do-it-yourself hols to orlando

[lisaanne]

I am planning to book a holiday to florida at the end of may 2004 and am hoping to book this myself instead of using a travel agent but don't really know how to go about this. I have looked at flights and they seem quite expensive .I need to book it early (ish) as I am planning this trip for my sisters honeymoon as a surprise for her and her fiancee Is it cheaper to do-it-yourself or will I be better to go to a travel agent. As I am paying for 4 adults and 1 child any suggestions to make this a bit cheaper would be appreciated. Thanx Lisaanne

 

[Jacqui.s]

For scheduled flights, the lower economy fares don't seem to be released until around 6 months before departure. It is my understanding that availability shouldn't be a problem unless you are planning the trip in school holidays.

Using priceline for your hotels can save you a lot of money - but it is very important to spend some time on research so you know exactly what you are letting yourself in for. www.biddingfortravel.com & www.betterbidding.com are both excellent sites which can teach you how to use priceline well and remove some (alas never all) of the uncertainty.

 

[edie w]

We've booked through a travel agent for flights and car hire, as there seemed to be little difference in price in flights. Having lurked on these boards for a while I see I might have saved a bit on booking car hire separately. There's a thread beginning "why is car hire so expensive" on this board which you might find interesting.

You will definitely save lots by booking your accommodation separately. I've been recommending DIY villa booking to anyone who will listen - it's very good value - but this might not get your sister and her new husband the privacy they require.

Definitely book flights first though, and as soon as you can.

Good luck!

 

[lisaanne]

thanx for your replies. I wonder if you could give me a rough idea of the kind of price I should expect to pay for flights and also where the best place to book a villa would be?The flights I have looked at so far have been over £600 and it sems that a package holiday would just be a little more than that. I have used priceline before when i was in florida in July and was more than happy with the hotel we got in downtown disney ( - the Hilton.) We were staying on international drive as part of a package holiday but, fancied a night at disney so booked with priceline while we were out there. If you have any other tips about booking this holiday myself this would be greatly appreciated

 

[BevS97]

£600 seems an awful lot just for flights. We went last year and paid under £200 each, but that was for indirect flights (in June)
This year we are flying Virgin and are paying around £300 each in late Nov/Dec. I wouldn't pay more than £350ish for flights personally.

Have you looked at www.bon-voyage.co.uk, they tend to have competitive flight prices. Randomly selecting May 20th, they are showing flights from £469

We've booked an apartment with www.statesideuk.com and the prices can't really be beat compared with a hotel. We are getting a 2 bed apartment for £295/week although this is in the very low seaeson.

Bev