Steve ... are you going to Tenerife or Costa Blanca ??
David

Sorry Dave, I don't know what the heck was in my mind when I typed the original post! Changed now though haha.

Prices are about in the right area if you look around the Airlines, dont forget you have £18 each baggage charge onto that from what i read, plus your card fee! you can get them, perhaps a touch cheaper, and maybe slightly better flight times if you could use Jet2.com from Blackpool...not sure if thats convenient for you? You can get free car parking there for upto 15 days once you've paid £10 airport developement fee! The flights times there depart Blackpool on 23rd at 7am, and depart Alicante on 28th at 11.35 am!

If i were you i'd go with the Calypso Hotel!

Best Regards - Taggy

15:15 OUT (7pm arrival + 1 hour to hotel) - 19:50 IN (not bad at all)

This flight is with Monarch, the flight times are identical to the Monarch website, the price on their website is £173.28.

6.10am OUT - 10.30am IN

This flight is with easyJet and is £172.98 on their website.

Jet2 also fly out from Manchester at 14:10 landing at Alicante at 18:00 and inbound takes off from Alicante at 19:00 landing back at Manchester at 20:50. The Jet2 price is £139.48 or if you want a suitcase its £171.46 which is still cheaper than what Monarch and easyJet are charging to take hand luggage only.

Don't forget you can mix and match and do one way flights if one airlines times suit you outbound and another airlines times suit you inbound.

With regards to transfers on Travel Republic, you Don't have to book any other part of your travel with them to get the transfers for £9 so no worries there.

Mark

Just bumping this up as me and my mate plan to book the hotel on Friday... then check the flight prices in the next few weeks.

Our main chosen airport (simply because we have flown to and from there all our lives) is Manchester but Liverpool and Blackpool are backups if we find a great deal with better flight time and/or much less.

Ideally we'd like to fly out mid morning (8am or later if poss).

Mark your flights above seem decent but the inbound flight is a little early.. unless there is really no alternative. Outbound also is slightly late as we're hoping to get there around noon or early afternoon so we have the day to check things out.

The best price we have so far is £117.98 from Liverpool but not sure on luggage and SkyScanner doesn't seem to let you book it all at once... you have to book both flights seperately which I found very strange. Also the times aren't very good either.

Can anybody please help us find a good deal with generous flight times (i.e not TOO early) as you have to check in 2 hours before flight time don't you?

Thanks in advance.

You really need to be booking your flghts FIRST then the Hotel afterwards. Its usual for the flight prices to go up nearer to the time you are travelling, the hotel prices tend to stay pretty much the same or even come down a bit nearer the time. Either way, with it being July when you are going, i wouldn't wait much longer! Check which airline Skyscanner are quoting for and double check the price yourself on the airlines website. As i say, also check Jet2 from Blackpool because once you've paid the £10 ADF you then park for free...thats if you will be driving there. I've booked from Blackpool for September when i'm going for a fortnight, so thats quite a big saving for me! Its a small stress free airport....flights out are at 7am...with 11.35 am flights back.

Best Regards - Taggy

Hmm... A mate of mine works in a travel agency and she seems to think the prices will be going down due to the ash cloud and not enough people booking flights? Do you think there's any truth in this?

Personally no...but thats only a guess! I suppose if that or the other Volcano kick off big time again this may be so. But for the moment at least things have settled a little and the new regulations mean that aircraft have now got the go ahead to fly through thicker ash cloud than was previous, which should also help. However its a force of nature, and even the Volcanologists cant predit whats going to happen. But with it being July, its going to be a more popular time of year to fly than say October, and flight seats i feel will be more scarce. People may just be leaving things a little later to book than normal because of this...and of course ecconomic uncertainty. If you were very flexible on dates it may pay you to wait a bit, but it seems you are pretty fixed on which dates you want, so if i were you i'd get it booked ASAP!

Best Regards - Taggy

Thanks Taggy and thanks re: Blackpool and airport. I've spoke to my mate and he doesn't mind driving (we're from Burnley so only an hour away).

I'm just trying to find flights that are reasonably priced but more importantly more forgiving. Like we'll no doubt be in a club late on the final night so don't want to have to be up early for the flight back. The same with the outbound flight we don't want a ridiculously early time like 6am and don't want to get there too late either as we want to arrive around noon or early afternoon so we can chill and check the sights before we go out on the first night.

Is it 2 hours we have to be there to check in before the flight?

Yep thats right, but just double check with whichever airline you end up using! If you do use Blackpool make sure you arrive a good bit before that though to allow yourself parking time. It can get busy because of the free parking, and although you'll be ok getting a place...you might have to use the "overspill" carpark...which is basically a field!! Lol! It takes about 15 mins to walk to terminal if you get parked right at the back!

Best Regards - Taggy

PS...Yer not far from me...i'm in Accy!! Lol!

Small world! I have mates in Accy and my best mate lives in Oswaldtwistle so been to the Peel Park pub a few times!

Lol!...Peel Park used to be my local...i played Pool there several years ago! Used to go Franco's at Ossy quite a lot too!:tup

Best Regards - Taggy