Doesn't always work like that though Blackfox,take my holiday in 9 weeks time to the HV. if i was to book it now it would cost me ..............wait for it ..................£1200 more than i paid last year for it. It's just one of those things, some times it does go down especially with you looking so close to going as they will be trying to at least get places sold i.e late deals. Or other instances they do go up. Personally I don't look for fear of having the reaction that you are now and not the one i'm feeling after just looking. What you do have to ask yourself though is , was you HAPPY to pay the price you did, I expect in all fairness you was and at least your going where you wanted to ,who's to say those places would still be available if you hadn't.SOD's law i believe. Just remember it's only 6 weeks

To be fair it's probably a supply and demand thing! Like they have so many places to fill and if they haven't all been filled then they'll lower the prices!
It's not nice when you see it happen though!

yep calmed down now ,not going to let it spoil my holiday

my Dad was looking for a holiday on May at the weekend (through First Choice) and found one, thought he'd book it this week, went on today and it's £500 per person more expensive.

It's swings & roundabouts.

Blackfox,I booked my HV holiday at the end of October for last November/December and the following week it was £205 cheaper EACH!.It was a chance I didnt want to take as it was a much needed holiday,but I know I will be waiting until the last minute this year.

Blackfox,
Same thing happened to me last year. I rang them and explained and guess what? they let me have it at the new price...... So why don't you ring them and see what they say?

Denny

yep may well do that in the morning ,i know its supply and demand ,but if they equalled out the price in the first place they would sell more anyway .

Best of luck. The bright side is you got what you wanted at the price you were initially happy with.
But you have learned that May can be a great month for bargains (outside shcool hols) as long as you are open to where you want to go. May and October are my preferred months, mainly due to the heat, I don't like it too hot!!!!!. It's also mainly more relaxed.
I had been dithering a few weeks ago on how long to wait to book - I normally book via Kosmar for May, but they have pulled out of lots of resorts from Newcastle, which is a shame for me as I've had some cracking deals from them last minute. This year I wanted to go back to Cyprus and was even considered DIY, but the flights were too expensive. After dithering, I eventually booked via Libra (first time with them) 9 weeks before departure, which is a long time ahead for me. I wanted to wait, but due to work commitments I needed to book and glad I did, the very next day it went up £70, not a lot, but the holiday was pretty cheap anyway. It may well drop again, who knows?? But I got a S/C holiday to Cyprus with transfers (£334 for 2 people, by using a few tricks!!!) for less than the price of a flight, which can't be bad. I still check the prices and availability, but that's just for future reference, I like to know what the trends are.
So, as you know, there are (sometimes) bargains to be had in May and depending on your circumstances (children etc.) and how flexible you are to where you prepared to go, it's worth bearing in mind. If you only want to go to a certain resort/accommodation, then obviously less flexibility and you need to decide according to your needs.

Bargains have been a little slow this year and now seem to be creeping through, so who knows, there may be some silly prices in a few weeks time??
Please report back and give the outcome if you do contact FC, it will be intersting to know how you got on. But more importantly, enjoy your hols.

Robby

Its not just first choice its all of them, I have learnt not to book in advance and for the last four years have booked lates every year with FC. It does state in their brochures/web pages etc that prices can go up and down due to supply and demand. I know how their pricing works and it is more or less the same every year. The lates on their web site are great bargains sometimes. We normally book a fortnight for the five of us in two rooms for around 1200 in may/june shool jollies I have even seen bargains for 1400 for the same in august. You have just got to book at the right time.
I just hope they last , what with the fca and thomson merger, because thomson are always trying to get more money off you for everything.

I think the best bargains are on Thomson teletext pages.I got a brand new 5star AI in Turkey last June from Teeside airport for £239.That included everything,TOD,transfers,no credit card charge and 20kgs allowance.I refused the meals as I dont like the thought of an Aldo Zilli meal!

I think when to book does depend very much on when you want to go. If we weren't tied to school holidays I would book last minute as you can find the deals, but not so much for the school holidays if you want something specific. We tend to book as the brochures come out. Our holiday for August went up at least £500 and now there is no availability at all. I agree it's probably better not to check the prices after booking, but it is tempting to see if you got a 'bargain' it's just unfortunate that prices can go down as well.

Pam

We have been to Turkey the past two years with first choice, the week the kids are off at the end of May. Both times the prices have shot up after booking but have been cheaper near the departure date. This year we picked a hotel with Thomson and I said I was not going to book till nearer the time but I looked a few weeks ago and the price had dropped so I booked. Time will tell if I have done the right thing. I keep saying I am not going to look at the prices but I just cant resist.

We booked a year in advance for a holiday this coming may, checked the other day and the holiday is now £700 ish cheaper! Its just one of those things though.

Yes Blackfox, I have done the same myself though our family holiday was costed at nearly £2500 only to be reduced four weeks later to £1200. It was a different travel company.

It would have been cheaper for me to cancel the holiday, lose the deposit and re-book the exact same holiday again. I though this to be a bit of a chore.

So, I contacted the holiday company only to be advised that they would deal with me in time. Despite several reminders of their promise they eventually contacted me six months later only to inform me that no rebate would be allowed.

I learned from this and never booked a package holiday other than a cheapie afterwards. Now I go DIY using privately owned accommodation. And the travel company thought they won !!!!!!!!!1

its just one of those things.
we booked last Feb for our Holiday last Septembe in the HV Dom Rep and it regulary went up & down. The last few weeks near to our holiday date ovbiously went down a lot. We still got a pretty good deal though.

2 weeks after we came back we booked the HV for Mexico for this September & got a realy cheap price on the whole package and since then it has again changed in price alot!! I prefer booking in advance because you never know if it will go up or down or even space left for when you can go.