October 19 Package v DIY help please!

[NewtoOrlando]

So this is what I currently have booked. We're a family of 4 - kids will be 11 & 13 and this is our 3rd Florida trip, we've only ever done DIY and flown into Miami.

10 nights 16/10/19 to 26/10/19
TUI flights & accommodation in a family suite at Cabana Bay
Pre booked seats
Total is £4785 (had to pay £300 to change from Lanzarote to Orlando)

10 days Car hire - Tahoe or equivalent through Andy @ DFCH - £485
Universal 14 day tickets - £980

We also have 2 days at POFQ booked which doesn't come into it as they are complimentary nights (I can move this if needs be)


So total including car & pre booked seats & tickets is :- £6250

Does anyone think that I can get it cheaper by booking it myself? (I'm not used to going in October!) We're used to flying to Miami so would be happy with Miami flights on a BA fly drive like we usually book. I know I would lose my deposit, but currently we will be paying for 10 nights at Universal but only staying 8, as 2 nights will be spent at Disney so I would also save money by only doing 8 nights.


I figured that if booking separately saved me 1000-1500 & I lost my deposit of £600 then i'm still saving money... We would also save money by not needing to stay in a hotel at Gatwick or book car parking as flights to Miami would be from Heathrow which is 15/20 mins away...or am I completely bonkers for even contemplating it?

I think I have too much time on my hands!

[Cha cha]

I’ve not done it, but I’ve read of people who set alerts on sky scanner for the dates/price they’re looking at.
Maybe someone can tell you how that works.
So you can see if any good value flights come up for your dates.
Also if you check all the different sites for Cabana Bay for 8 nights & see how much that comes to.

You’ve got plenty of time until you go, so, If you find good flight prices & can book 8 days instead of 10 at Cabana Bay, you can see how much of a saving you’d make compared to your TUI holiday.
Hope you find some good flight prices 😀

[sprocket]

Last year we did 12 nights for 2A and 1C (12). 4 nights in RPR and 8 in AKL.
In total we spent just under £6000 for everything (Spending money, food, deluxe hotels, car parks, flights, tickets, taxis).
Previous year we did 12 nights for 2A and 2C (both 11) in PORS and everything came in under £5500.
So personally I think £6250 for 10 nights in a value hotel is well over priced.
We have friends that just got BA tickets from Gatwick to Orlando for under £1400 for 2A and 3C. (inc pre booked seats, bags etc)

[NewtoOrlando]

Originally Posted by sprocket

Last year we did 12 nights for 2A and 1C (12). 4 nights in RPR and 8 in AKL.
In total we spent just under £6000 for everything (Spending money, food, deluxe hotels, car parks, flights, tickets, taxis).
Previous year we did 12 nights for 2A and 2C (both 11) in PORS and everything came in under £5500.
So personally I think £6250 for 10 nights in a value hotel is well over priced.
We have friends that just got BA tickets from Gatwick to Orlando for under £1400 for 2A and 3C. (inc pre booked seats, bags etc)

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No I totally agree which was why I wanted to know if i could get it cheaper. The only reason we have a package booked is because TUI basically told me to cancel Lanzarote (had only paid £300 low deposit at this point) I would have to pay the full deposit (£800) so I didn’t want to £800.

But I’ve a good friend who is going the same time as us next year & we’ve been talking about flights, I’m pretty sure I can get a decent BA fly drive into Miami and then book the hotel on top, and still make a saving, but the rest of my deposit is due on 5th Nov and I’m not guaranteed to have sorted flights by then so I’m a bit arghhh with it. If I can get a decent deal on flights, and still save money even after losing the deposit then I’ll be happy!

[NewtoOrlando]

Originally Posted by Cha cha

I’ve not done it, but I’ve read of people who set alerts on sky scanner for the dates/price they’re looking at.
Maybe someone can tell you how that works.
So you can see if any good value flights come up for your dates.
Also if you check all the different sites for Cabana Bay for 8 nights & see how much that comes to.

You’ve got plenty of time until you go, so, If you find good flight prices & can book 8 days instead of 10 at Cabana Bay, you can see how much of a saving you’d make compared to your TUI holiday.
Hope you find some good flight prices 😀

See more...

I’ve looked on virgin holidays, BA, travel republic and Expedia and they all come in at about £700\800 for a family suite. If I could get flights & car from BA for £2300 & hotel for £700ish then that’s a saving of £1795 (minus the £800 deposit so still saves £1000) I have screen shots on my phone if this years equivilent dates for £2054 into Miami but wether they will be around for this year I don’t know!

I hope im making sense!

[finnsmum]

i always book seperately. check flights on skyscanner and hotels on Trivago. look at prices for whole month as price could work out cheaper by moving your dates slightly.

i use Agoda for alot of hotel bookings as it allows me to book and pay a week before we go. thst way i put a hold on a few different hotels and watch the prices. if they change i rebook. no upfront payment or cancellation charges

[LauraEx]

Did you need to pay an admin fee to change from lanzarote to Florida because you’ll loose that too. Also, may well of changed, but the deposit with TUI on a long haul holiday was always more than on a short haul holiday. Long haul was £250pp but that was 3 years ago

[cornishfrogboy]

I have just looked on the Norwegian site for flights(generally cheaper than Skyscanner (as is Google flights in my experience). They have outbound flights released for £174 from LGW to Fort Lauderdale per adult and are released to 18 Oct as of today. You can take £78pp off that price for each of your children as they are under the age of 16).

I guess that the return leg will be released 8 days from now and recent trends would suggest a price lower than £174. On top of that you can add £25 pp each way for seat selection (inc exit row for adults) ... or £50 for seats, meals and hold baggage. (We do the £25 option going out and the £50 coming home).

Researching Cabana bay (we use Expedia) offers $1435 (around £1100 for 8 nights, family suite, poolside, non smoking.
Dollar Car Hire (through travel supermarket) offer a Hyundai Santa Fe from Fort Lauderdale airport at £260 for 16-26 October 2019.
It is not hard to pick up further discounts on both of these by searching for discount portals. I get 10% on Expedia and 15% on car hire through my employers.

Attraction tickets. I cannot get near your price as Universals have gone up since you spoke with TUI. Best is £254 for adults and £249 for kids, so £1006

Hope it helps.

[NewtoOrlando]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

I have just looked on the Norwegian site for flights(generally cheaper than Skyscanner (as is Google flights in my experience). They have outbound flights released for £174 from LGW to Fort Lauderdale per adult and are released to 18 Oct as of today. You can take £78pp off that price for each of your children as they are under the age of 16).

I guess that the return leg will be released 8 days from now and recent trends would suggest a price lower than £174. On top of that you can add £25 pp each way for seat selection (inc exit row for adults) ... or £50 for seats, meals and hold baggage. (We do the £25 option going out and the £50 coming home).

Researching Cabana bay (we use Expedia) offers $1435 (around £1100 for 8 nights, family suite, poolside, non smoking.
Dollar Car Hire (through travel supermarket) offer a Hyundai Santa Fe from Fort Lauderdale airport at £260 for 16-26 October 2019.
It is not hard to pick up further discounts on both of these by searching for discount portals. I get 10% on Expedia and 15% on car hire through my employers.

Attraction tickets. I cannot get near your price as Universals have gone up since you spoke with TUI. Best is £254 for adults and £249 for kids, so £1006

Hope it helps.

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Thank you for all this! I have actually been keeping an eye on Norweigan flights over the last week aswell, it's great that they now also fly into Tampa too. Will be keeping a close eye on them till the return leg is released (26th/27th October)!

I work for the NHS and dh is a police officer and we can both get discounts which I always forget about, so I will have a look aswell. I quickly just looked and at the moment the expedia discounts are only up until March 19 but i'm in no rush to book until I find a deal we're happy with!

We booked our universal tickets through Floridatix back in March this year and we were so surprised with the price, because we paid over £1000 for this summers tickets! Disney we were going to miss next year but we're compensated 2 nights with tickets after issues this year so that's one thing we don't have to worry about!

I do have car hire booked through Andy at DFCH but that can be changed if needed.


Thank you again!

[NewtoOrlando]

Originally Posted by LauraEx

Did you need to pay an admin fee to change from lanzarote to Florida because you’ll loose that too. Also, may well of changed, but the deposit with TUI on a long haul holiday was always more than on a short haul holiday. Long haul was £250pp but that was 3 years ago

See more...

Yes, we did pay to change it, the deposit in total is £1000 including any amendment fees.

I've decided if I can find a good deal for Florida next year elsewhere, then instead of losing my deposit i'm going to change the holiday in April (when 2020 summer comes out) and book a week in Europe somewhere. That way we don't lose our deposit, and we have a holiday sorted for the following year. We we're planning on a chilled holiday in 2020 so hopefully will work out!