Am I deluded or have holidays become almost unaffordable for many families?

[Tractorprincess]

Looking at holidays and everything is so expensive.

We usually pay around £1200 for a very very nice holiday flat in the UK right on the beach but we're all getting a bit bored of the same place. I always thought £1200 was quite pricey but I'm starting to think it's an absolute bargain.

I can remember going abroad a few years ago with ds1 for around 1k, now I can't find anything half decent for less than 3k.

Thought about doing a few UK weekend breaks but nice places for the dc, the Legoland hotel is £700! I know you can go to cheaper local ones but having done than previous years I was thinking about making it extra exciting.

Centreparcs is extortionate too.

Dh and I are both on ok salaries, hardly rich but above the apparent UK average.

I don't know how people afford to go unless they're very well off or go in term time.

TBF I think it's always been expensive. My first holiday on an aeroplane to sunshine was when I was 15.

The next was when I was 20 and could pay for myself!

I think if you use your package operators and don’t book either months before or last minute then yes they’re insane but with a bit of digging you can find deals. Have you ever looked on AirB&B or Owners Direct then looked at booking your flights separately, often you can get a bargain?

I’ve just done a quick search on Spain for middle of Aug on Owners Direct and there’s quite a few 2 bed apartments with either a sea view or pool for under £100 per night, only problem with leaving it until now is flights, but if you were to book 6-9 in advance you’d get cheap flights. Still worth a google on flights.

You can bet eating out abroad will be cheaper than here. We always go to my in laws place in Scotland and ending up spending a fortune on food, so much more expensive here.

I’ve noticed a huge hike in holidays costs too.

The holiday we had last year would now be £2k more!

I’m not from the UK but holiday there a lot. This year, we’ve booked a house for three weeks in Cornwall in August; same house we rented last year.

While the base cost remained the same (apart from discount mentioned in next paragraph), the weaker pound has meant we have made a saving compared to previous years.

I’m also wondering if visitor number to/within the UK have declined this year? Normally, we have to book accommodation early. This year, I didn’t book until May, had ample properties to choose from, and even got a discount as they had a lot of availability and were sending out a lot of offer emails.

Yes I agree the prices are rising quite sharply in fact. Center Parcs is way out of our budget for August, we only travel in school hols. Looking forward to July 19, when our DS’ are done with education. And can have a holiday at a more affordable price.

Depends where and when you book and what you're willing to scrimp on. Myself my Dh and lo spent 5 days 4 nights in a lovely airbnb 2 stops from disneyland paris, 3 days park tickets, flights, provate taxi from airport to apartment all for less than £900! We cooked whilst we were there except one night we booked the rodeo dinner which was so awesome! Again booked this before we left.
Myself and th also went to Amsterdam for 2 nights at the beginning of December for £140 each including flights and 4 * hotel.
Cheap is doable if you're willing to search a bit

No holiday for us this year either High Nursery fees mean we have no chance of going away this year. We like Centreparcs but that is way way over what we could ever afford now. I looked at one lodge and it had doubled in price to over £1100 for a mid week break! We will be having staycation breaks this year instead. It’s hard and then before you know it Christmas will be on the horizon. I’m going to start saving for that soon.

We are away in our MH atm

Last weekend the campsite filled up with families

The children were all having an amazing time with impromptu football game, riding their bikes, scooters, roller skates on the climbing frame etc

They were just having fun with all the other children on campsite

We have done our travels around the world so are now enjoying exploring uk in our MH

If you don't want or can't afford to travel abroad buy/borrow a tent and stay in uk

The children last weekend were really having fun with new friends so give it a try

We booked in January of this year to go to Greece next August. There was no deposit (Thomas Cook offer), we got a £400 discount, a free child, 2 weeks all inclusive 5* for £2200 for 2 adults and 2 children... I looked at so many options when I booked. I couldn’t afford it for this summer but now we are booked for next.

It depends where you go and what type of holiday you want. Uk camping on a fabulous site £300 a week, Caravan privately owned Skeggy £300-£400. Haven top spec site owned wales £1,300, hartlepool park resorts mid range £700.

All for a week in August for 8 people with passes. Pick the cheapest of the cheap caravans in the U.K. and you can get August for around £400 direct off site. If you don’t mind taking your children out of of school sun 5 day holidays £9.50 each.

Haven/Park dean, resorts/butlins etc all offer payment plans where you can buy down around a £30 deposit and pay monthly and you can book a year in advance. Haven tend to do a price guarantee if you book a year in advance so if it becomes cheaper they give you the difference back.

Summer holidays will however always be more expensive on the basic they are the true price of the holiday and they have to discount at non peak times to actually make a profit, if more people in general went outside of peak it would come down but obviously people don’t want to take their children out of school. I don’t take my out just plan and budget accordingly but we always get a week away in August.

I've had this conversation numerous times with colleagues, and yes, it can be true

However, the people concerned HAVE to go to certain places (preferably somewhere where people speak English, or they have English food and/or telly available.

And then have to have a certain combination of minimum star level for the hotel, availability of swimming pool, type of catering and/or transport, and/or entertainment and/or hire car, and/or beach...I could go on. The cost of the holiday then becomes self-evident from the customer choices.

When I tell people I rarely, if ever, take a package holiday, they look at me like I'm from another planet. Yes, I book my own flights and transfers (which are usually a train or a bus). Yes, I book my own hotel separately. Why ?

Because I save shedloads of money doing so. And the effort involved these days is minimal, really.

I wept recently when someone was describing their 'awful' holiday to Paris, and they stayed in a 4 hotel and ate almost exclusively in Burger King and McDonalds, drank coffee on the Champs Elysee, queued for 2 hours to get into the Louvre, wouldn't go on the Metro or buses "as it was too dangerous" caught taxis everywhere, and moaned how unfriendly everyone was. And how expensive everything was.

Holidays are what you make them. You can fly or train to places cheaply, stay in some quite decent hotels for not massive amounts of money if you keep an eye on HotelsCombined and/or pick a "not traditionally touristy" area (and I am talking somewhere with a beach and plenty to do here, not Cleethorpes). But I do think occasionally people can be quite bling bling about holidays - children pass agging their parents into going to Eurodisney because all their mates have been.

It's haven I've booked with and if we enjoy it we will probably book for next year after we come home.

I didn't know you could book so far in advance though for abroad. I thought it was only a year. But i may look into that for 2020.

@Lifestyle - who have you booked with for next Aug (do you mean 2019?). I've been looking for next year and very few companies seem to be booking for next summer.

TUI and Thomas cook have Aug 19 holidays out.

We love our caravan

@nameschanged Yes 😊 I’m not sure if the no deposit offer is on but is worth a shot and book online as you get an extra discount!

I’ve just checked and it is still a zero deposit on selected holidays and there’s another offer with the code BOOKIT where you get more of

@nameschanged

Good thread OP. Would those quoting good prices/resorts be so kind as to name them please?

I’m a single parent, work 2 days a week as a teacher so can only do school holidays. Had a week last eater in the canaries which was the kids’ first abroad holiday (5 and 8). We managed a cheaper deal slightly due to my word days being mid week so we went the final Tuesday of Easter break to the Tuesday overlapping with the kids going back to school the day before. The price was gifted by grandparents for my big birthday and my sister joined us from Australia. The same holiday in the summer break would have been stupid prices. We did AI and the kids are asking when we can go back. Hmm. We’ve been camping 4 times since then. The kids now love camping but still ask when we’ll be going back to the sunshine. They are going away with their dad and his partner and his parents at new year though but he can take them in term time. I tried leaving the teaching profession but after 4 years out and being made redundant I ended up back. I do save money on childcare over the school holidays as I can look after my own children and we try to do things cheaply or free - national trust as English heritage membership are definitely worth the money. Lots of free museums and geocaching.

@gillybeanz agreed that there is a sense of entitlement to holidays abroad. Not sure why. UK is beautiful and look at the weather right now!

@jaxhog Yes. Why indeed must families travel abroad.

Overseas travel is the worst thing we can do for the planet. Being priced out is maybe a good thing...?

My price is above and the resort is Crete

You cut your cloth....
Book flights early plus you will have your pick of accommodation. Lots of research means you have the knowledge of what you want before it goes on sale. I know that our DIY SC holidays could be cheaper if I booked cheaper accommodation for example but I like my creature comforts too much and am prepared to pay for them (up to a point!)
The rest of Europe does not have May half term so definitely a great week to go. Otherwise, the last week of August and coming back just before school starts can be bargainous in countries which have already gone back to school.

I tend to go in the May and October half terms as they're cheaper than August. I've booked an all inclusive 4 star week in Majorca for next May for the 2 of us £1300, the same holiday was £2000 in August. On Jet2.

I just checked my documents and we booked in a match not January guess it just feels like a longer time!

UK holidays are great too, Cornwall and Devon are stunning as are lots of places in Scotland. Brighton is fun but expensive!

I think you can do all types of holidays on all budgets it’s about what you are looking for and what you enjoy or want to experience.