! Have another day around the pool, beach etc and go get ready about 5 pm to go home. Then if it's an hour or so until the coach picks you up you can always have some dinner!

To be honest the flight times are the last thing I worry about. I would rather hang around on the last day than arrive in the middle of the night though. Personally, the distance from the airport is far more important to me, as unless its from our regional airport it means at least a 4hour drive for us to anywhere else. I usually find that the "nice time" flights are usually more expensive. Each to his own I suppose.

We do look at flight times, and if in the same position as you regarding different tour operators would look at 1st price 2nd times ans lastly the actual operator.

I thing most of the major operators are much of a muchness and am not tied to any particular one.

Personally I think the most important flight is the one home as there is little worse than having to hang about all day for a late night flight that lands back home in the small hours.

I only go DIY and the flight times are the first thing I look at (not the prices - website designers, especially German, please note!!). If I can't get a flight at a suitable time I don't even bother to look at the price. That means travel between home / UK airport and other airport / where I want to be has to possible by public transport and with leeway for reasonable delay. There are loads of cheap flights to Germany with TUI, AirBerlin and Germanwings but they all tend to land there late, often after 22:00 - and since the place I want to be is never an airport hotel that rules them out.

A few years ago (and the reason I joined this site) I had booked a suitable flight from Faro with MyTravel six months in advance, then with 2 weeks to go they changed it to times that left me stranded at Manchester airport on the way home because of a mistake made in their planning office. I rebooked with Monarch and got the higher cost of that back from Mytravel by starting County Court proceedings.

Hanging around an airport is not part of my holiday plans!

Don't forget that brochures go to press often far in advance of the slot allocation at airports both at home and abroad, so you might choose ideal times only to have them change before you travel ...

I alwys try to fly from Brum if there is a choice. Sometimes the extra cost is worth it for the lack of hassle of having to get halfway across the country, pay to park the car for 2 weeks then drive back when you are really shattered from the flight home. Having said that this year it was cheaper to fly Brum to Chicago (via Amsterdam) than it was to go down to Heathrow.

Flight times have never bothered me too much as long as it does not effect the amount of time you get to spend on holiday.

On a holiday to Gran Canaria earlier in the year we had a night flight arriving in London at 6am - no sleep that night but when there's a big group for you it's actually quite fun

Hi
I am one who avoids night flghts,have taken them in the past and now have vowed not to do it anymore. It does effect who I travel with and I am prepared to pay more for a day flight. My past few flights have been early morning, sounds like a good idea when you book them, then realisation kicks in that you have to be at the airport about 3-30 in the middle of the night :duh. At least I am only 20mins away from Manchester airport and you arrive at your holiday destination in time for lunch
M

mari,

As has been said on here this is a reason why people are going for DIY holidays. (Booking flights and hotels separately).

First choice offer the ability to book hotels separately, so I don't know if you have lookd into booking that and then depending on the airports you use/ are willing to use. You then have a greater choice of flights.
For example EasyJet operate to Corfu from Bristol, Manchester and Gatwick

Hope you find something that suits your needs

Gower

he pendle witch and I always look at where we want to go and make a list, then we look for flights, preferably from our local airport Luton or from gatwick [dont like heathrow or stanstead] at times we wish to fly we discount the likes of ryan air [and after this last episode easyjet] we are happy to pay a couple of quid extra for flights at the times we want and on an airlines we are happy with

wiz

Ideally we like to take flights in the morning and be at our destination by mid afternoon ( if we are doing Egypt, Malta, The Canaries)

We also try to fly from Donny ( hardly ever possible these days) and after that, Birmingham or East Mids as they are not too far to travel. I dont like going too far to get on a plane but when we went to Thailand..we had to go to Heathrow and as we live oop North it added hours onto our time. Couple that with a 12 hour flight, a 7 hour time difference and then another 2 hours before we got a conncting flight from Bangkok to Phuket and a 45 min car journey to Kata Noi..no wonder i didnt know what day of the week it was until the Sunday (we left our house on the Wednesday!!)

Generally, most of our flights to Egypt are from Manchester but the 7am check-in ( probably earlier now due to the security) means we have to get up in the middle of the night to get there...I guess you are as badly burnt as scalded.

Coming back..I hate a night flight and hanging around all day when you have had to be out your room. I like to come back at about dinner time and get back here about tea time to early evening (still enough time to make last orders at the local when we land back in the village!!)

Flight times are very important to us and I would not do a night flight ever again, it's day flights preferably early morning if possible. Everything else we are pretty flexible with as long as I have read enough reviews to satisfy that the destination is as good as it can be.

Wouldn't dream of changing my destination just because the flight times weren't suitable. I do however, try to find a flight from one of my local airports - when I say local, it still means 1hr 15min and 2 hrs. My next priority is the country and resort, then the price. If I am subsequently offered more than one flight I would look at the times.

I do tend to look for early morning flights. I don't drive and we are 2 hours from the nearest airport so I can get a lift up the night before. Then, when I am "collected" on return it's at a reasonable time.

The only consideration for me where flights are concerned is the price, I'm afraid - there's little enough choice from Scotland as it is without getting picking about times, and they're so much more expensive anyway, so it's whatever's cheapest for me!

hi all....well Im all mixed up now....I cant honestly say that any flight times are not right for me...but yes they can make a difference that could make me stop and think....let me explain

We did a first DIY to Salou quite a few years ago...booked flight with Ryanair , staying in a mobile home on a site we had been going on package coach hols to for many years...it was an early morning flight which meant leaving home at aprox 2.30 am...had its good points though ...meant no traffic on way to airport and got us to Salou close to our checking in time.....coming home was aprox 9.30am flight, and the site charged for early check out before 8am.....could have been a nuisience but managed to arrange free check out as old regular customer.....really good points was Ryanair's flight was 1/3 of the price of the others as booked early and got every hour possible from our hols as had to check out by 8am anyway, so would have been hanging round waiting if had a later flight...

Also flew Olympic night flight to Athens...followed by a coach journey to Tolo in the southern peleponise area of greece....good points was we had all day to sort ourselves out and get to airport and I was so tired I slept for the full flight (bad for rest of passengers as I am a medal winning snorer)....bad point was made good time by coach to Tolo arriving aprox 6am but room booked from 12noon ( could have been booked from noon day before and would have been able to have room straight away but paying an extra day for 5/6 hrs) ....but thanks to lovely owners we all got into our rooms by 7.30am.....and going home let us keep our room till 2pm when coach was picking us up..

Then we did a thomascook package to the canaries....7am flight.....so though leaving home aprox2.30 am it meant no traffic ( my lot dont mind the 2.30am start...as its not normal its veiwed as part of the hols)....we arrived at hotel aprox 2.00 ( was AI and it had began at 12noon...so only missed a few hours and the first meal would have been lunch that began about 1pm) ...we were given our room keys and wrist bands and told to go get lunch which finnished at aprox 3pm, then to come book in properly after lunch.....good point was we had full benefit of AI .....coming home coach pick up was aprox 10am for tranfer for flight home aprox 12.30 lunch time....good point we had a good breakfast and took a few bits to snack on from the resturant and as the AI finnished at 12noon and lunch began abour 1pm we didnt loose out on any of the AI at the end of our hols either....only bad point for us was we hit the rush hour traffic on way home

Lastly we flew late tea time with thomson to Rhodes....getting to hotel in pefkos aprox 2am....shattered....after first day realised it was a good thing arriving at that time as it was a long transfer to do in the daytime, in that kind of heat...I would have hated it ....bonus was son already there and owner let him check us in and so straight into room......going back was night flight ....as we were a group half went out to have a last meal whilst the others watched cases, and then visa versa....and the good point was no transfers in the heat...bad point we hit the traffic going home..

So now Ive written it all down ...it all seems clearer ....there are no perfect flight times ...there will always be a flaw somewhere....and a few bonuses....what you gain on the roundabouts you loose on the swings....its not just the flight time but how far and where you are going, and if the matching flight home is OK as well....a convienient flight time for departure may not be as convienient for arrival , and visa versa....and what looks good at first glance might not be as perfect once you add the travel to airport and check in times...

If I picked out the best one for me it would be the thomascook morning flight...as got the maximum benefit of the AI at both the begining and end of our hols...and no real hanging around time at hotel with cases ect......and were going to do the same hols this year ...already booked

My preference would always be to try and get flights that get us to our destination in the early afternoon so that we can check in right away and I always prefer to get away mid-morning from our accommodation - I hate hanging around on the last day, especially if we haven't been able to arrange to keep the room or apartment etc until we need to depart for the airport. IF, and it's a big if, there is large price difference then I'll take other times but it needs to be a big saving to persuade me to put up with the inconvenience .

However, when we go to La Gomera in the Canaries, flight times are absolutely crucial because we have to co-ordinate our arrival and departure in Tenerife with the ferry times from Los Christianos. Anything which is due to arrive after about 4.00pm consitutes too big a risk that we might miss the last ferry of the day if there are any flight delays. So we have on some trips got the very last possible UK departure time so that we arrive in TFS around 4 or 5am in the morning which gives us time to have breakfast in the airport and then get a taxi to the port for the very first ferry of the day. Luckily, I now have a good relationship with the letting agent and she has always been able to arrange for us to get into the apartment immediately we arrive on the island and so far has always been able to arrange, if need be, for us to keep the apartment until the last ferry of the day if we are leaving on an evening flight.

SM

we much prefer early morning flights, flying about 6 or 7am........going out and coming back.......

i hate the last day, waiting for the flight home,, when we have had late flights....

and yes, it does make a difference when i am looking to book......