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

I do get this simple concept. That’s my point. Share the cost more evenly so families don’t take all the hit. I’m a Marketing Director, I know how supply and demand works. I’m signing off. Heard enough thank you.

Why should families, who pay more than couples anyway, have to pay 3 times more? We are held to ransom

Huge LOL

Families pay more than couples? Actually it’s less per person as chikdren are usually a lower cost than adults.

It’s not s god given right to go on holiday abroad.

Book a campsite in the U.K., they often don’t differentiate school holidays or not.

No they debated caps on holidays that’s a different debate.

Yes I am trying to help me but also all the other families that have to pay extortionate holiday prices!! Such negativity out there!! You keep on paying these high prices then if your happy with that. I’ll keep on fighting my battle but I’m signing off here. Thank you. Enjoy you weekends.

Oh for goodness sake, get a bloody grip and stop taking realism as some kind of personal slur against your crusade.

It's a lovely fluffy pie in the sky idea, but just totally unrealistic. Dozens of people - many of them parents in the same boat - have explained why. Stop being such a martyr.

Can we move this to Petitions, please?

To follow your argument, why shouldn’t everyone be allowed to go on holiday for a reasonable price. Wanting a holiday can’t just be restricted to families surely.

Holiday companies will say that prices aren’t raised during school holidays, but that they are discounted during term times.

It’s sinply not feasible. Suppose you are a family with four children, living on the border of three counties, with your children going to four different schools, all of which have different start and finish dates. You’d never be able to coordinate a holiday at all.

What a bunch of negative people. I’m tying to make a positive change to help families. Including mine yes. Good day to you all.

It's a nonsense petition, IMO

And DH is a teacher, so I am bound by school holiday prices forever!

But really, it is just the way capitalism works: in August demand outstrips supply so prices are higher. In September supply outstrips demand, so prices are lower.

You are not "held to ransom", you can stay at home or stay with friends or whatever.

A holiday away is a luxury, not a need

The thing that bugs me is that people like OP become very moralistic when capitalism does not work for them, yet happily pay low prices at supermarkets (when competition forces prices down) or buy things in the sale at low prices when the weather means shops have not sold as much as they hope.

All this handwringing about capitalism when it works against you ("the government must intervene, prices are too high!") yet feeling clever and delighted when it works for you ("prices are low, hurrah, government back off!") just shows your own selfishness.

...... And I’m fully aware of what supply and demand is that’s my whole point.

Then you will understand that the supply you are talking about here is fixed (and pretty, if not absolutely, limited). Price therefore varies almost entirely because of demand. That demand is caused by a) weather patterns (also fixed) and b) people's availability for holidays (fixed for people with school age kids). You're blithely talking about radically changing the school system. Even if you ignore the impact on people with kids at different schools, or teachers who have kids at different schools, how the hell do you decide who gets the last two weeks in July? If you live in Surrey you can go in July, but if you live in Wigan you have to wait until October?

I do get this simple concept. That’s my point. Share the cost more evenly so families don’t take all the hit

Except that WON'T HAPPEN.

The theoretical holiday that cost you £2000 (school holiday) and me £1000 (term time) will now cost us both £2000. Nobody gets a discount. How can you possibly think that is any kind of solution?

You seem to think there is some finite amount of profit holiday companies can make in a year and you are dividing that up per head (and making me subsidise you because you chose to have children)?

All this handwringing about capitalism when it works against you ("the government must intervene, prices are too high!") yet feeling clever and delighted when it works for you ("prices are low, hurrah, government back off!") just shows your own selfishness.

I had the same conversation with a friend a year or so ago. She was complaining about "hiked up holiday prices" and how "somebody" should "do something". In the next breath, she was rejoicing that their agents had put up the rent on their buy to let. And she didn't see the irony at all.....

No solution will suit everyone but currently all families suffer high prices

no they are not. We can't afford to go on holiday, so we don't go. No "suffering of higher prices" at all.

Holidays are an unnecessary luxury. Nobody "deserves" or "needs" one.

How ridiculous to suggest messing around with the school year so those families rich enough to go on holiday can do it more - most can't and don't anyway

I’m a Marketing Director

...for a holiday company?

Well, it might work if all British families had to holiday in Britain, and no foreigners were allowed to.

Don't see how you can even out peaks in an international market other tha by that level of control. Because no amount of British lawmaking will change the peak holiday season, because so many neighbouring chantries have similar dates off.

I think most people want holidays in the hotter summer months anyway.
Even if some places did early july, you are still competing for accomm abroad with scots and irish families. And flights from regional airports would just increase.

My dcs go to a faith school so we have different holidays for our religious festivals. And Scotland has different holidays to the rest of the UK. And there are differences in England too in different areas.

I don’t think this is a good idea. Holiday companies price at what they think they can sell and there are no particular barriers to entry to the holiday market. At the moment the main English school holidays are more expensive cos of demand. So it effectively means a lower price for those out of season (as a lower demand). So like pp say it’s capitalism.

Even if you spread the dates, demand over the summer period will still outstrip supply so it won't make any difference just spread the costlier weeks out more. It may mean that more people might be able to get a holiday but it won't cost any less.

What a bunch of negative people. I’m tying to make a positive change to help families

No, you're trying to get cheaper holidays for you - which is fair enough. Nobody objects to wanting that!
But you're trying to do it at the expense of everyone else with an unworkable and unrealistic idea.

Disagreeing with you based on facts and economics is not "negativity", it's common sense, and you'd do well to get down off your high horse about it.

*Share the cost so families don't take all the hit
*
I'll take that as an economic policy when it comes to state-funded education, benefits or healthcare, where I'm happy my taxes help fund these things even if I may not directly use them or use my "fair share".

But on a luxury item, you're having a laugh. Your choice to go on holiday, your choice to have children.
Still not something I'd support government intervention on.

Look I get that you all like ripping into people for your own pleasure. My point is to simply get this discussed in parliament and get it on the agenda. Because high holidays prices is an issue. Full stop. Solutions, implications etc is not something I’m in a position to fully know. I’ve just made a suggestion. I’m obviously wasting my breath on this forum so I’m going now.

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.

Exactly. This is actually how holidys work. School holidays are full price, anything less is a discount off the full price.

If your plan were to go ahead, how will people cope with holiday clubs that don't run to match school holidays?

(Note: I am not a fan of holidays, so we do not take 'holidays' as such, just a few days here and there for a specific purpose eg Pony Club Champs or to visit somebody)

Once again for the hard of thinking-

they don't raise the prices in the school holidays,they lower them in term time.

This is why when fines came in, the same holiday in term time was considerably less than the year before, but the same holiday in the school holidays was pretty much the same price.

The gap used to be smaller, because term time holidays used to be more expensive.

I don't expect other people to subsidise my choice to have children (any more than they already do)

What a bunch of negative people.

No, we are realistic.

I’m tying to make a positive change to help families. Including mine yes.

By making things worse for everyone else? Thanks a bunch!

Good day to you all.

Waahhhhhhh.

What the government could do is plan better for customs checks and the management of airports and ports. Maximum number of electronic passport gates open at all times, incentivise use of regional airports, for example.

So it costs more to travel in school holidays, but the passport queues are not longer, for example.