How do you save money if you book everything yourselves?

[Guest]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

It’s lots more money than when I went 10years ago but most things are so can’t even compare to what we did before.

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I quickly did the comparison for you.

Inflation between now and 10 years ago is 29.5%

Dollar rate in 2007/2008 averaged 1.8 to the pound or 39% more than today

So if your quote is £3958

10 years ago it would have been £3068

As flights and hotels etc are based in dollars you also need to take exchange rate into account

Therefore as the pound is 39% less than it was ten years ago it would equate to £2207 if the exchange rate had been the same then as it is now.

So if you paid more than £2207 ten years ago you are getting a deal at £3958 today

[duchy]

I don't tend to do two weeks in one hotel , when I have compared that kind of trip (I don't do school holidays) it can be either that is cheaper although you do need to watch packages for extras ( like "free" car hire with a stonking supplement for insurance).

Where DIY comes into Its own is with a mix , for example this year we had on site, a villa, a cruise and a few days staying with friends in south Florida. I actually got Virgin holidays to quote and their price was almost double what I eventually paid with DIY.

[2point]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

So someone commented yesterday (not on here) that they think I spent too much for my package deal.

It was £3958.
This is virgin flights direct in June , with the v room.
Enclave suites studio room which is on I drive and includes hot breakfast.
Car hire-intermediate suv with the full Alamo insurance as it includes sat nav and two car seats.
For three weeks.

So I decided to see how much it would be if I booked all these separate and it was a lot more. Even looked at villas as that would have been another option.

So how does everyone go about doing it themselves as this was a package deal through virgin we got.
Is it that it’s not direct flights? Or a different car hire (I’ve only ever heard of Alamo)
I definitely don’t have an expensive hotel and I think we would do villa next time but the ones I looked at yesterday were expensive and no pool which I just wouldn’t get.

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Flights and car with BA £1900 - from London
3 Bed Condo £1600 from Vacation Central Florida (Windsor Palms/Hills)
3 Bed Villa with pool £1900 from Vacation Central Florida (Windsor Palms/Hills)
(Enclave Suites is £1400 - IMO a condo is way better value)

Looks like a reasonable deal, abut £500 more than DIY but travelling from Man may make up that difference for you.

[blades]

I've never been able to get close to the package deals I get (flying club member etc) and also book well in advance. The next time we go we are DIYing as we have found a lovely Dibb villa which we have reserved the only thing that has caught me out is the cost of Disney tickets for a week (2020 circa £400) I'm hoping to get flights £600-£800 each direct (Christmas day out) but may end up doing a fly drive through virgin due to the discounts we get.

[disney332]

Originally Posted by Guest

I quickly did the comparison for you.

Inflation between now and 10 years ago is 29.5%

Dollar rate in 2007/2008 averaged 1.8 to the pound or 39% more than today

So if your quote is £3958

10 years ago it would have been £3068

As flights and hotels etc are based in dollars you also need to take exchange rate into account

Therefore as the pound is 39% less than it was ten years ago it would equate to £2207 if the exchange rate had been the same then as it is now.

So if you paid more than £2207 ten years ago you are getting a deal at £3958 today

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Wow, you are good

Disney332

[Loulou127]

It doesn’t seem like the OP’s price includes any park tickets, which whilst will be much the same whether booked separately or part of a package will for 4 people add quite a chunk of money onto their price x

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by Loulou127

It doesn’t seem like the OP’s price includes any park tickets, which whilst will be much the same whether booked separately or part of a package will for 4 people add quite a chunk of money onto their price x

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Yeah I haven’t bought tickets yet
21 day tickets coming out about £1780 ish. Hoping for a better deal to come along for those tho.
We only paid £163 for a 14day one in 2008 each😫

I’m going with £10-£11k for the whole holiday I think.

Only other ways I’ve seen better price was when they do late deals on Thomas cook but I wanted a year to plan and pay

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

Yeah I haven’t bought tickets yet
21 day tickets coming out about £1780 ish. Hoping for a better deal to come along for those tho.
We only paid £163 for a 14day one in 2008 each😫

I’m going with £10-£11k for the whole holiday I think.

Only other ways I’ve seen better price was when they do late deals on Thomas cook but I wanted a year to plan and pay

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That was 10 years ago though - everything in life has gone up since then.

[Persnicketty]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

Yeah I haven’t bought tickets yet
Only other ways I’ve seen better price was when they do late deals on Thomas cook but I wanted a year to plan and pay

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It also depends on where in the UK folk live.

DIY price Vs package price is also strongly influenced by luck, timing and type of selected holiday. And you're right to comment on indirect flights affecting cost.

Building your own villa break always makes sense financially in our experience.

From Glasgow, building our own 2.5 week break in early July for a family of 4A/2C, we're able to book for around £5,000 or less depending on how hard we price compare. (Gla-MCO via Gatwick, 5 bdrm luxury Dibb villa & a premium/elite SUV. The stopover at Gatwick adds 4 hrs to the travel day versus flying direct).

A comparable tour operator package from Glasgow, (direct flights) is around £4500 more expensive, with the villa allocated.

For us, the inconvenience is worth a £4.5k saving.

But if we were to select hotel instead of villa, esp on site at WDW, DIY is much less likely to generate a saving..

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by Andybear

That was 10 years ago though - everything in life has gone up since then.

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Yeah I know. Pity my house value/wage hasn’t gone up that much tho