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Simon Calder, travel editor of the Independent, gives his views on holiday issues.

Budget airlines - are their no-frills services cheap and not so cheerful?

You haven't really got any rights at all when you buy an airline ticket - or these days just a virtual reservation.

All it is is a vague promise to get you from A to B, possibly via C, at really a time of the airline's choosing.

With airlines like Ryanair, the small print is the same as BA and the background legislation is, would you believe, the 1929 Warsaw Convention - a 74-year-old piece of law.

Traditionally airlines like BA and other full service scheduled airlines have been much more generous, finding hotels for people and giving them refreshments, although they don't have to.

Ryanair just say: "It only cost you £10, go away and come back on Friday and we'll see if we can get you to France."

They are more robust than anybody else but no airline is prepared to pay too much in the way of compensation.

The Sars virus - should you stay or should you go, and will you be covered?

This is a terrible Catch-22 a lot of people have found themselves in.

The problem is the government says: "Don't go, we advise against it."

Suppose you've just bought an air ticket alone to Hong Kong, and lots of people do because it's easy to find accommodation when you get there and lots of people have relatives there.

You might go to the airline and say: "I don't want to go thanks", and they'll say: "We'll get you there - the fact you don't want to go isn't our problem."

Some of them are allowing people to postpone but certainly most insurance companies will not give you your money back.

Some of them will - a very few are making a point of this.

The other Catch-22 is that you go there anyway and if you were unfortunate enough to catch Sars, then the insurance company will turn around and say sorry, we're not covering you because it's dangerous.

Unbundling - is it better to buy a package or pay for the components separately?

Buyer beware!

It's a fantastic travel market for consumers at the moment.

But with this, when you're having to pay extra for everything from a meal on the plane to sometimes even using the swimming pool, you've got to add up the costs and work out what is the best deal for you.