How do people afford holidays?

[OneHornedFlyingPurplePeopleEater]

We usually book a UK holiday, cheap and cheerful.

We're now in a position to save approx £300/month towards a holiday. I thought that was great, it's the bulk of our savings each month.

I recognise that we're in a very fortunate position, and I thought this would get us our first abroad holiday.

I'm looking at 10 nights all inclusive at a nice (but not luxury) hotel in Europe. Shit flights, they all are. And school holidays, so paying a premium. And its coming in at £4-6k.

Is this crazy or has it always been like this? How are people affording this?
That doesn't even include any spending money, or any clothes or suitcases (we wouldn't need much - and can borrow suitcases).

It's really got me down. Am I doing something wrong?? Looking in the wrong places (tui, on the beach, jet2holidays etc)? Is it much cheaper if I booked closer to the time?

We went to Greece, all in for 2 weeks £6k including spending money and excursions.

In summer holidays for 4 people.
I think you can get it cheaper but booking everything separately and direct with the hotel but I like the security and ease of a package holiday.

How many people are you booking for?

I’d take out of school and pay the fine if it’s primary and you’re not going to make a habit of it. Or, at least book flight from the Thursday before they finish term which should be a bit cheaper. Choose 7 nights not 10.

I took 5 of us away (4 x over 18, 1x 14) to Corfu self catering for a week at the beginning of the school hols for £2900 inc luggage/transport/parking etc. Paid it off bit by bit throughout the year and put money aside for spending (meals out etc). I don't do much else leisure wise (no hair/nails/regular clothes shopping etc) as holidays are my jam.

My bf paid his share (we don't live together) and I paid the rest.

Every couple of weeks there is a post with someone wondering how other people afford things.

Answer always the same. They have more money than you.

Me and my partner paid £1,570 for 1 week all inclusive in Crete, Greese.
Maybe try spain as your first holiday abroad as there's always good flights and it's only 2 hours, but what I would recommend though is a short transfer! I wouldn't sit on a bus for an hour to the hotel! Half hour is my most.

We fly less than 2 weeks ☺️

Sky scanner is your friend for cheap flights along with hotel trivago.

It depends where you go as well. Turkey seems to be quite popular and relatively cheap at the moment in comparison to other places.

I went to Crete a few years ago and staying in the same place at the same time of year now is a lot more expensive.

You could also wait to see if you can get a good last minute deal, they do happen, but it's of course a risk.

As others said, pay the fine from school to go out of school holidays, quite a few people I know have done that this year or go just before they break up.

Airb&b?

It does take some doing and shopping around but I've found quite a few deals online recently for 5 of us 2 adults 3 children for around 3k.

All inclusive is crazy expensive. We gave up on any hope of affording that and go self-catering - still not cheap but more manageable and offers flexibility while you're there too.

You can usually get a good all inclusive 5 star in Tenerife the week before Xmas. Great weather too.

We have 4 kids so, if we had to fly, we steered away from hotels as they were just too expensive for an invariably meh experience. There are villas/houses etc everywhere that are much more affordable and you can self cater to keep the cost down too. AND, you often get your own pool so you don't have to share it with a billion other people who are probably peeing in it! 😀

Be flexible with dates, keep searching over time because prices fluctuate quite a bit. How many people is the holiday for? We found missing the end of term saved £100s last year.

I guessed that would be the answer, but both of us earn above average wage. Approx £90k joint pre tax, but in the south so high living (and transport) costs.

2 kids. Still got some nursery costs at the moment, but not for too much longer.

I thought we were doing well. I can't believe that the majority of people going on abroad holidays are earning more.

Is £300/month not a lot to be saving specifically for holidays?

We've always afforded them by going SC not AI. Cheap flights, book an apartment or chalet somewhere with good facilities (pools, beach etc) I used to book 6 nights not 7. Seemed to be a lot cheaper as it was an awkward slot to fill for the holiday company and it also means flights are cheaper.

I should add though, I am 100% not an All Inclusive kind of person. I've done them twice for a week each time and I got bored senseless being in the same place and seeing the same people. We always ended up blowing our budget leaving the resort.

As someone who’s always worked in education… if your kids are not critical ages for education (ie SATs or GCSE years) just go in term time. Tell school. It’s not up-to them to fine you, it’s decided by Local councils and only happens if your child’s attendance is already poor. Even if they do it’ll likely work out to less than what’s saved by going in term time.

We never stay in hotels-that’s an expensive way to holiday.

Take a look at Brittany Ferries package holidays. Some really nice ones in Spain, and cheaper than flying.

I'm not a fan of all inclusive either, but thought it would be easier/cheaper with kids.

Self catering is approx £1-1.2k cheaper, so about £100-120 day. I figured we'd prob spend that per day on 3 meals, drinks, ice cream etc for 4 of us. Not if we cook ourselves, and this is probably where I'm being unrealistic. We don't earn enough to have that type of holiday. I thought we did.

£300 is not enough for 10 nights all inclusive for a family of 4. £90 per day per person including all food, drink, snacks, flights. And school holidays. No chance!

The problem is you are looking at all inclusive. I came just under £5k going to Billund, Denmark in August. It’s a super expensive place and we eat out everyday. Meals at a theme park is over £100 and another thread I’m on here says it’s £10 for a hot dog which I can believe. We also don’t have shit flights. Lunch time flights both in and out, so leaving home after breakfast and arriving mid afternoon. We also hired a car. Accommodation is a 70m2 2 bedroom lodge.

I am sure if you book non AI to Southern Europe, and eat out everyday (except breakfast), you can get cheaper than £5k.

You can get to Europe by ferry and that’s usually a lot cheaper than flying too.

You can take a car abroad from about £200 return.
Then you can find an apartment somewhere - or do camping or find a campsite with a chalet / cabin.

Plenty of apartments on Booking.Com

And a lot of campsites with accommodation on site.

We’ve just been abroad for the first time in a long time, £3,300 all inclusive for 4 for 7 nights in Majorca with Tui. We saved over £700 by flying from Scotland (4 hour drive but worth it). We added up our food and drink costs (roughly) and the AI was well worth the extra and we ate out a couple of times. We were going to holiday in the UK which would have cost £2-2.5K for 3 nights! The only downside was the added cost of new clothes, beach towels/bags, hats, luggage, etc but now we have them it should help reduce costs next time.

What is your budget and where do you fancy going, OP or are you open? What time of year? Do you want childcare or happy to hang out with the kids the whole time? What is your max flight time? I'm stuck at home bored for the next two hours waiting for a delivery (obviously not UK!) and happy to do a bit of googling for you! Affordable vacays are one of my favorite things to research.

Hopefully that doesn't come across as weird as I suspect it might 😂

At the risk of sounding like an absolute dick...I don't want to save all year and spend £3k to sleep in a tent.

I love camping. Just not for a big summer holiday.

We'll have to make a decision about cutting number of days, or self catering, or 3 star.

Its been such a long time since I've been out of the UK, I was just a bit shocked.