Travel packages used to require a certain amount of sacrifice. In exchange for a low, all-inclusive price, you flew on a no-name airline departing in the middle of the night, you stayed in a hotel room with a view...of a wall, and your continental breakfast consisted of coffee and a cookie. But "custom packages" now being offered by the major on-line booking sites provide value and real choices. You build the trip you want, choosing from a range of airline, hotel, and rental-car options, and the site gives you a package price that may be up to 30 percent cheaper than booking each piece of your trip separately.
With four specific itineraries in mind, Real Simple went to four of the biggest booking sites to shop for custom packages. The same trips were also priced a la carte: Flights, hotel rooms, and rental cars were booked separately on the sites, and the prices were totaled up. Travel agents also put together comparable packages. The outcome may surprise you; it should also help you plan your next trip with confidence — and maybe even get a room where the view is worth viewing.
Unless noted, all selections include nonstop flights and three-star or better hotels; quotes include service fees and applicable taxes. Prices and availability change frequently — these results reflect a onetime survey.

THE BUSINESS TRIP: You're traveling from L.A. to New York alone for a week of meetings.
Special Needs: A four-star hotel in SoHo or TriBeCa. Nonstop flights arriving by dinnertime Sunday and returning to L.A. before rush hour.
A La Carte Price Range: $1,400 to $1,800. (Determined by taking the sites with the highest and lowest quotes for packages and then pricing package components individually on the same site.)

THE LAST-MINUTE GETAWAY: You and a friend want to bolt San Francisco for a long weekend on a beach in Mexico. Next weekend.
Special Needs: A direct flight and a hotel with a killer waterfront.
A La Carte Price Range: $2,200 to $2,390.

EXPEDIA (www.expedia.com)
Business-Trip Price: $1,617 (flight and hotel).
This site lets you sort hotels by neighborhood and star rating. After reading a detailed room description, you choose a "superior queen" room at the SoHo Grand Hotel. With four airlines to choose from in this itinerary, you find a convenient American Airlines nonstop to New York. But the only available nonstop return flight leaves at 8 A.M. on Friday. Ouch!
Last-Minute Getaway Price: $2,205 (flight and hotel).
A Mexico link on the front page takes you to a map showing resort locations. Clicking on "Los Cabos," you find more than 20 packages for your dates. You choose an Alaska Airlines nonstop arriving in the afternoon, with a room at the InterContinental Presidente Los Cabos. The hotel description tells you there's a nice beach, and a virtual tour of your room is reassuring.

HOTWIRE (www.hotwire.com)
Business-Trip Price: $1,432 (flight and hotel).
When booking a package on this site, you get to pick the hotel you want (the Tribeca Grand), but the site doesn't provide any hotel-room details, and you can't find out your airline or exact flight times until you buy the package. You end up on Delta Air Lines, arriving in New York at 10:30 P.M. — well past dinnertime — after a short stop in Dallas. The return flight is a convenient nonstop.
Last-Minute Getaway Price: $2,442 (flight and hotel).
In the "Weekender Deals" section, you find a good hotel selection for your dates (you pick the InterContinental Presidente) but no room details. The site lets you select flight-time windows but not specific flights or airlines. You end up on an American Airlines flight stopping in Dallas before getting into Los Cabos at 8:30 P.M. — meaning you lose one day in the sun.

ORBITZ (www.orbitz.com)
Business-Trip Price: $1,416 (flight and hotel).
A grid display lets you compare prices easily for various combinations of hotels and airlines, but you can't sort hotels by neighborhood. The only hotel available in the areas you want is a three-star, with a room that's "run of house" (meaning they'll choose). You can pick outbound and return flights only in preselected pairs, not individually, so you end up with a rush-hour return.
Last-Minute Getaway Price: $2,674 (flight, hotel, and food).
You are able to get the same great hotel and nonstop flights that you found on Expedia, but for a bit more money. However, your package clearly includes food, alcohol, and water sports — a definite plus. The site also features travelers' reviews and ratings, though no details about your "Deluxe Garden View" room. (Orbitz requires you to book at least four days in advance.)

TRAVELOCITY (www.travelocity.com)
Business-Trip Price: $1,396 (flight and hotel).
You can search hotels by neighborhood on this site, but there's nothing available in SoHo or TriBeCa. The closest you can get is the three-star Avalon hotel, in sleepy Murray Hill. Still, your nonstop flights on American Airlines are perfect for your schedule. The site also gives you the option to book ground transportation or buy passes for local attractions.
Last-Minute Getaway Price: $1,386 (flight and hotel).
Eye-poppingly cheap! In the "Last Minute Deals" section, you score the same Alaska Airlines outbound flight you got on Expedia and Orbitz, with a deluxe room at the InterContinental Presidente — but the only available return flight gets you back Tuesday, instead of Sunday. The site's hotel description tells you about the local beaches, but there are no room details.

TRAVEL AGENCY
Business-Trip Price: $1,809 (flight and hotel).
Agent Kari at Will Travel in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, finds flights timed perfectly for your needs and books you a "superior" room at the Tribeca Grand, which she recommends for amenities such as a Bose CD player. "It's nice to have a little background noise when you're alone in New York," she says. But her package is pricier than anything the sites offer.
Last-Minute Getaway Price: $1,885 (flight and hotel).
You get your money's worth from Jean, an agent at Plaza Travel in Latham, New York. She gets you on a convenient Alaska Airlines nonstop and books you into a Deluxe Garden View room at the InterContinental Presidente. She recommends this hotel over others in the area because it's close to a lagoon that offers safer swimming than the local beaches, which can be rough.

BEST BET
The Business Trip: Travelocity. It didn't offer a hotel in SoHo or TriBeCa, but in the end a low price and the right flight times mattered more.
The Last-Minute Getaway: Plaza Travel. None of the sites could match the agent's combination of reasonable price, personal service, and access to flights and hotels.

THE EUROPEAN VACATION: You're a family of five from Dallas, traveling to London for a week in June.
Special Needs: A nonstop flight. Two rooms (one with an extra bed) in a hotel with a pool and baby-sitting.
A La Carte Price Range: $7,707 to $8,700.

A WEEK IN HAWAII: A seven-night Hawaiian getaway from Chicago around Memorial Day weekend.
Special Needs: A golf course for your boyfriend, a spa for yourself. And a car to get around Maui.
A La Carte Price Range: $3,730 to $4,800.

EXPEDIA (www.expedia.com)
European-Vacation Price: $8,616 (flight and hotel).
The only site with a London package for a family your size, Expedia offers several airline choices; you pick American Airlines. There is no way to search for hotel amenities, so you have to read through all the detailed hotel descriptions to see if they have a pool and baby-sitting. You choose the Radisson Edwardian Grafton Hotel. There is no way to request the rollaway bed you need.
Week-in-Hawaii Price: $4,320 (flight, hotel, and midsize rental car).
Following a "Golf Travel" link on the site's front page, you get lots of hotel options on Maui, but few that clearly advertise golf courses. You pick the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa because the hotel description touts great golfing and a spa. You can't book treatments or tee times, though. You get American Airlines nonstops both ways, with a red-eye return, alas.

HOTWIRE (www.hotwire.com)
European-Vacation Price: $4,445 (flight only; Hotwire does not let you book hotels in Europe).
You can't select a nonstop-only flight option on this site. After entering your preferences and accepting the site's price (Hotwire doesn't let you pick flights or airlines), you end up with a round-trip on US Airways with a plane change in Philadelphia, which at least is a reliable hub.
Week-in-Hawaii Price: $3,630 (flight, hotel, and midsize rental car).
The site doesn't offer special golf packages, but icons show which hotels have courses and spas. After choosing a hotel (the Kapalua Bay Hotel) and setting flight parameters (you can't choose specific flights or airlines on this site), you get a round-trip on United Airlines, with layovers both ways. But the 11 P.M. return gives you a full last day. The site gives no room details.

ORBITZ (www.orbitz.com)
European-Vacation Price: $7,707 (flight and hotel).
The site offers no packages for London, so you have to buy your flight and hotel separately. You have many airline choices (you pick American), though flight times are limited. You can search for some hotel amenities (like "pool") but can't request a baby-sitter or a rollaway bed for one of your rooms at the Holiday Inn Kings Cross.
Week-in-Hawaii Price: $4,144 (flight, hotel, and midsize rental car).
Following the "Deals for Golf" link lands you in the rough: The site shows Maui hotels with golf facilities but doesn't let you book a complete flight-hotel-car package. Using the "Vacations" search tool instead, you select a package at the Kapalua Bay Hotel. There is no nonstop flight available outbound, and the only nonstop return is a red-eye.

TRAVELOCITY (www.travelocity.com)
European-Vacation Price: $7,729 (flight and hotel).
Travelocity does offer London packages, but none are available for a group of five. Booking flights and hotel a la carte, you find only two airlines for your itinerary, but the airfare is cheap. The site lets you search for hotels with a pool (though not with baby-sitting), but there's no way to order a rollaway bed at your choice, the Marriott Hotel Maida Vale.
Week-in-Hawaii Price:: $4,486 (flight, hotel, and intermediate rental car).
Travelocity doesn't always offer a golf package, but you can search for hotels with golf courses. You choose the Kapalua Bay Hotel, adding convenient nonstop flights on American Airlines. The site now makes you book rental cars separately after picking a flight-hotel package, but a planned upgrade will fix that.

TRAVEL AGENCY
European-Vacation Price: $7,700 (flight and hotel).
The agent at Plaza Travel gets you the same American Airlines nonstop you found on Expedia and two standard rooms at the Hilton London Metropole. She tells you that there is no charge for a rollaway bed and that you can book baby-sitting when you check in. Since you'll be traveling during London's high season, when hotels fill up fast, it's great to have the agent doing the legwork.
Week-in-Hawaii Price: $2,906 (flight, hotel, and midsize rental car).
The agent at Will Travel gets you the same convenient American Airlines nonstop flights you found on Expedia, with the same hotel arrangements you found on Travelocity, for a package price lower than on either site. While the agency doesn't offer golf packages, the agent offers to book a tee time for the hotel course.

BEST BET
The European Vacation: Plaza Travel. For a clan your size, the agent delivered good value and the confidence that you were getting everything you needed.
The Week in Hawaii: Will Travel. The agent gave you more control (and tee times), and her price was much better than those on any of the sites.