in expecting to pay a fair price to take DC'S away in the school holidays

[LilyLoo]

Why are we penalised so much over this. I work in a school so I have no choice. But despite schools telling everyone they should only take them in the holidays i for one wouldn't. If they can afford to sell exactly the same product a week either side for so much less why do we have to accept we're being RIPPED OFF!

This really annoys me too, but it is a case of supply and demand, they sell holidays cheaper during term time because they can't get people to pay the higher prices then. I can understand the reasons why travel companies do it, it is no different than a restaurant putting their prices up on mothers day or florists putting their prices up on valentines day.

Might it also be that they actually don't make a profit - even a loss - out of the term-time holidays, and have to make up the difference? I have seen it in articles that the package industry has to buy up job lots of flights and accommodation over the whole season, but the sector is so competitive and people expect prices to be as low as possible on packages, that they often operate at a loss at the out of season periods.

Hmm 'tis still irritating though blu when those of us with children going in peak season when everywhere is buys are in effect subsidising the childfree who can choose their holidays. Ah that is a good argument to those people who go on about paying taxes towards the education etc of my children. Will drop it into conversation next time I am bored at work...

buys = busy

Agree Bozza. KSlatts wheres our carnations or soup and a roll option then ?

It's extremely irritating, and the point about subsidy is fair. The problem is that two systems are mixing and in opposition to each otehr - the travel industry can't be expected to act like a not-for-profit gvt agency to fit around the education system.

I'm just so grateful that I took so many opportnities to enjoy cheap subsidised child-free holidays when I had the chance

The owners of planes and hotels have to pay bills all year, borrowings repairs etc.
So whether or not the operators are "forced" to buy blocks of time they don't want, someone is paying for this.
Without charging more at peak times, they would simply go out of business.

"operating at a loss" in this context is what you get when 99% of journalists have no idea of maths beyond counting to 10.
Either something costs more than the marginal cost of producing it, or it doesn't. If flying a plane gives you less money than fuel and wages for you get, then you don't fly it. Off peak revenues reduce losses, but aren't enough to make hotels and planes profitable.

The holiday market is very very competitive, so unless you're British Airways it's almost impossible to rip people off, and even BA is struggling to do that these days.

I don't see a solution, short of a large movement of school holidays in the entire northern hemisphere.

Actually blu I am fairly philosophical about it myself. Was a bit surprised that the flights to the south of France were more in May (Spring Bank) than in August. We're going in August.

Aren't the french holidays in August. Just we went couple of years ago further to North and it was v. quiet?

We went to Normandy last August and it was full of the English plus American veterans etc.

the French tend to go South - not North - in August

Northern France definitely the place to holiday in the summer.
Supply is not matched by demand there any more so gites and so on have much lower price hikes (IYSWIM) than in Britain and the Med.
It's also full of empty beaches and loads to do
I understand the economics of the British tourist market but don't feel a lot of it is worth the really exploitative price rises in the School hols

ahh yes Domini - moving the school holidays - our Local Authority decided in their infinate wisdom to have a different half term holiday (both in Oct and Feb) to all the other surrounding authorites (including dh's but that's another story)

so nothing was 'on' for children and the holiday prices weren't any cheaper as either side of the week's holiday is still extortionate.

LEAs should synchronise, since if you have kids in two and you work must be awful.
LEAS must do something useful surely ?

I have a small radical suggestion.
Abolish bank holidays, all of them.
Instead raise the minimum number of holidays one gets from an employer by the same number.

Thus fewer crowded "holiday weekends", less jams on roads, less congestion at airports, and slightly lower prices all round.

I'm convinced that the leader of the Education Department in our authority has a timeshare in Spain for those weeks, hence the bizarre holidays - we are usually a bit strange!

You aren’t being ripped off. You’re paying the price of making sure there is enough holiday accommodation available during the peak periods. The fixed costs (the cost of having the accommodation available no matter how many weeks a year it actually gets rented to people) is the big determinator of the price differential. If there wasn’t a differential in price there would be more demand during peak periods and people either wouldn’t be able to find anything or prices would have to go up across the board.

With a few notable exceptions, holiday companies aren’t raking it in, they operate on relatively thin margins. If they aren’t allowed to have big price differentials, the availability of holiday accommodation will go down, but peak prices won’t. They’ll just put up the off-peak prices, have fewer people going during off peak times to help cover those fixed costs, and either raise peak prices to help cover those costs or seek off accommodation for other uses so they have fewer empty properties during the off-peak times.

What would lower prices is a longer peak season. Schools staggering holidays would help a bit, especially with flights component to many holidays. But it is partly down to the seasons and we can’t change those.

I have heard of this as being the other way round.

A hotel needs to charge a certain amount (averaged) a night throughout the year to break even. You might pay above the odds for the school holidays but that hotel only stays in business and retains it's staff by attracting people to stay in the off peak season when most people cannot travel so, in fact, the people who travel then and pay less get those lower prices because the hotel staying open in those months is essential to survival and staff retention

Legal position on holiday entitlement already matches your suggestion. You don’t have an entitlement to bank holidays. You have an entitlement to 28 days paid holiday. Whether you work a bank holiday or not and whether or not an employer counts bank holidays off against your 28 day minimum holiday entitlement is up to the employer.

YABU

Surely businesses will be busier/higher workload etc during peak seasons/events/holidays etc, hence more staff/overtime and costs? Such as entertainment/kids clubs in resorts! If the demand is there 🤷‍♀️

Zombie thread!