to travel with Ryanair? To have DD miss days of school?

[HappyHippie]

I'm trying to book the flight to see my family in half term, but prices vary a lot from one day to the next one. Also, Ryanair is much, much cheaper, than other airlines, but well... we all know Ryanair, don't we? The other option is Easyjet, but even they are much more expensive in those dates.

So, 2 AIBU questions...

• Do you think it's OK for a 5 year old to miss 2 days of school right before the holidays? Should I ask for permission or just go ahead and book the flights?

• Does anyone have anything nice to say about Ryanair?

agentzigzag it's not a leisure holiday. It's to see our relatives who live abroad and only get to see DD once or twice per year. The difference between dates is approx £400, and I'm very far from being rich, so that money matters a lot.

Yes you have to pay them or they rise and eventually you could be given a criminal record for non payment.

I'm sure you wouldn't let it get that far so I'm not trying to scare you here....just pointing out the seriousness.

Have a look at this link...it should explain it a bit better than I can.

www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Schoolslearninganddevelopment/YourChildsWelfareAtSchool/DG_066966

Oh thanks ToadsPornFrogsPawn!

LilBlonde - You obviously aren't in MY LA. EVERY offence of taking a child of compulsory school age out of school without permission (which is next to never granted, at least at my Primary/Secondary) gets fined.

And the fines are astronomical here. £100 per PARENT of EACH CHILD PER DAY. To a maximum of £2,000.

Wouldn't bloody dare here.

Hence my DC's have never even had a UK caravan holiday, as school holiday prices are unreachable to me.

You won't be fined. Tell the school it's a family event eg wedding, granny's birthday etc, and say you'll go to a museum too, so very cultural. You'll get permission, don't worry

I'm sorry but that's very bad advice.

FWIW I'm the vice chair of govs and the gov for attendance at my local primary school and I can tell you now, it depends entirely on the individual school, on their policy and on the child's average attendance so far.

They don't swallow shit about going to museums because parents can (and imo should) do that on a weekend if they want to.

Thankfully not mouthy - I have rarely seen fines given out at all in the LAs I've worked in, and when they have been they've only been to the worst offenders.

OK thanks ladies, I really really appreciate you telling me about this, as I HAD NO IDEA! And, on the side, don't you think it's a bit... orwellian? Am very freaked out at the moment!

No I don't think it's orwellian given the fact kids have roughly 13 weeks holiday a year as it is.

I get that it's more expensive during the holidays but that surely just means you should spend longer saving up?

I don't know why people even look up the prices of term time holidays...why would you?

worra, sometimes people take their kids out of school for reasons other than price. I would never let dd lose out on her education for a cheap holiday, but I have taken her out of school for important family reasons. Our school has been very reasonable about this to date, but has now become much more draconian due to pressure from the LEA. I do find it all a bit Orwellian tbh, and I know that our headteacher thinks it's excessive too.

Another question, when it says Half term: Monday 29 October 2012 ? Friday 2 November 2012 - they're expected to go back to school on Monday, is that correct?

Worra, you are scaremongering. You do not get a criminal record for not paying a fine, for starters. All of my DC have had time off school to travel, and I have always got permission by emphasising the cultural benefits of travelling abroad and the importance of family events. Any school should recognise that there is more to education than 100% attendance.
And yes, Happy, half term is a full week off school, so they start again on the Monday

It amazes me how steamed up people can get about a child missing a few days of school for a family holiday. This is a five-year old, for heaven's sake. Her education is not going to suffer at all. In these pressured times, a relaxed family holiday is at least as precious as a few days of missed schooling. And it may be cheaper in term time but equally it may be that some parents are constrained as to when they can actually take their annual leave.

I went to boarding school in the UK as my parents worked abroad and routinely missed the start of term from the ages of 11-18 (my best effort was returning almost three weeks late; I blithely said I couldn't get a flight. Yes, flights were few and far between then but mostly I was swinging the lead.) It made not a jot of difference to my O, A and S level results, nor to my degree.

And to to bring a little perspective into the debate, the hard line approach we see at the moment has very little to do with children missing out on their education and FAR more to do with the school's position in the dreaded League Tables, where unauthorised absences have a deleterious impact.

As for Ryanair, an airline that treats its passengers with such naked contempt doesn't get my custom. But I can see that needs must, sometimes.

Of course it's fine for 5-year-old to miss 2 days of school to visit family. It will very clearly make no difference whatsoever to her education, happiness, character, etc. That's the logical answer.

Back down here the logic-free zone of modern British schooling, you may well be whacked across the knuckles by a fine, you naughty girl.

So do the math - how much is the fine/day. £400 savings - possible fine = X. Is it worth it?

Be sure to factor in all the bad feeling between you and the school. You'll feel they're Orwellian bastards (and you'll be right) and they'll say you're Not Supporting the School, which I think is on the official list of terrorist offences.

Also keep this in mind, if you have family abroad. There will likely be times you really need to visit in term time (a funeral, an illness, a wedding, a big family event). You might want to save up the paltry amount of goodwill that your school may have towards absences until you really need to avail yourself of it.

And Ryanair - they're shite, but at least you know that going in.

Taking your DD out of school 2 days before end of term - no probs

Flying with Ryanair -DON'T. Thieving bastards. Tis a joke trying to fly with children as not able to reserve seating. Our flight back from Spain they have 8 flights leaving from four check in desks. We arrived with 2.5hrs to spare having checked in online so only depositing luggage. We nearly missed the flight due to the queues caused by the lack of staff.

No soft drinks left on the flight, only one toilet on the plane working.

Never again.

My advise pay the extra and go with easyjet

I love ryanair. They have never lost my baggage, are always polite and helpful. Even with the extra charges they work out at less than half the price of Cimber or THE TOTAL RIP OFF PILE OF WANK that is BA. Pay extra for priority boarding thouugh. And check the times of flights. It can be worth paying more for a later flight as getting p some airports in the mornings can be physically impossible.

I have just flown with Ryan Air for the first time

It was crowded, unpleasant and they march you through the airport so fast you don't have time for a coffee/ wee / feed your baby ( I assume a) so they are on time and b) so you buy stuff on the plane)

On the other hand, we got there early both ways, it was fine for a short flight and whilst not a pleasant experience it was doable. Plus it was, of course, really cheap.

I've flown with Ryanair a few times and find them absolutely fine. Yes they are strict about luggage weight but they dont exactly hide that fact.

I didnt appreciate how high the charges were in the summer season to take a suitcase - 50€!!! Since the flight wasnt so cheap, I didnt bother and just travelled light and it was fine.

I would never fly Ryanair again after they screwed a friend over, I'd rather pay extra and fly Easyjet.

Bear in mind with the flight costs, that won't include booking fee, credit card surcharge and baggage costs. I think it includes airport tax now, but they we're illegally excluding it from their website headline price for ages, making it look cheaper than everyone else. They charge extra for every conceivable thing, and a few inconceivable things. Make sure you print boarding cards out at home, or that will cost you extra too.

Easyjet will let parents with small children board before the hoards. Ryanair make you pay for that.

If you know how to play their game, Ryanair may still be cheaper, but beware, you could easily end up spending more than you bargained for.

Have you checked the school hasn't added an INSET day to one end of half term which may help ? Often on school websites they are quoted separately or they may not have been published online yet and they may tell you in the first newsletter (assuming you go back this week).
Our school used to authorise holiday if it was one or two days around a break but LEAs are clamping down. My daughter's high school has said they will not authorise any holiday at all.
It's not a good idea to cover up what you are planning to do unless you do not tell your daughter you are going as at that age they are always talking about what they are going to do, where they are going etc.

Ryanair are ok , the only problem is they don't allocate seats but make sure you get to the gate early and you should sit together, or pay for the speedy boarding.

You won't be fined! Book the flights then ask permission it will either be allowed or not, if not it just goes down as 2 days unauthorised absence on her report at the end of the year that's all,

Sounds like a great idea! we fly ryan air often and it's fine. buy food at the airport if the flight is over a meal time and take it with you. If you are stuck with too much stuff wear lots of your clothes.

As for taking her out of school for 2 days I think you would be unreasonable not to, the money you save on the flights could go towards a fun educational day out once you are on holiday. I'd just not tell them untill the day and especially as it's your childs first year at school just play ignorance and say you had no idea you couldn't take your own child on holiday when you want.

Oh and if you get into the situation where you can't sit together just give your child a sick bag and the person next to child will be offering to swap with you very fast.

Just book, then tell the school. Then go.

She is 5.

You're the parent, do what you like. Tell them to stick their fines (if they have them, which most don't)
And there is nothing wrong with Ryanair, no need to be precious about flying with the plebs!

Worra, you are scaremongering. You do not get a criminal record for not paying a fine, for starters

I said you could get a criminal record for non payment of fines and that's because it's true...of course you can.