First holiday, advice?

raveninkd

So I've never booked a holiday. I'm terrified of planes, heights and consistently worried/anxious about everything from dying to terrorist attacks so I've never had it in my mind that me+planes=yes until now. I dunno why I just have reached the age of 22 and yearn to get away for a break.

I've been tempted by expedia, and lastminute but both have awful trustpilot reviews.

What sites did you use consistently and love? I really cant deal with last minute issues with hotels/flights on top of my anxiety so yeah thanks in advance!

Our budget is quite small tbh at 200-250 pp

whomitconcerns

Both of the companies you mentioned are fine. Well used and recommended. Worrying about flights, terrorists etc is not worth it. They can happen to you in your bed while asleep so try not to think of them while out and about.

Go book and enjoy!

allthedoyles

we use www.booking.com

Zaph

Go to Kayak, click on "Explore" and you can set your dates and budget and it will come up with a range of options for you. As for being afraid of heights, you're nicely self-contained in a plane so unless you have a window seat you will be blissfully unaware of how high up you actually are.

raveninkd

whomitconcerns wrote: »

Both of the companies you mentioned are fine. Well used and recommended. Worrying about flights, terrorists etc is not worth it. They can happen to you in your bed while asleep so try not to think of them while out and about.

Go book and enjoy!

judging by trustpilot and the amount of people commenting on their facebook with issues I can't say I see any recommendations for them.

as for kayak they just send you on to expedia and other sites so I don't think that is a great option for me.

idk, im not great at making plans I always have to research and read reviews because as much as I'd like to not worry anxiety always has other plans.

NIMAN

All joking aside, have you ever been on a plane?

If yes, why are you terrified?
If no, then how do you know you'd be terrified on one?

I am not a mad fan of flying, was on a very bad flight one time which scared the bejesus out of me, but I still fly. You have to if you want to get away. Simple as.

Flying is still, by far, the safest way to travel.

As for terrorists, your chance of ever getting caught up in a terrorist attack is beyond tiny, less than winning the euromillions, so again don't let that stop you enjoying life.

Book something and go.

allthedoyles

Drive . Its motorway all the way to London . Driving in UK is a cinch .

Zaph

raveninkd wrote: »

as for kayak they just send you on to expedia and other sites so I don't think that is a great option for me.

You don't have to use Kayak to book, but you can use it to research what options are available to you within your price range. Your budget isn't huge so you want to get as much bang for your buck as possible.

As regards all the reviews, people are far more likely to post a negative review about something than they are a positive one, so it's inevitable that you're seeing bad reviews for the sites you've looked at. What you're not seeing is the millions of people who have used those sites without any problems and who would be happy to use them again in the future.

raveninkd

NIMAN wrote: »

All joking aside, have you ever been on a plane?

If yes, why are you terrified?
If no, then how do you know you'd be terrified on one?

I am not a mad fan of flying, was on a very bad flight one time which scared the bejesus out of me, but I still fly. You have to if you want to get away. Simple as.

Flying is still, by far, the safest way to travel.

As for terrorists, your chance of ever getting caught up in a terrorist attack is beyond tiny, less than winning the euromillions, so again don't let that stop you enjoying life.

Book something and go.

Never been on a plane but I know I panic when im going up in elevators etc, it's just an irrational thing that I know I shouldn't but can't stop. My main fear is the whole if we go down there's barely any chance you'll survive it and even if you do you'll wonder why other people didn't when you did.

also to other commenters, has anyone booked with expedia/lastminute and had a good experience? I know a lot of people dont post their positive reviews but when it's 99% bad its scary because for my first trip if something goes wrong at the airport with the flight or at the hotel since some people have said those two places never even booked their stuff or some said the hotels had no idea they were booked in.

I also don't drive, it's just not something I'm interested in between tax, nct, insurance, break downs etc you're just basically throwing money at it for years while still paying it off so I see buses/trains as better options for me personally.

I'll see if kayak helps for now

thanks for the help so far, I do appreciate it.

anne burnell

Check out clickandgo or trailfinders good sites and super prices

Mrs OBumble

raveninkd wrote: »

Our budget is quite small tbh at 200-250 pp

Are you talking about a weekend? Cos that's all that budget will get you. Is a weekend really woth the hassle?

Duncanwooly

You have to start somewhere. Look for a little weekend away in the UK. Cheap flights that are about 45 mins each. The €/£ is amazing atm.
Flying is one of the safest modes of transport in the world.
Don't rush to book something straight away, plan it so you can travel at a quieter time for the airport and the number of people on the flight, the UK's a good one cause if you really don't like it you can get the ferry back.

dizzyn

+1 for the UK. I recommend Liverpool. The flights are very inexpensive and you can book them directly through ryanair, usually for around 30 pp. The flight is extremely short, less than 30 mins in the air. You're only up and then you're landing. We did this trip for my sister's first time on a plane and she was absolutely fine.

Hotels are great value too. We use booking.com and find the rates extremely good. I always check that the hotel offers free cancellation before booking too. They ask for a card but don't take any money, it's just to complete the booking.

Liverpool is a lively city and would be ideal for a first break. It's not busy and not over run with tourists, making it far less stressful than London for example. There's plenty to do, lovely restaurants and bars, great shopping and very good transport, the taxis are so cheap! You can also get to most places on foot if you choose a central hotel.

Holidays and breaks away are so much fun, so try not to put too much pressure on yourself. It seems daunting but will all be worth it. Keep it simple for this trip and then build it up more the next time you go somewhere!

Lia_lia

OP I often use Expedia and it's fine. In fact most of these websites are. I usually use Booking.com as they often have the cheapest deals. Or else Ebookers as they have a good rewards system.

One thing I would recommend doing is contacting the hotel and/or airline company a few days after booking to make sure they got your reservation from the agent you booked it from.

MickH503

https://www.loveholidays.ie/holidays/#page=1&state=AgoUKF1zgKLLUFMEQIAAAgA


It all depends where you want to go. The link above is for dates in October - 4 nights ... you can see the cheapest (flights+hotel) is 120 euro per person for two people in the Costa Brava or around 180 pps for all inclusive. You can play around with options and dates. Click on the "Check Availabiliy" button on a particular choice of accommodation and it should show you the prices for that month.
I've booked with Loveholidays.ie for next year, but my friend has used them a few times with no problems and getting great deals.