Holiday ‘extras’ eating into holiday budget!

[Revolutioniser]

First world problem, I know. And not a surprise either. But still annoying having to pay:

• £22pp each way to get seats on the plane next to each other
• £8.50pp each way for a bit of food on the 4hr flight
• £8 per night AC for the hotel room
• £8 per night tourist tax
• £6 to drop us off at the airport for less than two minutes!

£300 of the holiday spends gone already!

Genuinely think it’s this kind of bloody thievery that makes people think the country is ‘broken’.

I don’t begrudge the tourist tax, to be fair. But the rest of it… ARGH!!!

The key here is research and planning. Too many people book the basic budget holiday options then want every extra that sometimes means booking a more expensive upfront fare would have made more sense. I book budget because I don't care where I sit and wouldn't order a meal on a short flight

This country isn't broken because you have to pay a few extra quid for your holiday.

The drop off (and pick up) fee is annoying. Are you going from Manchester @Revolutioniser? There’s no “free” drop off option anymore, and the train in from my side of the Pennines (Yorkshire) is currently a rail replacement service which takes twice as long.

The hotel I stayed at in Greece last year charged for air con, I think it was 4 euros per day.

Why don’t you walk with all your luggage if it’s only 2 minutes?

why don’t you make a sandwich at home to take on the plane? Can you survive if you haven’t eaten for 4 hours?

Why do you need to sit together for 4 hours? Can you split a parent and child and have the cost?

She means it’s 2 minutes to unload the car at the designated drop off

A four hour flight with also involve a journey to the airport, then a two hour window to get through security, passport control and be at thr boarding gate. Plus disembarkation. That’s at least 8 hours. It’s not weird to want to eat something. If it’s an early flight that’s sandwiches squashed in hand luggage until you are hungry.

I don’t think paying for seats is worth it it. Check in online when it opens. They will put you close together.

I get the frustration with some of this, some of it is not avoidable (tourist tax). The rest probably is - the meal deal is your best friend, it is no longer cheap in airports but it is generally about £5 and at least it is what you want to eat, when you want to eat it, and as others say, you can take sandwiches, crisps, snack etc. from home, and buy water (at eye watering prices) - you can take an empty bottle of water through security and in MOST (but not all airports) there are places to fill up once you have gone through security. Seats can be very difficult depending on who you are flying with, and what importance you attach to this part of the journey. If you have kids, then pay (and to be honest, you must unless they are very confident flyers) if you care, then pay, if you are not sure, then don't pay and take your chances. Agreed most airports charge a drop off charge now for taxis and ubers (Newcastle and Leeds being outliers on this - within a 5 min walk you have 15 mins for free in NCL, and Leeds, you have an hour if you are prepared to walk for 5-10 mins). Not sure about the AC, but I would definitely pay it, and maybe would not have booked without it. Sure, you can do some stuff if you haven't got it, with wet bedding and fans but it isn't great, especially if it involves opening your windows. Mosquito central.

I can’t see how any of that makes Britain “broken”. Much of it has happened abroad, eg the tourist tax and the AC.

And the rest comes down to businesses charging you according to their business model.

PPs are right about the budget flights/ tickets often being more - DS and I went abroad at Easter on easyJet, and definitely the “standard” fare worked out cheaper than the budget one. If you wanted any luggage and to be able to choose your seats, which we obviously did.

Then you have to take a choice about other things, like buying expensive (but convenient) food on the plane or bringing your own/ buying a meal deal as others have said. Alot of the things you’ve listed are very much optional.

You didn't HAVE to spend any of that except tourist tax.

These extra charges wind me up so much I find ways to avoid them on principle.

Sounds like you've booked a budget break and it's coming back to bite you...

£22pp each way to get seats on the plane next to each other - what airline? I've never had to pay this with Jet2, BA or KLM, never been separated. Actually Ryanair doesn't separate you from under 12s either as it makes you book the seats.

£8.50pp each way for a bit of food on the 4hr flight - take your own food if it bothers you and you really need to eat and drink on the short flight. I always take some snacks and buy a boots meal deal at the airport.

£8 per night AC for the hotel room - never ever have I paid extra for air con, it's standard.

£8 per night tourist tax - unavoidable, should factor it into your costs.

£6 to drop us off at the airport for less than two minutes! - We use airport parking which we factor into the holiday cost.

If you can afford a foreign holiday you should easily be able afford these 'extras' which aren't actually extra just part of the cost of going on holiday.

Nonsense. It’s £4.99 for a meal deal including water. Hardly extortionate

Insurer with you on the seats. On the aircon, it depends if this was clear upon booking.

food price doesn’t sound too bad and you could have eaten elsewhere/taking your own from home. I struggle with this one.

• You don’t need to sit next to each other. You’ll be together for the whole holiday - what does 4 hours matter?
• Make sandwiches at home and bring them with you rather than buying a meal on the plane.
• I’ve never stayed at a hotel that charged you to use the AC - that must be a very budget hotel, in which case, you’re getting what you pay for.
• Tourist tax is just part of the price of the hotel room. There’s no point seeing it as a separate cost.

Only the AC is a bit of a shock there. (And ignore posters saying you should have tried to go without.)

You don't HAVE to go somewhere with tourist tax though, and even where it is in place it is much cheaper some places than others. Overtourism is one reason these taxes were introduced. You could always look for less well-known destinations.

I’m mid 50’s and been booking holidays abroad since going to Italy at 16.

In the 80’s and 90’s it was fairly cheap to fly actually. There was no drop off fee, you got fed on the plane even on a short haul flight and you could take a nice big bag in the cabin and put stuff in hold. You got seated next to anyone you checked in with.

Easyjet arrived in 1995 were very cheap but importantly stayed very cheap. Again youn could take a relatively large cabin bag and hold luggage was free. There were no seat or speedy boarding options. The bargain price you paid included everything except food.

I think that’s what the op means by broken Britain . The relentless,to quote the US “nickel and diming”

That's capitalism, baby.

I've had to pay this in 2 different countries. It's just another way to extort money from tourists.

Yet another nail in the coffin for why I really don't like holidays anymore. They just frequently, in a multiplicity of ways, don't live up to expectations. Something that is supposed to be a luxury or a treat, just isn't.

You have to pay £5 drop off charge at Heathrow.

I’m another one not understanding how this reflects the state of the country.

Additional costs do crop up on holiday, sometimes unforeseeable ones. You do ime need to set aside a small budget or have a credit card ready. Otherwise you need to book a slightly cheaper holiday so you have more headroom.

I agree that cheap flights often mean no luggage, no allocated seating, no food and the requirement to be at Luton or Southend in the middle of the night.

For the Heathrow terminals I have used there is a free option at the long term car parks

increase your budget
problem solved

Budget airline food is not worth it. Assume you’re getting a sandwich and a snack?

Better to make your own.

Cost of living is affecting other countries too. Turkey for example has had high inflation and costs there are a lot higher than last year (even though you get more lira for your pound). Food and drinks were pretty much London prices where we were. And if you’re going to Dalaman airport it has an incredibly expensive McDonalds. €18 for a Big Mac meal. And about €7 for a cappuccino.

I don't mind paying tourist tax. I see it as a contribution to the local economy, eg the cost of litter collection and keeping beaches clean etc. We hear so much about how locals struggle to live in tourist areas so it's just a way of giving back. If they don't have it in places like Cornwall, they should.

I also don't mind paying for a Boots meal deal. I take my lunch to work about 80/90% of the time so its a rare treat to not do this and I pick carefully to get my money's worth. So a sandwich with a complex filling not plain ham, tuna or cheese, a smoothie, not coke or water and one of the sides like yogurt and cereal rather than boring crisps. On a morning flight it serves as breakfast, snack and lunch.