How do young people. afford so many holidays?

[Waferbiscuit]

Our office includes a number of people in their 20s who are on salaries of c 23-27k. There seems to be a real culture of travelling and going abroad/on holiday amongst their set. One colleague has been on a city break weekend in Europe 3x in the last 5 weeks. The others go on multiple long haul holidays a year.

In terms of their set up, Im aware that all of them rent or have bought homes with partners so would have the usual outgoings. None have wealthy families. I’m just a bit baffled about how holidaying became so important and no idea how they can afford it. At that age I was broke and couldn’t afford a holiday despite being on a similar salary.

Now I’m 50, financially stretched and grumpy so no holidays for me!

Dual income, no kids so not tied to peak season/school holidays for our main breaks - skiing/diving - those were the days!

I remember getting a lastminute ski deal to an en piste luxury catered chalet in Courchevel mid Jan for £199 plus a £50 return Flybe flight to Chambery. We left £100 tip each so it still only cost us £350pp each for flight, transfer & chalet. Nowadays, Feb HT would set us back at least £1K+ pp.

Not going in peak season, taking the very early or very late flights that people with young DC avoid if they can and staying in cheaper accommodation/destinations will account for a lot of the difference in cost, so you can have more holidays for the same money. Also the child free don't need their annual leave to cover school holiday childcare, so have more time to go away.

People could be having two, three or even four holidays for the same cost as a peak season, luxury standard, daytime flights holiday to the same destination.

Young couple, week in 3* AI in Benidorm, Magaluf or Playa de las Americas might pay less than £1k in total.

Family AI holiday in 5* AI resort in Denia, Playa Pollensa or Costa Adeje in the school holidays probably costs £5/6k+.

Yet both is a week in Spain, Mallorca or Tenerife.

Me and my DH go away really regularly- 10-15 times a year. Lots of researching for cheap flights, often involving flying to cheaper destination and then on from there to where we want to go, nice hostels or air bnb for accommodation, and eat street food or cheap meals when away.

Hmm yeah it's all about budgeting!
Also I have family abroad, in several places, so it might seem like we're jetting off all the time but we're often staying with them - recently spent 4 days in Berlin, sleeping on my sister's sofa.

I remember a trip abroad in my 20s, when we got a plane in the middle of the night. The cheap bus to the airport was several hours ahead of the actual flight, so then we had to try and kip on the airport floor for a while. It was winter and a European City, so cold. We spent the mornings exploring (mainly walking around the city) and the afternoons back at the hotel ‘warming up’

Not something I would do now in my late 30s.

Not having to go in school holidays, only having to pay for yourselves, being able to be super flexible all have a big impact on cost. My sister went to New York for a long weekend for £450 plus spends, DH and I used to do two or three European weekends away a year and never paid more than £300 each for them. If you've got relatively few financial commitments then you can afford to do it.

I've just dine 5 nights in Budapest for £300

A lot of young people care as much or more about experiences than possessions. I'd much rather spend my money enjoying another adventure than buying a new sofa for example. We also don't have children to pay for yet so more disposable income. Late twenties are probably the time when you have most disposable income combined with fewest responsibilities (if you have no children) so the perfect time to be enjoying holidays imo!

Also it's actually not much more expensive to travel long haul to places like Asia, yes the flights are more but when you get there everything is MUCH cheaper so it balances out. Europe is incredibly expensive

A family member was like this, she said she'd never be able to afford to buy a house so what's the point of having long term savings. She'd save, go on holiday & start saving again.

I understand her reasoning but I would make those choices myself.

As above term time cheap holidays, prioritising experiences over stuff, no childcare to pay for, two good incomes.
Smaller housing/heating costs as out at work all day.
Inheritance/gifts from baby boomer parents, grandparents.
Being more money savvy than people take them for.

My cousin and her husband and late 20s, as are dp and I, both have mortgages and have similar financial situations.

They go away at every opportunity, they usually book the cheapest flights possible and stay in hostels which are minimal spend.

DP and I haven't been on holiday in a few years, we chose to start a family and won't stay in a hostel with young dcs.

DH and I earn more than this but he has very large outgoings per month for commuting. We budget around 8k per year for holidays (1-2 long haul per year). We never drink alcohol at home and seldom go to the pub (less than once every two months?) £25-35 per week on food shopping including all essentials and pet. No children as of yet. We are homeowners and our bills including mortgage are about £1600 per month. Many of our friends ask us how we can afford this but we simply put it down to not drinking, we enjoy an indoor at lifestyle, bring a packed lunch to work each day and do meal plans before the weekly shop. Friends often say to us they will spend £20-30 most weeks on alcohol, buy lunch out each day and pick up dinner on the way home from work. We are very lucky as know this won't last once we have a child!

If you earn 25k, you live with a partner or friend who also earns 24k that's 50k income combined. With very little outgoings there's a fair bit of spare money there.

Rent is cheaper because it will be one bed flat/2 bed house. No DC so smaller houses needed

Cheap holidays, staying in hostels or cheap airbnbs etc. Eating one meal a day then just bread. Holidays can be quite cheap really if your willing.

We also have to holiday in school holidays due to my job.

Generation rent ?

DS23 is the same. Absolutely no hope of buying a house, so no point even trying. So money that would have gone on a deposit goes elsewhere.

It was spotted as a trend 10 years ago, and is now working it's way into society.

What it means for the future, who knows ?

I was at my richest in my early 20s. I didn't earn a lot, ,but outgoings were limited. I had no debts, no mortgage, no need for insurance. Basically I paid rent and basic bills and the rest was for spending. When DH and I first lived together our total for direct debits was about 1/2 of what they are now! Our insurance ALONE costs a fortune (house, life, car etc) and that's before mortgage, kids activities, regular bills etc. And things like council tax are exorbitant compared to what we paid before when we lived in a tiny 2 bed flat....

On MN, I've seen multiple people talk about holidays as if you couldn't possibly have a good time for less than £1k pp a week, 4* just about tolerable etc...

My husband and I have always flitted about, clubcard points, 3*, BnBs, hostels (some amazing places too).

Skyscanner + dates out of term + 'Everywhere'

Sort price low-high. Choose destination by novelty and price.

Find the minimum acceptable practical accommodation.

Been to so many amazing and out of the way places, and our typical budget is £200pp flights and accommodation for a five day break.

Credit cards. No kids. No need to save because no chance of ever buying a house. No need to pay for house maintenance or furniture etc if you rent.

Just priorities isn't it? Different people value things differently.

I bought my house relatively young but my mortgage was low- a good amount less than I'd have been paying in rent anyway.

AirBnB etc helps.

My DD is 27 and her DP is 31. Both live and work in London on a combined wage of around £60k. Pay high rent. BUT they prioritise their money so they can go on holiday at least once a year with a few weekends away in between. They book cheap flights and Airb&bs mostly then they can eat in most meals and splurge on a few lovely ones.

Myself & Husband are always away! we use all our annual leave for holidays - i'm 30 now and have been like this the last 10 years!

We prioritise travel over all else, we live a very frugle lifestyle to afford holidays instead - we eat all meals at home, take lunch to work, cycle to work so we don't have to pay for the tube & I can't tell you the last time either of us got new clothes or anything for ourselves! We manage to save quite a bit monthly between us and then book our holidays smartly and as cheaply as possible - we use American Express cards so build up air miles so flights can be cheap enough!

Depends what your priorities are - I have friends saying oh your so lucky you can go on so many trips - as if it's handed to me - but I work hard for it!

We’re 25, we have two ‘big’ holidays a year (2 weeks in feb for birthdays and two weeks in September for anniversary’s). We try to do a few city breaks and go away with friends too. We have a mortgage on a 4bed house but I know we’re lucky, we earn well and try our best to go away. It’s annoying having to balance with getting stuff done to the garden/house but it’s a priority for us to enjoy travelling whilst we can. All I can say is that for us at 25 we make it a priority For us to go away and enjoy seeing the world!

Me and DP go on one nice holiday a year, say maybe 800-1000 a person including spending money

Then a couple of weekend breaks, these cost very little maybe 200 each? Could do it for less though, Ryanair flights can be 30 from our local airport, hostels like 20 a night. I also have friends in other countries, who we can stay with so sometimes there's no accommodation costs apart from like a meal for a friend.

Then maybe a couple of UK stints as well which are just accommodation

All in all I probably spend about 2k a year on holidays, which is 200 a month ish? My rent is 400 a month, bills about 200. That's only coming to 800 a month. Food is 30pppw so overall with food, rent, bills and holidays it's coming to about a grand a month. That still gives me spending money plus savings money.

Remember your only paying for one person to go on holiday

There's a few other bits and pieces but basically I have very little outgoings apart from myself. I am saving as well. Sure I could save faster without the holidays but I'd rather enjoy myself and buy a house when I'm a bit older

You would think that age bracket would think of the environmental impact of frequent flying. I am not that keen on frequent flyers!