How much for a week in Lanzarote?
Where:A week in the Canaries
When:September 6th-13th
With the tour operator
Budget Travel has a week at a four-star hotel in Lanzarote in September, with a basic price of a shade over €1,250 for a couple. According to the tour operator, Hotel Los Fariones, in Puerta del Carmen, is "long established" and "very well known" and offers "high standard accommodation". There is direct access to a sandy cove, and the main beach is 100m away. The town is within walking distance.
The basic price we are quoted is €1,258, with an online discount of €20. That is soon wiped out when we factor in all the extras.
Transfers are now considered an extra by Budget, to the tune of €24. There is also a flight supplement of €30, seat reservations of €10, airport taxes and charges of €54.52, a fuel surcharge of €50 and a late-booking fee of €30, all of which add nearly €200 to the total price of the holiday.
Total€1,436.52.
On our own
Booking through the website www.lanzarote.comwe are given a quote of €1,036.84 for seven nights half-board at the same hotel.
We can't get good-value flights leaving for the island on the same Saturday, so we opt for a departure on the previous Thursday instead.
Flights with Aer Lingus cost €232 per person. When taxes, baggage charges of €36 and a handling fee of €12 are added, the total cost of our flights rises to €606.
This takes the total cost of our DIY holiday so far to more than €1,600. We then have to add taxi transfers of about €50 return.
Total€1,692.84.
Tour operator savings€256.32.