Expert advice: How to book your holiday in 10 minutes!
Travel agent and mum Claire Spencer shares ideas for getting your summer hols sorted.
Minimise the time spent searching for your ideal holiday. And when you find it, book it before it goes up in price!
Before you start
Ask yourself these important questions:
• When can you travel? Put the absolute earliest date (even the night before) and the very latest you can return. For the perfect deal it may be worth it.
• What accommodation do you prefer?
• What is the minimum star rating you want?
• What kind of food basis do you want – self catering, all-inclusive, half board?
• What room types are you looking for? Are you prepared to share one room? It may be worth looking at aparthotels that have 2 or 3 bedroomed apartments but still offer hotel facilities.
• What are your priorities? eg kids’ clubs, golf course, buffet style restaurants for kids, air conditioning, waterslides etc; how close to the beach?
• How much? Set yourself a maximum budget – hopefully you will find something for less!
Where to go?
• This is where speaking to your local travel agent can save you a lot of legwork.
• Also ask around – you can benefit from others’ family holiday experiences.
Holiday review websites
• Look only at the most recent reviews as they reflect the current service and staff.
• Look for people that travelled at the same time of year. A family holidaying in June can have a very different experience from one visiting in August.
• Try
www.tripadvisor.com or www.holidays-uncovered.co.uk
Savvy tip
Remember if you are choosing all-inclusive stays, the star rating of the hotel generally reflects the standard of all of your food and drink as well as the room. It may be worth paying a little more to get a higher star rating.
Pass it on – what’s the weather like?
Remember to consider the temperature – Turkey and even southern Spain can be very hot in July and August. www.weather.com