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?

Croatia is a idea worth exploring, it's basically a cheap(er) Italy, short flight, cheap to eat out Italian style - pizza, pasta, ice cream. Porec and Rovinj area are lovely - fly to Pula.

We went to Kos in August for 9 days, lovely luxurious 4.5* hotel. 2 adults and a teenager. Half board was great for us because DD only drinks water and DP and I don't drink a lot. Would rather have 2 really nicely made cocktails than 6 radioactive all-inc ones.
Our bar/lunch bill came to £350 for the 9 days. The holiday itself cost £3100 with Tui.

We earn the same as you but live in the north. Paid off our mortgage and have 2 abroad and 3 UK holidays a year, eat out twice a week. Move up north!

3 grand is probably our budget and we dont do tents.

Op I think people get brainwashed into what a holiday actually is?
I've been ai once and absolutely hated every moment. Its was all dreadful.
To me about holiday is a break from where we live and different scenery.

That could mean one night in a cute b and b or somewhere in a really beautiful air b and b or b and b or rustic hotel.

We can't afford long haul but we have been to Marrakech, France, Italy etc all in really cute or grogeous hotels and certainly no where near the prices you are coming up with.

But I also prefer lots of breaks throughout the year rather than one two weak holiday.

We could certainly never ever afford package and unless it was really top end we just wouldn't enjoy it. Also it's been clear from the listening to people in rl and here where these travel companies get their own cut. I prefer to get excellence and cut out the middle man.

As an aside you shouldn't be putting all your money into travel unless you have a huge amount of savings.

We put about 350 in a month but also have more into savings, and seperate pots for other eosens

It's not about earning more. We just had a holiday, 9 days in Croatia, SC but we ate out more evening meals than not for 3600 all in, including flights, accommodation, all spending money. There's 4 of us. It's about compromising in other areas. We booked the flights soon after easy jet released them.

I have taken mine out two years running
one year was a pre booked Covid holiday
last year I said she had good attendance and they marked her absence and didn’t go to council
i would take the risk especially towards the end of summer term when there is a million other activities going on
the fines only £120 per child so a huge savings on a summer holiday

@Blondeshavemorefun

We've booked our flights out already for next year from Gatwick £77pp

Just checked and they've gone up £50 and the return flights are still at £150pp. It was the same last year but they tend to drop in price really early morning on Sundays. Apparently January is the best month. I have to get up really early for work so it's easy for me to keep checking because they don't stay that cheap for long.

What we do is split the booking with my parents so they take 1 child and we take the other. We book a year in advance to pay monthly. We are going away next year for 14 nights A/I for 2.5k which is about 250 per month to pay. That's with jet2

OP self catering honestly doesn’t mean doing as much as you would at home.
We’ve had aparthotels in the Balearics during the school summer holidays for the last three years on the bounce. The housekeeping services are the same as you’d get in a hotel. We took a couple of boxes of the variety packs of cereal with us for the kid’s breakfasts, took 2 minutes to wash up a couple of bowls. Then for lunch we would get baguettes, drinks and a big bag of crisps to share from the supermarket - cost about €15. We would go out for a nice meal every evening. You could do similar on your budget.

@my82my and the ones I'm looking at week before ht

Feeding at a trough isn't glamorous, get out and show your kids another culture, if its safe to do so, and it is in Europe. Spend your money with local family businesses. Norovirus spreads when everyone is spending a lot of time in close proximity to others. Self catering does not mean cooking and cleaning, it gives you the option to prepare a snack of your choice

Honestly, we don’t. Our joint income is currently £32k before tax. We have nothing left once we’ve paid for the mortgage, bills etc. we have 2 cars (my husband is a driving instructor) and a decent house, my kids have enough clothes and toys and things but we can’t afford holidays and iPads and such like.
We are incredibly lucky that my parents usually take us away for a week somewhere in the UK once a year and sometimes an additional weekend somewhere too. Super grateful.

but even looking at a caravan holiday in the UK is £1000 so we can’t afford to go by ourselves. I work in a school and all of the teachers complain constantly about pay. I do the admin and HR and on average they earn £10k more than me. They all jet off to exotic places like Dubai and Disney world in the holidays.
I would love to go to a water park resort abroad but the cheapest price I’ve found for May half term is £780pp for a week x 4 people. Plus then there’s the transfers, paying to take a suitcase on the plane etc. just not doable. sadly 😞

I've not read the whole thread so apologies if someone has already suggested this.

I browse VRBO for private villas with own pool in Canary or Balearic Islands and then just play around with dates to find cheap flights. Do a shop when you arrive, eat breakfast/lunch at villa then go out for evening meal each night.

Our last two holidays have been lovely. Usually a 3/4 bedroom villa with private heated pool costing just under £1000 and flights for £800 odd (2 adults, 1 infant). We hire a car for £200 maybe for a week to get us to and from airport.

We went to Lanzarote in March and spent about 300 euro the whole week! Our villa was walking distance to Playa Blanca and was really lovely.

I highly recommend.

Take the kids out of school for sure! We do 2 weeks all inclusive in Europe, term time, for 2 adults and 2 kids. Always book with a reputable company and budget around 4k. I we always go 4 or 5. We usually book from one year to the next so we have a whole year to save and pay it off. It still costs a lot but i think it’s worth it. Also, we don’t earn anywhere near what you earn but also don’t live in the south or have childcare fees.
Definitely take them out of school and pay the fine. Also, you’re more likely to get a free child place on 7,11 and 14 nights rather than 10 and prices are usually lowest early hours of Tuesday morning (not sure why)

Good luck!

Also make sure you check for the cheapest date. We are going in August next year so English school holidays and was the cheapest date!

For us, taking them out of school isn't really sensible because it then means we have to pay for extra school holiday childcare because we have used up annual leave in term time - by the time we have done that, it's wiped out a lot of the savings.

We go at least twice a year abroad and 1-2 times uk, but book early as possible. Currently looking for October 2025 holidays to book. Spreading the cost is the only way we can do it as we only have approx 70k joint salary. But ours have gone cheaper now that dc’s are adults and don’t want to come with us!

When DC were young we used to choose destinations based on where we could fly to cheaply (Venice/Lido de Jessolo; Rome) or ferry-drive to. That cut costs enormously. Then accommodation only somewhere with a pool and close to fun places to visit, nice restaurants. Buying your own breakfast and wine, having picnic lunches is way cheaper than AI and imo far nicer. DC get to choose food they actually want to eat. Fruit is freshly cut not sitting around gathering fruit flies. You get to choose the quality of bread, meat, cheese and wine.

Another vote for ferry-drive and self-catering, mainly because we live hours from an airport with a range of destinations. Plus, hotel breakfasts are generally either dull or expensive and we would rather eat lunch and have a bbq/salad in the evening. Going to a different supermarket is part of the experience for us.

turkey or bulgaria a lot cheaper and better value for money than spain/canaries etc. but you will still be looking at around £4k for a week for a family of four. And in answer to how people afford it - classic mumsnet question 🙄 - they earn more than you.

YANBU. It’s horrendous how much money it all costs.

A few things we have tried or found out when trying to holiday as a family of four:
If you are going to spend 4-6k on a holiday, check out the Caribbean deals. Much better deals than Europe and a lot better holidays. The flights are so much easier with the space, entertainment and regular snacks.
Also, we find bed and breakfast suits us better as a family and find a shop to buy some rolls and salad from a local shop for lunch. I don’t like eating loads at AI, it makes me feel lethargic so this works and I’m ready to enjoy my evening meal.
Have you considered eurocamp or something similar? You can drive down to south of France (which cuts the cost of hugely expensive flights) and we have found the mobile homes were immaculate with AC. We had such a great holiday there with lovely swimming pools and loads for the kids to do.
Just a few ideas

I used to get some great bargains with package deals & DIY, but prices have gone through the roof just lately. I’m refusing to pay, plus everywhere’s too hot for us right now. However, I did manage to find a suitable one for around £450pp. It’s with Holiday Hypermarket (TUI sister company) from Gatwick to Orhid, North Macedonia, 7 nights, AI, with luggage & transfers. You can get SC for £200-£300 as well, but God knows where you will end up.

So we had a rethink, adjusted our location and time of year, and booking flights accommodation separately. Thought we'd made a good choice...

Flights to Turkey Oct half term £4k return for the 4 of us. Ffs, that's worse than summer holidays!! That's just flights, didn't even bother looking if it was hand luggage only.

Use booking dot com or air b n b to book accommodation. Book well in advance and you'll find the decent ones that don't ramo the costs up in school hols.

Look away from the places all Brits go.

Consider trains. European ones do very good family prices

Flights to less popular destinations are cheap too.

We spent 10 days on Paris and the south of France and it cost us less than 2000 including spending money.

Have a look again at jet2 OP.

Ive just put in turkey, 7n, 21 October, Manchester airport, 2 adults 2 children.

Cheapest AI £3024, cheapest SC £2668. Includes transfers and 22kg luggage each. 3 star hotels that look amazing.

By stopping at one child is my honest answer. Holidays are affordable to me because I only have one kid to pay for.