Petition to tackle holiday prices in school holidays

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petition.parliament.uk/petitions/226515/sponsors/new?token=PNpep4mVeQ9WPLw0WUsu

Please sign my petition if you agree with it. I’m asking for the government to change school holidays so they’re different throughout the country. There will be crossovers of course but by spreading out when schools have holidays will spread holiday demand and should lower holiday prices for families. Why should families, who pay more than couples anyway, have to pay 3 times more? We are held to ransom as we have no choice except feel like bad parents taking the kids out of school to get a reasonable deal. Families deserve nice holidays without getting into debt. Why do we all put up with it? The holiday companies can’t do anything about it as they respond to the marketplace like any other industry so school holidays changing is the only way to reduce the cost of holidays. I hope you will support this. It may seem unachieveable and a dream but all changes start somewhere. I believe some European countries spread school holidays out throughout the country. If holidays were the same for the schools within each county but staggered throughout counties as much as possible then this could change the landscape for family holidays for us and our kids and their kids. Life is expensive enough with kids why should parents be penalised for keeping the human race going. Surely travel is important to children’s upbringing to make them rounded confident people as well as having quality time as a family away from the stresses of home. Also wouldn’t it be better economically if people leaving the country and being off work was more spread out? I hope you can open the link to sign. It can be found on the government website for petitions if not. Look for heading’ to legally change school holidays in each county in U.K. so they are different. Please support this and let’s get fair prices for holidays

The holidays are already staggered across counties (often causing massive headaches for parents who live in boarder areas with dc in schools in different counties).

It doesn't stop the holiday companies jacking up the prices, it just means inflated prices for longer periods.

I have no skin in the game really, but the only logical upshot of any such "law" (which I don't think has a hope in hell of happening, sorry) , is that holiday companies would put prices up all year round.

They are commercial, private companies who exist to make profits. There will end up being no 'off peak' at all.

And that's before you start on issues like teachers and school staff (who are people with families too), families with children at different schools, childcare provision, how to co-ordinate training days, what county gets what dates etc.

It really seems to be just one of those things you have to suck up as part and parcel of bringing up a family. It's not forever and holidays away aren't a basic human right.

England, yeah?

Do you really think it would make holiday companies reduce the price? I think it far more likely they'd increase the cheaper options to be more in line with the pricier ones.

Rather than saying they hike prices during school holidays, companies can simply say that holidays are priced normally during holiday season, and they apply discounts during off season. Staggering holidays will simply extend peak season.

You also need to understand the way it works with consumables.

There is no "reusability" factor on holidays. Once an empty bed in a hotel, on a flight or at a resort is gone, and staff have worked a dead shift, it can't ever be resold or redone. That potential profit is lost forever.

Because holidays are inherently seasonal, they need to maximise peak to pay for the cost of losing nights in the off peak. Same way any "surge" pricing works.

What you are asking for sounds nice, but is completely unrealistic, sorry.

What shots said.

Nobody "deserves" nice holidays. It's a luxury. If you can't afford to go then you don't go.

How totally ridiculous.

There’s no way on earth a government would, or should, change school holidays to enable people to have cheap holidays. Holiday companies make all of their profit in these months and if this was to happen the costs would just be added elsewhere. If you think Thomas Cook making any money selling an AI for £300 in low season you’re mistaken - prices absolutely won’t come down all that will happen is that peak season prices will be on more of the year.
Also, unless you work in a school the number of years you have to pay these prices has a limit, I’d rather suck it up for 13 years and have 30+ years after to take advantage of the lower prices.
Also, holidays are a luxury not an essential (I say this and I’m a travel agent!)

We are held to ransom as we have no choice except feel like bad parents taking the kids out of school to get a reasonable deal. Families deserve nice holidays without getting into debt.

I’ve not read the Human Rights Act for a while. Pretty sure there’s no right to “nice holidays”.

Besides which, you can take children out of school in Wales, summer holidays are at different tones in Scotland and some areas in England already break up earlier and go back earlier.

I think perhaps your life expectations are a touch skewed, OP.

Also, on a human level o know a family who have two parents who are teachers in different counties, the kids are at school in yet another. Are they just supposed to never have any family time - let alone a holiday - to enable people to have cheap holidays? The logistics of such a suggestion are impossible.

Thanks for your reply.
I understand what you are saying. I realise there are some variations in holidays already but there is a lot of room for improvement. The holiday industry reckons it would welcome changes to the current peaks in demands, inflating prices at peak times so I’d hope that if there was support for this change this is a conversation the government would engage the industry in to lower prices. I realise that some people might find different holidays in different counties a challenge but a think the majority of the country wouldn’t find this a problem?? I think this is a problem that is worth pushing a solution for. No solution will suit everyone but currently all families suffer high prices. I’ve not got all the answers of course or how it should be done but to get a debate in parliament requires a specific action for government within the petition so I had to put something at least debateable. I don’t know why we have to have our finances dictated by fixed school holidays. This can only change by taking to parliament for debate. Thank you.

waste of time like all petitons. Sorry.

travel is not essential for kids. playing in the garden or a park or doing some of the umpteen activities available everywhere in the uk will be fun for them. peaceful times on the beach stop 9 months after you remove the condom.

The holiday industry would welcome it as it would be more profitable for them to have a longer peak season. While I appreciate you’re coming from a good friend place I don’t believe anything to do with education should be changed unless it’s to be benefit educational outcomes. I don’t think schools are perfect by any means, but I’d hate to see a precedent set that the way schools work are dictated by things unrelated to education.

It's capitalism in all its mercenary glory.

The summer holidays are 6 weeks long. Do you expect some to take theirs in May?

But staggering the times of school holidays just creates other issues. What companies are going to run holiday clubs for half as many children - it wouldn't be worth their outlay, so then working parents will have to find other solutions to childcare. While I agree it's a PITA that they can hike prices so ridiculously in the holidays I'm not really sure you have thought this through as a 'solution'

Sorry, but until you can overcome the basic law of supply and demand, it won't happen. If school holidays last the year round, the prices during school holidays will become the prices everyone pays all the year round.

And that's before we get onto the logistics of it all. It might work, although it would take some getting used to, but what if you've got children in different schools in different areas (e.g. one in primary and one in the further away secondary)?

Also, being the grumpy old gimmer that I am, I'm fed up with this idea that a foreign holiday is some sort of right. It's lovely, sure, and it would be great to jet off every year, but when we couldn't afford to go, we didn't go.

you cannot challenge this without challenging the whole concept of adjusting prices according to supply and demand. Ie changing the entire capitalist system, which im all for, but if we have a private market where companies can set prices according to what they can get, then im not sure why holiday companies should be singled out

Do you expect some to take theirs in May?

Would play havoc with the GCSE/A-level timings too, staggering holidays from the beginning of May to end of September. Totally impractical but hey, anything for a cheap holiday.

In Germany there is regional variation in when holidays are taken but that's because each State has its own exam system.

Also, what about the millions of people who don't have children and deliberately holiday at times when there won't be any kids running round everywhere? What about what they want?

(In terms of disposable income, I would hazard a quess that this group is probably highly attractive to travel companies too.)

And also, let's not forget that everyone who can and does go away off peak are frequently also the ones who can then stay behind and cover workplaces at christmases and summer periods while families all go away. If it's going to be peak all year, then they will be front of the queue for their turn to have time off then too.

It might work better, instead of the current mess (one year where I live all the academies had their Easter holidays, everyone went back for a week then all the community schools!) to have zones like in the Netherlands.
It would mean faith schools/academies having to abide by the same holidays as everyone else.
It still wouldn't help those working in the tourist industry (though if Spring holidays were staggered too they could probably go away then) and those with other jobs that are tied to a specific annual cycle (e.g. agriculture, universities, even hospitals with junior doctors all starting work at the same time each year during the school summer holidays).

Changing term dates would only make holidays more expensive in May, June and July as people would still choose to go away in the summer months and demand would increase if school holidays were staggered over these months. This might lower the prices slightly for August.

You don't have to go on holiday.
You don't have to go in the school holidays.
The school where i work has seen a surge in families taking their children in term time and paying the fines.

Polkerris I think in the Netherlands there are weeks when everyone's on holiday as well, so it doesn't take all the time from May to Sept.

shots the baby boomer generation is far more valuable to the industry than families. Plenty of disposable income, more focused on quality and service than price, more likely to book with an agent or tour operator than diy to save a few pounds.

I don't think a law is the answer. I think the spreading out of school holidays would make some difference, but only a small one. Summer holidays could easily be staggered between early July and mid-September, and the half terms over a three week period.

Exam times might be a challenge with this, though.

The other thing that would probably help for UK based holidays would be if we adopted French time, as in September and early October there would still be light evenings.

There has been a lot of support previously for the government to cap holiday prices in school holidays, which has got nowhere because it’s not a workable solution for holiday companies. They would go bust. The only way to lower holiday prices it to change supply and demand. And the only way to do this is change school holidays. I’m not suggesting holidays are more important than education, of course not, but many European countries do what I’m suggesting. I’m a complete realist. Change is possible, even big ones if the rationale and support is behind it. I don’t think the logistics etc will have such a negative impact personally. I completely respect everyone’s views but the fact still remains families HAVE to pay 3 times more for a holiday in allowed school holidays currently. And yes families do deserve nice holidays. Im not saying they have to be expensive holidays but fairly priced. Families are being penalised. If families don’t value holidays that’stheir choice of course but the opportunity to buy a fairly priced holiday should be equal to all and it isn’t. Parents living in England are not allowed to take children out of school in term time. So we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.