I have not been on holiday abroad for a few years but have a chance to take the family to spain for a week next year. Where do i look for a good all inclusive deal nowadays? Is it still Onthebeach.com or is there anywhere else that is cheaper or has more choice? Ive compared onthebeach with thomsons and the deals are a lot cheaper however the hotels are obviously not quite as good. I am not after 5 star or anything just something that gets half decent reviews.

When? Where? and how much?

The Cala Gracio in Ibiza is a brilliant hotel, great all inclusive food, very few British visitors and adult only too. Not cheap mind but worth every penny.

Looking at Costa brava or similar. Thought that would be cheaper flight wise as its closer. Hoping to pay around £2500 at the most for a week all inclusive. Theres a few on onthebeach at that price but i’m after more choice.

sunshine.co.uk is worth a look, it’s where I’ve booked through the last few years.

First Choice have ‘all inclusive’ on all of their Holiday so at least it makes searching easier.

I went on my first and only package holiday with First Choice a couple of years ago to Bulgaria – it was a 5* hotel and was pretty nice, food wasn’t great though and the soft drinks and beer etc was horrible – we ate out most evenings mostly to avoid the people who saw all-inclusive as a challenge got horribly drunk from lunch to when they locked up at 1am, but not before they stock-piled plastic cups of crap booze to take back to their rooms.

I use travel Republic as they’re one of the few sites with live flight prices.
Having used ice lolly etc, the price suddenly goes up when you go to book and they check out the flights.

I have gone all-inclusive for the last two years and in the end we found Thomson to be as cheaper or cheaper than anywhere else online.

I think I have had my fill after two years back-to-back on them though.

Find a hotel on any of the Holiday companies mentioned then just go direct to the hotel and save £100’s

We booked a week in Majorca for 2 adults and 2 children and saved £600 off a £1900 Thomson price in June, booked flights ( one little tip for Ryanair if taking kids, book one adult and 2 children luggage allowance as the kids are half price), we booked a nice merc minibus to pick us up that was less than the Thomson coach transfer and quicker obviously.

Find a hotel on any of the Holiday companies mentioned then just go direct to the hotel and save £100’s

We tried that and it was much more.

Apparently one way of doing it is to buy the standard B&B deal through the tour operator then buying up to the All Inclusive option when you arrive.

Ok for info we booked in March and went in June so not sure if that was the reason why we got it cheaper, We’ve done it this way for last 10 years or so and got great deals.

After many years of all inclusive we went away last summer and ended up having a few drinks out. It surprised me how cheap it is now in many typical summer holiday destinations (Spain and Greece!). €1.50-2 for a beer, even better now the exchange rate has improved.

So this summer we went self catered for the first time. Beers and soft drinks the fridge, quiet pool area, few cereals etc… Then ate out every night. Spent less than we would on an all inclusive holiday.

Anyway to answer your question… Try Easyjet holidays, Lowcostholidays, travel supermarket (think you end up having to call travel agents who advertise). Do lots of research but take some trip advisor reviews with a pinch of salt!

+1 Travel Republic. By far the best ‘package’ website in terms of choosing suitable flights and then adding in accommodation of your choice.

http://www.wowcher.co.uk/travel-deals/london/deal-450106-detail/129pp-crystal-travel-night-inclusive-mallorca/deal.html?searchresult=true

We find Jet2 Holidays pretty cheap. Certainly when we have compared to First Choice etc. However we also live within 15 minutes of Leeds Bradford Airport which they fly out of.

They do free child places up to 12 yrs.

They do free child places up to 12 yrs.

Yeah right. And all the holidays are more expensive. Seriously – we jumped on the free child place offer last year and within a few £££ they were the same price as the equivalent (ie identical hotel, same day) through Thomson.

Don’t believe the marketing.

When we went to Cala d’Or in August, we decided to go B&B this time – we generally only eat two meals a day. We probably spent a little bit more eating/drinking out than we offset against the cost of going AI, but had far better food and drink in far nicer surroundings than the hotel