How can people afford 2 week summer holidays?

[NobilityScooter]

Pre COVID we went on holiday in the UK because we couldn't afford to go abroad. £1.5-2k accomodation then £1k spending money. = £2.5-3k holiday (2 adults + 2 children).

The costs crept up each year until COVID then the UK shot up in price. We changed locations to holiday somewhere cheaper still in the UK. Then the accomodation was poorer standard too for the price but it's what we could afford. I looked at what the same place would cost the next year when we got back (not that we wanted to book it but to see a cost comparison). And it was over £1k more expensive!

So we looked at cheap all inclusive abroad. And got something for the same price as the UK post COVID but abroad. Fabulous holiday. Wanted to book it the next year over £1k more expensive! We're lucky to be gifted £1.5k that year so went back to the same place and had a great time but the DC were getting a bit old for it so needed to find somewhere new.

Everything is so expensive! Looking at last year's holiday place is £2k more expensive! So it's gone up £3k in 2 years!

So my question is how does anyone afford to go on holiday in school holidays? (2 DC at school and education jobs mean we can only go in school holidays). This is £3k - to £7.5k in 8 years. How is anyone supposed to afford that? I see lots of people on holiday and places are selling out so people must be paying those prices. Our mortgage has doubled (£650 to £1250) and our gas and electricity has tripled (£88 to £270) plus our food bills have rocketed post COVID. Where is the spare money for a holiday?

Lots of people have lots of money. Well paid roles.

We couldn’t so are taking the kids out of school for two weeks instead. It will be our third ever holiday abroad together and the kids are 11 and 14 so next year the 14 year old will be doing exams and the 12 year old in high school so we won’t have the opportunity again to do so in term time. The prices are shocking and we probably won’t go abroad again tbh for a long time- may try to pay for small trips for the kids eg trips abroad with school and family city breaks or visiting friends etc.

Camping or a chalet in France isn’t that much.

this or interest free cards. But surprising how many people are on above or well above the median wage (£38k).

For us, camping in France (own tent). Tent bought specifically so we could afford school holiday holidays.

They make more money than you

Lots of people earn enough money to cope. Or they use alternatives.. Airbnb, self catering villas, eurocamp, static caravans abroad etc.

We used to rent chalets/villas 10 years ago. We are highish-ranking public sector workers.

Last year we bought a tent and this years major holiday indulgence is a campsite with private toilet facilities 🤣

Our budget does not stretch nearly as far as it used to.

They pay monthly.

Our summer holiday this year is cheaper because we're using air miles that have been building up for years.

What sort of holidays are you looking at in the U.K.? We regularly stay in areas such as the highlands, the lakes, Cornwall/Devon. We book via Sykes or cottages.com. Just booked a week in July up in the highlands in a property that sleeps 6 and paid £380, property that sleeps 4 in Devon for £420 for a week. The lakes we got for Easter for £219 and that sleeps 4. Obviously food etc is on top but we just use the kitchen facilities in the property and cook or go out to eat.

We alternate so reasonable all inclusive somewhere like turkey, Egypt Morocco etc then 5* Caribbean or Dubai the following year. We go the last week of term or fly from Scotland once the Scottish kids are back at school. This year is turkey 3.7k 2 adults and 1 child last week of the year + 1st week of the school holidays. Have booked Dominican for next year (feb half term + 1 week) 6k.

Our gas hasn't doubled as we have solar panels plus use the log burner. We worked our way up renovating so own half our house so mortgage is reasonable.

we're both on average to good full time salaries but we've never been on holiday. kids are 13 and 15 and i feel really bad about this, but we simply can't afford it. we camp. i hate camping and don't consider it any kind of holiday but at least we can see some of the UK even if the kids have never been abroad

We often go to the same country at the same time of year (overseas family), and a while ago I put flight prices into a table to see how much they'd been going up, and they have gone up 10% a year. Car hire has gone up slightly faster.

If you want to bring the price down you need to think slightly differently. A simple hotel in somewhere by the sea in Greece in a local-oriented town (rather than the main drag of all inclusive places/resorts) will be just under 1 - 2k (or as high as you like!) for the 4 of you. Flights probably about 1.5k, car hire £50 a day, meals, probably £20 for lunch (gyros & coke), £60 for dinner (local taverna - souvlaki, greek salad, local wine/beer etc.), so there's your £3.5k NOT including car hire, although pick the right town and bike hire would be fine. £4.2k with. That's for a fairly cheap and cheerful hotel. Lounger and umbrella on the beach is about £5 - 10 per day and worth it with kids. I imagine you could find similar in Spain or France.

It still feels like a lot, but it's not £7.5k!

We also sometimes put our house on Airbnb when we go on holiday because we live in a very touristy area, and get about £1k from that, which takes the edge off.

I used to take my DC on the £9.50 Sun holidays. We always had a great time!

I prioritise holidays & travel above pretty much everything else, I don't buy a lot of clothes, rarely have takeaways, my kitchen is old etc etc. I keep a spreadsheet and stick to a budget for my holidays - and plan big ones several years ahead - so going to Orlando this year, been planned for 3 years and money put away each month.

A week, in term time, in the UK.

If you want to bring it down a bit more, take a look on Airbnb instead of hotels in Greece - there are plenty of simple places for about £60 - £80 a night, and you'd have a kitchenette.

Self catering. We love it!

What is your budget for the four of you?

school holidays is the killer - we go several times a year but never over school holidays unless it happens to be cheaper (eg Easter can be cheap long haul)

Also prioritise holidays over other things - maybe there is a subscription or two you could cancel or something else you could cut back on to bump up the pot

Also generally I find the UK isn't particularly cheap.. depending on trip type of course

It depends on what your costs are as well as income. If you’ve paid off your mortgage and or live in a well insulated home that is cheap to run, don’t have childcare, don’t pay for a big commute, have time to cook from scratch using basic ingredients, it isn’t expensive to cover the basics.

We go to France and book early to get discounts. Use Tesco vouchers to help pay for ferry/tunnel. We go for 10 nights instead of two weeks. If you're in education, make sure you are joined the Discounts for Teachers site, we got a significant discount on our Eurocamp booking for end of July. We go self-catering and bring permitted ingredients with us to save on unnecessary grocery spending. Our mortgage has gone from £1400 to £2000, increases to utilities etc but we are very very fortunate to have had some pay increases to help offset this a bit.

I think booking independently and using local accommodation really brings down the price. Last summer we flew to Turkey (1K for 3 adults), hired a car for a week (£200) and stayed in a small local complex in a bungalow that was £500 for the week. So total cost came in around £1700. We spent about £500 between the 3 of us for the week so total 2.2K for the week. That included petrol, bike hire for a week, dinners out every night.

We’re paying £3.5k for a fortnight in Spain this year, and I actually don’t think that’s too horrific. Last year we paid £6.5k for Florida, but we had to spend a couple of years saving for that one properly.

We have no other luxuries, a holiday is a must do for us, and we save money in other areas to pay for it. Appreciate lots of people can’t do that though and have other priorities.

I’m on an average wage and DH works part time on a fairly low wage.