Holidays are just not worth the money

Not sure anyone lies on their death bed thinking 'i wish I'd spent less time holidaying/hanging out with my kids and instead scrimped more'. Crack on with your one shot on this Earth.

She's talking about a family of five. where are you flying a family of five for 200 pounds?

Holidays are worth it for us, we spend about £2200 max in school holidays, half board.

But we are a family of 3, the more flight seats and sleeping space you need the more expensive it is. £3k for a family of 5 is not that bad, depending on what you’re getting of course. £600 each for a weeks holiday.

I’ve never spent that much on a holiday. 😳 Try a city break. You don’t need a luxury AI resort to drink yourselves silly for a week. We’ve gone to lots of European cities. Flights usually about £50 each. There aren’t 5 of us, but I can usually get an Airbnb for £80 a night. Last one had 3 bedrooms so probably would fit 5 of you. We do a mix of self-catering and picnic lunches from the supermarket or the market. We’d have to eat anyway if we were at home so no added cost. Then we have nice dinners out. Beaches and playgrounds and parks are free. Public transport to see the whole city is cheap (and usually free for kids). We do 1-2 paid attractions like a water park or aquarium. It’s fantastic. I’ve never spent more than about £800.

Not when the cost includes flights, accommodation and food for 5 people.

Families of 5 are often very disadvantaged by holiday prices too! Accommodation is almost always set up for a maximum of 4 so you need a second room, suites or 2-3 bedroom apartments which cost more. We often holiday with parents/siblings/cousins and there's usually a £1k minimum difference in what we have to pay.

I do love holidays though, and it's the only thing I save for.

Totally agree. We used to go away 4-6 times a year, mostly exotic places and nice hotels. The price now is ridiculous compared to what we used to pay. From this perspective it is not worth it.

I used to work for a zillionaire who took his family on a lot of wildly expensive exotic holiday - private jets, helicopters, yachts etc once he's made it. He once told me with a somewhat baffled air that his kids' favourite holidays, the ones they talked about all the time, were the bucket and spade ones in British resort towns from when they were really little.

My kids love going on hols but their most cherished memories from them are:

• having grandparents on tap for the week
• the first time they went to an intl buffet-style place hotel (but remember you can get this experience for a night or two, even if SC the rest of the time)
• what they called "the ultimate castle" - can't even remember where it was now but they were in a Ninjago phase and went on about this castle for years
• sitting on a cafe terrace and having grown-up style drinks with olives, crisps etc
• being given £5 each to spend in charity shops/at local flea markets etc
• staying in a big old (cheap) house with excellent sardines potential

You can achieve all these holiday goals on a limited budget, UK or abroad. IME what kids remember is the break from the norm, and the unexpected stuff.

I agree with you

And there were so many other things that you need to spend money on, especially with the kids that age

My generation our Parents didn't take us so I don't know why we think about it so much

We stopped. It's just not worth the money in the even if you haven't got financial worries. Well, maybe if you haven't got any financial worries, but if like most of us you've got to think about where that money is coming from, no it's not worth it at all

Absolutely! AI every time! Where we stayed in May was the best AI we have stayed at. I don't want to have to think about lifting a finger on holiday.

OP, if you are going self catering then that is your issue.

I love holidays. So much that I spend hours, days, weeks planning. I also try to do them as cheapily as possible, which is where the insane planning comes in.

There are loads of ways of making them cheaper: homeexchange.com, camping, hotels, self catering, driving/coach. Choose the destination carefully. We are going to Portugal this year specifically because the flights were much cheaper than other med countries and, according to my research, it is comparatively cheaper out there. My budget is £1500 for a family of 3 for 10 days (including travel). I don't go over that (and that is dh who refuses to rough it!). For us, it is worth it.

Kids love and remember holidays so much.

It's definitely overpriced but fantastic memories are made (even the disasters 😂) especially for the kids. Have to pay the big bucks for the sun too (I live in Northern Ireland ☔😭).

City breaks work too. I took my youngest to Paris when he was 4 and we had a fab time. We have also done Rome, Iceland and Scotland as a family. All were perfect in their own ways.

We love a family holiday. Everyone is more relaxed, no one is checking emails, ironing uniforms, rushing from place to place. But - controversial on MN - we go AI as I refuse to give a single second to thinking about what we are eating or shopping / cooking.
If 3k is a years worth of saving then of course it's not worth it. But if it's more affordable then your perspective on spending that much will be different of course.

Holidays are definitely worth it, but sounds like that type of holiday isn’t inspiring you?
Is that the price for a normal resort hotel in a normal resort type of place?

You could replicate some of the ‘holiday’ parts in the UK eg theme park, water park, seaside, hotel buffet breakfast , etc … we also have some stunning coasts and countryside for walks
Are the kids at the age where they could do a 3-4 day city break? So many places have great settings / parks / museums / restaurants to try…

My DC were taken on holiday since they were very little (youngest was one) and are now mid twenties. When they were younger it was pools, beaches and hotels, which they loved. From about ten I took them on city breaks where they really got to appreciate different food, art, museums and culture.

They definitely still talk about the holidays very fondly and gained a certain amount of “cultural capital” from them.

I love most types of holiday so I was always happy.

Kids still spend most of their (admittedly small) disposable income on holidays themselves.

I guess I think we live a short time on this beautiful planet and I want to see as much of it as I can. I drive a very old small car and live in a tiny cottage so I can prioritise holidays.

You aren’t wrong though OP. It’s your money and your life and you should prioritise based on your preferences. Maybe think about what your ideal holiday might look like though? Something in UK perhaps?

We LOVE our abroad holidays! We always go somewhere new each year and book trips to explore. In May half term we went to Madeira. Myself and partner, 17 year old girl, 14 and 7 year old boys. We all connect, ate meals together (all inclusive always!) partner and I get a break, devices are barely used by anyone. This trip we did a private island tour that everyone loved, we did the cable cars and botanical garden, saw a huge pod of dolphins on a boat trip, did lots of exploring on foot, climbing, caves, ate so much ice cream, the younger 2 (plus me) played in the pool a lot, water polo, pool parties, crazy golf, pool, cocktails and time together. We all had an amazing time.

If your kids are all young then I can see why its harder for you but kids just love playing on the beach and in the pool until they are shrivelled up!

We always go to Guernsey in August but it's really expensive but completely worth it. We do water sports mainly, eat ice cream, go karting, delicious food and beach walks.

Holidays are what get me through the year. If you don't enjoy them then you need to rethink where you go and what you do.

Holidays are everything for us too.

House swap? We had soooo many free holidays when kids were growing up. Amazing memories and they’ve been everywhere.

Hard disagree. Holidays over everything, for us.

I’m staggered by the price of them when I first look to book - I keep harking back to the fact that DH and I used to go away for about £3-400 each before we got married (just pre Covid) and that was school holidays too as I was teaching at the time. Basic, but pleasant and clean accommodation with a pool etc. We now have DD, although technically it says she gets a free child place, I wasn’t able to find anything for under £2k for the three of us this summer. Same basic places as before. We’ve actually spent a little more for a nicer resort and all inclusive as for a small difference in price it seems to be quite a step up in accommodation so I think that will at least be a novelty for us - we’re very used to cheap and cheerful!

Last year we went to Iceland - that was expensive but definitely felt worth it, very special, and particularly as there was a family reunion element whilst there.

It’s worth it to me still, but I can also understand how you feel when you break it down to the cost per day.

People saying Eurocamp - how are you getting it so cheap? Are you driving? I looked into it extensively but still couldn’t get it to come in under 2k for 3 of us once flights and travel were added in.

I do know what you mean OP although also love my holidays. We like cheap and cheerful UK things, this year we’ll have spent well under £2k for all our holidays and generally go away 3/4 times. We went to a holiday park in Dorset at Easter, swimming pool so guaranteed activity but we were actually really lucky with the weather. Then went to Yorkshire and the Lakes in AirBnBs at half term. We’ve got a week in Suffolk in the summer holidays. We are quite happy poking around a castle, on a beach if the weather is nice, going for walks though. If possible a pool is a game changer as can still fire my daughter out even if it’s raining. We would always rather spread out a few different breaks rather than have all the eggs in one basket of two weeks somewhere hot. Saying that though, I do really want to try Eurocamp so may do that next year!

£500 a say?!

I’m going away for £800 this summer. Most of that is accommodation but I have paid about £200 for flights - there and back with a checked bag.

You’re just choosing insanely expensive holidays.

OP means if you divide £3k by a week so the £500 includes flights and accommodation.

She means it's a 3K total holiday, so each day effectively costs £500.