MSE Blog: We’re all going on a Sun £9.50 holiday

artichoke

We book about 4 of these Sun or break free / daily mail holidays a year and always book for in the School holidays which makes them a real bargain compared with brochure price for those dates.

I have found you really need to do your research first, ie look in detail at the sites you want to go to on the companys website and check out it has what you want, both in terms of accommodation and facilities. It always pays to check out what facilities there are and decide if you want to buy the ents passes or not. We always do as we always go for those with the best indoor pools ie the bigger Haven sites and Butlins - we like lively sites and we like the hussle and bussle as we live in the middle of nowhere and aren't used to seeing so many people! Even with ents passes we usually pay between £100 - £120 pounds for 4 of us to go on these holidays and as they are always in school holidays i think that is fantastic value for money.


I always check in advance what the school holiday dates are in my area and ask the school for inset dates as soon as they are announced as well. We usually get an Easter break Monday - Friday an October Half term break and for the last few years we have also got the last weekend of the school summer holidays, sometimes we have managed the August bank holiday weekend as well.

I have found that Break Free and The Sun tend to have the same dates available but often the school holiday dates are not listed in the publicity but are there when you book online ie 31st Aug was not listed in the latest promotion but was available.


My advice for getting school holiday dates would be to really do your research before the booking lines open -on-line so you can be quick and get your first choices. You have to know what sites and dates your are going for. I have also found it useful to find out if the holiday parks you want to book are actually open for the dates listed in the Sun promotion otherwise you spend a lot of valuable time chasing dates / sites that are not in the offer ie Butlins Skegness and MInehead are not open to the public for the week before Easter bank holidays as they are booked as a private booking.

Also find out what the different holiday dates are in different regions of the country ie 21-25th April 2014 is a school holiday where i live but not in some southern regions - so i could not get Butlins Skegnesss (as its peak holiday season ) but could get Butlins Bognor Regis (as it's classed as term time on the Butlins BR booking sheet).

Also have a look at Break Free as well as the Sun - this last promotion whilst people were waiting for the last sun code to be cracked I booked two Break Free holidays for the same price as the sun ones, one holiday in August in a Haven Flagship park and one Easter at Butlins.

Hope this helps some to get good holiday deals next time around.

Art

*manda*

nickcc wrote: »

My Daughter and her partner have booked for 1st week in September in North Devon, not sure if I should tell her that there might only be a toaster and microwave as she doesn't have the funds to buy all her main meals from the camp restaurant. Her partner is not really into microwave meals due to being on a hospital diet for his condition.

Check with the site what catering facilities they have, to be honest I wouldn't be too worried as we have always had adequate facilities and we've done many many cheapy holidays. I think the previous poster was referring specifically to a Pontins site. The majority of newspaper holidays are caravans which are likely to have a reasonable sized oven, hob, microwave, Kettle and probably toaster. Fridge and cooler/ freezer compartment. The only way to know though is to give them a call of it is that much of a worry for you all!

katherinelc

Yes i was referring to a specific pontins camp - pakefield i think its the only one that is only half board. I have booked loads of the 9.50 holidays and never come up against this before, the majority of camps have caravans a few are chalets although we have always had full self catering facilities. By the way after alot of phonecalls and mentioning trading standards and the misrepresentation act i got them to agree to refund my £38 yesterday

Mehitabel9860

We booked a Sun holiday at a site we've been to before, and always found these hols to be good value. Not this time.. first an unexpected extra charge for booking online (why?) and then an even more unexpected Service Charge - and a big one at that. They've moved the goalposts..This site has not charged any Service Charge before, it's usually virtually empty. This is outside school hols, low season. The weekday entertainment is non existent. So - it's not £9.50, it would be more than double that! We've been caught good & proper by the Small Print.

nickcc

Daughter just been upgraded to a chalet for her September break, think the service charge was £20.

icklejulez

Im off to Duinrell in Holland on the 30th August, 5 of us with free access to a wonderful Theme Park and reduced price entry to a huge waterpark on site! £150 and £200 petrol! I cannot complain at that! For £90 I added on an extra night and a return ferry through Eurocamp direct!

Also got Butlins in October half term :-)

Happy family and a new Sun Holiday addict here!

davehills

mew wrote: »

I don't think you are supposed to advertise things on here.

Even though the Sun says no amendments, try the contacting the holiday park. As you have a genuine reason they may let you change the date of your holiday, especially if your school holidays are at a quieter time.

(The 21/04 is the second week of our Easter School Holidays here and I'm sure 21st is Easter Monday).

Haven and Butlins are usually quite understanding about amending Sun breaks, especially if you want to change to a date where they are underbooked! Phone them directly and explain the situation.

kaziwazi

i rang haven to ask if i could change my date but they said i couldnt

kaziwazi

has anyone managed to change their date with haven?

artichoke

hi all

We have just returned from a Sun holiday at Butlins - August bank holiday weekend school holidays standard apartment £100 :j It was amazing for the price.

Apartment was fine, carpet had a few stains, but what do you expect with so many visitors a year. Location was fantastic we were on the seafront with a sea view :j and central so not far to walk anywhere.

Kids loved it - and that's the whole point of these holidays for us.

Cant wait for the next round to book another Butlins break!

Art