id like to try a DIY holiday, but dont have a clue where to start...

You really need to start with getting the cheapest flight prices for your chosen destination, that's the real key.
Hotels and transfers/car hire etc. are pretty much fixed and you can use a comparison site/cashback sites/discount codes to get cheap accommodation.
But get them cheap flights first, you may be struggling to get a decent package for this summer now (peak period), a bit too late.

Robby

1. Choose a destination that suits you e.g do you want a fierce lively place like Santa Ponsa or a relatively quiet place like Fuerteventura? Most important, ensure your wife/partner wants to go where you want to go.

2. Trawl through the website of the airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet, BA etc. Keep costs down by booking a flight from your nearest airport.

3. Here is the key to inexpensive holidays:- Contact some holiday apartment owner at your chosen destination. Decide on your upper limit and negotiate. Believe me apartment owners want to rent their places. Ask how far it is to walk to the beach, supermarket, restaurants, bars, shops etc. Enquire how far it is to the airport. Are transfers available if required? Don't forget safety - is the local beach a death-trap? Ensure there is a swimming pool (and kiddies pool) in the apartment complex.

4. Carhire can be a concern, but it is probably cheaper than you think. We use http://www.economycarhire.com or http://www.carjet.com.

5. Privately arranged insurance is cheaper than the normal Holiday Insurance. Remember you can insure yourself for the year and not just the holiday fortnight. With the overall amount of money you are saving you can have other holidays.

6. Check with apartment provider re (a) Television (b) airconditioning (c) washing machine (d) sunbeds (e) cot, if required (f) private sun terrace (g) garden area (h) anything else. Ask as many questions as you wish. I don't want to sound sexist, but women are best in dealing with apartment owners.

7. Ensure beforehand you have the Euro currency if travelling to the Eurozone.

8. If you are travelling in May or September it might be prudent to wait as some Travel Agents tend to offload empty airplane seats way under the normal charges.

9. Airport food can be expensive so you will save money by bringing prepared rolls, soft drinks and paper cups.

If further info is required please PM me. We've been doing pure DIY for years.

try to avoid paying for accomodation in advance. I can forsee a lot of flights being changed or cancelled due to lack of seats bought this year. This may result in you having to change the day of travel.

I don't book cheap holidays - I book the holiday I want at the best price I can get it.

That might sound a bit glib but is meant to get you to think what you want from the holiday. Do you want a cheap holiday (ie don't care where, just get away with a few vague requirements like weather and nightlife) or do you want to do something/ go somewhere specific.

If you just want a cheap getaway you'll probably find it easier by booking a package on a special offer. Just keep scanning the websites and travel agents adverts until you see something that seems a bargain. Then make sure it is what you think it is! And once you've booked it don't go back and check the price again....

On the other hand, if you want to go somehwere specific and aren't very flexible on dates you may be better off with DIY, and if the place isn't in the main Tour Operators brochures you are going to have to do DIY.

Just remember that DIY doesn't guarantee cheap - it just means that you should get what you want rather than what the Tour Ops wanted to sell you. What would be the best value - a £700 holiday to somewhere you really wanted to go or a £500 holiday to somewhere vaguely similar that they wanted you to go to?

If you do choose DIY I agree with Fiona - don't pay in advance for accomodation if you can avoid it. In some places you can't avoid it, or you may get a discount if you do pay on booking, but the problem of flights being cancelled is something to be very wary of this year. The other problem is that if you do have to send payment to a foreign hotel that won't take a credit card then the UK bank charge may be extortionate.

Me, I've only booked 2 packages out of around 60 holidays in the last 25 years!

I don't book cheap holidays - I book the holiday I want at the best price I can get it.

Spot on Steve
Just talking main holiday here , Using HT of course I research my destination and choice of hotel first . I normally have a few hotels on my shortlist but in general I will be aiming for a particular hotel which would normally be a decent A/I for my family of 5 during main school holidays. As has already been mentioned how cheaply you can book a flight is essential for DIY, and for main school holidays it is more often than not important that you secure those seats within a day or two of them going on sale . One point worth mentioning is the fact that those flights will normally have to be paid for at the time of booking .

Having said this I have got the best price by doing both. For this year I managed to secure a very good package price that I couldnt come anywhere near by doing DIY but last year I managed to get very cheap flights to Turkey by booking the flights early. Unfortunately there havnt been the bargain flights around that were available last year for my choice of destination.

Forgot to say, once you've found what you want to book, and it is with a company, check and see if you can do the booking through quidco. I am about to book a hotel through Expedia and will get £66 cashback.

Yep I got £180 cashback from my booking with direct holidays just by taking it through http://www.quidco.com

Here is the travel section of quidco. You might be surprised just how many companies you can book through quidco.

Steve, Lynwestie and Fiona - I think you have just succeeded in confusing Mitchellclr (and many more) on the whole subject of DIY holidays. RobbyW is right.

Mitchellclr asked a simple question as to how cheap holidays can be sourced. Robbyw and I came up with the simple effective suggestions. Avoiding paying for accommodation in advance is a given when booked privately other than a small deposit. The travel agents will want a deposit also and the whole holiday paid in full at least six weeks before the departure date. Easyjet and Ryanair will be busier this year especially with the amount of people doing DIY. Mainly, it will be the Travel Companies who will be cancelling some chartered flights.

I fail to see why suggesting using a cashback internet site for booking a DIY holiday to save money will confuse the OP.
Moving on-you can of course book accomodation directly with the owners but investigate all avenues. Booking direct is not always the cheapest option.
A good site to use is travelsupermarket.com( but remember that comparison websites don't include all possible flights).
Don't assume that the budget airways are always going to be cheapest. I priced out a £9 return flight for my parents with flyglobesban which ended up as £120
Also, don't assume that going DIY is always going to be cheaper. Once you have costed what you want, go to a TA and ask if they can beat it. (Even matching it is good)
Have a look at at our DIY section for a lot more hints.

Thankyou all for the replies, deffinatley be looking into it, not decided when we will travel yet, we are pretty flexible, we may go during our normal time of travel(which is in october)or it could be xmas for us this year.. if it turns out that ive left it too late then theirs always next years hols!

Try looking on Portlands website.I normally take named late deals to hotels I have researched but Portland have on line prices when you phone them.I have just booked a holiday which is £100 cheaper than Thomson and £200 cheaper than Thomas Cook for the same hotel on the same date!It even works out cheaper than the late deal I had last October.

we may go during our normal time of travel(which is in october)or it could be xmas for us this year..

You may be in luck then, there are still some cheap flights with EasyJet for October and late October have not yet been released, the same with Xmas.
Where are your chosen destinations, where can you fly from??

Robby