GO HOLIDAY DIY

How much for a week on Cape Cod?

Where: Cape Cod, US

When: September 6th-20th

With the tour operator Amercian Airlines is offering two weeks in the Massachusetts seaside town of Falmouth for close to €2,400 for a couple. The package has us staying in the Shoreway Acre, a lovely-looking colonial hotel in a small, well-heeled town beach resort not far from the Kennedy compound.

There are, however, no direct flights on offer, so we have to fly via London. Our flights leave Dublin at 3.50pm, leave London at 7.35pm and arrive in Boston shortly before 10pm local time - a fairly punishing 12-hour trip.

On the way home, we leave Boston at 8.20am and arrive in Dublin at 9.10pm.

The basic price of the package is a reasonable €1,548.73, to which we add an even more reasonable American Holidays booking fee of €10.

The tax, however, is where we come a cropper, having to pay €801.92.

Total: €2,360.65

On our own The hotel has a website, www.shoreway acresinn.com, but it doesn't take web bookings so we have to phone them.

We are quoted a price of $1,980 (which exchanges to €1,239.88 on this particular day) for our two-week stay. Aer Lingus has direct flights to Boston so we're up and down in about six hours.

When we made out booking earlier this week there was a transatlantic seat sale on, so the tickets cost just €496.66 per person, to which we add €8 in handling fees.

Total €2,241.20

DIY savings €119.45

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times