Travel column with Katie Butler of Total Travel: Never trust a weather app!

We were delighted to be invited by Jet2holidays and ABTA. It’s probably our favourite event of the year and, apart from being a very good excuse to get dressed up, it’s a brilliant opportunity to catch up with travel suppliers and colleagues from across Yorkshire. There’s always plenty of laughing, plenty of catching up, and naturally, plenty of talk about holidays! Oh, and maybe a little dancing. So, a huge thank you to Jet2holidays and ABTA , we had a fantastic evening.

This week, I am writing my column from Portugal. I’m sat on my hotel balcony in Olhos d’Agua, looking out at the sunshine.

If you’ve read this column before, you’ll know that multi-generational holidays have become increasingly popular, particularly since the pandemic. Whether it’s to celebrate a special birthday, an anniversary or simply because the family want to spend some proper time together, taking three generations away on holiday has become a big trend. And this time, I’m practising what I preach.

I’m away with our daughters and our new granddaughters on our very own multi-generational holiday. The occasion? Our granddaughter’s first holiday abroad, and when we were invited along, we didn’t need much persuading!

We are staying at the 3HB Guarana hotel, a family favourite, but I can tell you that quite a lot of research went into deciding where we should stay. When you have got three generations travelling together, there are a few more boxes to tick.

You need somewhere that keeps everyone happy, from the youngest member of the family upwards – and preferably somewhere that doesn’t require a family meeting every morning to decide what everyone is doing!

We chose this time of year because we wanted to enjoy warmer weather without the intense heat of the summer months. Although, judging by the weather app in the run-up to our holiday, you could have been forgiven for thinking we were heading for a week of drizzle.

Thankfully, I think I have established once and for all that you cannot completely trust those weather apps! We have had plenty of sunshine so far.

So, my advice is not to let a weather app fill you with disappointment before you’ve even left home – you might just end up packing the wrong clothes.

Our arrival into Faro was also incredibly straightforward. We were through the e-gates and security very quickly, and our luggage didn’t keep us waiting around either.

I am slightly apprehensive about our journey home though, as we’ve already been told that queues at the airport can be lengthy due to the new EES procedures. So, I’ll report back next week and let you know whether Faro airport was as painless on the way home as it was on arrival.

And finally, a quick look at what’s happening in the world of bookings. Late bookings continue to remain strong, accounting for around 30 per cent of our new bookings last week, with Majorca, Tenerife and Turkey taking the top spots.