How does a person book a holiday?!

[ChiefWiggumsBoy]

This is possibly the STUPIDEST question I've ever asked on here - but if you have school age kids so need to stick to school hols, how do you book a holiday for next year?!

I went to have an idle browse on Tui earlier and the latest dates are March 2023. Money will be tight, but I have literally no idea how much I would need to budget per person.

Help!

Sorry forgot to add - I'll clearly need to be putting money away now, but I need to do that for other stuff also, and I have no idea what is an appropriate amount.

We always book flights and accommodation separately. We will typically book a summer break in November or as soon as flights are released.

Can you price it up for Feb half term, add 10% and save that? Then check again in the New Year

What are you asking? How to book the holiday (ie what website to browse, whether to book flights or hotel first) or how to work out term dates / school holiday dates or how to save up? It sounds like you already know HOW to book if you are booking using through Tui?

I can see holidays until 2024?

Jet2 holidays are out until end of 2023.
You pay £60 deposit per person and can spread the other payments monthly.

Have you been on holiday before? Not pisstaking, genuinely interested.

if you are aware how it works ie food requirements, day out requirements, you work out a budget from that

I’ve booked one for May 2023 through TUI so you probably need to keep fiddling about with the website. It’s not a particularly user-friendly website IMO.

Hmmm maybe it's because I filtered to Liverpool airport? I'll try again.

@rattlemehearties I know physically how to book. I know the relative websites etc., but I want to book something for August next year, and if I can't see prices I can't see how much I need to save. So if I bank on, I don't know, £1000 each, and then I get to the release of flights then I either potentially lose a deposit or just can't book anything. I've always booked everything separately but tbh I find it really stressful having to sort everything like that.

Having said that - I'll look at some other sites now. I know I looked at EasyJet for example and they also only had flights released till about March.

Yes I have and daily costs yes I can work out. But I haven't been abroad in 5 years, so if I bank on £1000 pp for accommodation and flights, but then get to nearer the time and they're double that, then I'm fucked.

Mid 50s here and I have never booked a holiday either. We holiday in the UK with our caravan. I go online book a campsite a few days before we go. Its not that unusual to have not booked. I'm currently looking into going abroad with a friend and have no idea where to start. Fortunately she does.

Ah if you're looking at flights separately most companies are only out until March 2023.
But even if it's a bit more expensive I wonder if you'd be better with a package. Means there are no unexpected costs like luggage or transfers and you can pay monthly.

Jet2 don't fly from Liverpool only Manchester and they have dates further out. Can't fault jet2 at all, all around us Tui etc were being cancelled back in July but we breezed through.

I've got Jet2 open in another tab @GlitteryFarts so we'll see what they come up with!

And for anyone interested - I think it's the airport. Have filtered on Tui now starting with date and it does go up to 2024, I just have to look from Manchester.

It sounds as though you need to book a package with Jet2 or tui. Easyjet flights aren't out yet and prices can and will vary hugely between now and August. Book your package based on what you expect you can afford comfortably then pay a deposit, usually £60pp with Jet2 or £100pp with tui. Then you can either pay the provider monthly or I prefer to save the money in a bank account and pay it when the balance is due. That will probably be around May or June time so you need to work out how much per month based on balance due date, not holiday date.

In the current climate do not book accommodation and flights separately. Book a package even directly with the company or via a travel agent who will handle any problems that arise.

They are booking through October 23. Go on the TUI app

Yeah this is partly what I'm thinking as well!

You will get more for your money with Jet2 than you will with TUI. We saved over £900 on the same holiday by going with Jet2.

If you book with Jet2 do it through the app as it's a bit cheaper. Travelled with them earlier this year (after easyJet cancelled our holiday while we were at the airport) and they were great.

Also with Jet2 holidays if you cancel you only lose the deposit of £60pp up to 70 days prior to the holiday.

I had booked a trip to Madeira for DH and I by ourselves to Madeira in November, but realised we weren't comfortable leaving DS16 alone for a week or calling in favours from people to stay, and then the whole cost of living increase meant it just felt a bit of a silly idea. I was annoyed at myself to lose the £120 but the rest of the money was back on my card within a couple of days and it was really easy to cancel online.

Hopefully you won't need to, but it's just good to know that option exists when you're booking quite far in advance.

Thanks for all the input. I haven’t found anything I particularly like the look of yet but have got a bit of time to think about it.