To be furious about these prices

Then you get Aeroflot. Cheap, but falls out of the sky.

Agree with PP who said it seems to have gotten more expensive in last few years. I worked in schools pre kids and still managed to find deals however the May half-term in particular has gotten really costly.
There are deals to be had but I think you have to be creative about wjen/where you go. Last year we went to the Canaries after Xmas. It was expensive but less than May half-term and we saved on childcare and activities over the holidays. Winter sun is a treat too, don't really need the sun in the summer it's often nice in UK.

Worth having a look at other airports OP, from our local one looks like £2400 for 4 adults to Corfu that week so definitely worth looking around

It’s supply and demand on a non essential item.

hardly price gouging

Ahh our kids love it! I think it largely depends on what the ship has for kids - some are better for families than others (water slides, go karts, kids club, arcade room).

Agree with a PP about low season being artificially reduced. I work in the industry (for a tour operator) and it's a very low margin industry. Lowering prices during peak times would just raise them the rest of the year - permanent low season pricing would kill off the industry.
And of course it isn't as easy as just putting on more flights - there are limited airport slots available and the skies are very busy already. Flight routes can't just be added whenever an airline fancies doing it.
I get it's a pain, I have a 13 year old so am more than aware of how much holidays cost - but I'll have many more years of being able to travel on low season pricing than I will high season.

I wonder how they work it if you compare the week before /after as the Welsh/English half terms are often different,

I've just booked Lanzarote for less than 2k for 3, all inclusive, for February half term. We fly on the Friday am so dc will miss one day of school but saves a grand versus flying on the Saturday. Yes, it's more expensive in school holidays, always has been, but there are bargains to be had if you can be more flexible with dates, or be prepared to go more last minute.

How old are your kids ? Take them out a few days before. If you take them out for a few days I don't think you will get fined. Even if you do you will still save money.
I wouldn't worry about taking them out of school for 3 or 4 days unless they are gcse years.
I know holidays aren't essential but they are great family time, and a great experience for everyone.

DH and I go on cruises ( I cannot fly) usually out of school holidays but we were on one last August .

Honestly , I thought it must be as boring AF for young children ( the teenagers seemed to enjoy themselves more )

Part of the issue is that kids here are not allowed to miss the school during term time, even for a one week holiday a year. It's not the same for my friends from the US and Canada. My Canadian SIL worked during x-mas and took her kids for an off-peak holiday after that. The value was great.

Of course airlines are using this to get more out of the situation. Who would not?..

Having school age children isn’t being penalized here, flying when demand is low is being incentivized - and this keeps prices down for everyone, even those people who want to fly with school age children.

If prices were the same across the board regardless of time of year then overall the prices would be higher AND there just wouldn’t be as many flights, so plenty of people who want them just wouldn’t be going anywhere. Those lower price flights are keeping down the prices of the higher priced flights as they are helping meet the airline’s costs for its contractual obligations. If they were higher priced even fewer people would pay for them and then prices would have to go up across the board so that the more popular flights could cover the cost of empty planes at the less popular times.

Haven’t seen this for yonks on mn so I’ll go there:

WILL NOBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?

We should all be cutting back on flying
for the sake of our children!
maybe take a train though Europe
it’s great and your kids get to see all different countries

If you don't choose who gets popular times by who is prepared to pay the most how would you do it? Based on when people book so only those who can plan years in advance get seats? Based on random ballot? At least with the price those who really need to go can get tickets at shorter notice.

I agree it’s annoying OP - all flights now seem vastly more expensive than five years ago.

‘It’s capitalism’, ‘it’s demand’ - they could just run an extra flight couldn’t they, if the demand is so high.

Last year I booked flights to a different place because my original choice was too expensive - but the day before travel, the flight suddenly crashed in price. So the airlines ‘bet’ people would pay was wrong.

The entire flying experience is being ruined by this kind of stuff - you inevitably end up feeling screwed on base price / luggage price / timings / seat reservation cost etc.

I am particularly annoyed by paying a ‘premium’ price and then having to shell out more to… sit with my child, or take a bag on board.

It is so, so much worse than even two years ago.

Support and demand, market forces etc. Airlines and hotels etc are just like any other company looking to maximise profits.

Perhaps you've heard of capitalism...

It's not an essential though, that or any holiday, you're not forced into anything, you either pay it and go, or you don't pay it and don't go.

There's obviously a lot of people who will pay it or they'd have to drop the prices in order to sell it.

Capitalism.

You could try communism if it doesn't suit you.

You're not wrong OP, it's price gouging. Unfortunately they can get away with it. Agree with others about looking for a cheaper holiday.

I suppose there is only a certain number of seats so as long as the airline has the right number of people willing to pay that price they are fine. Other people put higher value on going to Corfu that week than you do.

Name change for this for obvious reasons…

I work for a large airline in finance and the thing that shocked me the most when I joined was how low the margin per passenger is over the course of a year. It’s very much a volume business - in a once class airline like Jet2, I’d be surprised if they were making more than £25 per passenger over the course of 12 months.

Sure, you’re £905 may represent more profit than that… but the previous week could be operating at a loss. There are so many fixed costs at an airline, a leisure airline like Jet2 and TUI will be making a loss in the winter months - and their goals is to reduce that as much as possible.

Plus of course, gate fees… you want to land in Corfu in half term - cool, so do people from Germany, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Mainland Greece, Italy, Eastern Europe… so Corfu airport will charge the airlines more. Want to land there today? Significantly cheaper. Want to fly from Gatwick for half term… cool, so do millions of others so they’ll charge Jet2 a premium to do that.

Cruising is a good option, and also affordable during school holidays 👌

I don’t go abroad anymore as simply can’t afford it. The hassle is getting worse too by the sounds of it. My sister spent 2.5 hrs getting through passport control at Faro when she landed in August.