Well we know there’s a recession on but I must admit I didn’t think the travel industry were showing much sign of it last year as family summer holidays were still costing an arm and a leg in August when the kids are off school, especially any half decent all inclusive deals. All inclusive holidays are a bit of a minefield as most of them are shockingly bad. People sign up expecting the deal of a lifetime for £200 a week and end up fighting for small cups of watered down beer and night after night of badly cooked, cold and greasy food. But it needn’t be so if you do your homework.

Now this is a fact, I’ve just booked a summer 2010 ALL INCLUSIVE Majorca holiday in MID AUGUST for two adults and a child to a resort that gets 4 out of 5 currently on Tripadvisor for UNDER £1100. Now, in fairness I should point out that we are flying from Liverpool (we would have flown from Manchester but I’ve been reading bad things about the low cost airlines that fly out of there to Majorca, and I’m not talking about Ryanair (who are too expensive though after all their silly extra charges)). No, this was booked with another budget airline, and the hotel was booked seperately WITH transfers to and from the airport. All inclusive, meaning all three GOOD high quality buffet meals (with an option to take  a packed lunch if you’re off out and about!) with unlimited and decent quality drinks, including tea and coffee as well as alcohol. A kids club, a mini disco in the evening (which young kids love even if the grown ups find them a bit dull), loads of sports and activities including a tennis court, a squash court, mini golf, sauna, table tennis and much more. This isn’t bullsh*t I’ve just booked it. And I’ll tell you where and how in a couple of days if you’re interested (though I can’t promise that either the flights or the accomodation will still be available – but it probably will be). I’m only sharing this because I’m so pleased to have got a genuine all-inclusive holiday bargain when the kids are off school for August 2010. Most parents want to take their kids out of school during term time to get the best holiday prices and I can well understand why, but this deal is a bit special. With beer costing between 5 and 8 Euros a pint in much of Majorca at the moment, all inclusive deals with non-watered down drinks and good food AND kids clubs are really hard to find! Can anyone help? Yep!

Now I should point out that this wasn’t booked as a package, but added up, it’s still one so I reckon it’s fair play for packageholidaysale! And it still gives us a flight (and this all includes taxes and luggage allowance), transfers and a well rated all inclusive hotel…..oh and it’s not in the back of beyond either, it’s 500metres to the local resort centre!  Interested?

Great Thomas Cook special offers

Thomas Cook have just announced some pretty interesting special offers for August 2009. Take a look at the holiday deals below which include some pretty big discounts.

Just click on any of these deals to take a closer look.

Last minute holidays are now an automatic 10% off, and as you can see from the list below, Thomas Cook offer a far wider range of holidays than you might think as well as offering worldwide hotel bookings and eurostar travel bookings to Europe and Disneyland Paris.

They are already discounting their skiing holidays for 2009/2010 and offering good discounts on summer 2010 holidays with savings of up to £300.

Thomas Cook can also let you build you own holiday, choosing your own flights and accommodation which may enable you to save money and if you just fancy a good nosey at a fantastic range of holiday destinations, take a look at Thomas Cook TV at the bottom link.

Save up to 10% on last minute holidays With holidays available from only £150pp
Summer 2010 on sale now Save up to £300 on Summer 2010 holidays!
Winter 09 Holidays Prices start from £224, with hundreds of flights are available with no supplements
Greece Holidays Find the cheapest flights, hotels & holidays in Greece.
Amazing Algarve Offers Algarve Breaks from £89
Amazing Cyprus Summer Deals Beautiful destinations, fusing the very best of the East and West, you can save ua guranteed 5% on Cyprus
Lanzarote – beautiful spanish sun at a beautiful price! Resorts such as Costa Teguise, Puerto Del Carmen, Playa Blanca and Puerto Calero are hugely popular with holidaymakers, offering a mix of lively nightlife and relaxing holiday in the sun, taking in the island’s beautiful scenery.
Family Friendly Fun in Majorca Flight + Hotel deals start from £107 to Majorca this summer
Build your Own / Dynamic Packages Flight + Hotel = Flexibility + money saved. Prices start from £89
Hotels 30,000 hotels in 116 countries from just £1pppn
Flights to over 150 airports with Easyjet, BA and more Prices start from £85pp
Eurostar breaks Eurostar breaks with hotels to Paris, Lille, Disneyland Resort Paris, Brussels, Bruges or Antwerp.
Ski Holidays From Beginner to Expert, whatever the budget, Thomas Cook sell the holiday for you.
Clubbing Holidays The Cheapest holidays to the most happening places; Club 18-30 offer all the fun, for an unrivalled price. Get on board and make September 09, the best month of your best summer!
Save Money on Active Holidays When you want a little more from your holiday; book Neilson Active. With optional activities everyday of your holiday, the price of your holiday covers tuition for every level of ability and offers you an unrivalled experience in stunning locations around the world
Watch Free Videos featuring lots of great holiday destinations Want to get a little taste before you travel? Thomas Cook TV has an array of free video’s so that you can get a flavour of what to expect!

Olympic Holidays  specialise in low cost package holidays to Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Turkey and the Canary Islands (amongst others). Their prices are definitely amongst the lowest and they do really great special offers all year round. Right now they are having an all inclusive holiday sale to all resorts with Greece from £399 all inclusive, and Egypt from £329 all inclusive. Hit the advanced search link below to go to their search box now.

Olympic Holidays Advanced Search for package holidays in Summer 2009

Thanks to Mamma Mia, Greece has never been so popular, and with good reason. Also, try and consider some areas that you might be less familiar with, including Cyprus and Croatia because both are beautiful with great holidays to be had cheaply.

Thomas Cook have some great deals at the moment including 5 and 10% off many package holidays including holidays to Greece, Majorca, Turkey, Spain and Portugal (and 10% off all cruises) plus a free competition to win a fantastic holiday in Egypt. Holidays for 2010 are also now available so have a search using the form below.

Jet2Holidays offer great value package holidays to all major European holiday and beach resorts and are currently offering up to 50% off holidays booked within the next two weeks. There has been some debate as to whether or not last minute holidays were going to be cheaper than holidays booked in advance this year and it looks like last minute holidays are the way to go if you are flexible about which holiday resort you want to go to.

Save up to 50% at jet2holidays

Prices currently start at under £200 per person per week, with holidays to Greece, Spain, Croatia, Majorca, Turkey, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Portugal Algarve, Cyprus, Costa Del Sol, Menorca, in fact, every top package holiday destination you can think of.

You can book with a deposit of as little £50 per person, and Jet2Holidays are fully ABTA bonded. Click the swimming pool to the left to find out more.

For some of us, getting a pair of sunglasses is only part of the story because if you normally wear glasses or even contact lenses, then you may need to get your sunglasses fitted with prescription lenses so you can really relax on your holidays. Contact lenses can dry out easily on a hot beach, and prescription sunglasses can really make your holiday experience a lot more comfortable, and that means maximum relaxation for you.

Our favorite online supplier of sunglasses with prescription lenses is Best4Glasses. They have a fantastic range of styish frames at stunning low prices, all of which can be fitted with tinted or photochromatic lenses and with UV protection. Their prices are far cheaper than high street opticians. What’s more, all their glasses and sunglasses come with a no quibble guarantee so if you’re not happy for any reason, they will give you a full refund.

As if their prices aren’t low enough, we got a unique 10% discount code which is valid for a limited period which you can use to save even more on your order. Simple enter this code when you checkout: AFWC10.

Best4Glasses also sell very cheap regular prescription glasses online so why not get yourself a new pair for the evening, and a new pair for braving the sunshine while you’re on holiday. Regular prescription glasses start at a crazy £10 per pair! Take a look and save yourself some serious cash by planning ahead and buying your prescription glasses or sunglasses online.

UK P&P is FREE as well, so there are no hidden charges.