Holiday 1 (Family Trip) - Pays de la Loire, France, 2 adults, 2 children, 27th March - 2nd April 2016
We are off to visit my parents and taking my nephews too (aged 9 and 6). The Loire Valley is well-known for wine-making and also the Le Mans 24 hour racing. Mum and Dad are about 2 hours from Paris and it's a lovely location for some peace and quiet.
Option 1: drive via the Channel Tunnel, use your Tesco Clubcard vouchers to triple up on clubcard points! This takes approximately 10 hours door-to-door from Dorset, England.
Option 2: drive and take the ferry with Brittany Ferries! Unfortunately no chance to use clubcard points but it means the kids can run around and it's a lot less stressful driving-wise! Routes from Portsmouth to Caen or Le Havre, there's always something to fit your travel plans. You will have your fuel costs and then the ferry cost for a return trip £338 during school Easter Holidays.
Total ferry cost per person - £84.50
Holiday 2 (Twin Centre) - Hong Kong and Ubud, Bali, 2 adults, 28th May - 13th June 2016
For a twin centre trip there are not many DIY deals you can do, unless you want to pay for all the flights and hotel stays separately. If that's the case I don't think it'll end up much/any cheaper than going with a tour operator. This is an extravagant trip for us but it'll be worthwhile I'm sure.
We weren't entirely sure where we wanted to go, so I was browsing on Hayes & Jarvis and the online chat window popped up. I typed in what we were after (4/5* 14 night trip over 2 destinations, perhaps Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur and a couple of hotel choices in Bali) and they whizzed over 4 holiday choices. By luck the cheapest quote was the one we wanted, hurrah! To top it all off I was a bit cheeky and asked about a further early booking discount and got another substantial saving! It doesn't hurt to ask, so remember for next time!
Hong Kong - Harbour Grand Hotel 5* Hong Kong Island, 4 nights B&B, free room upgrade
Ubud, Bali - Maya Ubud Resort & Spa 10 nights B&B, private car transfers
All flights and transfers are included
Total per adult for flights, transfers and accommodation - £1,780
Holiday 3 (Private Villa) - Madeira, Atlantic Ocean, 2 adults, 27th August - 3rd September 2016
This vacation does take place during the school holidays and therefore is a bit more expensive than if we went a couple of week later. We booked flights with Easyjet (hand luggage only, cabin case with no weight limit) from London Gatwick to Funchal Madeira at £305.95 each return with seats being pre-booked (**further notes below on this)
The villa with private pool I shopped around for because it was on AirBNB, Holiday Lettings and various other sites. Finally we booked through Homeaway (Angels in Paradise, Calheta) which sleeps up to 6 people - £213.50 Total per adult for flights and accommodation - £519.45
**Get a bargain with flights and use Nectar points towards the cost - definitely recommend if you are a regular online shopper, a great money saving method to online shopping.
Our final trip is still to be confirmed, but it's likely to be a UK break as per last year, perhaps in Wales or Scotland so we can take the dog with us, he loves having time at the beach too! If you need any help or advise with your travel plans/ideas please do not hesitate to contact me, I'd be happy to help!
