Anyone tempted to fly away from autumn rain and into Mediterranean sunshine will find the windows of city centre travel agents still advertising late season special offers. But tour operators have also begun their pre-season warm-up for summer 2002, with brochures from Budget Travel, Panorama Holidays, Falcon Travel and Airtours targeting families who want to plan ahead.

Next year's market is "quite buoyant", says Mr Brendan Moran, chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA). "The healthy demand we have seen for these products is helped by this year's fairly inclement Irish summer," he notes.

Whether or not they are inspired by dispiriting weather, early bookings can help avoid disappointment, according to travel agents, and are essential for families with young children who can only travel during school breaks. "Resorts that are well-equipped for children and have two-bedroom accommodation are the ones that get booked up in advance," says Mr Aidan Murray of Castleknock Travel in Dublin.

"Some of the prime holidays for families in prime resorts like Majorca, Malaga and the Algarve are almost gone," he adds.

"There are not enough two-bedroom apartments to cope with the number of families who can only go on holiday from the time schools finish through to the end of August."

The reason there are not enough, he says, is that during the other 10 months of the year, these two-bedroom apartments become difficult for tour operators to fill.

Booking next season's holiday before this summer's tan-lines have faded might seem like an extreme case of advance planning but for many couples with children it makes sense to reserve a place by the pool in resorts guaranteed to have kids' clubs rather than nightclubs.

"In terms of a variety of choices and cost management, it is better to book now," says Mr Brendan Moran. "It is true that sometimes late in the season, people can benefit from a special, last-minute offer that has to be taken up at short notice. But this doesn't usually help a family and it's not aimed at them. For families, planning your holiday is essential."

A wider choice of destination is the main advantage to booking early but promotional discounts can act as another incentive. Airtours offers savings of £50 (€63.50) to each full-fare paying customer on most holidays booked before October and a £25 discount to each adult booking before the end of November.

Another major operator, Panorama Holidays, offers a £50 discount to an adult couple travelling in May, June, September and October 2002, if they book before October 31st this year.

Other special offers to early bookers include free travel insurance, free child places and free group places.

If there are advantages to booking early for consumers, the travel industry also benefits from pre-planning. "If they are giving away discounts, then it's a buyer's market. If the holidays are offered at the top rates, then it's a seller's market," says Mr Murray.

"The brochures come out early so that people commit in advance to a particular tour operator. They want people to book up now so they know how they are going to do next year."

Increased competition among travel agents is one reason the race for a place in the sun starts earlier each year, with many agents buying large pre-allocations of seats from tour operators to make sure they are in a position to supply clients with the holidays they want.

"If you're not in there, you can lose out," says Mr Dermot Mulligan, marketing manager for Abbey Travel. "You need to get as much sales at this time of year as possible to cover yourself."

According to Mr Mulligan, sales of next season's package holidays have not yet taken flight, despite the early appearance of the major operators' brochures. "Everybody wants to get ahead of everybody else," he confirms. "There is a demand for the brochures at this time of year, alright, but really it is still January that would be the prime month for booking summer packages. At the moment, it is relatively quiet, much the same as this time last year."

Mr Mulligan agrees that pre-planning is advisable for families wanting to travel at peak times during the summer season. "It is probably the best time to book, especially in terms of availability on certain dates, although it depends on what you are looking for and some people get good value on late offers."

It is sometimes difficult for consumers to work out if their package holiday represents good value or not. Unlike travellers who book flights and accommodation separately, it is impossible to determine a breakdown of costs for the packaged product.

"Nobody is going to tell anybody how they operate their business," says Mr Murray of Castleknock Travel. "They're not going to publicise how they arrive at their price. When you buy a car, for example, you don't know how the manufacturers make the price up."

But even determining the price of the overall package from the brochures alone can be problematic. Addressing an ITAA conference in November 2000, the Director of Consumer Affairs, Ms Carmel Foley, noted the "over-complicated way in which most travel brochures describe holiday prices".

Criticising tour operators who said consumers would always need the assistance of travel agents to work out prices, Ms Foley highlighted a requirement of the Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act, which says that brochures must show prices in a legible and comprehensible manner.

Booking early should at least guarantee that parents will be able to relax during the school year, with a clear picture of the resort they have selected for their family, including how far it is to the beach, what time the local shops open and what cocktails the poolside bar serves. Signing the holiday contract with a travel agent should leave the consumer with no more headaches other than what factor suncream to buy.

But overbooking can lead to consumers being told that their chosen apartment or hotel, despite having been booked almost a year in advance, is no longer available. Complaints on package holidays have increased, according to Ms Tina Leonard, manager of the European Consumer Centre. Inaccurate brochures and changes in the terms of the contract are the main causes.

"Complaints on travel, including package holidays, increased by 154 per cent in 2000 from 1999, and so far this year we have seen a 31 per cent increase on the previous year," says Ms Leonard. "It is a serious problem if a term in the contract is changed, and the consumer is entitled to compensation."

The only term of the contract that can be changed legally is the price, but only if there are currency fluctuations or variations in the cost of fuel, and not within 28 days of the departure date.

"With holidays, there is so much emotion involved in the saving and planning, especially for families with children," Ms Leonard says. The Package Holidays Act offers consumers "plenty of protection" in the event that something does go wrong, despite holiday-makers' best laid plans, she says.

The European Consumer Centre may be contacted at the Consumer Advice Shop, 13a Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin 1. Tel: (01) 809 0600. Website: www.ecic.ie