Holiday ‘extras’ eating into holiday budget!

Greece seems to be the place where you pay for the A/C , but it really should be made clear at the time of booking it up I think.
Hotels don’t charge for it far as I know.

We've always paid in Greece. Maybe not the first time, back in 2003, but we didn't make that mistake twice! Especially as we always go in August.

I looked at going to the Canaries and quite a few hotels charged for air con.
I think it's a sensible idea given the way people leave balcony doors open etc. Makes people more aware of the cost.

Tourist tax is set by the country or local authority so isn't an essential, more mandatory. I've never heard of a hotel charging per night for A/C!

Of course the op is getting to the airport by taxi, they are just making the point it’s an extra 6 pounds to pay to be dropped off at the terminal, so yet another cost to add on to the other ones you have to pay for in order to go on holiday in the first place. The drop off fees didn’t used to exist , but now all the airports have them.
Our cab companies factor it into the price , some might charge it separately I suppose or if you have a relative dropping you off you have to pay them.
We have to use the Dartford crossing to get to two major airports , that’s 7 return if you go that way , so another cost there too and has just gone up in price.
It all adds up.

Nah £6 to drop us off at the airport for less than two minutes! is definitely the parking charge to drop someone off – if it was a taxi then it would make no sense as a two-minute taxi ride is like a 10 minute walk. So you'd just walk! Also they are going from home to the airport surely?

We usually get a later flight. I’ve done the early hours of the morning flights we just end up knackered and grumpy and can’t get into accommodation until later on anyway. So when we fly it’s around tea time. DS and DD also has autism. So being offered a sandwich as an evening meal they just wouldn’t eat. Sandwiches are lunch food not evening meal food and wouldn’t be a good start to the holiday. I wouldn’t want to be faffing about making pack ups anyway. As well as trying to remember everything else we need.

For a four flight, you can easily be on the plan for over 5hrs. Not to mention time in passport control etc after. And if you have transfers booked, no time to hang around buying a meal at the airport..

So yes, I think most people would need at least a snack for a four hour flight! But that can be food brought from home

I tend to eating lounge before boarding. Too tight to buy food on plane or at airport

easyJet are charging you for seats at. Checking? That's strange as they generally allocate you one for free, just like Ryanair

I think its the actual taxi journey from hotel? but who knows

@Mydadsbirthday

that’s what most people are saying though - just get a meal deal at the airport which is less than £8 and then you’ll be fine on the plane. Once you get to your destination you can get something then. Healthy adults can go 4 hours without food easily.

Depends on time of flight. If it’s 10 am I’ll have had breakfast before( brought to airport from home) I board so no need to eat in the next 4 hours. Might bring some fruit .If night flight eat before again.

I've been drinking coffee on flights for years with no issues. The only time I don't is if it's a bit bumpy because I don't want to risk spilling it.

Oh come on most people need to eat something on a 4 hour flight. Especially if you have small children. You always get people on these threads competing for who needs to eat the least.

However OP I honestly have never bought food on the plane. I have no idea who buys it. It always looks absolutely awful. We always go to Pret or similar, if morning we buy porridge and croissants or breakfast rolls, if later on sandwiches / baguettes / DD likes their mac and cheese. It's not cheap but it's way better than plane food.

Ryanair charge for seats if you have children

Its generally advised not to drink tea and coffee on planes as some use the tap water and its not rocket science that the water may have sat there awhile and they dont rinse out their water facilities often. Not that you said you had hot drinks.
But once your in the departure lounge you can buy food safer and cheaper for the flight as a mid flight snack.
Again I have a friend in pest control and planes get rodents and he is really busy with planes in the hot weather and food is left about, really try to avoid plane food if possible.
Plane seats are free and I have never booked them and always been sat together.
Air con is a rip off 😪 so that one sucks..perhaps choose a hotel where its included next time. Not that that helps you now.
Aside from everything, hopefully you will have an amazing time.

But they're all unnecessary 'add-ons'! Even kids can go 4 hours without food. You don't have to sit together - who wants to sit with their family when they could enjoy 4 hours peace and quiet anyway?!
AC and taxis are a necessity depending where you are so I'd prioritise those.

I used to buy the mini chocolate fingers - but now we go to Tesco on the way and get the snacks - twice as much for half the price.

we make egg bites / like the Starbucks egg bites, soaked oats and chocolate fingers. Then we purchase drinks

usually we get seated across the aisle from each other, which is fine.

I factor in £100 for taxi to and fro, but parking is also between £70-100 and train is not always possible due to not starting early enough. I’ve done Manchester, overnight and parking for £95

i don’t really want to be opening my purse and throwing money about on stuff that’s not really needed and is shit anyway

The 6 pounds is just for a five minute drop off fee for cars / cabs and most airports in the UK have this now.
lots of fines if you go over this five minute window.

The place I paid for A/ C was in Greece and although it was marketed as a hotel , it was more of a small villa set up with a pool, but it wasn’t AI. Didn’t know that we would have to pay for ‘ the gas’ as they called it, but may have been something we overlooked tbf.
( a few others were not aware too)

The £6 the OP mentions is the drop-off charge I think.

£6 for an airport transfer is sooo cheap!! most airports charge you £5 , just to enter at drop someone off!
you really dont NEED to sit together
and you could bring your own food for flight.
paying for a/c sounds weird..we're you in a hostel?

I have never heard of a hotel charging for AC! Surely that must have been mentioned in the terms though? Regardless, that would be a must have for me unless we were on holiday in northern Scandinavia or somewhere.

If you need to or strongly want to sit together on the plane, then you accept the extra fee as part of the cost of your plane ticket, just the same as if you're checking a bag. None of this should come as a surprise.

Buying food on the plane? I have never done this. I'm in the US and most flights of 4 hours would include a non alcoholic drink and a snack (just some pretzels or something). We will often eat a meal on the way to the airport or at the airport or on the way to where we are going after we get off the plane, depending on timing. Sometimes we'll buy food at the airport and take it on the plane. But you're not going to get anything much cheaper than 8.50 anyway, so if the food you can but onboard is decent it might be worth buying for the convenience. We'll also bring packaged snacks from home to keep in our carry-ons in case we get peckish. I've never brought sandwiches from home. It just doesn't seem worth the hassle just to save a couple of pounds, but I suppose it depends on how much you need to scrimp and save.

The airport drop off charges in the UK blow my mind! That is not a thing in the US. Furthermore, at my local airport, which is a decent sized international airport with lots of flights including to the UK, there is a short term parking garage where you can park and the lift right there literally takes you directly to either the check in desks to the security entrance, depending on which floor you press. Parking for up to one hour is free. So not only do I not have to pay to drop off visitors when they are going home, I can park my car and go with them to check their bags and wave them off at security, and it's completely free to do so.

But, if it's a charge you do have to pay, again - that's part of the cost of the holiday. It's not an "extra". Maybe there are public transportation options that are cheaper, but you have to weigh up what it's worth to you.

I bet these flight / holiday websites can get up to all sorts regarding prices online.
They need a bit more scrutiny, but probably generates too money for the government for them to get too involved with their selling practices and procedures.