Holiday ‘extras’ eating into holiday budget!

I agree UK should charge tourist tax. Also think that our museums should not be free for tourists. Citizens only.

Why not bring packed lunch for flight and then fill up water at the airport (there is usually a water fountain even if you have to ask)

I knew that people would pick your post apart op, but I agree that it’s all designed to part you with money and the drop off fees at airports are also a rip off if your not using their car park ( which is still a lot to add to the cost of the holiday too , whichever way you get there)
I’ve had to pay for air con before, hotels don’t charge for it, but it is another extra and the tourist taxes on top.
Food is always pricy at airports, but not too many options there really. Even if your being really frugal, it’s still a lot of money to find and ( my own opinion) all designed to stop people flying. The UK should introduce tourist taxes too, I did read that some places might.

I hate all the extra charges too but it’s not a representation of broken Britain. It’s airlines trying to compete for cheapest flight but then clobbering you for stuff that used to be free. I remember flying to Greece and the Balearics in the 90s and watching a film, getting a 3 course meal and seats together and two big suitcases included in the price. I have no memory of the price though .
These days we never eat on the plane, we often use Just Park app to park near airport and get an Uber in. We gamble on seats together as we’re adults. We tend to use the airport buses to get to our destination on the other side if we can as they are a few euros.Have never paid for air con as in a hotel it’s usually standard.

We stopped buying plane food years ago when we had a toasted sandwich which was microwaved, soggy greasy and nasty, so now it's either Greggs on the way to the airport, or we make our own sandwiches at home. Same as airport food, refuse to pay the prices charged. Drinks? Take an empty bottle and fill at the drinking water fountains in the airport. Never pay for seats on the plane, we dont have young DCs though. Easyjet, Jet2 usually end up sitting together. Ryanair deliberately sit you apart so you pay next time. Recent flight from Dublin and virtually no one had paid for seats, but it was only a 40 min flight. We paid £140 tourist tax in Greece this year. I think the broken Britain claim is that we dont charge it to our visitors, it would raise billions.Aircon, that should have been in the boking conditions. The airport drop off charge is getting worse, but at least you can get close to the terminal al now. Manchester used to be grid locked a few years ago, it would take forever to get to the terminals, so I can see why it was introduced, but it is annoying.

A bottle of lemonade cost us almost a fiver 😆 on the way over.

This

I don't mind paying tourist tax. I see it as a contribution to the local economy, eg the cost of litter collection and keeping beaches clean etc. We hear so much about how locals struggle to live in tourist areas so it's just a way of giving back. If they don't have it in places like Cornwall, they should.

I also don't mind paying for a Boots meal deal. I take my lunch to work about 80/90% of the time so its a rare treat to not do this and I pick carefully to get my money's worth. So a sandwich with a complex filling not plain ham, tuna or cheese, a smoothie, not coke or water and one of the sides like yogurt and cereal rather than boring crisps. On a morning flight it serves as breakfast, snack and lunch.

Cost of living is affecting other countries too. Turkey for example has had high inflation and costs there are a lot higher than last year (even though you get more lira for your pound). Food and drinks were pretty much London prices where we were. And if you’re going to Dalaman airport it has an incredibly expensive McDonalds. €18 for a Big Mac meal. And about €7 for a cappuccino.

increase your budget
problem solved

Budget airline food is not worth it. Assume you’re getting a sandwich and a snack?

Better to make your own.

For the Heathrow terminals I have used there is a free option at the long term car parks

I’m another one not understanding how this reflects the state of the country.

Additional costs do crop up on holiday, sometimes unforeseeable ones. You do ime need to set aside a small budget or have a credit card ready. Otherwise you need to book a slightly cheaper holiday so you have more headroom.

I agree that cheap flights often mean no luggage, no allocated seating, no food and the requirement to be at Luton or Southend in the middle of the night.

You have to pay £5 drop off charge at Heathrow.

I've had to pay this in 2 different countries. It's just another way to extort money from tourists.

Yet another nail in the coffin for why I really don't like holidays anymore. They just frequently, in a multiplicity of ways, don't live up to expectations. Something that is supposed to be a luxury or a treat, just isn't.

That's capitalism, baby.

I’m mid 50’s and been booking holidays abroad since going to Italy at 16.

In the 80’s and 90’s it was fairly cheap to fly actually. There was no drop off fee, you got fed on the plane even on a short haul flight and you could take a nice big bag in the cabin and put stuff in hold. You got seated next to anyone you checked in with.

Easyjet arrived in 1995 were very cheap but importantly stayed very cheap. Again youn could take a relatively large cabin bag and hold luggage was free. There were no seat or speedy boarding options. The bargain price you paid included everything except food.

I think that’s what the op means by broken Britain . The relentless,to quote the US “nickel and diming”

You don't HAVE to go somewhere with tourist tax though, and even where it is in place it is much cheaper some places than others. Overtourism is one reason these taxes were introduced. You could always look for less well-known destinations.

Only the AC is a bit of a shock there. (And ignore posters saying you should have tried to go without.)

• You don’t need to sit next to each other. You’ll be together for the whole holiday - what does 4 hours matter?
• Make sandwiches at home and bring them with you rather than buying a meal on the plane.
• I’ve never stayed at a hotel that charged you to use the AC - that must be a very budget hotel, in which case, you’re getting what you pay for.
• Tourist tax is just part of the price of the hotel room. There’s no point seeing it as a separate cost.

Insurer with you on the seats. On the aircon, it depends if this was clear upon booking.

food price doesn’t sound too bad and you could have eaten elsewhere/taking your own from home. I struggle with this one.

Nonsense. It’s £4.99 for a meal deal including water. Hardly extortionate

Sounds like you've booked a budget break and it's coming back to bite you...

£22pp each way to get seats on the plane next to each other - what airline? I've never had to pay this with Jet2, BA or KLM, never been separated. Actually Ryanair doesn't separate you from under 12s either as it makes you book the seats.

£8.50pp each way for a bit of food on the 4hr flight - take your own food if it bothers you and you really need to eat and drink on the short flight. I always take some snacks and buy a boots meal deal at the airport.

£8 per night AC for the hotel room - never ever have I paid extra for air con, it's standard.

£8 per night tourist tax - unavoidable, should factor it into your costs.

£6 to drop us off at the airport for less than two minutes! - We use airport parking which we factor into the holiday cost.

If you can afford a foreign holiday you should easily be able afford these 'extras' which aren't actually extra just part of the cost of going on holiday.

You didn't HAVE to spend any of that except tourist tax.

These extra charges wind me up so much I find ways to avoid them on principle.

I can’t see how any of that makes Britain “broken”. Much of it has happened abroad, eg the tourist tax and the AC.

And the rest comes down to businesses charging you according to their business model.

PPs are right about the budget flights/ tickets often being more - DS and I went abroad at Easter on easyJet, and definitely the “standard” fare worked out cheaper than the budget one. If you wanted any luggage and to be able to choose your seats, which we obviously did.

Then you have to take a choice about other things, like buying expensive (but convenient) food on the plane or bringing your own/ buying a meal deal as others have said. Alot of the things you’ve listed are very much optional.