Having trouble getting the hang of holidaying via the internet? Cathy Packe offers up some vital e-advice

I\'M NERVOUS ABOUT THIS

There really is nothing to worry about. The internet can revolutionise the way you plan your holiday. The Web can help with the research and planning that goes into arranging a holiday: buying guidebooks, ordering brochures, deciding when to go - and that\'s before you start to book flights, accommodation or car hire. A little time spent online will unearth all sorts of useful material, and most of it is free.

Many tourist offices now publish mountains of information on their sites. Some of them are, frankly, dull and clunky, but others - such as www.cvb-heidelberg.de, the official site for tourism in the German city of Heidelberg, are clear and informative.

The first thing to consider is the weather. The Meteorological Office (www.metoffice.com) publishes seasonal information about worldwide destinations based on past conditions, as well as three-day weather forecasts. If you are thinking about planning a walking holiday in Britain, the Ramblers\' Association site (www.ramblers.org.uk) has a great deal of useful information. If you want to travel by car in Europe, or just within the UK, try the Michelin site (www.viamichelin.com); type in your starting point and destination, and it will give you the distance, a suggested route, potential journey time and the cost in road tolls.

IS IT CHEAPER TO BUY ONLINE?

Often: easyJet (www.easyjet.com), for example, offers an online discount of £5 per ticket - and does not allow phone bookings until a week before the departure. Virgin Atlantic (www.virgin-atlantic.com) has a £10 discount, a rate common to long-haul flights. On the other hand, some online retailers, particularly the US-based ones like Orbitz (www.orbitz.com), charge a small fee for handling some bookings, a practice which is likely to extend in the coming months to the more widely used retail sites. However, the service fee is usually offset by the lower cost of the journey compared with other sources.

Some companies - notably, the no-frills airlines - add on a completely disproportionate fee, typically £4, for booking with a credit, rather than debit, card. Ryanair has lowered its fees recently, but still has a fee even for debit-card users. The only way to avoid the charge is to pay with an Electron card, intended for electronic payments.

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