What we found

We got in touch with agencies offering 3, 4 and 5-day holidays in their newspaper and website advertising. We said we were looking at a Fiji getaway and asked how long families usually went for:

The GO Holidays booking office recommended 7 nights.

Flight Centre recommended 5 to 7 nights on the mainland but said 7 nights was the "way to go" if we wanted to go to an island resort.

United Travel told us: "You need a minimum of 7 days for your holiday - but 10 days would be better. Normally it'll all come down to cost and where you want to go."

House of Travel advised 7 to 10 nights: "Most people extend their stay unless the trip is for business. Some stay 4 nights. However, for a good relaxing Fijian holiday we recommend 7 nights." (While the House of Travel's website had 5-night holidays, its brochure also offered 7-night breaks - one of the few that did.)

Holiday Shoppe replied to our online enquiry and recommended 8 nights at a mainland resort.

Some straight-talking

The only large agency we found that differed was new company Mondo, which is expanding in New Zealand. The company's website listed a number of Fiji and Pacific island holidays, none of which was less than seven nights.

Gordon Bayne, the marketing manager for Flavour Travel (which owns Mondo), said that most travel agencies advertised a low number of nights to make the price look cheap and then expected agency staff to "up-sell" further nights to those customers.

"I even wonder where the idea of seven nights came from," Bayne told us. "We now have 4 weeks' holiday a year in New Zealand and most people want to take a holiday for 10 or 14 days."

Short breaks are a hassle

The sheer amount of travelling makes short breaks to the islands a hassle. Even if you live in one of the main centres, it's going to take you one day of your holiday each way just for travelling. On a three-night break, that'd leave you just two nights and one full day at your holiday resort.

Don't believe us? Then think about the hour or so travelling to the airport; waiting the required three hours before the flight; flying for another three hours; spending at least an hour getting through customs, collecting baggage and waiting for your transfer; then another 90 minutes to a nearby resort such as the Outrigger on the Coral Coast or the Sheraton Denarau Villas in Denarau.

It might be possible to take short trips to the Coral Coast and Denarau - both of which can be reached by land from Nadi airport. But three- to five-night packages become even more ridiculous when it comes to islands off Fiji's mainland. Unless you're lucky with connections you'll need to overnight in Nadi for one night in each direction.

One United Travel quote for a five-night package to Fiji's Mana Island, advertised on the company's website, had only three nights on the island. The remainder of the holiday was spent travelling or overnighting at an airport hotel.

Another branch of United Travel also replied to our enquiry. It suggested a speedboat trip to the island to avoid overnighting in Nadi. But this would have added more cost.