AIBU to think that the £9.50 holiday program....

[Bogeyface]

.....is just going to just another hatchet job on the poor of the UK?

I can't help being a bit that Nick and Margaret - We pay your benefits is being repeated straight after......

[mymagaret]

I think the Holidays are an excellent idea, they are not supplemented by the government in any way so i dont see why any one can have a problem with them. I myself am very fortunate to be able to afford holidays abroad and the luxuries but i know my parents and many people they work with cannot. They both work full time (very strenuous) jobs, and all the hours under the sun , claim absolutely no benefits and pay all their taxes. For people like them these holidays are a lifeline to get away for a week together, if not they would have enough for just a day trip to the local seaside! These holidays are a brilliant way for those struggling to get away and have a much needed break. Why would anybody be bothered by that?

[HorryIsUpduffed]

BBC1 I think? I was watching the 10 o'clock news and couldn't be arsed to change the channel

[Groovee]

What channel was it on?

[HorryIsUpduffed]

I quite enjoyed it. They deliberately showed a range of holidaymakers (teenagers away from home for the first time, "poor" family, "rich" family who used to go long-haul, two friends) and also the staff. It was generally warm to everyone, showing the range of experiences people could have depending on their budget and ingenuity.

I think they kept saying "the single mothers" to emphasise how much they needed and deserved their time away, rather than the opposite.

[specialsubject]

the impression I got was that it fills the quiet times at a good price - why not? (although there is a lot of temptation to spend on 'extras')

the caravans looked perfectly ok to me.

[Chattymummyhere]

I think its maybe more tight people then poor sometimes... Oh holiday nah... Oh £9.50 holiday ok then as its under a tenner type of thing..

My grandad always used to say if its more than 50p you can't have it and if there is no price it's too expensive...

[Rufus43]

Why would it be poor bashing? Because its s cheap holiday?

[Chattymummyhere]

There is a caravan site near our own static and it has signed up to do the £9.50 holidays and sadly there have been alot of people abuse it... You talk to the staff and ok wrongly they tell you it was a family booked on the £9.50 but alot of people now don't want to buy on that site or are trying to sell up and move because there has been a lot of trouble...

Most as always are nice, friendly normal people but of course you get the ones who ruin it for everyone else...

[worldgonecrazy]

I've not seen the programme but I think the £9.50 holidays are great, especially as you don't even need to buy the Sun to get the holidays if you have access to the online application.

I just paid £110 for a fortnight in France, that would have cost nearly £900 full price.

[IneedAyoniNickname]

Mum always books ours, makes sure she only selects school holiday dates, and picks a limit as to how far she will drive, to make it both cost and time effective.

If I was going without my mum, and therefore on a train, I'd start saving for train fare in advance, based on how much it would cost for my furthest chosen.destination iyswim. And with my railcard I've never found trains to be cheaper if booked in advance.

Tbh I wouldn't book a holiday more than a couple of months in advance anyway, not in the UK. Ex is taking the dc away next week, he booked it last week.

[Bogeyface]

Does it not cause problems that you cant be sure when you are going, or where? That is the main reason I have never done them, that and the fact that most of the available dates are in school time so you cant plan that much in advance by booking trains/coaches etc and getting the cheapest deals.

I just think that if you dont have a car, or cant afford the petrol for a long journey (we live in the town that is the furthest from the coast in all directions!) then the cheap holiday is offset by the cost of travel if you dont know where you are going until a couple of months before hand.

Genuine Q

[IneedAyoniNickname]

I've just looked at how much the place we are going to would cost if we booked direct, £315! We are paying less than 50 for 5people (only 4of us go, but mum always pays for 5 then we get bigger.accommodation) Unless the entertainment passes are a couple of hundred its massively cheaper to book.via the sun.

I've been doing these holidays for over 10years now, and its never come even.close to full.price!

[thismousebites]

Well I went on a £9.50 hol and my neighbour went to the same place, but paid full whack, and she didn't get any extras that i didn't.
The difference was she paid about £400 extra for her hols than I did.

[Bogeyface]

Bingo

[TabithaStephens]

I worked at a Haven camp years ago and you could really tell the difference in customer during the £9.50 weeks. One woman attacked a comedian on stage because he was being mean to his partner - it was part of the act.

[thismousebites]

I think the whole point of the programme was to highlight the need for these kind of holiday opportunities.
We can't all afford to take a holiday abroad in the school hols and this was just pointing out why these hols have become so popular.

[stealthsquiggle]

We saw 30 seconds (channel hopping) and saw 11yo talking about how much time her parents give to them and how they deserve a holiday. DH said we should introduce her to our DC .

[Bogeyface]

The point of my post was to see if other people thought, as I did, that it would probably be another reason to poor bash.

The poor dont deserve holidays, even cheap ones you know! And yes, I did know about the hidden charges, my friend got stung that way with the entertainment passes, etc for stuff that would have been included had she booked direct.

A failed attempt, sorry!

[nannynick]

Pleasantly surprised actually as it did not come across to me as poor bashing at all. Having never been on a caravan holiday (have been as a child perhaps but think that was a caravan with a horse to pull it type thing, it was the 70's) that I can remember, it was interesting to see what it was like.

Not a lot of footage of the parks facilities I felt, seemed to concentrate on the shows/entertainment.

At the end they asked how much they spent and it was a couple of hundred in the end but it would have been far more if it was not 9.50 for the accommodation.

[steppemum]

actually rather than poor bashing, the family with a tight budget is very impressive in that she is carefully accounting for every penny.

[thatstoast]

I haven't seen any poor bashing so far, I think most people on the show are in work.

[PelvicFloorClenchReminder]

I am getting a bit peeved that they feel the need to point out that the two women are single mothers everytime they appear on the screen. Because they are of course not women, they are single mothers.

Might be a bit hormonal though.

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

They are not 'poor bashing' as there's a mix of families. I can't see the point of the programme to be honest. I'm rather that my licence fee is being spent on crap like this.

[thismousebites]

I think it's just trying to point out how many people are taking these hols nowadays, due to credit crunch.
I do them regularly and think they are great, but can see where some people might look down their noses.
Not getting the post Bogeyface, these hols aren't supplemented by the taxpayer, so what do you mean exactly?

[TooTabooToBoo]

I knew it was on and wanted to watch so I could be all uppity about how wrong it was (I've no idea what angle they're taking but assumed it was poor-bashing)

Then I forgot spent the evening on MN

I will watch on catch up tomorrow.