To ask for your tips and hints on how to afford abroad (school) holidays?

[ErikaReadsTheDailyMail]

Hi all,

Our oldest son started school in September and we've entered a new world a world of being incredibly boundaried by our holiday availability.

Before this we managed to do it fairly frugally least once a year- we'd usually manage a d.i.y break- skyscanner cheap flights and an air bnb sort of thing. We'd keep costs down by shopping in supermarkets there, doing free stuff and staying in of an evening (no worries with two under 5's).

We'd occasionally go on holiday in the U.K instead but to be honest it never worked out cheaper and was usually a lot more expensive. Last year after swearing I never would, we had our first ever all-inclusive resort holiday (and it was absolutely fantastic with the free booze and the kids club and i had to swallow my words!)

We're on a pretty low income and I just physically cannot afford to pay well over 50% more for a holiday due to having to be so limited by school terms.

I'm hoping I just don't have to suck up the next 15 years of not having an annual week away to look forward to but I fear that might be the case.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom? Do people take the kids out and pay the fines? Cheap companies who offer it all-in? Camping in Wales forever more? I'm struggling to see how to do it.

Thanks for your help 😃

No longer got school age kids but these tips are what we used to do.

1. take kids out of school a couple of days early
2. go for an odd number of days, quite often a budget airline will have a headline low price outgoing but extortionate return one week later. We’ve done 8 , 9 or 12 days and got better flight prices.
3. fly out with one airline and back with another, once did a fab break in Barcelona in October half term this way. Just make sure you comply with the luggage of the most stringent airline 4)look at Canary Islands in August, can be far cheaper than nearer places. Winter is their peak season and because it’s a 4 hour flight and not 2 it’s less in demand. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have a good breeze so not too hot
4. book flights and accom separately, especially useful if you want a two bedroomed apartment as there’s no under occupancy supplements doing it this way.
5. learn to travel light as this drastically reduces costs on budget airlines. Aim to wear each evening outfit twice, take one pair of neutral/metallic sandals that go with everything, travel in trainers for walking, decant some toiletries into mini tubs/bottles but bigger items either boots click and collect airside (avoids100 ml) or buy at supermarket on arrival.
6. when booking accom separately, check all booking sites, look for discount codes, check on booking direct with accom. I once sent an email with photo of what we could get 2 rooms with hotels.com for and they came back with a massive discount per room.
7. I once heard Simon Calder advising re Spain to fly to a non coastal airport then get the train to coast and back,not tried that but sounded feasible . 9)Fly into one airport and back from another, we’ve done this to have a two centre break with train travel in between. I still apply these to our couple trips and get some great bargains tho I appreciate it’s easier in term time, but the fact remains I don’t pay tour operators expensive prices

Don’t know what happened to that numbering 😂

October half term can be cheaper and is still warm in a lot of places.

Inset days or look at where your school holidays are different from other areas. As mention the last week of the summer holidays especially if your school adds in an inset day has worked well for us. Usually there is a compromise of comfort for cheaper cost wether this early flight times or self catering. We have done some amazing holidays with cheap inconvenient timed flights and modest accomodation but somewhere eating out is cheap and the location had lots to do /was stunning. We also camped in the UK a lot when the children were small.

Just go in term time. If you do it max 5 days per school year you'll be OK.
I'm a teacher and always tell my parents not to worry and enjoy their holiday. I have 3 dc myself and envy those that can go

As long as the child's overall attendance is fairly decent they won't fine you for taking child out of school once a year for a holiday.
If you was doing it multiple times a year or Chile was always having a day off here and there then you would probably be fined but once will be fine.
Give plenty of notice and fill in a holiday form with the school.
Do it. Every child needs a break from school.

Clubcard vouchers for the shuttle. Some cheap campsites in lovely parts of Germany that aren't too far

Don't call in sick - I'm a teacher and 99% of the time another jealous parent tells on you and when the office calls we get an international dialing tone! That or the child talks about their holiday to Turkey while being suspiciously tanned 😆 Schools know it happens and they don't get to keep the fine money. We would rather know so we don't cast little Johnny as the star of the Summer term play resulting in carnage when he is 'sick'.

You won't be fined until 5 whole days have been taken. 4.5 = no fine!
Go from the Tuesday before half term for 10 days and stick to your airbandb plan.

Love from a teacher who would totally take them out of school as long as they weren't struggling x

I always took dc out of school for holidays, (only one is still in secondary school) I would phone them in absent but I never told them to lie - if asked, they told the truth. I think this only happened once or twice and nothing ever came of it. However we are going in holiday time this year, I booked flights the second easyJet released them, and we have an all inclusive hotel. We’re going for 5 nights and it’s £1400 for three of us, one charged as adult, and we’ll spend virtually nothing there. The only extra costs will be transfers and wildly overpriced Pringles on the flight 🤣

I took mine out for a week October last year and paid the fine - they were 13 and 11 at the time. I would 100% do it again. A holiday just does so much good for all of you and we just can’t afford to do it in school holiday time.

I'll be doing this too. I was always taken out of school for holidays in term time 🤷🏻‍♀️ In primary school the teacher told my parents what we had covered during that time and gave whatever worksheets I'd missed. In high school I just asked the teachers and caught up myself.

Skyscanner to "everywhere" on your dates, find the best flights (you can filter times / direct only etc). Then on air bnb search your area but for "whole month of x" compare and find the little bargains. Lots of clicking and comparing and you'll find a bargain.

Alternate abroad holidays and UK holidays, so one holiday abroad one year and a cheaper one the next year. That’s what my parents did for us and then one year when we were 12/14 we had a villa holiday for two weeks in Spain - that was our super super fancy holiday though.

I know a lot of parents who take kids out of school a day or two early. Never the full break but some of it.

Personally what we’ve done as a family is invest in a time share type scheme, initial outlay was high but now a weeks hol is about £350. It’s self catered. We eat in about 4/7 nights. And buy from local supermarket not the “resort” ones which are twice the price!

One of the downsides of being a Reception/year 1 Teacher for 15 years is having to take holidays in school time even before we had 3 of our own, but it is what it is, we save our holiday abroad for Christmas, often the Canary Islands, often flying in Christmas day and returning late late on New year's eve cuts cost of flights for that time of year, and we save by not having to spend a fortune on Christmas, or childcare in holidays as DH books teacher training days off for the year as soon I know them. Before all 3 started school and we had childminder fees to pay we didn't go away for more than 3 days, usually Devon or Somerset in October half term.

As for taking kids out of school, trust me if I had a pound for every parent that calls in each morning saying their precious child is ill,, while forgetting that they've been giving the child a 10/9/8 more sleeps until our holiday countdown I wouldn't need to worry about cheap ✈️ Circle time every morning includes countdown to holidays, going to Grandma's on Thursday, the zoo etc!!! All when the school office is informed the child is ill.

You can probably take them out of primary without much academic consequence but at secondary you don’t be able to, especially into the GSCE and A level years. They’ll miss vital parts of the course and it’s not fair to expect teachers to provide for them to catch up.

I've heard that they can't/won't fine until age 5.

I think it's 5 consecutive days absence that causes a fine - so 4.5 doesn't. If you took 3 before half term and 3 after half term then that would count as more than 5.

But I wouldn't go in school term time.

If you call in declaring the child is sick for a few days running, be aware that some schools have a duty to visit the child at home and check they are alive (although sick) for safeguarding. A parent recently started a post on here after their school came to check on their (genuinely) ill child at home. I really wouldn't risk it.

Make sure you know when the INSET days are - see if you can travel on these as they will be cheaper and you can usually use them to extend a half term
.
Get next years term dates from the school now. If they haven't released them, ask, when they will. If no answer, write to the governors (who might meet and set them as a result of your letter). Book as far as possible ahead (maybe a year) - this is why you need the term dates.

We normally go first week in June and just take the kids out! Life’s too short to not enjoy it!

What school's that, a week of films! 🙄we spend the last week of every single term desperately trying to fit in everything we haven't had time to do, finish off DT projects, art projects, perfect pieces of our writing etc etc bar one morning where they do an activity with the TAs so we can plan for the next term.

I've just booked a 5 day 4 night holiday over a weekend during school term time and my children are all at senior school. I refuse to pay the ridiculous prices for school holiday holidays.

Not sure if this is correct, but I've been told you only get fined if you have an unauthorised absence for 4 consecutive days no matter how long you are absent for, and it's £60 per child. So even with a fine the holiday would be a lot cheaper.

I have always taken my children out of school for holidays, obviously not at important times with exams etc

Are you taking them out of school this term before their end of school year exams (missing revision/lessons on which they could be examined on shortly) or after the exams so they maybe miss the really important lessons where they work through their marked exams with the teachers and learn how they can improve their answers/technique for their GCSEs?

I'm sorry but this is nonsense. We have taken the children skiing in January virtually every year of their school career DS is at Oxford with 4 A*s, Dd is about to due her GCSEs. A bright child will easily catch up, given all the disruption they have been through with COVID and strikes to suggest a few days has meaningful impact is frankly laughable.

Look for differences in term dates and travel to different airports.

We got a deal to Gran Canaria in Feb that was a grand cheaper going from Birmingham rather than London. On the plane it seemed no one else was from Birmingham either and had all travelled.

When we got home we found out that half term was a week later for Birmingham schools than for our school.

Inset days aren't universal dates either. As they are sometimes tacked onto school holidays that can bring the cost down a bit.

I know you said you're a low income family but that's not going to forever is it? Have you no plans to go for promotion or change to better paying jobs in the future. I've recently changed jobs and I'm now able to afford a holiday abroad.

Start saving a set amount each month into a long term deposit account for big purchases like holidays. It's all in the planning, it's not easy but with a bit of time you'll be able to find something.