How are so many people booking holidays if they are struggling with the cost of living?

[Brinnyloowho]

This is definitely not meant in a snarky way but so many people around me are going on not one, but multiple holidays over the next year. Ordinary, not particularly well-off people. All the news of airports and travel being pushed to their capacity. All at the same time I'm seeing about the cost of living crisis. Yet, in reality I'm not seeing it.

Maybe all of these holidays were booked pre-crisis (I know ours was). Does this mean travel will slow down again after the summer?

Government figures in March showed that households had amassed excess savings of over£190 billion pounds over the course of the pandemic . I guess they're spending it now!

We’ve booked for a shorter holiday with cheaper accommodation. I’m in desperate need of a break.

We’re not central but see it too

Op I think it depends on the area and people you are surrounded by

Plus some people increased savings as in pp

I don’t think the cost of living crisis has kicked in yet. Everyone I know is on a fixed term energy tariff until at least 2023 so prices haven’t risen for them plus they WFH so not very impacted by petrol price. I reckon it will hit next year.

Overtime. Everywhere is short staffed and if you looked at me and my family this week you’d think we were rolling in money. We’re not. I’ve done the overtime to afford it and now I’m enjoying it before I feel the need to work overtime to pay the electric.

The narrative on both social media and mainstream media is that everyone is struggling with the cost of living increases.

That's not really true- everyone is experiencing COL increases, but not everyone is struggling to meet them. I almost feel guilty in saying that we don't, because I really don't want to sound like an insensitive arse... but the COL increases for us, mean that we only save x per month, instead of X for example. We'll still book holidays and eat out and all that stuff

Loads of people save a lot each month so all that's happening is they save a bit less.

You only need to look at all the massive cars to know there's a massive income divide in this country

Ah and I see I've repeated PP!

We usually go abroad once or twice a year, but we didn't in 2020 or 2021 so we can definitely justify a holiday this summer.

I saved 1.5k a month for 2 years because of covid.

No going out, no petrol, took my car off the road completely, no holidays.

I booked my holiday back in September before the cost of living crisis hit. Most people I know book and pay for their holidays nearly a year in advance.

I don't think the cost of living crisis is really going to hit until the winter. Electricity and heating bills are really going to go through the roof then.

The people completely struggling will be those who could never afford a holiday anyway, but are now struggling to even put food on the table.
People who could afford holidays may be feeling the pinch and sacrificing some things, but might still manage to save for a holiday

A recession doesn't mean everyone will or is doing badly. It means the gap is wider and wider. So people at the bottom will struggle even more than before while those on the higher end of the middle/upper class will be fine or even better than before. Most people I know can afford a few extra thousands in costs per year without negative impact. Annoying, but not enough to impact day to day. It will also take years for the impact to be felt, it's not overnight.

We're going away this year on a city break as we've not had a holiday since 2019. Then dd has an expensive school trip next year so we probably won't have a holiday tbh. I can manage food and petrol increases but I think the energy prices are going to eat up what I budget for monthly savings which is a bit scary.

Not everyone is feeling the stretch, as much as the papers would have us believe. We went to Spain in June and it was actually really cheap. Just over £1k for 10 nights all inclusive for two. Plenty of bargains to be had. No need to use a credit card.

I'm guessing it is not the same people. So a people can't afford food. Other people are buying holidays. Not the same people.

Not so a people, some people.

We've just booked a holiday.

We talked about this and looked at our outgoings, and decided we're happy to do a couple months of beans on toast/baked potatoes in able to afford it 😄 meat 1 day a week.

We're basically going to spend the next few weeks watching tv, going for walks, and eating very cheap simple food. No alcohol, take aways, or expensive food shops.

Not really any of your business Op is it.

Peoples finances vary obviously.

It is pretty important that food banks are kept stocked up, I've been a bit crap at this but am definitely going to make an effort come autumn. I work somewhere where I'm fully aware of how this is going to hit - I've got people who literally will choose between eating and heating - and so are already planning not to use heating at all. That's going to be million of people not having any heating at all this winter

The15 hour delays at Dover alone suggest to me that many people aren't in the least worried about the cost of living crisis.

There have been so many threads about cooking from scratch, batch cooking, Aldi/Lidl shopping , own brand/cheaper alternatives, what can I make with broad beans, jelly and sardines as well as endless fuel and energy poverty threads that you'd be really worried about the state of the nation .

Yet airports are choc-a-block , Dover halted but threads are still coming about the best places to stay.

I genuinely believe they there are two separate tiers of humanity in the UK,

No cost of living crisis visible here in the SE commuter belt. If anything, wfh is saving people hundreds a month on travel and lunches etc. People here are going on more holidays, not less. The cost of living crisis is just going to widen the rich and poor gap.

I can’t afford a holiday and it’s shit. I think the cost of living crisis affects some more than others. An extra £150 on your fuel bills can be an absorbable cost or wipe out your savings capacity - it just depends on your income.

The cost of living is going up but lots of people didn't spend much during the pandemic. Stopped bothering with beauty treatments, new clothes, haircuts. Restaurants, theatres and music venues were all closed. So if they have all the money they would have spent on two years of entertainment, they can afford a holiday.

There are and will always be plenty of people who can afford to go on holiday. As others have said they aren't the same people as those who cannot afford to eat and pay bills.
This doesn't mean that a percentage of the population aren't struggling, or that another percentage hasn't noticed the COL rise, just that there are still plenty of people who in one way or another manage to go on holiday