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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Going all inclusive - how much cash to budget extra?

32 replies

Neverinamonthofsundays · 06/07/2023 11:50

Heading on our first AI holiday this year, 2 adults and 3 teens. Planning to just stay in the hotel most of the time, maybe one or two trips but will put them on the credit card and deal with them on return. Approximately how much extra have you spent while on AI? Not buying gifts or going to shop or anything literally going to sunbathe and eat/drink. It is for 10 days.

OP posts:
BIWI · 06/07/2023 11:52

Very little, in that case! That said, depending on where you're going/what trips you're going on, you may need to allow for cash for taxis/bus fares, i.e. things that can't be put on your credit card.

I always prefer to have more rather than less cash, even if in an AI, so would probably take around £300 with me.

However, 10 days in AI is a long time - are you sure you won't want to leave your resort?

Original poster
Neverinamonthofsundays · 06/07/2023 11:54

Well we may go the beach and for a walk around etc but honestly we all just want to chill out and the resort has a waterpark on it so that saves some hassle. Forgot about taxis etc thats a good point.

OP posts:
QforCucumber · 06/07/2023 12:11

We usually take £100 per person extra to account for incidentals such as ice creams/drinks if we go into town one of the days, snacky bits in the hotel shop for an evening (sometimes they really fancy some crisps) or airport bits and pieces. Anything leftover gets spent in duty free on the way home

Fivemoreminutes1 · 06/07/2023 13:18

I’d take some for tips.

fruitbrewhaha · 06/07/2023 13:37

Depends on how nice your hotel is. Is everything included or just house drinks? You may find you want to buy a nicer drink or bottle of wine. You may get bored of the food and fancy something different one night. Or have lunch at a different beach. There could be a beautiful cove around the corner with a lovely fish restaurant you could walk to. You might like to hop on a bus and head into the nearest town. It would be a shame to travel all that way and stay in one spot.

Maybe there will be some activity at the beach like hiring paddle boards or jet skis or those inflatable?

WallaceinAnderland · 06/07/2023 14:19

Cash for tips, definitely

Alarae · 06/07/2023 14:55

My sister and I went with our two kids (3 and 4) to an all inclusive for a week and spent an extra £250. That included random gifts, photos etc so taking those out I imagine it was under £100 in the end.

We only bought some snacks for the room and pizza/ice cream at the water park which wasn't included in our AI. We basically only ate the AI food and drink other than snacks (which were crisps).

gogomoto · 06/07/2023 14:57

I spent zero! Ok bit disingenuous as dp did hire a car for the day and we bought a drink and lunch plus a fridge magnet. We Prebooked a trip through TUI in advance too (meal and drinks were included)

Crabacus · 06/07/2023 15:01

Very much depends on the place. We're at an AI now and have booked some trips which need to be paid in cash plus we'll go to a few local markets etc so need a few hundred euros. At other places we've stayed, everyone has taken cards so we've taken cash and not needed it at all 🤷🏻‍♀️

Xrays · 06/07/2023 15:15

Not meaning to worry you but I would make sure you budget for at least some meals out - we went to what was supposed to be a 5 star resort in Ibiza and the food was awful, by day 3/4 we were all totally fed up with it and desperate to go and eat out / have something different. I did wonder how we’d all feel about the food before we went (youngest Ds aged 11 has autism and is quite restrictive but actually it was adult dd, me and dh that were fed up with the all inclusive buffet and restaurants etc) so I took an extra £1k spending money just incase and was really glad I did. Just make sure you have access to some extra money if you need it.

TheresBoozeInTheBlender · 06/07/2023 15:31

I've spent everything from £50 to £1k

Just depends

cocksstrideintheevening · 06/07/2023 16:30

Depends if the food is any good, you want to eat the same thing over and over, get indigestion from the drinks...

We still do AI Bea uses at my kids ages snacks / drinks / ice cream on demand actually saves money and they like the entertainment. We eat out probably five nights out of every seven.

You could go AI and spend nothing over at all.

I'd lose the plot in a hotel for 14 nights with no excursions / eating out though.

cocksstrideintheevening · 06/07/2023 16:31

Xrays · 06/07/2023 15:15

Not meaning to worry you but I would make sure you budget for at least some meals out - we went to what was supposed to be a 5 star resort in Ibiza and the food was awful, by day 3/4 we were all totally fed up with it and desperate to go and eat out / have something different. I did wonder how we’d all feel about the food before we went (youngest Ds aged 11 has autism and is quite restrictive but actually it was adult dd, me and dh that were fed up with the all inclusive buffet and restaurants etc) so I took an extra £1k spending money just incase and was really glad I did. Just make sure you have access to some extra money if you need it.

Wondering if you went to the same place as me - holiday village?!

Mrsjayy · 06/07/2023 16:33

We spent aprox €200 last year two adults was mainly airport food and we had a couple of drinks in the town a couple of days.

Mrsjayy · 06/07/2023 16:37

We put a trip on a credit card.

Caspianberg · 06/07/2023 16:43

Probably €10 per person per day min. That would just about allow for an ice cream or drink off site. €500 for 10 days.

BillyNoM8s · 06/07/2023 16:45

Where are you going? Are you sure you won't die of boredom?

Heatherbell1978 · 06/07/2023 16:47

We're at an AI in Turkey now. Honestly we could easily spend nothing. So far money has been spent on tips, nails for me and DD, shave for DH and spa treatments for me! We visited markets the other day and had lunch out etc. and had to pay for boat to get there.

gogomoto · 06/07/2023 16:50

@cocksstrideintheevening

We went to holiday village but it's 4 star not 5. Food was ok on day one but no variety and kitchens couldn't keep up

Silkierabbit · 06/07/2023 16:57

Food generally nothing extra as when we go out we will eat in morning and evening and that's plenty for us.

Drinks nothing at hotel but worth checking if drinks at waterpark are extra but generally would drink before and after at AI so zero or minimal. If out for day then drinks but might get water bottles to take with us from shop.

Trips out we would generally go out every other day and either hire a car then its largely car hire cost plus any entry fees. Or organised excursions and costs are online. But if you are just planning to stay on resort and just go to waterpark / beach very little extra needed.

Ohmylovejune · 06/07/2023 16:57

We spent about 150 euros over a week. Our hotel drinks and food were fabulous.

We tipped for drinks, maid service and the a la carte meal. We bought a few souvenirs in the local town where we went for days out. We bought a snorkel set because the advertised hotel ones didn't exist.

Xrays · 06/07/2023 17:01

cocksstrideintheevening · 06/07/2023 16:31

Wondering if you went to the same place as me - holiday village?!

Show quote history

Nope, Tui Cala Pada, officially 4.5 star apparently but food was revolting… ! 🙈 (Not just me, other recent reviews on Trip advisor say similar things, that it’s more of a 2/3 star). Really disappointing. Oh well! It’s kind of put me off all inclusive, I started a whole thread about it. I think next time we go away I’d rather stay at a luxurious b and b and take money to eat out at lots of nice local restaurants- which is what we did in Ibiza in the end.

Stressfordays · 06/07/2023 17:14

We went to get our euros for our holiday at the end of the month with Tui who we booked with. They did a little questionnaire with us and gave us a recommended amount for the holiday. Took into consideration things like booked excursions etc. They recommended €550 for 6 of us for 7 days AI, we had 2 excursions pre-booked.

Mrsjayy · 06/07/2023 17:26

Oh yes we tipped housekeeping and the bar.

Funkyslippers · 06/07/2023 17:34

In our ai I've been lead to believe that some drinks are not included so I guess we might spend a few extra hundred including trips