Thomson Flights - very cheap

If you want to get to some sunny places and make your own arrangements re hotels or whatever, it's worth checking out Thomson Flight i.e. flight only with Thomson holidays.

http://flights.thomson.co.uk/en/index.html

I happen to want to go to Madeira (maybe I like a bit of rain) - it was an arm and a leg with scheduled airlines but only £99 return including taxes from Birmingham, East Midlands and Gatwick (and others). Thomson seem to have virtually their own terminal at Gatwick and the last time I went with them it was a doodle, no queuing, check in at a machine for hand-luggage only passengers. Big disadvantage is getting to the UK airport- most of these flights are maybe once a week and leave very early in the morning so you will end up with at least one overnight in a UK airport - no biggie if you can get a late flight in and get some kip for a few hours before the 6 am departure. Planes were nice and clean, legroom no worse than Ryanair. Spain, Greece, Turkey - some great deals though they have gone up noticeably in the last week.
Probably a lot easier to do the UK leg if you are leaving from Dublin - the lousy selection of flights and times from Cork is frustrating.