About holiday costs

[Chippychipschips]

I always holiday in the UK because it’s what I can afford plus I don’t really like travelling.

For some reason this choice always warrants a big lecture from people about how holidaying in the UK is too expensive so that’s why they go abroad.

I am all for people doing what they want but just think this is bullshit.

If I have a budget of £800 to spend on accommodation for a family of 4 the UK is my best option. Yes I know I won’t get the guaranteed sunshine or cheap dining but the UK is all I can afford.

What people actually mean when they say things like this is you can get more for your money abroad. This is probably true but if my budget doesn’t stretch to £3/4k for a weeks all inclusive then it’s not an option for me!

It really gets on my tits that people imply you are spending badly when they don’t realise choices are obviously dictated by budget!

It does bug me that the UK is overpriced but I still want to go on holiday. I could save for years to go abroad but if I’m not really bothered why can’t I enjoy a UK holiday once a year?

I know this is not a big issue but I have shared my holiday plans with 2 people this year only to be told how badly I am spending my money (by people with a lot more disposable income than me)!

Have you tried France ? Eurocampts are cheap but even houses . We booked a house for a week for £400 it’s about £300 for fuel and £160 for the eurotunnel. You can pay for flights to Spain por Portugal for around £100 each and £400 for accommodation, even during school holidays

Wow xenophobe much !!

I’m not sure what you are on about.

I've never understood how people claim "UK is so expensive, it's cheaper abroad", I simply don't see how the numbers add up, if like us you are looking for a summer holiday, during the school holidays.
We are a family of 5, so even out of season, most deals on the basis of 2A+2C sharing, and don't apply to us, so we tend to go for cottages/villas.

As an example:

Here is a middle market holiday cottage in North Wales similar to one we have used before, Dolphin Trearddur Bay, Anglesey On with a well known agent. For the first week in August it is on at just over £1800.

Here is a holiday villa in Cyprus we have also rented in the past, again through well known agents Vila in Cyprus Currently on at just under £1600 for the same week.

So it's clear, abroad wins hands down.........

But to get there and back to the cottage in Wales uses a tank of diesel, £150.
To get to Cyprus I need 5 return flights. Looking at a low cost airline today, for those dates, that is a total of £2800, so roughly, it is now £1800 vs £4400, for the big ticket items of the holiday.

These sort of figures, and the ratio between them has been fairly typical for the whole time we have had school aged children. The cost of the flights to anywhere abroad in the summer holidays is more that the cost of the whole holiday in the UK

Now I understand that we weather in Cyprus is better, you can swim in the sea, it has a pool, beer is £0.20 a pint, you could go in term time, etc, etc, etc. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the villa in Cyprus, or the cottage in Anglesey, and we all pay our money and make our choice, but the one thing abroad is not is cheaper for the total holiday, door to door. ( In my experience )

Very glad if someone can point me to a holiday for 5 ( 4 aged 16+, 1 child) , first week in August, for a door to door price that is cheaper abroad.

@WithManyTot I see your point, and completely agree that it is more expensive now but I think a lot of the people arguing it is cheaper would have book the flights far in advance, probably as soon as they were released, which would have made a big difference.

It depends on how much money you would normally spend on entertainment in the two locations.

And where in the UK you are flying from

And if you are open to different locations abroad, or if it HAS to be Cyprus

I can get a packaged two bedroomed apartment that would sleep you all in various locations (mainland spain, Balearics, canaries, turkey, Bulgaria) for around the £2500 mark. Including flights.

Link?

I don’t know if this will work- I’ve put in all departure airports as I’m not sure where in the country you are. If you play around with things you’ll probably be able to get even cheaper.

www.jet2holidays.com/search/results?airport=98_118_63_9_69_1_99_3_5&date=01-08-2023&duration=7&occupancy=r4c10&destination=39_22_9_14_38_37_31_916_32_8_16_7_1359_43_15_17_18_1_26_10_4_30&sortorder=1&page=1

@WoeBeCome have a look at other sites on there. We have gone to a few site and they've all been lovely. We had a week on Lake Garda for about £500 in the May/June half term. A week in the summer holidays for under £800 in Provence.

It's £3K plus by the time you put in the actual details,

and that's not actually "cheaper", on those numbers I still have about £1200 in the kity for the week to eat out in the UK

But if you find a decent deal you can go abroad for £800. You may even be able to get an all inclusive for £1300. Yes you need to be able to be flexible on dates and locations but it is certainly possible. We spent 1k on a week all inclusive in a 4* canaries hotel last summer (granted for a family of 3 not 4)

A week abroad, fir a family of four, in the English school summer holidays for £800 does not exist.

It’s £2370 including all luggage allowance, transfers, etc.

Not sure what you are doing to make it £3k.

That price is 2 adults plus an under 12 as a free child place though. So family of 4 with children of 12 or over would be twice that price?! And it doesn’t include cost of passports, car parking, travel insurance.
everyone should spend their money as they wish but even the cost of 2 adults plus one small child is about 1.6k more than I’d pay for a cottage rental for 4 in the UK..

No it isn’t, it’s for four adults and a child, like the poster asked for. Two bedroomed apartment, flights, transport, everything.

passports aren’t needed new for every holiday and the poster I was replying to has previously travelled abroad, so I presume they didn’t need to factor these into their costs or they’d have mentioned them.

Parking may or may not be required - normally I get the train to the airport, or a lift from family. Occasionally a taxi. Obviously this depends how far you are from the airport.

travel insurance for a week in Europe is around £40 for a family, we get this free with our bank account though.

I don't blame you at all, OP; it's your preference and that's fair enough

Trouble is, "holiday deals" are a VERY hot topic when folk get together and since everyone loves to compare bargains I guess some of it's inevitable, but it shouldn't stop folk respecting your own choice

I also agree about the cost of passports, but while I'm not much use to you (for me it's not a holiday without sun) if you did want to try abroad in future your best best may be to wait for last minute offers
Either that or try home exchanging, which you can do in the UK too

People are kind of proving OPs point by showing how a cheap holiday abroad is approximately twice as much as her UK break before adding in passports, parking etc.

I think it's kind of rude to do anything but give a smile and say "sounds nice" when people tell you what their holiday plans are, even if it sounds like your idea of hell on earth.

I find it bizarre that people would spend £10k+ to go to Florida for example when they've been multiple times and the exchange rate is so rubbish at the minute, ditto Las Vegas which I hope to never go to again. But you know, it's their money so up to them how they spend it.

I'd certainly rather have the freedom and space and scenery of a Devon caravan, than pay twice as much to share a bedroom and stay in a not so nice hotel that's probably noisy and far too hot in the summer anyway. Actually OP, try saying that back to the critics .

A week abroad, for a family of four, in the English school summer holidays for £800 does not exist

As mentioned, it does if you home exchange

It's not for everyone of course, but while saving money isn't really the main driver for many, there's no disputing the benefits to folk on a tight budget

I changed the children to 2x16 plus 1x14, (as reflects us)
which made the price go up ( airlines vary by who is a child and who is an adult I expect)

However even so, at £2370, that's not actually cheaper.

One could even argue, that the sample cottage I chose sleeps 8,
So two friendly families could go together! ( or go with friends/grandparents/siblings etc)

On the basis of 4 adults and a mixture of 4 children, UK is still £1800, but the site you linked now needs two rooms, 8 flights and comes in at £5500,

Now that is £3700 in the kitty for entertainment during the week!

As I said, I'm yet to be convinced that "holidays in the UK are more expensive" for families in the school holidays.

Also, once upon a time, we were BC (before children) and went on lots of cheap hols. Then we were pre-school children, and went on lots of cheap hols. One day we may be PC (post children) and will probably go on bargain hols again. But this is a parenting site, so I make no apology for comparing realistic costs of family school holidays.

There are obviously many other subjective reasons you may still prefer to go to the sun. However "UK is more expensive" is quite widely touted, so there should be ample objective evidence, and it should be easy to prove me wrong......... and when you do, I'll be overjoyed to find I holiday we can all go on.....

You searched wrong. Search for all adults - your price went up because you are being charged an under occupancy supplement. For self catering, children’s age doesn’t matter on package holidays - it’s normally cheaper to use all adults.

You are now changing the goalposts by adding mythical family members.

Im not saying it’s always cheaper or more expensive - I do a mix of both kinds of holiday - I was merely pointing out that the comparison figures you used on your earlier post were not accurate.

So who is actually going on this holiday? Is it you, or is it your extended family? What airport do you wish to fly from?

I agree with this. Especially this year. Even camping pitches have shot up in price (and then you have to spend money on equipment if you don't have it already). Those who have quoted bargains are often just outside the English school holidays.

I'm not sure how I 'searched wrong' as I searched for the exact details of the intended party, 2A + 3C (with correct ages specified)

You seem to be saying, and I paraphrase, "You can get it cheaper if you are 'economical with the actualite' and describe your party incorrectly?

I'd be surprised if somewhere further on in the booking process I wasn't asked to tick a box marked something similar to "I confirm that the details provided are correct to the best of my knowledge........" What should I do there?

I'm not 100% sure that two mumsnetters having a barney over a mythical holiday that's twice as expensive as what OP said her budget was, is overly helpful, or indeed that interesting.

I worked as a travel agent for 14 years. I can assure you. Those over 16 are adults. You enter their dates of birth. Similarly, it’s often cheaper to book an under 2 as a child rather than an infant. As long as you supply the DOB, it’s fine.

The reason for this is because with self catering holidays, there is a flat fee for the unit, which I divided per person - the accommodation total is the same whether two people book it or 4.

They will have a maximum and a minimum occupancy.

Flights cost the same for adult and child.

This is why “free children places” doesn’t often make the holiday cheaper, despite it appearing that you are getting a hefty discount (the adult prices are just bumped up) and also why solo travellers pay more.

You can get great deals abroad though. You just need to spend a lot of time doing research. You don't necessarily have to get all 4 passports at once and can do it over the course of a year. Part of your reluctance is because you don't enjoy travelling. Its more than just guaranteed sun though, different food and culture can be a highlight too. I don't necessarily understand choosing to limit yourself.

There is of course nothing wrong with UK holidays and that's what I have had for the last 6 years. As a child I don't get to visit many different parts of the UK but now I love having the chance to. This year we are going abroad and it's about £3k all in which is a lot of money to us. I would have liked to have done up my bathroom but my eldest has been asking to go to Disneyland for a while now so we thought we would treat the kids. It certainly isn't a holiday I can justify every year unless it was much cheaper (it can be cheaper but we just went for it).

Just stick with your mantra on repeat and don't engage further.