Is renting a holiday place seen as a lower-cost holiday?

Using press and magazine advertising, brochures, mailings - old hat or still cost-effective?
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Ben McNevis
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Is renting a holiday place seen as a lower-cost holiday?

Post by Ben McNevis »

Something just reminded me of a Which? magazine survey several (like 10) years back in which they compared the price/value of an "independent" holiday against a tour-operator holiday.

Unfortunately, the scope of the comparison was rather narrow and, in my view, unbalanced so that the package holiday was bound to win. The main problem being that they compared hotel-based holidays only and ignored self-catering.

I know exactly how Which? would defend that: by saying that they must compare like with like and that independent or privately owned and run self catering accommodation isn't bookable through tour operators so they weren't comparable. That's OK, but it doesn't help answer the big question and the result of the survey appeared to be a generalisation that package holidays offer better value than independent. Which, as we all know, is tosh.

So, now that apparently hard times are ahead, I'm wondering whether people are likely to turn away from the tour operators and go independent and for most types of holiday get rather more for their money or whether the perception that package holidays are better value still persists?
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Re: Is renting a holiday place seen as a lower-cost holiday?

Post by TTP mk2 »

BenFrirnan wrote:I'm wondering whether people are likely to turn away from the tour operators and go independent and for most types of holiday get rather more for their money or whether the perception that package holidays are better value still persists?
Is independent better value ?

I've only ever been on 2 package holidays, one a hotel in Tunisia & one a villa in Tuscany & both were cheaper as a package than I could have booked the hotel/villa/flights/car hire etc.

Having said that, do people book holidays based upon price or do they decide what type of holiday they want & then look for the best value for that type of holiday.
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Post by Ben McNevis »

Perhaps I should have made this post a poll. I've made the assumption that renting privately gives you better value than a package.

Maybe I'm wrong.

However, if I look at some of our ski trips in the last few years, there's no way a ski tour operator could compete with Easyjet/car hire/private apartment. Maybe it's the kind of holidays that we tend to take, but I feel that in general my assumption is right.

Certainly I think that people know what kind of holiday they want and then look for the best value for that kind of holiday, and that doesn't rule out selecting between package and independent once you've decided where you want to go.

What I'm wondering, as budgets get tighter and I believe that people don't want to miss out on a holiday, will they be more or less likely to go independent?
Cheers, Ben
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Post by Hells Bells »

Ben, I agree with you on the ski packages.If you take out the elements you cannot alter, such as ski pass, ski hire and lessons, then private rental compares very favourably.
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Post by TTP mk2 »

HelenB wrote:If you take out the elements you cannot alter, such as ski pass, ski hire and lessons, then private rental compares very favourably.
I've never been on a ski holiday, but aren't things like passes, hire, lessons often included in packages, if so you aren't comparing like for like.
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Post by Hells Bells »

Not many operators include passes, lessons or hire in the holiday price now, except for some low end chalet companies (mainly schools TO's ) and some higher end ones such as Club Med. They are usually available to add on as extras
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Post by TTP mk2 »

BenFrirnan wrote:that doesn't rule out selecting between package and independent once you've decided where you want to go.
Which is what I said (or meant to say)
What I'm wondering, as budgets get tighter and I believe that people don't want to miss out on a holiday, will they be more or less likely to go independent?
That's based upon the assumption that independent is cheaper, which I don't accept in all cases.

As budgets get tighter I think people will look in more detail for what is in fact the best value & might compromise on details where they didn't in the past.
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Post by TTP mk2 »

HelenB wrote:They are usually available to add on as extras
Thanks, are they normally cheaper, more expensive or the same when bought through the tour operator ?
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Post by Normandy Cow »

The thing that really winds me up is when I read/hear reports that say that due to the sterling/euro exchange rate it is cheaper to take a holiday in the US.

Well, yes, once you're there it is probably much cheaper, but the cost of getting there and probably car hire at the other end (as opposed to driving to France via Dover-Calais for example) must far outweigh any of the savings! (Or am I mistaken?)

EDIT
I've just read the thread about Ryanair about to offer £10 Transatlantic flights - so yes, I probably am mistaken!!!! :? :lol:
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Post by TTP mk2 »

Normandy Cow wrote:The thing that really winds me up is when I read/hear reports that say that due to the sterling/euro exchange rate it is cheaper to take a holiday in the US.
It is true to say that US the is now cheaper & the euro zone is more expensive than it was a year ago therefore people who wouldn't have considered the US in the past may now find it within their budget but it isn't very easy to do a like for like comparison
Well, yes, once you're there it is probably much cheaper, but the cost of getting there and probably car hire at the other end (as opposed to driving to France via Dover-Calais for example) must far outweigh any of the savings! (Or am I mistaken?)
Depends where in France, according to the AA it cost about 50p a mile to run a car & it's 700 miles to Perpignan, (may be an extreme but I have holidayed there) so even without any running about that makes USD 1,200 worth of car hire, again it's difficult to do a direct comparison
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Post by Nessie »

I have not been to the states for well over 20 years so have no idea of the cost of food etc and how much things cost.

I have just done a very quick costing for a package holiday self catering with private pool including flights and car hire for 2 weeks in July, the cost came out at 3850 for a family of 4.
booking flights car hire and villa privatley it came to about 3600.

then looked at the cost of someone renting a friend house down in the south west of france and driving and that works out at approx 3150 but does not include the ferry and is coming from the london area.

but its so hard to judge as nothing is really like for like and at the end of the day it depends on what type of holiday you are looking for
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Post by Nessie »

Also you would not be able to buy a package to my friends house
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Post by Hells Bells »

TTP mk2 wrote:
HelenB wrote:They are usually available to add on as extras
Thanks, are they normally cheaper, more expensive or the same when bought through the tour operator ?
Depends on the exchange rate when the brochure was published, but in my experience, usually more expensive through tour ops brochure than when purchased in resort. For example, when we went to Canada I could not buy a youth pass for my kids through TO, but saved several hundred dollars doing so in resort.
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Post by Ben McNevis »

I thought I'd try a quick test. I looked at the next date that I'm likely to go to the Canaries and looked for a package that has a similar level of accommodation close to ours. I found one in First Choice and checked the price for a week for 2 adults self catering (Rio Piedras Apartments). The price from Gatwick is £946.

Next, I worked out the same trip, using easyjet, car hire and a week in our apartment at the rate we would charge for that week. The total comes to £610. I rest my case. Oh, and on top of that difference, you've got a week's car hire included in the way I worked it out but, as the airport transfers are daytime, you could actually use the express bus instead and save another £88. I very rest my case.
Cheers, Ben
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