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?

Your post makes no sense at all. The point is that smaller houses are cheaper to buy and maintain. So some people choose to pay off the mortgage in their cheaper house and have more disposable income. Others upsize because they can and life’s more expensive as a result. They then have less to spend.

I don't personally know any couples with children, earning £90k a year combined, who can afford 10 nights all inclusive anywhere during school holidays. You could try going somewhere cheap to eat and not going all inclusive - we've done Spain and Greece and eating out is cheaper than all inclusive usually, and aim for a week instead of 10 nights

I haven’t read through all the replies, so I’m probably repeating, but look for a free child place. Canary Islands are often cheaper in summer.

Really confused by this. Do you mean couples who earn less than 90k a year can’t afford a holiday?
we earn a lot less than 90k combined, have 2 children and have 2 weeks abroad all inclusive every year. Granted not in school holidays but we always choose 4 or 5 resorts in the Mediterranean so it’s not cheap.
surely you must be referring to the London area because I think a lot of families earning less than 90k are affording abroad holidays?

I earn £22k a year plus UC (single mum) and I can afford 2 holidays a year. You must live somewhere expensive!

🤔. Really?

AI is the cheapest type of holiday. It also baffles me the confidence that many mumsnetters have of how much other people earn. I honestly have no idea.

We ended up not having a summer holiday because of this - the prices were madness. I think what's going on is that the increasing wealth divide means there are lots of people with thousand to spend on holidays.

4 day city break this August. Other short city breaks in Feb and October. Spreads the fun for less than a week’s holiday .

Easy jet released their flights today and I've managed to find a week in Tunisia, all inclusive , end of may/ first week in June ( so kids won't be fined for missing teen sessions/five days) for £300.

@LookingForPurpose do you mean £300 each ? Surely not for all of you ? Even £300 pp sounds a good price .

We shall have to make the most of any holidays already booked. Apparently an eco-activist thinktank called C40 is proposing restricting us all to a single 1000km flight (plus return trip) every three years as part of the climate change rollback... That's not enough miles to get to Malaga from Manchester!

Can I ask who you have booked the cruise through? That price is amazing and it sounds like a perfect holiday, I would absolutely love a Norwegian cruise.

@EllaPaella through p and o themselves. We are going on cruise G516. Prices have gone up a little now but I booked ours the week they were released. Being able to pay £10-15 a week is brilliant for us and and as it includes all food and entertainment and dove kids clubs for two adults and two kids, it's a no brainier. I know friends that pay more than that for a top of the range haven and that's not including food.

I find iglucrise and sea scanner to be great for looking and comparing cruises and prices. The best value for families with young kids is often MSC and a good few of the shops that leave from Southampton have water parks on them. Euriba is fantastic! And you can search by month, departure port, duration, and then filter by price. It's always with ringing a cruise specialising travel agent as sometimes they can shave a little off the price or get you extra on board spending.

Sorry I should have clarified. Yes, you can get all inclusive holiday to Tunisia in June through on the beach for a little less than £300pp but I got it down to £270 pp by pricing easy jet flights myself and a looking for closer cheaper all inclusive hotel that I've been to before.

I've just booked 2 weeks in Barbados - including premium economy flights it's £2300 for two staying in cheap and cheerful Air bnb places with pools. We'll do self catering mainly.

We often stay in a 2 bed apartment with sea views and a pool on Corfu which is £1500 for 2 weeks.

Go self catering and book direct with the owner of you can. We prioritise holidays, so no tv packages, old mobile phones and 10 year old car mean we can afford to go twice a year.

Thank you @LookingForPurpose - very helpful reply. Looking it all up now!

Simple - go outside of the school holidays and pay the fine.

We are doing 2 weeks in Cuba all inclusive in December for 2 adults 2 kids for £3k. 2 weeks later in the Christmas holidays is £8k

I'd like to know too. We've not had a holiday abroad since 2008 yet someone we know on benefits goes abroad at least twice a year. Doesn't make sense..pretty sure he's doing some work on the side too but no proof. He's also just bought a load of expensive furniture. :/

You have no idea about their finances. Maybe they’ve inherited some money, maybe they save better than some. People on benefits are still entitled to have a holiday.

You obviously spend to much money in the UK because on your salary it is possible

My nan used to go abroad every year to an expensive country on benefits and she never used to spend money here on herself, never buy clothes and eat beans on toast all the time
You never know people's situation

I think you need to lower your expectations. If you go for a weekend at Easter or October 1/2 term it's loads cheaper than a week in august. Also camping is surprisingly cheap and you can get 2nd hand camping equipment on facebook marketplace very cheap. I've decided that when my 10 year old stops wetting the bed we are going to give it a go. We've been to all the cheap/free stuff in our area loads of times but there are so many other places that look like fun.

Depends on what you want. All inclusive package holidays are obviously expensive (and tacky/boring).

We tend to stay abroad with family or get an Air bnb.

Never in a million years would I pay even £1k for a holiday. Nuts.

Your other option is to be more adventurous. Long haul flights to e.g. Thailand and then travel around. Living costs are dirt cheap.

We did a s/c holiday in Corfu for £2k (flights and accommodation). That was one week in a 2 bed apartment with kitchenette. Pool shared with 5 other apartments in the building (often it was just us in there). Took our own inflatables etc.

We made our own breakfast and lunch and ate out in the evening. (Total spending money was under 1k).

Research was a massive investment. Apartment was close enough to airport to make a taxi affordable. We were also close to shops/supermarket which made it easy to buy food and wine/beer for the apartment. (A pre drink or two saved on alcohol expenditure whilst out!) Accommodation was
on a bus route to nearby big towns and port so we could sightsee without a car or booking formal excursions.

You can do it but you need to have a really good look!