I would book the flights first then accomadation, wintersunshineholidays are as good as anywhere and i have never had any problems with them. Look to see when the cheap airlines do special offers if you join them they usually email you the offers. I found it a lot cheaper doing diy but sometimes package holidays are cheaper. We are going package this year as it was cheaper than diy.

Hi Helen

We have done DIY a few times now and again for this year - my opinion would be to book the flights first as these can vary so much in price and availability. Unless you are looking for a specific hotel or complex i doubt you will have too much of a problem finding accomodation. If you cant find what you are looking for through the 'middlemen' like med hotels / alpha rooms etc it might be worth trying the hotels / apartments direct as they may keep an allocation of rooms back for direct bookings...

In regards to transfers, i'd leave this till last and do an online search once everything else is sorted (unless you want to get an idea of price in advance of booking your accomodation??)...

Hope this helps a little

msc

Hi Helen ... for discussion about the pros and cons of DIY in general, you may like to check out our DIY Holidays forum.

David

helenc. package holidays can be cheaper .but with d i y.you go when you want to go.and stay for as long as you wish.i look for a cheap flight 1st.then at the same time check hotels for cheap offers.making sure there is room for your stay.then book both of them.now transfer.alpharooms at top of home page do cheap transfers.ie £20.00 per person return.or resorthopper do the same.i have gone for the later this year.as i can get my breakfast before pickup.ok you have to go to all the hotels ect. and there is no messing about.but its cheaper a hell of a lot cheaper than a taxi.i have had a bus to myself lastyear and a mini bus from airport.i am just having 3. 3 days breaks in beni this year,jan feb -feb.easyjet .bmi times are later and bit more money.hotel was booked on another site like this.to me 3 days is just right what with the jobs i do,nice to get away (no pots to wash or clean up.now i have never gone s/c before so i would not know where to look.but i know a few sites that just cater for s/c.do a few searches.helenc i will fly at 7am uk.be in my room for 11.45 am spanish time.try to pick a time you wish to go.not just a last min job.flights are cheaper then.most of the hotels are doing good deals at the moment.f/b as well

arriving at 11.30 am(Spanish) time and not arriving at hotel until almost 14.30

Hi Helen, That is ridiculous, when I went to Benidorm in October, I landed on the runway at Alicante at 3.35pm. and then although admitidly my case was the first one on the conveyor belt, Lucky or what
I then proceeded to get the Resorthoppa bus to Benidorm and was dropped off at exactly 4.40pm.

I was very impressed by the service.

This year, we have booked D.I.Y for our family of 4 and have saved a few hundred pounds by doing so.

I too booked the flights first and then the accommodation, we tend to use wintersunshine holidays as we find them very competitive and after your first booking, they offer an 8% loyalty discount which is a substantial saving on a fortnights family holiday.
There are far more sites for acccommodation than there are for flights, I'm pretty sure that you would never be stuck for somewhere to stay in Benidorm whatever time of year you go so don't be nervous about booking flights first and transfers are always available with several companies at a reasonable price too.

Anyhow, generally speaking, with our local airline, you get a better deal with the flights when they first come out. I have heard that the first 20% of flights are cheap, even in peak season and then they seem to to go up. They do occasionally have special offers near the date of departure but it's a gamble whether to wait on. I like to get them booked and paid for instead of taking the risk.

I found it a bit daunting the first time I booked D.I.Y. First there was just this booking reference on a sheet of A4 paper to produce at the airport instead of a nice Travel company booklet.
Then walking in to the hotel reception with an accomodation voucher that I'd printed off the computer myself was quite nerve racking too. I was so relieved to be given the keys and arrive in the room I felt a real sense of achievement

I think that you have to way up what is best for you but for us, D.I.Y. seems to save us quite a lot of money and quite often the flight times can be better than with the tour operaters too.

Sue

Helen

I think that whoever told you three hours from the airport was either taking a very scenic route or put their watch forward two hours on the coach.

I always use Resorthoppa and they have never let me down. I had 4 drops before my hotel but it still only took just under an hour. They were ready waiting at the airport and on return the pick-up time they told me was exact, to the minute! It is often quicker to book with transfer service than to go with the flight/transfer package as you often have fewer drops and more room on the coach. You have to phone them the day before departure and they confirm the pick up place and time.

I started doing DIY about 3 years ago and have not been on a package since. I am going over to Beni in March for 4 nites and it is only costing £85 including flight, transfer and accommodation.

Hope you have a great trip

Sarah

gumbet what companies are u using for that price

i an looking to go diy 30th march -13th april and have been quoted the following for 4 people

flights easijet liverpool to alicante £747.
2 bedroom aprt £360
transfer £70

Hi Helen

Flight is with Thomsonfly, they are offering some flights at £3.59 + tax at the moment so my flight was £40. Findmeaccom for hotel, we have room only as we are only going over to look for a job and somewhere to rent, hotel was £6.50 a night. Resorthoppa for transfer is £20 return.

Regards

Sarah

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice.
Will certainly try DIY
No-one told me three hours transfer time. That was the actual time from when we collected our luggage (by no means the first off the carousel) until we actually arrived at the hotel when we were over in December. Two years ago we had a similar experience when there were 16 drop-offs before ours. Also in November this year we were at the Levante Club Hotel and the coach did not stop there but let us off further down from the Melia. Not too bad for us but I ended up wheeling our two trolley cases while my husband carried the two old fashioned cases of a couple in their eighties who both walked with sticks. I will stick with Resort Hoppa for transfers in future regardless whether I book package or not

Helen

we paid 2 adults 2 children 27 pounds each bmi return flights to benidorm 4th march to the 9th. and half board at the 4 star deloix aqua centre with wintersunshineholidays total cost 300 pounds for 4 people if you book with thomsons for the same dates and hotel its 1200 pounds. now i think that a bargain diy is great, 900pounds great

i have easy jet ema £45.00 return for 3 days hotel caylpso £85 f/b.trying resorthopper this time because of flight times i will get a breakfast.i normmally use hotelbeds.both sites are easy to use.it just a matter of working out your flight times.i know hotelbeds would of picked me up at 8.15am..resort pick up is 8.40am.cannot go with that good breakfast to fill me up

Helen, to get cheap flights off the low cost scheduled airlines you need to book much earlier than three months ahead. I've already booked mine for the end of August and I'd be very surprised if the price hasn't gone up by about £20 return per person by the end of this month. If you are flying at short notice then the agents who flog off unsold charter seats (try INVALID URL are often cheaper, but choice is more restricted.
As people have said, accommodation isn't really a problem unless you specifically want to stay at a particular place.

PS. If you could fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday instead of a Friday it would help!

I booked my flights with XL back in September at a cost of £90pp from Manchester to Alicante 5TH August for 14 nights.I have just checked for my friends for the same dates and they are now £191pp.I reckon i got a bargain

I think the way the low cost scheduled operate prices is something like this.
Start with empty plane! Advertise flights "from £20".
Sell first two seats for £20
Sell next ten seats for £30
Sell next ten seats for £40
and so on until the flight is operating at a profit, after which all remaining seats are full price.
Unlike the charter operators there is no last minute collapse in the price to attract in a few more customers because anyone who has already paid and wants to change details etc has to pay the price at the time of the change, so it's in the airline's interest to hold the price up to stitch up those inevitable unfortunates!
So to get bargains you need to book ASAP after the schedule opens for booking.

For a very popular airport like Alicante you can nearly always get "last minute" tickets on charter flights. These are never as cheap as the early scheduled tickets but cheaper (£120-£140 return) than the full price scheduled tickets. They aren't much use if you have kids because you need to be flexible to get the bargains.

You are so right Colin, the key is to book flights very early, accomodation is not a problem, with BMI Baby early on at first call two of you could fly on selected dates to Alicante for £60 total we are going next month to Palma for £67.50 total but those with children would'nt possibly wish to go then. But then I booked flights for last october at £97 for dates which I had to abandon and it cost me the same amount to change the flights for another date but having paid £202 they are now £272 and some days £292.

However it is interesting wheeling and dealing between airlines, accomodation providers, it helps wile away the retirement years.

Good Luck,

Dave.

Hi Helen

I went to Benidorm D.I Y last year and will be doing the same this year i booked accomodation through holidayhotels.co.uk and got the Benidorm Centre Hotel 4 Star half board for £65, we had flights from Cardiff at £70 return and used resorthoppa as a transfer £20 each and everything was spot on.

I had loads of doubts and thought the transfer wouldnt arrive and the hotel wouldnt have our booking etc but couldnt have been better.
We are doing the same this year I am going on the 15th March again this year to watch the Six Nations Rugby, flights are a bit dearer this year £104 return waiting for them to drop as they do change hour by hour, and for some reason this year BMI Baby are charging you a fiver per bag you put in the hold (is this legal???)

I have not booked any accomodation as yet but the Orange Hotel has plenty of availability at £65 half board same as last years price but closer to the nightlife id advise to book accomodation through Go2Spain or Holiday Hotels website as i have spent hours on the net looking and those 2 offer the cheapest deals.

So i wouldnt worry too much about the accomodation booking, there will be plenty of availability in every hotel depending on where and when you want to go. so get your flights in first

As a rider on the statement that getting accommodation is not a problem, bear in mind that the Spanish nearly all seem to holiday at the same time throughout the month of August (too hot to work) so for that month Benidorm can be pretty well booked. Although there is always somewhere to stay, I'd book pretty early for that month. It's why prices for apartment rental go through the roof just for that one month. Any other month I wouldn't worry at all.

I always go diy, been doing this for a few years savings are well worth it. Two holidays this way as opposed to one package holiday. Going 23 Jan to Beni for three weeks for dental treatment. Try booking apartments through Benidorm Spotlight cost less than other sites as you deal direct with hotels or apartments.

Thanks everyone for your replies. We have now booked flights with Globespan from Edinburgh and the San Diego apartments through Benidorm Spotlight. In the past we have stayed at both the Ambassador Playa and the Marina, so we know the location will suit us but there are only 2 reviews on this site for the apartments although more on the Spotlight site.
Has anyone any more knowledge of these apartments?
There does not seem to be as much choice of flights from Edinburgh or Glasgow as many of you seem to have. Easijet's flights are in the evening but we wanted Day Flights and there didn't seem to be anything else.
We went Globespan at Christmas and the flights were fine although we were on a package. As mentioned earlier the transfer was hopeless, sitting on the bus for over an hour at the airport before we moved. We will book our transfers nearer the time.
Thanks again everyone