Weekender?

[scottb]

Anyone crammed in some clubbing over a weekend? Quite fancy a fly out Thurs night/Fri morning, party hard, take in some sights and head home on the Monday.

Had a quick look around and prices seem to be dear if through agents etc. Guessing the cheapest way would be to book hotels direct and source flights?

Flying from Glasgow / Glasgow Prestwick (at a push).

Any tips ?

 

[kimajy]

Do it. My usual trip length is between 1 and 3 nights. Do it several times a year. It's always totally worth it.

I book flights, car, hotel, insurance, airport parking etc. separately every time.

 

[Ikoda]

Do it. My usual trip length is between 1 and 3 nights. Do it several times a year. It's always totally worth it.

I book flights, car, hotel, insurance, airport parking etc. separately every time.

Not including spending money, what's your average cost for these jaunts of yours?

 

[kimajy]

Not including spending money, what's your average cost for these jaunts of yours?

It varies a lot, Ben, depending mainly on the car hire and flights. I do have target guidelines (which sometimes get broken but anyway you need to start somewhere) so outside of late July/August peak, I aim to spend

- no more than £120 on flights
- up to £35 on airport parking
- no more than 50 Euros/night for a hotel with parking nearby and wifi (I am never in it anyway so just a safe laptop charging / e-mail checking point, place to make a business call from if I absolutely have to, have a shower and dump excess stuff I don't want to carry around in the car boot)
- no more than 40Euros/day on car hire

I sometimes bail trips out with Avios points (or similar) if I have enough and there are seats. On these margins leaves plenty of scope for spending money and as a smoker a 10-carton stock-up alone pays for the trip .

Those figures above get completely blown out of the water in August (impossible to travel at short notice for those figures - double it for flights, hotel and up to 3 times that for a car). September is a terrible month for cost of last-minute travel too - flights and cars especially. Lots of more 'mature' people go in September now and have created their own demand surge which has driven up prices a lot over the last couple of years compared to June/July. For short stays booked close to the travel date it's almost impossible to get seats on award points to the island in September especially anywhere near a weekend.

 

[MiniMarc]

I just did wed - saturday.
Very last minute and obviously more expensive as it was august so the price for flight and acc was similar to what i have paid for 10day trips in the past that have been booked in advance with a good deal. That said I didnt spend much while I was there , avg 50euros/day somedays less

 

[Ikoda]

Thanks for the info mate. May look at doing shorter stops next year - dunno how I feel about going out by myself though

 

[Scottish-Helen]

Had a quick look around and prices seem to be dear if through agents etc. Guessing the cheapest way would be to book hotels direct and source flights?

Check your flights using Skyscanner as this will compare different airlines including low costs. Sometimes it's cheaper to fly out with one airline and back with another although watch out for those pesky booking fees.

For accomodation this year I've used Spotlight and Travel Republic for the 2 places I'm staying but there are plenty of other websites for booking accomodation.

 

[Scottish-Helen]

September is a terrible month for cost of last-minute travel too - flights and cars especially. Lots of more 'mature' people go in September now and have created their own demand surge which has driven up prices a lot over the last couple of years compared to June/July.

Not sure about last minute stuff so much but the accomodation prices are LOADS cheaper in September which is why I often end up going then.

 

[scottb]

Check your flights using Skyscanner as this will compare different airlines including low costs. Sometimes it's cheaper to fly out with one airline and back with another although watch out for those pesky booking fees.

For accomodation this year I've used Spotlight and Travel Republic for the 2 places I'm staying but there are plenty of other websites for booking accomodation.

I've beenhaving a look and flights seem to be pretty dear imo! Looking to get there Thursday the 13th and fly back sunday night or Monday. Prices working out at like 250 a person for flights alone.

Accomodation is reasonable, just the flights that are **** from Glasgow