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?

I spend time finding a really good deal, also booking well in advance. Found a really nice and well reviewed 5* hotel in crete in August for 3.5k all inclusive for 4 of us. I booked it last September and am paying monthly 350 a month over 10months (no extra cost). I looked recently at the price as a family member expressed an interest and the same holiday is now a lot more expensive. It is always cheaper to book a year ahead in my experience, I've found this every year.

Have a look on Jet2 holidays and search for holidays with free child places - they have loads!

Airbnb? Lots of really reasonably priced places to book in the UK via Airbnb. We’ve used them for a few years and never had a bad one.

We live in the Netherlands but our respective families are in France and Britain. So we go to them for most of the holidays (again school hols/peak time because I am a teacher and our eldest is 5). So we still have to pay travel but obviously not for accommodation once we are there and we just chip in with the food shopping. We might do some mini breaks or days out within that so it still feels like holidays (city breaks mainly - sometimes staying in AirBNBs or with friends to bring costs down).

We book flights and Air B&B separately and go to less 'obvious' places.

We also have our holidays abroad during the Easter holidays/May half term and another during October half term. Still more expensive than term time but much less than summer.

During the summer holidays we go camping or visit friends in other parts of the country. They stay with us too so everyone gets a change of scenery.

Financially I could afford to take two weeks off over summer, but time-wise I could not, because of all the external reporting deadlines. Don’t care though, as I get prickly heat, so great excuse not to go away over summer when it’s triple the price 😀

Spending money £1k for 2 weeks?? Do you honestly spend £500 a week on food at home? Just go somewhere that offers self-catering with kitchen facilities. Book your accommodation and travel separately. Travel very light - No one cares what you're wearing, except the airlines, who will charge you a fortune for luggage. And check out train and bus fares where you want to go - they're incredibly cheap in all countries except the UK. We usually stay at 2 or 3 places on a 2-week holiday. Each accommodation is either near somewhere we want to go or has a pool or has a beach. If you travel light, like 10kg per person plus an extra 10kg per family, travel and moving around is easy. Be very organised, including organising downtime for those who want to read a book by the pool. Your children won't get bored, because there's a plan and it's an adventure. You just need a good-natured family. But you need that on any holiday.

That sounds like a bargain for August. Can I be nosy and ask what hotel please? I've done Stella Palace in crete.

We look for deals, one year away, one year not at the moment, but, to be honest, we budget it in.

https://www.holidaypirates.com/

They do the bargain hunting for you. Check regularly, there is great variation.

It's the Leptos Panorama.

May be try to go somewhere like a town which is less popular during school hols. Take a hotel with a pool and you can still have a nice time. Buy food at the local supermarket for picnics and save money avoiding overpriced meals out!

Yes to booking independently- flights, car hire sc accommodation - and all a good 10 months in advance. Admit it’s not my thing, DH loves planning though so all sorted.

A couple of places we’ve been back to we’ve booked direct with the owner, which is cheaper without AirB&B costs. It is possible but a lot of legwork, I’m v lucky DH is a planner!

We go for 5 or 6 nights to a nice hotel abroad. Keep a close eye on flights as they change prices all the time and you can get bargains. I really think it is cheaper to book the flight and hotel separately. The second week, we just go a cheap b and b somewhere in the U.K. which is often just as fun.

I'm a single parent on approx 40k a year. I plan well in advance for our holidays. Last year was our first holiday abroad after being fed up of paying a fortune for UK holidays, with no guarantee with the weather and expensive food and day trips.
Our week in majorca was considerably less than our UK holidays. For 7 nights, half board at a lovely 3 star half board hotel I paid £1200 and around £1000 spending money, although could've easily spent less. We decided to go back this year, and I pay monthly by direct debit. We have also booked a 4 night UK caravan holiday for July school holidays for £400. There are plenty of deals out there, ways to do it cheaper. For me holidays are a priority after mortgage and bills. It's what I live for. I don't tend to go out often, and don't get my nails done etc...

If it helps, we stay in a non-touristy area of Portugal every summer and pay easily less for a 3 bedroom self-catering house (often in the middle of nowhere) than an equivalent cottage somewhere like Dorset/West Wales/Sussex in the UK. Summer school holidays. The UK is absurdly expensive nowadays and good weather is not guaranteed!

(Mind you, in Portugal we play Russian Roulette with forest fires, so nowhere is perfect.)

we have done a LOT of searching for holidays and finally booked a week for way less than we expected or had set aside. We have had to make some compromises - so less slides in the pool for the kids but those hotels were just so ridiculously expensive. We're also only doing a week in the summer and a week at Easter now which works out cheaper!

A lot of parents take their kids outside the school holiday period. You'll save a lot of money.

Depends on what you want from a holiday , Have you looked at bookings direct or Jet 2 villas, loads of places in Spain last week in August for 2 adults and 2 children for just over £1200. Jet 2 include car hire also allow you to pay monthly for some.
Some have own pools near shops restaurants ect, yes flights on top but you can work that some air lines do night flights cheaper.
Go to local supermarket get cereals, bread ect, for breakfast lunch, just eat out a couple of times at night using local places, it wouldn't work out anywhere near what youve priced it up at.

Book your flights early, your accommodation late and car hire from a local company when you get t h ere

It’s about priorities.

I prioritise holidays so cut back on other things, don’t smoke, rarely drink, drive an older car, lots of little things.

I’d rather have many cheap and cheerful holidays in the sun, basic (but perfectly adequate) SC accommodation rather than all inclusive hotels. Our next holiday is a week in the Canaries which will be about £700 for 2 of us excluding spends, the flights are about £400 of that, and we don’t spend much when we’re there, we’ve been going there for years and are literally going for the sun, so we don’t do “touristy” stuff as we did it years ago.

Oh and I work shitty shifts because these shifts attract a huge shift allowance.

I don‘t think it’s difficult to understand

I’d bargain a fair number of them are putting it on an interest free credit card & moving about their debt rather than actually being able to afford it.

one family I know takes there kids on a two week holiday to Disney every year during term time… I wouldn’t do that though!

@Tigernoodles81 that's a biggie- those colossal places with mini waterparks are totally loading the price- and it may be what kids 'like and want' but they aren't paying. I would rather pay £150 twice and take them to a full sized waterpark than load £1400 on the holiday price.

I often get a bit bored with a full 2 weeks anyway and now we tend to book for 10-12 days and it can make a huge difference to the cost.
But if we had to, we would cut back in other areas to make sure we could afford a holiday. Though I appreciate we are very lucky at the moment that we don’t have to make those sacrifices

@updownleftrightstart I think that's the other biggie- go for 9 or 10 days and get the most out of those