Summer Holidays....Or Daylight Robbery?!

[AlwaysChatting]

Like many parents, our DS is coming up to the end of his first school year and like every year, we are planning a family holiday, with the difference of course that this time we will be paying peak prices due to peak summer time and non term time. I knew that prices would be high but they are actually ridiculously high that I'm totally shocked. We will be paying twice as much as last year when our DS was not in school, hence went at an earlier time of year. Almost every parent I know at school has said they are going abroad this year. AIBU if we don't go, mainly because of the "injustice" of having to pay peak prices?

Are you going abroad this year?

If there are any secret tips out there on getting better deals, please do share! 😊

I'd also love to Holiday in the UK but the weather can never be guaranteed.

We are. The price is ridiculous. But our desire to go is more than our desire to save

We don't go back until almost a week into September so we can get away with going for a week starting at the end of August when it's 'just' £££££ rather than £££££££££!!

If you have to go peak time then shop around, lower your expectations and book early. You can still book an affordable holiday. Otherwise weigh up possible fines versus taking off the last week of a summer term (when children do sweet fa anyway) to get an affordable break.

Try booking with hotels directly rather than through a travel agents. We stayed in Tenerife. Travel Agents wanted £1990 for all inclusive and flights, Expedia £1700 for same, we booked direct with hotel and flights with Ryanair for £1250. We went week before half term.

We went to New York 3 years two weeks before Christmas. £4500 for 5 nights with travel agents £2300 with Expedia £1200 booking direct with hotel who had a sale on that was only available with a direct booking. This was a 4 star hotel too.

We book a villa & go with my brother & his kids. A 4/5 bed villa & cheap Ryan Air flights is so much cheaper than 4 adults & 5 kids going to a hotel.

We pay separate flights and accommodation direct with owners. This year we are going to lake garda in the middle of the summer holidays and flights for all 4 if us cost £440 and then a week in an apartment cost about £600.
Flights on a monday- on a saturday they were well over double!

Supply and demand I'm afraid. It does make you baulk though!

If you are close to the Scottish border then go late August and fly from Scotland as our schools are back 18thish. We used to go from Manchester or Newcastle after our school broke up but before England schools did and saved hundreds of pounds.

The pounds lower value will be hitting prices a lot more this year than last. So the difference will feel a lot bigger.

What is also hitting massively is the ban on holidays in term time. places that used to be full of families for months on end when kids were taken out of school for a week or two now find that they are virtually empty and could sell the peak 6 weeks 100 times over. Of course they have to charge even more for these weeks to cover for the loss in the other weeks in term time.

Blame Gove - bloody stupid man.