to think this 'campaign' is inane and moronic

[AgaPanthers]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25894902

"With about 250 friends on Facebook, Paul Cookson did not expect a "rant" he posted to have much impact.

He wrote that he was "sick to death" of being "ripped off" by companies which put up holiday prices outside school term time.

A few friends agreed, and followed his request to "share this post if you have also had enough".

It soon went viral, and more than 143,000 people have shared it so far.

Supporters also began signing an online petition calling for government action and this has now gone far beyond the 100,000 signatures needed for a possible debate in Parliament."

--
It follows with some illustrations about the extra cost of an all-inclusive week in Lanzarote during half-term compared with the following/previous week.

For fuck's sake. It's February. Not many people are going on holiday. Despite the price increase, the AI in Lanzarote will be FULL during half-term. The following week it will be nearly empty because obviously family resorts are going to get booked up mainly during school holidays.

So if they make the price the same all year round, they will get even fewer visitors in non-peak times, and it will probably be more economical to close the hotel down and put people out of work/on zero hour contracts, than to keep it open, because obviously if the price is always the same then the popular dates will book up first.

Ridiculous bleating on about their human rights to jet off to Playa De Las Americas for a week of egg and chips and sitting on the beach.

Next they'll be complaining that they have a human right to dinner for two on Valentines Day at the midweek lunch rate.

It's February, the weather is shit, unless you fly a good distance south. There is a capacity in terms of planes and hotels to plonk people on the beach in the Canaries that does not meet school holiday demand, so prices are high. Simples. (Although if he did want a family break, there are plenty of places in Europe, that while not enjoying bucket + spade weather, could still be nice for a family trip, and very affordable.)

Wait till Easter, even, and the weather will be better, and hence more short-haul destinations open up for family breaks and you can find something more affordable.

But fundamentally you do not have a right to cheap holidays in the sun in February half-term.

[Butkin]

Holidays during half-term are like the prices in shops during sales. Prices they quote before and after that window of opportunity are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is a comparison between holidays/shops during that period. Of course holiday companies/hotels will discount prices when not during half-term. They need to get the business in when nobody really wants to go.

[MetellaEstMater]

It is basic economics - supply and demand. YANBU. We have had years of term time holidays at the cheaper rates, but from September will have to go away in the school holidays and pay more no doubt. But guess what that is a matter of choice, just like we chose to have children!

[Balistapus]

YANBU

[Socks555]

I don't think you should call anyone's campaign insane or moronic, personally.

[Sirzy]

Its a shame the gap is so big but at the same times its supply and demand so of course it is going to cost more to go on holiday when more people want to go.

Companies are only charging what they know people will pay.

[AgaPanthers]

Not insane, inane.

[Tulip26]

My sister is a teacher. Clearly, she can only go away during the holidays. She doesn't have children but she has to pay an extortionate amount to get her well earned breaks. It should be stopped.

[Sirzy]

How can it be stopped though tulip? It's not as simple as companies just lowering prices during holidays, they still want to make a profit (understandably)

[Piscivorus]

One of my children has had to move from the North of England down to London for a job. It is more expensive to rent or buy property in the South East, maybe I should have a rant and expect northerners to be subsidised to go down South. No? Of course not, just an equally stupid argument.

[MetellaEstMater]

Presumably nobody forced her to become a teacher? My mum is in the same boat, it is part and parcel of the job. You weigh up the options when choosing a career, I'd imagine the positives vastly outweigh this particular negative.

[gordyslovesheep]

It's silly - Yanbu I want an Audi q7 but can only afford a ford ...its not fair!

[Juno77]

I completely agree.

It's a stupid campaign - the travel companies, airlines, hotels etc are private companies. The government can't ask then to lower their prices.

Things are more expensive at peak times. That's consumerism.

Going to the cinema at 9am is cheaper than 9pm. Most people can't go at 9am. They lower the price to encourage people to go.

Restaurants are cheaper midweek/lunchtimes than weekends/evenings. They lower the price to encourage people to go.

It's basic economics.

[CalamitouslyWrong]

She did choose to become a teacher. It's not like you become a teacher and then they suddenly spring the 'you can only take holidays in term time' thing on you. It's a very well known feature of the job. It's hard to feel really bad when the problem is that the terms and conditions someone's job means a week in lanzarote costs a bit more.

[Juno77]

tulip but your sister has no right to a holiday. Nobody has the right to a holiday.

Holidays are luxuries.

It's such a ridiculous argument and a ridiculous campaign.

[LumpySpacePrincessOhMyGlob]

Tourism is a huge industry, it's not a charity. We all have a choice whether or not to have children.

[CalamitouslyWrong]

We also have a choice about whether or not we send our children to school. Term time isn't a thing for homeschoolers, for example.

[WooWooOwl]

YANBU

[RayPurchase]

Yanbu

[Sallystyle]

YANBU

I had lots of children, I can't take them away during term time. I made my choices.

a holiday is not a right, it is a luxury.

[LaurieFairyCake]

We're a teaching family who haven't been abroad in ten years.

Still wouldn't join this campaign as it's for stupid people who don't understand simple economics.

Perhaps they should all fuck off back to the past? Perhaps Stalinist Russia?

Me, I will go on holiday in this country and be grateful for my husbands well paid job, continuity of salary, his good pension - and we'll go abroad when he retires.

It's not a human right to go on holiday abroad and is the worst sort of entitlement bollocks to claim so.

[PlumpPartridge]

I read this article this morning and was debating it with DH. Apparently German schools get around this issue by staggering their holiday times, so not everybody is off simultaneously. That sounds like a very sensible solution to me. Obviously people with several children in several schools wouldn't see any benefit but many others would.

[TeamHank]

Tulip, how could it be stopped?!

Laurie, you've got it on the nail - simple economics! As someone else said we can't all afford fancy cars and large houses either. If you want equality of purchasing power then vote communism!

My Facebook feed is full of this crap about school holidays - so tedious!

OP, YANBU.

[JonSnowKnowsNothing]

YANBU and I speak as a teacher who hasn't been abroad for about 6 years. If I saved up I'd be able to afford a great holiday in a couple of years but right now I have other money commitments.
When I want to get away in Summer I will go for a few days around the North East of England, perhaps splashing out on a couple of bed and breakfasts on the way.
Nobody ever died from not going abroad.

[PlumpPartridge]

No-one is entitled to a holiday, but it is simply soul-crushing to be 'doing everything right' (working hard however you have chosen to, scrimping and saving, making sure kids go to school etc, all the things you're told you ought to do) and then realising that you still can't afford the things that are being dangled temptingly in front of your nose by all the advertising in the world. Unless you get into debt, that is.

[Juno77]

plump that applies to anything.

Should cars be cheaper so everyone can afford them?
Should luxury brands lower their prices?
Should other leisure activities (restaurants, theme parks, cinemas, bowling, soft okay, swimming pools etc..) not have peak times?

It's just a nonsensical argument.