The challenge is a simple one. “Sean,” they ask, “can you beat the tour operators’ prices on a range of city breaks, using the internet to find flights and hotels on your own?”

“Sure can,” I tell them. But the truth is, I’m not sure. It’s been so long since I booked a package holiday to the likes of New York or Paris that I don’t have a clue how the operators’ prices compare to doing it yourself. Are there, in fact, any city-break “specialists” left? Is buying a package from them quicker or easier than putting a break together on your own? And have they come up with a cunning plan to beat the web?

It’s time to find out.

PARIS BY EUROSTAR

The train is switching stations this autumn, relocating to the glittering new St Pancras terminus on November 14, and I don’t need any more of an excuse than that: here comes a two-night break, to gorge myself and kick up the autumn leaves. The Paris Travel Service is my first port of call. Years back, this company bestrode the Paris city-break market like a colossus. But what’s this? It’s all but disappeared, appearing as one logo among many on the Cresta Holidays website (www.crestaholidays.co.uk).

No matter – Cresta seems well equipped to help me. I select the “Eurostar plus hotel” option, enter my travel times and select my hotel type (I go for three-star). Wow. There are 50 to choose from. But as I scroll through the list, my excitement evaporates. Most are members of the big chains. They look cramped, functional and not remotely romantic.

The four-stars look better. My eyes alight on the magic words “Marais” and “newly renovated” – which are used to describe the Golden Tulip Little Palace. Within 14 minutes of logging on, I have my package price: £253pp, including breakfast.

That seems pretty cheap to me, and I’m worried I won’t be able to beat it. But when I search for the same train at www.eurostar.co.uk, I’m quoted a return price of £109pp, and my confidence returns. With good reason: at www.goldentulip.co.uk, I’m able to line up the same double room for two nights for just £99.30pp, without breakfast, which costs £8.80pp extra a day. Total cost of my DIY break: £226pp, including breakfast – a saving of £27pp.

Conclusion: once again, the tour operator’s package looks like poor value, and assembling my own break took only six minutes longer.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IN NYC

To get myself in the groove, I’ll start with something easy. The dollar’s in the doldrums, and I’ve got Christmas stockings to fill. How about a yuletide bite of the Big Apple?

I go to the New York section of Virgin Holidays’ website (www.virginholidays.co.uk). There are 38 hotels to choose from. Because shopping is going to be such a big part of the trip, I’m plumping for the SoHo Grand on West Broadway, close to many of the city’s chicest stores. The guideline brochure price is £699pp, room-only, for three nights.

After five minutes of fruitless clicking, I accept that the online booking facility isn’t working and ring the reservations number (0871 222 5824). I wait about four minutes to be connected, then I’m told the SoHo Grand is already full. So is the Tribeca Grand, and the Hudson, and the Hilton on Times Square. But there are two rooms at the Flatotel. I go for the deluxe queen.

It takes a while for the agent to check all of this out, but eventually I get my total package price. With flights, it comes to £985pp. Yikes! Beating that should be easy.

It is. Zoom is one of the new breed of budget transatlantic carriers, and after three minutes on its website (www.flyzoom.com) I’ve found flights, at about the same times as Virgin’s, for just £261.75pp.

Next, I go to the Flatotel website (www.flatotel.com) and check out room availability. The Virgin Holidays agent said there were only two rooms left, but when I deal directly with the hotel, I discover there are loads. I can get my deluxe queen for three nights for £422.70pp.

So, my final DIY price is £684.45pp, compared with Virgin Holidays’ quote of £985pp. Blimey, Virgin. Can you be serious?

Conclusion: it took 27 minutes to check out the Virgin package, but just 20 to research and book my own version – which was £300 cheaper. You’d be nuts to book a package.

SPRING IN VENICE
This time, it’s a top-of-the-range, three-night weekend in Venice in April, and Kuoni (01306 747002, www.kuoni.co.uk) is the next tour op to face the challenge.

I want to try the Bauer Palladio (www.palladio hotelspa.it), because the Travel section recently sent a Where Was I? winner there, and they came back purring. The only problem is, Kuoni won’t let me book it, despite the fact that rooms are already on offer through the hotel’s own website. The reason? At the time of writing, Kuoni hasn’t published its Italian brochure.

So, instead, I get a quote for the Palladio’s sister property, the Palazzo, which is included in Kuoni’s (already published) World Class brochure. Staying in a “palatial” lagoon-view room, a three-night trip from April 24 to 27 will cost £1,256pp, B&B, including economy flights on BA and private water-taxi transfers.

All that fiddling around takes about 30 minutes. Putting all the elements together myself – booking exactly the same class of room direct with the hotel (www.bauerhotels.com), the same flights with British Airways (www.ba.com), plus a water taxi (venice.airports-shuttle.com) – uses up a whole hour. But then it costs £1,096pp – a saving of £160pp.

Conclusion: yes, an hour on the internet is a pain, but it saved me a total of £320.

SO, WHAT’S the lesson? Well, it’s just as I thought. The components of the basic city-break package are so easy to find online, the tour operators simply can’t compete any more. What’s more, broadband speeds mean you can put it all together almost as fast as the professionals.

So should we write off city packages for good? Not so fast. What if you’re after more than just a flight and a hotel? The smart operators have realised they’ve got to do more than just get us there and put us up: they need to offer something we’d find tricky (or downright impossible) to do for ourselves.

Take Martin Randall (www.martinrandall.com), which offers a number of music festivals that are exclusive to its guests: its Rome Festival, from February 3-9 next year, includes private concerts, lectures and a private view of the Sistine Chapel. Prices start at £1,990.

In the same vein, Kirker (020 7593 2288, www.kirkerholidays.com) has packages with lots of hard-to-organise bolt-ons: its five-night Berlin tour includes the services of an academic, Tim Schmutzler, and dinner in the Reichstag, for £1,384pp. And Specialtours (020 7730 2297, www.specialtours.co.uk) has a four-night tour of the gardens and palaces of Piedmont with Sir Roy Strong as guest lecturer, for £1,620pp. You won’t find that sort of stuff on Google – and until you can, tour operators will have their uses.

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