Package holidays bundle your flights, hotel and transfers into one booking, usually with ATOL protection built in. Here is what easyJet Holidays, Jet2holidays and other UK package operators actually include, how their prices and terms compare, and what happens to your money if a company collapses. For airline-specific baggage and check-in rules rather than package terms, see our airline guides.
Package holiday guides
easyJet Holidays
Flights, hotel, 23kg baggage and transfers in one ATOL-protected package.
Jet2holidays
What’s included, honest pricing and how it compares with booking DIY.
TUI Holidays
What is included, ATOL and ABTA cover, and how TUI compares with Jet2holidays and easyJet Holidays.
loveholidays
No captive airline, no resort rep, no ABTA, often the cheapest headline price.
On the Beach
No captive airline, no resort rep, but keeps ABTA cover alongside ATOL, often at a lower price than Jet2 or TUI.
Thomas Cook
No captive airline since 2019, cheap short-haul prices, and the only way to package a Ryanair flight with a hotel.
Virgin Holidays
Long-haul specialist flying mostly on Virgin Atlantic’s own aircraft, but no price-match guarantee.
British Airways Holidays
Long-haul specialist flying its own aircraft, with a price-lock guarantee instead of a price-match promise.
Expedia
No captive airline, no ABTA, but the widest reach of any operator here: flights, hotels and cars from almost anywhere.
Lastminute.com
No captive airline or ABTA cover, but ATOL/ABTOT protected, with the Top Secret Hotel blind-booking deal as its signature product.
Mercury Holidays
Small independent operator with escorted tours and river cruises, both ABTA and ATOL protected, and a 4.7 Trustpilot score.
Exoticca
Multi-country, multi-city escorted tours to 60+ countries, not single-resort beach holidays.
What’s actually included
The inclusions that vary most between providers, and where the hidden costs hide.
Wowcher
A voucher marketplace, not a tour operator. What the CMA and ASA found, and how to spot a genuine deal.
How package holiday companies compare
Three things decide whether a package holiday is good value: how little you need to pay upfront, how easily you can get your money back if plans change, and whether the price is protected if a cheaper deal turns up. Here is how twelve of the UK’s biggest package holiday operators compare on each, based on their current published terms. Wowcher isn’t included in this table: it’s a voucher marketplace that resells deals from third-party merchants rather than a package holiday operator with its own deposit and cancellation terms, so it’s covered separately in our Wowcher guide.
| Low deposit | Balance due | Price-match | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| easyJet Holidays | £60pp | 28 days before travel | Yes | Deposit as credit up to 60 days before travel |
| Jet2holidays | £60pp | 10 weeks before travel | Yes | Deposit only lost 70+ days out |
| TUI | £60pp short-haul | 30 days before travel | Yes | Full deposit £200-250pp |
| loveholidays | £19pp short-haul, £29pp long-haul | Varies by payment plan chosen | Yes | Full deposit stays payable |
| On the Beach | From £19pp | Varies by supplier | Yes | £50pp (60+ days), £100pp (inside 60 days) |
| Thomas Cook | From around £19-39pp | Varies by supplier | Yes | £75 flat fee per booking |
| Virgin Holidays | £175pp standard | 12 weeks (84 days) before travel | No | Loss of deposit 84+ days out |
| British Airways Holidays | No fixed figure | 4 weeks before short-haul, 7 weeks before long-haul | No | Loss of deposit 28+ days out (35 for ski) |
| Expedia | No fixed scheme | N/A, usually paid in full at booking | No | Varies by rate booked |
| Lastminute.com | Book Now Pay Later | Closer to departure | Yes | £45pp admin fee (packages) |
| Mercury Holidays | From £250pp (beach) or £295pp (tours/cruises) | 12 weeks before travel | Yes | Deposit only 84+ days out |
| Exoticca | No fixed figure | 70 days before travel | Yes | 60% of cost 60+ days out |
When you compare package holidays side by side, deposit and price-match terms only tell half the story. Customer service varies more than the price suggests: slow refunds and unhelpful chatbots are the most common complaints on review sites like Trustpilot and Feefo, and a cheap package that scores badly on service can cost you more in stress than it saves in cash. Our company guides above work through the detail for each provider, starting with easyJet Holidays and Jet2holidays.
Which term matters most depends on how far ahead you book. If you’re booking six months or more out, a low deposit protects your cash flow while your plans could still change. If your dates are fixed and unlikely to move, the balance-due date and cancellation terms matter more than the deposit, since you’re locking in the full price regardless. Either way, always screenshot the price and terms at the point of booking, in case a company later disputes what you were quoted.
Most package holidays sold in the UK are ATOL protected. It is a legal requirement for any UK company selling a flight-inclusive package: if the company collapses before you travel, ATOL refunds you in full, and if it collapses while you’re away, it brings you home and covers the protected parts of your trip. Dynamically packaged bookings, where you book flights and a hotel separately even through the same website, are not always covered, so check for an ATOL certificate at checkout. Since April 2026, CAA rules also require the ATOL logo or the words “ATOL Protected” on digital adverts for flight-inclusive packages, making it easier to spot cover before you book. Package holidays without a flight, such as coach or rail trips, are not legally required to carry ATOL and instead often rely on ABTA membership, which covers your legal right to the holiday you paid for rather than a straight refund. Full detail is on the Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL protection pages.
Looking for prices instead, see the latest UK travel deals.