Want to start saving up for a holiday abroad - advice please!

[OhMyStarryEyedSurprise]

We've never left the UK.
I feel bad about this and would dearly love for me and my family - three adults and two teenagers - to be able to go abroad next year. I say next year as it will most likely take us that long to save for it. I need to create a plan to save up for it. Can anyone advise on cheap locations and any kind of figure I should be aiming to save. Ideally all inclusive and somewhere that's not really expensive - I've heard Dubai is very expensive etc. Somewhere hot and not in the UK. Any advice from people who have left the country would be appreciated. I would dearly love any and all advice about this before I walk into a travel agents and get eaten alive. TIA.

How about the Algarve, Greece or Spain? They are all lovely and not too expensive. How much is the maximum you think you can save in the time? As part of your planning bare in mind 4x passports are going to cost £300.

Booking online tends to cheaper. What time of year? Outside the school holidays tends to be cheaper. Why don’t you try popping your details into tui webiste or similar and it will give you an idea of prices.

You will also need to buy insurance but it’s cheaper to this through an insurance company rather than the travel agent.

You can cost it out yourself without using a travel agent. Just go on easyjet for example and price the flights and Airbnb for accommodation. Or the site travel republic can do both for you.

Somewhere like Canary Islands or Ibiza or Mediterranean might be good for a first trip.

Remember to add in the cost of passports.

That really is a how long is a piece of string question! What do you like to do? Will it be in school holidays? Is on if the three adults an older child? Will they be happy to be in a room together?

We are doing two weeks AI in August in Ibiza and it's 5.5k for two adults and two kids, with a free child place. You would need two rooms so it would involve be a lot more.

I think you would be better doing it yourself, Air b n b / flights or even drive? We usually drive to the south of France every summer to a family mobile home, beauty of driving is you don't have to hire a car when you're there, you can take as much as you can fit in and it's relatively inexpensive although you have to bear in mind toll costs if you want to use the fast roads.

Oh yes!! None of us have got passports! That will be something to organise!

Looking for similar this year. Have found some good prices for 10 nights 5* star at the end of August. Cost goes down considerably the closer you get to September.
It’s looking to be around the 5k mark for 5 of us in 2 rooms for bed and breakfast. Clicking on the all inclusive tab adds another £25-30 pp per day which I don’t think is too bad.

I’m searching on Jet2 because their site is a million times more user friendly than Tui.
Looking at Costa Adeje in Tenerife. Protaras in Cyprus and Sal in Cape Verde.
In my dreams I’d like to go to Barbados or the Maldives ..

There Spanish Costas are probably one of the more affordable options, because the flights aren't very long and they cater for all budgets with every standard of accommodation available. Run an example through a travel agent's site to give yourself a rough idea of the cost you'll be looking at.

I second somewhere like Portugal, Spain, Balearics or Canary Islands. Easter or October half terms are cheaper than the summer holidays, although not as hot and the weather could be hit or miss in some places. Also bear in mind teenagers are classed as adults price wise on some airlines and holiday companies. Where you go really depends on whether you want a pool/beach holiday or something with more activities and sightseeing.

Go on Icelolly.com and put Any Desrination - all inclusive and see what catches your eye.

You don’t have to book with them - do some research but it gives you ideas.

Thanks for replies so far everyone

Look at deals. On the beach. Cheeky trip. We have booked great deals through both many times.
Just got back from a Easter week All inclusive, Majorca, Dh, Me, Ds1 and Ds2, £1100.

How hot do you want it? 30, 40, 50?

I don't know! I have no idea what really hot temps would feel like as I've never left the UK. So I imagine it would be better if I didn't go somewhere scorching hot for the first time.

France is your friend! Loads of space and options be it beaches, countryside or cities within an hour or so of Calais

When our kids were younger, we went all inclusive to the Iberostar chain in Europe. We went to the Iberostar Ciudud Blanca in Majorca twice, it is directly on a lovely beach.

I've been to better all inclusive resorts in terms of food quality but it was a decent four star effort for the price. We're trying an Ikos all inclusive in Spain this year but it's quite a lot more expensive.

Strangely you can often get more for your money at non-European all inclusives. Friends have enjoyed Mexico and I gather the Dominican Republic is decent value for the money.

Cheapholidayexpert.com - have a read of her stuff & watch her videos - gives a good feel for bargain hunting.
But yes, passports, cheap flights, self catering, slightly out of season...and maybe do a "dry run" (actually find a set of flights and accommodation but don't BUY NOW) this year, to get an idea of the nitty gritty. Often when you drill down, the flights at the times you want are all booked or too dear, and the cheap ones mean it's more expensive to get to and from the airport, or the budget accommodation has all been booked up already etc etc etc.

On a budget OP I'd organise the passports, sort out a basic holiday wardrobe for each of you, then save like mad and get a last minute deal if money is really tight. There are always brilliant self catering deals last minute but not so sure about AI. I'm a massive fan of the Greek Islands but I think Spain or Turkey might be cheaper options. Alternatively, I'd make a list of what you're looking for - e.g. beach/water sports/night life/peace and quiet etc and then spend your evenings browsing the likes of Jet2 followed by trip advisor. Once you've found something just right, get booking! Hope you have a great time.

@recklessgran

On a budget OP I'd organise the passports, sort out a basic holiday wardrobe for each of you, then save like mad and get a last minute deal if money is really tight. There are always brilliant self catering deals last minute but not so sure about AI. I'm a massive fan of the Greek Islands but I think Spain or Turkey might be cheaper options. Alternatively, I'd make a list of what you're looking for - e.g. beach/water sports/night life/peace and quiet etc and then spend your evenings browsing the likes of Jet2 followed by trip advisor. Once you've found something just right, get booking! Hope you have a great time.

My parents used to do this when I was a kid. They'd have us packed ready to go to an airport and then book. It was so exciting and we had amazing holidays that were massively discounted.

I've used onthebeach.com for some really great cheap holidays. Worth looking at. Spain probably your cheapest option self catering. Think about distance from airport to accommodation or how you purchase food so proximity to supermarket etc. these costs can add up if you don't plan.

@coodawoodashooda we've done this too when our 5 were all at home - great fun and we [luckily] always ended up with something amazing. It does take a certain type of parent though - you need to be able to hold your nerve until the very last day in order to get the most for you money. One of our most memorable bargains involved us flying to Tenerife , landing at 4.00am with our youngest 13 months old - resort & hotel unknown. We must have been crazy but we ended up in a 5 star hotel, half board with a whole suite of adjoining rooms and our own enclosed garden. It was truly amazing and we paid peanuts!

You won't get eaten alive by travel agents, most are pretty helpful. If you can go out of school holidays you can easily get a week 4* half board in the med for around £500 pp. If not look for the end of school holidays as they will tend to be cheaper or book a city break.
Look at good flight times, where to go from your nearest airport, what facilities you need/want.
We have an account just for holidays, we've always stuffed an extra £50 a month in for holidays in our early retirement. We now have enough for the next 10 years worth of holidays. Also once you've booked you can set up a direct debit with the travel agents or just ring up/ pop in when you want to pay a bit off.

[quote recklessgran]@coodawoodashooda we've done this too when our 5 were all at home - great fun and we [luckily] always ended up with something amazing. It does take a certain type of parent though - you need to be able to hold your nerve until the very last day in order to get the most for you money. One of our most memorable bargains involved us flying to Tenerife , landing at 4.00am with our youngest 13 months old - resort & hotel unknown. We must have been crazy but we ended up in a 5 star hotel, half board with a whole suite of adjoining rooms and our own enclosed garden. It was truly amazing and we paid peanuts![/quote]
Yeah. I remember years ago that was my Dad's best part of the holiday! They'd paid about a fifth of what everyone else had for exactly the same holiday.

Look on Wowcher at the holiday deals on there.

we're a big fan of half board rather than all inclusive whilst on city breaks or active holidays. A big breakfast sets us up for the day and we then won't want much if anything for lunch. We might split a sarnie, grab a slice of pizza or have coffee and cake mid afternoon to top up. We often pick up fruit or snacks (crisps, cereal bars, nuts etc) from a local market or supermarket for if we get peckish, which keeps us going until tea time when we have most of our evening meals in the hotel, with perhaps the odd meal out and about if somewhere takes our fancy. We've found this approach means we're not constantly eating and drinking because we can and because it's paid for, but also works out quite a few £s cheaper than AI. It also means our spending money goes further as we don't have to budget so much for food and drink.

Self catering feels like less of a break when you factor in all of the shopping, cooking and washing up. If we do end up self catering, we tend to have breakfast at home and make a packed lunch to take out with us and then eat our evening meal out so someone else is responsible for the cooking and washing up!

Another frugal holiday tip we stick to is having a 'budget' per day, so we know how much we can spend on activities / souvenirs / ice cream etc without the risk of running out of spends before the trip is up. If we have a cheap day, unspent funds are rolled over to the next day. If we splash out on a more expensive meal or experience, we know we'll need to plan in a more frugal day to balance the books. This means we don't feel deprived or like we're penny pinching, but nor do we go overboard.

I would fly with Ryan Air or Easyjet and book AI accommodation with booking.com.
It would be a lot cheaper in October (or similar) half term than in the summer holidays.