Latest posts for the topic "Package Deal or Compile own holiday?"

Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:40:20 GMT

Crystal, Thomas Cook, Inghams all offer package deals with flights, lift passes, ski hire, hotel etc. (in the UK anyway)

I could go and investigate this by adding up the possible costs of my own custom made holiday myself, but what are the community's general feelings about the value offered by putting your holiday in the hands of a travel company, and whether buying my own flights, accommodation etc. is likely to come up with a price close to or less than that quoted in a package?

Specifically, I notice the majority of package deals are Saturday-Saturday flights, which is in my experience always the most expensive day of the week to fly. We have no reason to go Saturday to Saturday as we are simply booking our own time off work and would be entirely capable of going Tuesday-Tuesday or anything...

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:57:03 GMT

I think the overall costs may be a little more expensive if you book through a company but they do have the advantage of the "bulk buy" and you get all the little things like transfers built in. What you do not get , as you point out is the flexibility of going when you want. This year (week defore Xmas actually) a group of us are of to Sauze D'Oulx, self organised and have got the 6 day trip (4 days sking), half board, lift passes anf ski hire down to GBP500. Travel is via Easyjet to Paris and TGV to resort. You just need to look around an choose somewhere with a station or airport really close. Seems to me the train allows a good party en-route!! (and its only 4.5 hrs)

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:08:05 GMT

OK, I tend to do both.

However, for our main trip, which involves up to 14 people, we will invariably go with a package.

You may find that it is difficult to get accommodation on a Tuesday/Tuesday basis, as most places will be geared round the package timetable.

Personally I think the time booking yourself really does come into it's own, is when you are happy to leave it to the last minute and grab a last minute cheap deal on an apartment, then arrange your travel to suit. For me, it is quite easy, because that simply involves a Eurotunnel or ferry crossing, and then we drive down. Best one I ever managed was to get an apartment for 6 people in Val D'Isere for 300 Euros for the week at the end of Jan. It was a fantastic place and no more than 30 odd yards from the Bellcotte Express chair.

You can of course get great deals from package companies at the last minute, but often not if the are 6 of you going.

Don't forget the extras you can get from a package deal, it will often include ski guiding, which can be useful for some, and there are often the little extras you forget about such as free drink. My trip to Austria this year includes free beer and wine at the hotel bar till 10.30 pm. That has to be worth a fair old penny for my group :)

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:19:22 GMT

Thanks, two very helpful replies there.

Any opinions on which of the package companies offer the best value out of Crystal, Iglu, Inghams, Thomas Cook, Neilson... ?

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:28:36 GMT

To be honest I think they all pretty much offer the same sort of deals.

Over the years I have used most of them, but recently we have tended to stick with Crystals simply because we have had excellent service from them over the last three years. They have yet to mess up a booking (for us it is strange, because some of the group fly from Birmingham, while some drive down from Kent) and were excellent when one of our group managed to tear his cruciate ligament a few seasons ago.

The reps really did assist to the best of their abilities.

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:26:03 GMT

The few diy trips we have done have not cost less than packages - mainly due to the transfer-to-resort costs I would say. We also tend to book last minute bargain deals with package companies - no longer having to worry about school hols/work etc. Also enjoy the ski hosting if we go on our own. I personally like handing over the responsibilities to someone else so I can enjoy the holiday more. Last December we got stuck in Geneva overnight due to snow conditions at Gatwick - so we were put up in a hotel courtesy of Monarch.

Have had two trips with Crystal recently after several years gap and was quite impressed with them.

I can highly recommend Ski Miquel with whom we have had some fantastic holidays and would also suggest you take a look at Ski Total.

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:09:48 GMT

Crystal get my vote, I've never had a problem with them and find them to be good value.

The only irritating thing is being told to wait until the end of a 'sales pitch' meeting to collect lift passes. But if you complain loud enough they'll give them to you before. :wink:

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:28:26 GMT

freshfreshpowder wrote:Thanks, two very helpful replies there.

Any opinions on which of the package companies offer the best value out of Crystal, Iglu, Inghams, Thomas Cook, Neilson... ?

Ok, I've done a LOT of packages, and a few DIY trips. Personally, travelling on Saturday is better as theres less on the roads to the airports and theres no business travellers. Avoid peak weekends, like Xmas, New Year and Easter or kids holidays. If you choose your own flights, they'll end up more than a package flight anyway, and tour ops will charge something like GBP35 for ski carriage whereas BA will want GBP56 or Ryanair want an arm and a leg. Literally.

As for companies, depends on what you're looking for and where to go. I've used Inghams, Neilson (Thomas Cook same company), Crystal (Thompson same company), Ski France, Skiworld, Skiline, Igluski, and the only thing I'd say is that Crystal did not deliver when it came to chalets, whereas Skiworld and Ski France were excellent.
Igulski, Skiline, Catered-ski-chalets and the others are just agents, so to get your best deal play them all off against each other and someone will want your business enough to be the cheapest.

Personally, I'd choose where you want to go rather than worry about who the tour op is. If you're in a hotel, they only take you there and pop in to see you, but if you're in a chalet theres far more to it as you have to live with these people and rely on them to cook for you!
I hear good things about Ski Miquel.....

Choose your resort, then shop around. I prefer chalets, but happy to go half board when its just me and the mrs.

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:39:38 GMT

It is not possible for any individual to say that diy is better than package. There are too many variables. Significant factors include:

The door to door time & cost for independant travel. So for me, I can get low cost flights from Edinburgh to Munich, Milan, Geneva, Grenoble, Salzburg. However, I have friends in other areas where they are restricted in useful availability. eg from Mancheste and Belfast, there doesn't seem to be a low cost route to Munich.

Availability & cost of accomodation. In my favourite resort I pay 19~25 Euros. Even at New Year in Scheffau, I paid only 45 Euro pppn, for DBB. On the other hand, in resorts that have restricted accomodation, an example is Obergurgl, accomodation costs can be prohibitive.

I disagree with FarQueue about when to book diy. If you leave it late, the air fares will always increase. Also, I have never known privately booked accomodation costs to be reduced.

With regard to last minute offers there is a mixture of truths and myths. TO's are not stupid, in fact, they are quite switched on. If there is a big dump of snow, it is the offers that melt, not the snow. If the take-up at a particular time is not strong, then offers emerge. If you bag an offer, and you then get a dump of snow, you have struck white gold!

Finally, do your research. I do a cost spreadsheet of ALL costs for every trip. Often, a great looking baseline price does not migrate through to the bottom line cost, once the full range of costs are factored in. Lift passes are a high cost, and vary hugely. Food costs, day and evening, can be high in France, and to a lesser extent in Switzerland.

So start looking at low cost flight possibilities NOW. Then look at the range of possible resorts, and how you travel to them, and how the travel times work with each other, and what are the costs. Choose 2/3/4 resorts, and blitz the accomodation. Look on this site at the top of the page. Look at tourist offices.

Then factor in the ski runs.........

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:46:30 GMT

I love the flexibility of DIY if going solo or with a few like minded souls (except at very peak periods) BUT if I am organizing a groupor family i will generally go with a T/O for the realative peace of mind that 'they' have to sort out any hiccups !

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:21:30 GMT

I think the main problem with DIY is arranging the transfers to resort. It's easy enough to book flights, and if you buy them early they're usually a reasonable price, and in my experience it's very easy to find accommodation through the resort tourist board, but airports tend to be a long way from ski resorts and the cost of transfers can be prohibitive.

So, I'd say if going DIY think about the transfer problem and find a resort that's easy and cheap to get to from the airport. Driving yourself, of course, fixes that problem. And there are plenty of ski resorts close to train stations.

I prefer going DIY myself, to package holidays, but then I always enjoy a challenge! :lol:

And I can usually get my DIY holiday cheaper than a package :D

But, having said that, if you can go anytime then getting a last minute package deal at a heavily discounted price usually works out cheapest. And the TO's often do special deals for kids, or half price lift passes etc.

Ally

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:29:45 GMT

Easyjet fly from Manchester to Munich a few times a week now. Geneva also. Jet2 fly to Chambery and Salzburg from there.

Manchester's low cost routes are expanding every season. Leeds/Bradford is a good one to keep an eye on too. You can sneak some great flight deals from there at times.

Jet2 are offering free ski carriage if you book before the end of October.

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:52:02 GMT

The advantage for me in DIY is that I can't always do a traditional Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday trip. DIY gives me the flexibility to go early on Sunday and come home late on a Friday - or Wednesday to Wednesday. With a few exceptions, tour ops are only able to do this with Swiss holidays.

Not sure if it works out cheaper - the biggest bugbear is the transfer to and from the airport.

As for airlines, Swiss fly to Geneva and Zurich several times a day, and this opens up France and western Austria as well as Switzerland. They also carry your skis for nothing!

Accommodation is the easiest bit - use sites like this and the resort websites - they carry a range of hotels, guest houses, apartments etc that never appear in any tour ops' brochure. Always a good idea to have a glance at Trip Advisor to pick up on any themes, good and bad!

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:01:20 GMT

Dave Mac wrote:
I disagree with FarQueue about when to book diy. If you leave it late, the air fares will always increase. Also, I have never known privately booked accomodation costs to be reduced.

In fairness Dave, I did point out that it is an advantage as we drive down, so flight costs are not an issue for us.

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:09:09 GMT

Indeed, FarQ.

When flying to Munich, people often overlook Lufthansa who have low cost fares from Heathrow for about GBP100 return including ski carriage.

Personally, I have used BA when booking flights into Zurich, Munich and Geneva in the past. Its relatively low cost, ie GBP140 return approx, and they allow you one bag 23kg plus 10kg hand luggage so theres not a lot you need on top, and in the 23kg you can take skis as your one bag. When you compare that to Easyjet or Ryanair for example, it may be slightly more but well worth the hassle of fighting to get on, having a seat reserved, and flying out of the splendid T5

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:29:48 GMT

Far Queue wrote:

Dave Mac wrote:
I disagree with FarQueue about when to book diy. If you leave it late, the air fares will always increase. Also, I have never known privately booked accomodation costs to be reduced.

In fairness Dave, I did point out that it is an advantage as we drive down, so flight costs are not an issue for us.

Sorry, FQ, I wasn't responding to your situation, but to the general situation as raised by the OP.

As Tony points out there are second tier opportunities with the main carriers. It is good info from Mekka about the new Easyjet route from Manchester to Munich. My skibuddy has generally used Luftahansa out of Manchester, averaging GBP120/GBP130. I would expect to pay around GBP60/GBP70 return. (With one free Frequent Flyer return flight per season!).

This reinforces the general point that I make that it is not possible to give a one size fits all response.

On the issue of luggage allowance, that may be a problem for some, but I never go over 17kgm, including my ski boots. Good point about the skis inclusive though.

As for "the hassle of fighting to get on", I go last in the bus queue, and stroll on to the plane. I know there will be a seat, not sure why other people don't do the same.

Good to get all the different experiences. I would guess that London & the south have the best choice of flight types.

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:16:35 GMT

Dave Mac wrote:

Sorry, FQ, I wasn't responding to your situation, but to the general situation as raised by the OP.

:D No worries Dave. I had forgotten the larger picture. This time of year I start to get all excited and tingly. Especially with less than a month to the opening WC Ski event.

Dave Mac wrote:I would guess that London & the south have the best choice of flight types.

It is also pretty easy for us to get on a train and head off to the mountains. It seems to be getting easier each year to get to some places by rail, and is a mode of transport which is often overlooked. Although to be honest, it can still be a bit pricey.

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:11:07 GMT

Wow, thanks for the wealth of information everyone has provided in this post. This is a great forum!

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:53:34 GMT

freshfreshpowder wrote:Wow, thanks for the wealth of information everyone has provided in this post. This is a great forum!

That's nice FFP. The invoice is in the post. )

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 06:16:39 GMT

When I holiday I do try and get away from the Brit's so I for one am a DIY'er :thumbup:

Re:Package Deal or Compile own holiday?

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:23:18 GMT

If you look at the package route, give Ski World a look, of all the companies we've used they are easily the best.