Competition was hotting up as we quizzed each other to discover who’d got their Algarve break at the best price.

Typical of millions this year, we’d all snapped up ‘last-minute deals’ and paid different amounts to stay at the same resort.

John from Cardiff initially looked smug: he and his wife Gaynor had bagged their seven days for £900.

They keep a suitcase permanently packed to fly at a moment’s notice, because holidays get progressively cheaper the closer you get to departure date.

But smartypants John was crestfallen when thrifty Scot Gordon from Aberdeen boasted that he and his family of four had paid only £200 more – before Denise and Chris trumped the lot of us by paying just £800.

Trading prices, it seems, has replaced comparing tans as a holiday sport.

Research shows we hate to find ourselves on the beach next to someone who got a better deal. For men, it can be a factor that blights their break.

But a huge number of deals are going begging in summer 2009, as recession-hit families stay in Britain and desperate operators unload stock at bargain prices.

Our seven-night break at the attractive four-star development Aparthotel Humbria near Albufeira came from the internet, while my fellow tourists got their deals off Teletext.

Algarve Cer Hire