How much would you pay for 7 nights in the Balearic Islands, self catering? (You and an almost 2 yr old)

[Tropicaliyes]

Everywhere I have checked has been a lot more expensive than I expected!

Unless we jet off next week, I'm looking around over £1500! Is this expensive or is it just me? This is through budget airlines so is as cheap as I can get it!

In contrast, for a few hundred extra I can fly to the Caribbean, same time but with British airways!

Am I missing something? Ideally I wanted to take my almost 2 year old away, somewhere with a short flight time as I use to get travel sick (but I don't know about as an adult as I last flew when I was 11!) So I wanted to stay a bit safe but I'm finding the further long haul flights/ holidays are somehow working out to be better value.

Ideally I don't want to spend thousands going to somewhere like Spain in a self catering room where I will still have to spend a few extra hundred on groceries and any extras also.

Are these prices normal for this type of holiday? Should I suck it up and pay that price or keep looking?

Why have you put a child in the search if he’s under 2?

@RainbowZebraWarrior oh right that makes sense I guess, that’s kind of a bummer though, I can’t find an extra person to come with us just to make it cheaper either 🤦🏽‍♀️ I’m guessing I’ll have to suck it up then.

@titchy i can only do half board if the room we stay in has an area to cook food. I haven’t checked the one you mentioned but I guess I’ll need to figure out an overall budget I’m willing to spend as I still need to pay for groceries as well as 4 taxis (unless it’s close to the airport (but I’ll still need 2 on this side anyway.

@NCTDN thanks I’ll have a search for this one you posted.

for @CountryQueen and anyone else wondering, my son turns 2 on the 29th June, so I have to change his age on the booking if he turns 2 by the time we come back, if I keep it to just before that date it will not be the height of peak and won’t be so hot but if I go after then I can be sure he will be able to go into the sea for the first time but will of course be more expensive..

https://www.jet2holidays.com/beach/balearics/menorca?airport=99&date=16-06-2025&duration=7&occupancy=r1c1&sortorder=1&page=1&boardbasis=4
So if you go around 16 June then you’ll be back before you need to pay for him and the weather will be warmer. Not sure if this link works but without signing in as a jet2 customer there’s holidays for just over £600.
bear in mind that under 2s don’t get a seat on the plane though.

A week isn’t going to make a difference to the sea. It’ll be fine to take him in throughout June. Just go when it’s cheaper and avoid your original plan of the end of May which is school holidays.

Why would you need to cook if it’s half board - surely you just buy a sandwich and some fruit and crisps from a nearby supermarket for lunch And it’s a package holiday - the price includes transfers.

@titchy well there is a reason I have chosen self catering as apposed to any of the other options... my son is anaphylactic, not that I needed to disclose that but yes, their included buffet food is a big no go for us. Also the prices I pay for starts from the point I arrive at the airport, we will need to get to and from the airport on this side somehow and most flights being at 5/6am means the stansted express isn't an option regardless. As I also put before, if the hotel is far from the airport, my toddler won't sit through multiple drops on a coach for over 1 hr before we actually reach our destination! None of this is really relevant as I'm sure everyone has their reasons for doing things the way they do.

@CountryQueen a week? I wasn't going to change the time I go to a week later? In fact I never specifically said when I wanted to go exactly, just that I wanted to avoid may full stop and that June was alright however peak season would assure the sea would be ok for him to go in, peak runs through a few months, not a week.

@NCTDN thanks for that, I'll have a look. I'm planning to buy him a seat which they call a comfort seat so I don't have to stress about him not wanting to sit on my lap for the whole journey so not too worried about the seat situ, the next time we fly he will have his own seat and meals etc. Anyway so at least I'll see what it will be like now.

Ok, not sure why you keep talking about “peak” and “early peak” etc. I’m trying to point out that this isn’t a thing in the med over the summer anymore and if you’re not travelling with school age children then all you need to do is avoid the school holidays.

These days if anyone mentions the word “peak” with regards to travel they mean school holiday times. You’ve obviously thought they mean the weather!

Your kid can go in the med in June and “peak” has nothing to do with it. So maybe look at a jet2 package holiday, they’re good for families and those new to travel and include transfers

Self catering I would say you’ll find holidays in term time from £400 each. You could try love holidays they are cheaper.

I would avoid love holidays. They may be fine 90% of the time but if you’ve not been abroad since a child, I really wouldn’t take that risk ina bid to save a couple of hundred pounds. There are some real horror stories about them.

Also just so you’re aware, meals aren’t included on flights as standard any more.

Avoid love holidays like the plague and if he’s under 2 he’ll be in your lap unless you want to pay more (it’s standard and not worth the extra for 2 hours) and no, you won’t get meals unless you pay.

Also that Alua Sun holiday you’ve given as a example where you’ve put him as a child instead of an infant, you’d shave over £200 off it if you’d put his correct age in.

Its £750 as he’s still under 2

@CountryQueen oh no I wasn't meaning to make it sound like "peak" determines the weather. What I mean is that for right now, peak is when the weather starts getting warmer for summer, which is also the school summer holiday as soon as June is over. June is the ideal month to go for us as, there is a little more time for me to prepare everything we need to go and will also be warmer sea temperatures. I know if I leave it any longer I will end up going after his birthday so I wanted to see the difference between infant and child prices. Either way I'm siding more with a little before his birthday so I will just stick with that for now.

It's also funny, when I started this search a few months back I kept seeing Love holiday come up for really cheap prices and after a few searches on their site I decided to cross check them on Google as they usually say "if it seems too good to be true, it most likely is".. and yeah, I saw more negatives than positives with them so decided exactly what is mentioned here, avoid it if I want to avoid problems for my first holiday with a baby.

Also, on jet2, no meals are included so if I wanted a meal while flying I'd have to buy it either way, what I meant is that you can't pre-book infant meals as they don't exist, you can only only pre-book child meals.. either way if the flight is crazy early my little one will need breakfast and I'm not sure we will get time to est before leaving but I can also try and bring something or get something at the airport

It’s hot now. You don’t need to wait for July for any heat in the med. Definitely take advantage of him being under 2 and don’t overthink it.

Avoid school holidays. They don’t start “as soon as June is over” at all. They start around 19th July. May half term finishes in the first week in June.

Travel has changed a lot since you last went. Just imagine you’re taking him on a train. Don’t bother booking him a seat, it’s surprising how well behaved even the wriggliest toddler can become on a plane and there’s a chance you’ll get lucky and be next to an empty seat anyway.

You don’t need to preorder meals. You just order it on the plane although if you’re looking at Stansted to Mahon you’ll be there before you know it 🤣 so quick. Take some pastries or something with you and download kids programmes onto a tablet with headphones. Job done.

We stayed here a few years ago, it was tired but it’s been upgraded since then. Pool very good for little kids. Great location near restaurants and shops, and near the old town which you can get to by bus for a couple of euros. Theres a fabulous beach about a mile away called Pirates Cove full of palm trees and very clear water.

Thanks everyone, I have booked our flights and will be going in just under 2 weeks so I'm really hoping the weather will be warm and the sea is at least comfortable for my little one to wade ankle/knee deep in the shallows. I pre booked my seat however didn't bother get my son a seat as they quoted over £300 which really wasn't worth it!

Now I just need to figure out hpw much travel time to the airport I need to give us, I know I need to get there 2 hrs before flights but we are travelling down the M11 which is about 40 mins on a good day but not sure how much extra travel time I should add in case there is traffic (I'd like to think at 4am there won't be any but don't want to be caught unexpected).

Will send an update message when we return to let everyone know how it went 😬