Cost of all Includive gone right up!

[Remmy123]

I am looking for a holiday for a family of five, all inclusive preferably Turkey.

i cannot believe how much the prices have gone up!

im wondering whether to get a last minute deal instead to get a bargain otherwise we aren't going anywhere!

Going self catering doesn't mean you have to cook. You can get easy stuff in for breakfast, make sandwiches (or have snacks) for lunch and then go out for dinner in the evening (or get a takeaway). it's more flexible than all inclusive as you can choose to eat where and when you want.

Never book on a weekend especially a bank holiday one.

Check prices again on Tuesday or Wednesday and they'll have gone down a bit.

@SunnyShiner that's really interesting. I will look again at the holidays I'm interested in in a couple of days, and from a different browser just in case!

This isn't new imo. For the first time in years, we didn't have a foreign holiday booked for summer 2020, then pandemic hit so it didn't matter anyway .... but reason we didn't have one booked was because we couldn't find a July/ August 12-14 night holiday for 2 ad 3 Ch, nice place and preferably AI for under £5k. Prices don't seem much higher now (admittedly I'm not comparing exact same hotels, but using the same criteria like star rating, water park etc, adjoining rooms etc.)

This is what I'm hearing - most things have gone up by around £1000 recently 😩😢

We are also a family of 5 looking for a good deal of anyone can recommend anywhere?

We normally go self catering and we really don't want have to think about cooking / food this year, so was hoping to go half board.

It’s late to be booking for July and August. I’d normally book in august of the previous year although I waited until the January sale this year which is typically a similar price. We’ve still paid more than usual, mainly as the kids are older so fewer accommodation options areavailable for us due to their ages. It’s normal for prices to be higher in May. Demand is huge this year after two years of relatively low levels of foreign travel. I sincerely doubt it will get cheaper or there will be late deals. I see you’re only talking about a 10% or smaller increase in your usual price, it doesn’t seem unreasonable taking into account how much the industry has struggled through the pandemic.

Try jet2, sometimes it’s cheaper to do non-typical stays e.g. 9 days, 13 days. Maybe drop a day or two and you will be within budget?

Im not sure you’d save much with a different meal plan. We always self cater and this year there were cheaper AI than our SC option but we enjoy food and choosing restaurants. We are picky with accommodation too. We don’t ever cook, though. we tend to buy breakfast from a bakery or supermarket as not everyone eats it, occasionally breakfast out. Lunch is normally nice breads, meats, cheese or a local deli or cafe etc then evening meal is always out.

@CeeceeBloomingdale Im not sure you’d save much with a different meal plan.

I totally agree. Not sure yet what we are going to do in the summer, though may take a 'cheap' holiday as its not our only holiday this year.

Just put some searches in jet2 and if we went on the cheapest holidays I could find to Turkey it would add about £20 per person per day for us to go AI instead of SC. I have no doubt if you purely did SC and only bought in supermarkets you could do that for a lot less, but if you eat out (plus drinks and ice creams) I am not so certain.

Via jet2

Just don't do AI. It has never been more important to support the local businesses than it is now. Also, Turkey has delicious and cheap food. You don't have to cook even, just go to the markets, cafes and restaurants.

I found the opposite. We are going to Greece and not Turkey but I find All inclusive doesn't cost much more than self catering. I was open to both but for less than £20 each a day decided it was worth it. So even if we are out in the day time, that's still good value for breakfast and dinner plus drinks.

Don't AI hotels employ local people and purchase the food they use locally? I can understand saying book with locally owned hotels (rather than international chains) regardless of what board they offer.

To be fair op, if it’s gone up by £400 I don’t think that’s extortionate or unreasonable really.
We always go SC in a villa because we like eating out and trying out different restaurants in different areas, we don’t eat 3 meals a day. It’s usually late waking up, late breakfast or out for a lunch and then out for dinner or dh will cook something using nice holiday ingredients. He’s the only cook at home too!
There are deals to be had if you know where to look for them (we don’t 😂).
We didn’t really save any money on holidays over the last 2 years as we’ve just holidayed in this country and the prices rocketed here!

They don't service the local population though, and do very, very little for the local economy. If everyone went to these large AI hotel complexes and nobody ate and drank at the local bars and restaurants, the towns would soon die out. Sure, they might create work for a few people, but they will end up living in ghost towns when everything else around them shut down.

I would argue that SC tourists who only shop at the big supermarkets rather than eating/drinking at the local bars and restaurants are far worse than AI tourists in terms of what they do for the local economy.

Though AI hotels have been around for years anyway and the nearby towns haven't died out yet?

Here’s a reasonable Greek option, (stayed here just as an example multiple times) upgrade to half board isn’t expensive / or full board if wished.

Right on a quiet beach (naturist if you want to), small charming village a 15 minute walk. Good choice of bars and restaurants.

Very quiet though, unspoilt, little here - but charming

twin rooms facing “the sheep field” for sunset views, or option of much larger family rooms not shown on the “hillside”

Only negative is a 2 hour transfer, but great scenery, and a tiny stress free airport. might want a hire car in resort.

www.jet2holidays.com/greece/lesvos/skala-eressos/aeolian-village-hotel

@newname12345

Yea, I disagree. SC tourists tend to go to the markets, eat at the cafe's, drink at the bars, buy their ice cream from local vendors to a much bigger extent than those that go and have everything served at their hotels. Big AI hotels also do not buy their produce from local farmers, which smaller restaurants and cafes do, so they are taking away potential growth from them too.

All the money people pay to go on these AI holidays goes into the pockets of the already rich hotel owners, it's not beneficial to the local community on wider scale. The few locals who are hired by the resort are on low pay, it's seasonal and with no security. They rely on tips, but people staying in AI resorts have been shown not to tip, or to tip very little. The local people make more money working for resorts that do not have AI customers, as they can then live off the tips, but with AI becoming more popular with us in the western world those resorts are also disappearing in favour of AI. It's an unethical way to travel if you ask me.

@Snoken You only need to read this thread on here to see not all SC tourists eat out every meal and do reduce costs where they can. We go on AI holidays, but then we go on the other extreme with a SC holidays where we will avoid eating out if possible (even known to pack instant porridge in our suitcases...).

A lot of work in tourist areas is seasonal regardless whether its for a large hotel or a small cafe. Last month whilst at a large AI hotel in Mallorca I chatted to a number of the bar staff and they had been working there for years (even during covid) so didn't seem to be any issues with job security for them.

I don't think people are going on holiday to be ethical per say. Some of us have a budget! IRL

No they won't. You'll still be paying the increases for fuel for years to come because of the war in Ukraine and because big businesses have a capitalist greed to make back more than every penny they didn't make.

The AI holidays I've been looking at through First Choice are 50% more than the same holiday in 2019 - e.g. Holiday Village in Paphos was £4k for family of 4, 14 nights in May 19, for May 2023 its over £6k. So much money :( I won't say it won't be worth it as you can't put a value on 2 weeks with the family but still, wow!

I agree, prices definitely are higher. But eating out is also more expensive. We were in Tenerife during the Easter holidays and ate out a couple of times and I found the prices for most restaurants higher than in previous years.

We self-cater a lot but I like a nice hotel with decent pools as well. A villa/appartement with just a bog-standard pool is boring for me. We take turns and after 4 years of self-catering on holidays with lots of activities and day trips we now booked a resort again.

Our biggest problem is that a 15 year old is classified as an adult at lots of hotels :-( and can't sleep on a sofa bed anymore. and that brought the price up as well.

I think that's a good deal Cyprus is some where I haven't been I always look and I find even in May for 1 week AL it comes up the price of a tropical destination.

6k is loads for a Holiday Village - they arnt all that!!

I def would not rely on getting any kind of last minute deal as demand is through the roof this year. Probably the highest ever. Unfortunately everything is more expensive atm and holidays are no exception. If you were only paying 10% more than in 2019 I'd consider that a bargain tbh.

@Remmy123 where do you book your holidays? There's only me and DS and to get a good deal I have to take him out of school. There's holidays in May so I would consider 6k for people a good deal. Cyprus isn't the cheapest of places. There's only me and DS and I have never found a cheap deal there.

I booked a couple months before and I got an AL week in August holidays in Spain last year in So Coma.