Holiday ‘extras’ eating into holiday budget!

As others have said, take food from home. Sorry to restate the obvious, but honestly!

No one has mentioned the holiday agents, and comparison sights.

Jet2 include luggage and seating in there holidays - Others do not.

If you find a holiday and then add all the luggage transfers etc it really does add up and it’s not as transparent -

I think all bookings should show a typical overall cost and then deduct what you don’t need - at least it would be a fair comparison.

So cheapest ones are free?

No need to buy the overpriced plane food, surely.

As for tourist tax, I've never understood why we don't have that in the UK, like virtually every other country does. Or charging for museums for non-residents. Its not like we are so awash with money that we can afford not to.

The 'little' addons for zero service airlines very quickly make them more expensive than a full service airline
But why pay for airline food when you can make sandwiches?
Do you need to sit together?

What is £8 for AC? Air conditioning? I have never heard of any hotel, even in the US, charge extra for that

Do you need to be dropped off at the airport? Depending on the airport, there are often plenty of free places to be dropped off

Tourist Tax seems to be the only unavoidable one

That's Ryanair. Most others don't do this

I've been to Crete for the last two years running in a not-swanky hotel and have had to pay for aircon on both occasions.

Yes the fact that airlines are now actively not out putting people in the same booking together on purpose! And people want jump down you neck that it reasonable and make excuses for such actively predatory behaviour especially when non budget airlines are now actively doing it.

I can’t stand the bootlicking for corporations gouging

Pack your own food for the flight?

make some wraps, and take a travel coffee cup if you want a hot drink. You can take food on the plane.

i wouldn’t pay for a seat tighter for short flight unless you have kids. The cab is reasonable as you need to get your bags etc to and from the airport.

the paying for seats is already just so outrageous and now the prices are getting more and more egregious

Well, don't pay for the seats (I never do, I'm fine sitting anywhere) and buy food at the airport (cheaper surely).

I’m a real cheapskate but actually I don’t mind the drop-off charge at the airport – it means you can park right outside. If there was no charge the spaces would be full of people not moving I bet. It’s not much really. And yy as others say, there is usually a free drop-off option that is just a bus ride away. Just allow time for it. Or pay the £5-7.

I do see how the daily tax and aircon charge add up tho – were you not told about those?

And to yy Ryanair absolutley has free seats. You just refuse to pick a seat when checking in. I have flown with them my last three trips, never paid extra and always had a seat.

I do agree it’s not broken Britain, but it is corporate greed and someone is creaming off the profits from the cheese toastie and weak drinks they charge a fortune for. The airport drop off charges is taking millions, yet we all suck it up because we know there isn’t much you can do about that one.

If you don't want to pay the drop off charge, all the airports we've used recently have a drop off at a further away car park and you can then take the free shuttle bus to the airport. Saves a fortune.

Which country are you saying is broken! The one you live in or the one you’re travelling to???

Actually scrub that It seems they might've scrapped the free travel scheme

You don't need the £22 seats. You don't need to waste your money on crap airline food.
You'll be glad to pay 6£ for a taxi once arrived.
I have no idea how this relates to 'Broken Britain'.

I've been holidaying as a single Mum to the Canaries since daughter was 10 (now 16). We've always done it on what I had to budget. Book seats but cheap ones. Last time however, due to my disability we had the extra leg seats at front behind the kitchen.
Don't even get snacks from airport, take them with you. Nobody will starve on a 4 hour flight.
As PP said, take empty bottles and fill them after security.

It is a learning curve but not rocket science and I don't recall considering the political situation in Britain as we left!

So get dropped off at hatton cross station and take free tube/bus to airport. Sone of the public transport is free

My ds flew easyJet recently (domestic flight) nd there were loads of seats for free. His mate had booked their ticket separately and outgoing the managed to get seated next to each other for free - coming back they were separate as not 2 together but they didn’t give a shit for an hour!!!

You have to pay for drop off fees at the airports ( with cameras around, people can’t even drop off close to the place without a fine it seems ) or parking or a cab or public transport to be there, so that is always an extra cost for everyone and increasing each time.
The tourist taxes will go up yearly. That’s a given.
No way around a lot of it really. It’s just more to budget for.

I did pay for A/C at one place , a small room and 40 Euros for the week or something like that.
The actual place to stay was cheap , but it didn’t make it clear at booking that a/c wasn’t included unless I didn’t read the small print!
Caused the rep a few complaints at the time from other people , but it’s the only time I’ve had to pay it ( Greece) and of course you could have just stayed hot!

I never just look at the basic holiday cost, I know there will always be extras to figure in, DH & I both have medical conditions so our travel insurance is always v expensive and is increasing year on year. We usually pick up a sandwich & a bottle of water for the plane and just buy a hot drink on the plane. Tourist tax in Greece is very expensive now, if you stay in quality accommodation, we stayed in Oct 23, paid 28euros the same accommodation the following April 24 was around 70euros. But I do agree with tourist tax in general and we should be charging it here too.

Apart from the tourist tax these are wants rather than needs.

You don’t have to pay for any of it, you want these things so you have to pay.

Broken Britain didn’t make you want an airline meal.

I never pay for seats, for BA I wait until the check-in opens and we either sit together or not.
EasyJet - there are plenty of free options when you book.

I would do it if I had a child under 10-12 but that's what I plan into the original budget when I book.
The same with tourist tax, it's hard to find a destination who doesn't charge it nowadays.
AirCon charge - that's a bad one, I would be miffed and make sure I plan better next time.

We take food with us - we buy a coffee at the airport as I am normally not fully awake to function without when we arrive.

I’ve only stayed in one place where you had to pay extra for air conditioning and it was a budget hotel, the type where they’d minimised furniture because of potential for damage! The whole point of paid for air conditioning is for if you’re really on a shoestring you can choose to get by and not pay for it. OP - if you’re on a really tight budget consider a different kind of holiday to your old fashioned package holiday in Spain.

Food for a 4 hr flight????? Get a MealDeal airside at the airport……much cheaper and healthier too! As for having to sit together on the flight……come on! You’re adults aren’t you? You don’t need to babysit one another! And to be honest, after all the potentially angst of travelling to the airport, checking in, queues at security, waiting for your flight, you might just welcome a bit of distance between you for a few hours……..and it will save you a bit of cash.

That’s always the case (pardon the pun) if there’s too much hand luggage overall.

op you need to ignore the headline flight price, the overall cost for the flight including the things you’d get if you’d not gone budget, was that, in your view , reasonable?