To holiday in the UK?

[HoneyPie12]

So, first world problems obviously but summer holidays.. we have 3 boys ages 15, 12 and 7 and in 2024 we went on our first ever abroad family holiday. It was bloody lovely - we had the best time. It was a very impulsive decision made 2 weeks before at the travel agents and my equally impulsive husband went from looking online to us sat booking it with a travel agent within a day or 2! I cannot stress how much of a great time it was. We put it on our credit card and then didn't go anywhere in 2025 as we told the children we were still paying off our lovely holiday - they totally understood. It's all paid off now and we are now talking about doing it in 2026. However, while we were chatting, I've just heard myself say out loud - well if our budget is 5k...

5k. For one week. 5 thousand British pounds. I had the best holiday and we had so much fun but 5,000 pounds for one week?! We obviously don't have that spare or we wouldn't have needed to put it on a credit card last time. We have very little savings really and the sensible thing would be to stay home. We could go away somewhere in the UK for half the price I suppose - although not all inclusive and maybe no flipping sunshine!

I guess my question is:

AIBU to book a 5k family holiday in 2026 knowing that 5k is a LOT of money and could potentially be spent on other things?

Or is it a YOLO situation where my lovely husband and amazing kids work hard all year and why shouldn't we just say sod it and book - not many years left where they will be at home and want to spend time with us?!

@HoneyPie12 a week in a forest lodge in August with a hot tub at Uk centre parks costs 4.5k for the week. I’d go abroad.

I wouldn’t book anything yet but keep saving and look for a last minute deal that will hopefully be cheaper. If it’s AI and somewhere sunny you can be quite flexible about the location and it could be a cruise.
Another possibility it a shorter city break
You do have to do somethings whilst children are the right age to do them, before they grow up.

Fucking hell - Centre Parcs is shit!

I’m always one who will save and be careful but your children are only this young once and you clearly really enjoyed it.
Im sure other posters will have tips for making it cheaper but how about cutting back between now and then?

Lots of places have January sales on holidays now, maybe look at October half term options rather than the summer holidays, places like the Canaries are still hot then, some companies also offer holiday payment plans, so you could pay for the next however months in instalments then use the savings to pay off the balance closer to the time, also look for places that offer free child places, this isn’t something that’s offered on last minute deals

Do it, OP. It sounds like you both work really hard to give your children opportunities you maybe didn’t have yourselves, and the holiday clearly brought you all a lot of joy - and the joy isn’t just in the seven days you’re away, but the anticipation beforehand and the memories afterwards. There’s something extremely relaxing about an AI holiday, I agree, and if you’re paying it off interest-free over a year then you can afford it. In another three years your eldest will probably do his own thing during the summers and you’ll be able to book accommodation for four instead. Book it now, and enjoy!

Everyone prioritises different things but for me I drive a rusty banger of a car, dress myself from charity shops and go on lots of cheap holidays. That's what I think my kids will remember the most.
It's well worth shopping around too- Jet2 holidays are brilliant. Put your non-negotiables in the search filters (number of passengers, all inclusive etc) and then sort it price low to high. You might well surprise yourself with a cheaper deal. I always think if you're going All Inclusive then the destination doesn't really matter as much.
Good luck OP, these are the days.

I'm glad you like this idea OP. I started doing it after having bought a car on H.P. years ago. When I finally made the last payment, I figured it would make sense to keep paying that amount each month, only into a savings account. By the time I needed to replace the first car, I had enough saved to buy the next one outright. We also did this after paying off the mortgage, which has left us quite comfortable now we are older, and the great thing is, that as you've been used to not having that money, you don't miss it. It also feels good when you realise that your savings pot is growing due to earning interest, so definitely worth a try in my opinion.

That's alot of money for a holiday tbh

I see you want all inclusive. I think if you can afford it to go ahead and do it, or maybe book it for next year so instead of paying back the credit card after you pay to travel co in instalments. If you weren’t looking at all inclusive I would say look at Sun Holidays, they are just about to start up again and whilst self catering and basic will come in cheaper & its the memories you are making that will matter and be remembered not the basic accom

Sounds like you managed to pay it off without missing payments or letting the debt escalate. I would do it again as it sounds like you all had an amazing time. My kids are teens now but they talk about some of the lovely holidays and travels abroad we’ve had as their best memories - not the week we once spent in the rain in Devon 😅. I do agree however that you could do it for less than 5k if you are savvy - check out last min dead or try May half term instead

Thanks so much everyone- lots of different opinions here and loads to think about. I appreciate everyone taking the time to chime in, it's like having a huge group chat and I love it x

There's AI for 5 in August on love holidays for £3500, various destinations. I personally find Turkey good value.

There are 4 of you so even though £5k seems a lot it doesn’t go far. Personally I wouldn’t put it on card but my dh does this.. as you say your boys will have partners, other priorities.. this is your time.

5k for a week. Well it’s not even a week once you factor in the flight times etc.

Nope !

OP I’ve only read your posts so apologies if this has already been suggested, but we sometimes book with Jet2 and they give you an option to pay it off in instalments. Can you look at something like that? The sooner you book the more months/time to pay. If you were already paying credit card costs each month, this is just another way of paying it off in chunks but then it’s all paid up before you go if you really want the holiday!

I have also been in debt and struggled with money when younger, and I’ve been in the position where I thought it (debt) was affordable and then the economy crashed and DH was made redundant and it was frankly awful so my rule now is not to put anything on credit I can’t afford to pay off immediately should I need to (excluding mortgage).

That said holidays are important. I have Tenerife booked for Feb, less than £2k for 3 of us, self catering but we will eat out almost exclusively, food and wine is really inexpensive in Spain compared to the UK, I looked at AI and felt I’d spend less than the extra money on eating out, and have freedom to go wherever. We are doing 5 nights instead of 7 to cut the cost a bit and so my teen can spend some time with his mates over the holiday. We booked with Jet2 who are letting us pay in instalments which means I’ve not had to dip into savings.

In previous years we’ve had a nice time driving to France and hiring a villa with a pool, shared with another family to cut the cost further, but that’s a very long way from AI and probably not your vibe!