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.

Holidays have always been unaffordable for the majority of families.
What has changed is now people feel entitled to a holiday.

I was going to say exactly this.

However, £1200 for a holiday flat for 3 is extortionate.
We tend to alternate - one year abroad, 2 weeks AI (which for 5 adults sized people I'm looking to get for under £5). The alternate year is a cottage is various parts of the UK though, and we don't pay more than £750 - £780. We always have nice cottages with plenty of room for 5 full sized people too. I'd never pay the ridiculous prices Centre parcs charge.

I just got flights and a villa on Airbnb to costa adeje for family of six for ten days in Tenerife, we just looked at sky scanner to see where flights were cheap. In total under 2k

@MrsBungle @XiCi and @catinasplashofsunshine

It was via Expedia I think, and having just searched you can do the same holiday (I selected random dates in November) for 10 nights, flying Malaysian airlines (a favourite of mine) from Heathrow, staying at the Borneo Beach Villas in Kota Kinabalu, with private hotel transfer for £2156.

That’s 4* actuallly, but beautiful.

The nexus Karambunai is a lovely hotel and the shangri las there are both stunning, but would add another £4/500 on.

Owning a car is standard for most people outside of city living though. I would never ever want to live in a city and be carless, the idea fills me with horror. And really I don't think you can justify glamping as expensive as it requires a car. I could argue city living is more expensive, which is likely in large part why people don't have cars. You and I, LaurieFairyCakes for example, have swapped cheaper suburban living with a car, for expensive city living. I know what i'd choose.

Actually flights and accommodation £1,200

I book flights with easyJet/Ryanair as soon as they come out. Travel light so no extra suitcase.
Book self catering.
Find apartment that I want then search different websites for cheapest price.
We always go abroad twice a year, usually canaries around Easter.
This year it's flying to Naples easy jet, staying in sorrento for 8 days then train to Naples for 3 nights.
If you do it cheap and you're willing to research holidays are defiantly affordable.

We have never been abroad as a family.
Kids never been on a plane.
Last year we had a week in a caravan in Blackpool, to be fair it was fantastic for us as it was the first holiday we had in about 4 years.

Can't afford to go anywhere again this summer.

Makes me sad. :(

*We’re going to Greece for a week in July - £3,500 for a Bed and Breakfast for a wee I'm not surprised you've not afforded a holiday for 18 years if you're paying that much! here's a thought, book somewhere cheaper and you could have had lots of holidays in the last 18 years

I’ve had some cheapish holidays by hiring cottages with this company: www.sykescottages.com.

I just checked out holidays for 4 starting 18th August and found the following available:

• Shropshire £326
• Derbyshire £392
• Cumbria £393
• Yorkshire dales £427
• Cornwall £535

My strategy is to lay off holidays in the Mediterranean and save for a long haul trip where the summer premium may Be less relatively speaking.

@llanali I’ll have a look! Thank you

There are still lots of bargains out there. Maybe try away from the most obvious places and think a bit more laterally. For example, I've just found a cottage on Air B&B in central France which sleeps 5 and has really good reviews. For the first week of the school hols its £569. Loads to do in the area, but not somewhere people think of for holidays, so that bit cheaper.

www.canvasholidays.co.uk/france/royan/campsite-domaine-doleron.php?abcriterias=true

This is £266 for the last week of August, 2 adults 3 children in a tent with decking, electric etc Doesn't include ferry but that is typically £100-£150. There was also a cheaper site, which was £216 for the same party, same period. So slightly more than we paid but still well under £500.

Penang is spectacular too, but Kota Kinabalu has orangutangs near by and the mountain of course.

I’m trying to build a trip to Penang and New Zealand for November. Look on google flights and you can see which days are cheapest to fly, ie a Monday or a Wednesday etc. And which months. Just watch the rain season!

School holidays are completely different to out of term time.

My tip is to book the minute flights come out. I booked flights to Crete for 5 with Easyjet for £798 within an hour of them being released. Within about 4 hours, they were double that.

I've then booked a 4* hotel (directly with the hotel), a 2 bedroom suite, for €1200 for 10 days in the middle of August. It's still expensive but £££ that you pay for package holidays.

As far as driving to France etc is concerned, don't forget you'd need to pay to top up your car insurance to drive abroad and your breakdown cover too. We've had caravan / Eurocamp holidays before but am always put off the tents as they are usually in lines with literally cm between them. You would hear everything for every neighbour within about 50m. I'd hate that.

Plenty of options you just need to think out side the box.

1200 should be doable for 4 people two weeks away. We’ve done Sewden, Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands over the last 5 years for that amount.

We’ve flown from Scotland or traveled later August when the sewdish schools are back.

The Med is expensive and I'm blaming Brexit.

We were browsing last week for next summer, and for a fortnight in a decent hotel, it's just as cheap to go to Mexico. Turkey and Tunisia are cheaper, but I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.

It’s possible to do reasonably priced holidays if you’re flexible to be honest, if you want Ibiza in the first week of August with daytime flights it’s going to cost a fortune! I’m a travel agent so admit a bias but I book plenty of affordable holidays for people, including myself. This year we’re Eurocamping in Brittany for 10 nights for less than £1000 for three of us, including ferry. Last year we did a fab 5 night cruise from Southampton for about £1300 in Oct half term.
If you want summer holidays then coming back the day before the schools go back is much cheaper than the rest of the holidays, yes you have to have everything ready for school before you go but we’ll worth it.
As for U.K. - Hoseasons still have great deals for this summer, I booked a family of four a lodge holiday on a site with a pool, playground, entertainment etc for £700 for a week at the end of August just a few days ago.

We are state school in England & our school hols are until 7th September, so last week of August very definitely not term-time. This even encompasses bank holiday Monday, in fact.

We've had tents before & not found them too noisy as campsites have rules on when noise should be finished.

In any case, for us it was this holiday or no holiday. We are delighted to have found a week in France with lots to do for this price. I guess if you want more, you do have to pay more.

Also, our car insurance has gone up by I think £100 for the year, which includes free basic breakdown cover in Europe, so not too dear really.

It's going to be a hot summer, and remember, people take holidays in the UK as well.

Get yourself booked into the nearest Lido. Get a tent, borrow it even. Go on a bus to your destination.

Most people now in the UK are going to go outside or to a park to celebrate the win over Panama. It's a very hot day out there.

Gillybeanz Most factory workers went on holidays to various places throughout the country in the summer. They paid into the holiday via their work.

But now there is a 'choice' which seems prohibitive to most of those workers. So sad and counterproductive.

Time for a change.

Are you sure you're doing enough research op?

October half term is pretty cheap, and still warm in parts of Europe. Take just one day out of school and fly on the Friday and you can get away for under 2k for 4 if you. That is for all inclusive so no spends required.

Try doing a DIY booking and also sites like onthebeach, travel republic etc

Last year we did a fab 5 night cruise from Southampton for about £1300 in Oct half term.

I like the sound of this! Who was that with please Englishgirl?

For going abroad look further afield was sent to RAK an hr from Dubai may half term it was £2,200 For 4 of us (2 adults 7yr n 3yr old) AI 5 star hotel we booked with BA at Xmas in sale yes we had to fly from an airport 2.5hrs away and we did go mon-mon so eldest missed one day of school (sun-sun Was another 800) it was Ramadan and out of main season it was v hot but bloody amazing had we gone at Easter it was double the price and I am sure in 5yrs time will be huge like Dubai and out of our budget.

Last Easter we went to Barbados we flew Easter Sun (our schools had slightly different hols many went back day after Easter mon in 2017) we had week AI in a 4 star hotel for £3.5k this was a treat though couldn't do every yr.

We go away Oct half term as ours is early here but even normal Oct half term is cheaper than summer hols, last yr and this yr we go to holiday village in Turkey and pay about £2000 this yr for week AI last yr was £1700 For same week.

In 2016 Oct half term went to splashworld in Crete for £1300 AI for one week.

We book our Oct hold a yr in advance.

If we have another hold we book that in sales post Xmas

Be flexible within reason and be open minded look further afield sometimes it's cheaper than Europe as many will go to Europe for a week.

How far in advance would people book for the best value package deals? Is there a certain time of year the deals come out for the following year? Looking to go to Turkey next year, probably self catering.

We went to Crete this year AI, myself and 3 children. We went May half term, they had an inset day on the Friday so I took them out a day early and saved ££. In total I paid £1600, including reserved seats on the plane and airport parking.