Holiday spending guilt!

threellamas

Dont feel guilty, youve saved so much in 2 years, thats impressive for a first job. You need to take the three weeks while your young and able to get the time off. It all goes too fast and you will regret it. And thailand is so cheap when you get there. DO IT!!!

becominganobsessivesaver

If you're not getting into debt just do it and enjoy it, don't feel guilty. I've had a few holidays which have cost a small fortune (£7kish including spending money) but the experience is still there and we loved every second. We still talk about these trips 8 years on. I've also been on cheaper holidays which we've loved in different ways (local towns, avios flights). The 2 holidays we haven't enjoyed were somewhere in the middle, where we'd made compromises (location, hotel etc) to end up with something that wasn't really us. I work hard and get relatively little time off, so I want to do something we love as a family, which gives us new experiences and makes the most of that time. Don't let guilt eat into that, just think of the memories!

NiftyDigits

Turkish Airlines in at £354 from the 30th of April to the 22nd of May. Air China a little cheaper.
Similar prices from Air China or Ukraine International from the 7th to the 30th of May.
Not terribly expensive.

SmallL

Thanks for all your reassurance!

@threellamas Thanks for your encouragement, its true none of us are getting any younger! I would like to have an amazing holiday to remember before settling down with children

@becominganobsessivesaver: I totally get that, to be honest when i'm shopping around for this holiday i'm always factoring in what I REALLY want, rather than compromising (as its so cheap once you get there). The last time when I went to Thailand when I was much younger is an amazing memory, but I think I was to immature to really appreciate it (about 16/17 at the time).

@niftydigits: That's pretty cheap! I really would rather do direct however, but i won't discount a stop if it had a massive impact on the cost!

duchy

Cheapest non stop by comparison is gbp527 with Eva Air Thai and BA around gbp650.

That saved gbp200 per person could go a long way in Thailand. Look up the reviews for Turkish airlines - they are very good. You could probably get a day in Istanbul which is a city worth seeing scheduled in too if you liked the idea.

Voyager2002

duchy wrote: »

Cheapest non stop by comparison is gbp527 with Eva Air Thai and BA around gbp650.

That saved gbp200 per person could go a long way in Thailand. Look up the reviews for Turkish airlines - they are very good. You could probably get a day in Istanbul which is a city worth seeing scheduled in too if you liked the idea.

Yes: Istanbul is wonderful.

NiftyDigits

SmallL wrote: »

Thanks for all your reassurance!

@threellamas Thanks for your encouragement, its true none of us are getting any younger! I would like to have an amazing holiday to remember before settling down with children

@becominganobsessivesaver: I totally get that, to be honest when i'm shopping around for this holiday i'm always factoring in what I REALLY want, rather than compromising (as its so cheap once you get there). The last time when I went to Thailand when I was much younger is an amazing memory, but I think I was to immature to really appreciate it (about 16/17 at the time).

@niftydigits: That's pretty cheap! I really would rather do direct however, but i won't discount a stop if it had a massive impact on the cost!

As aforementioned, try to get over the whole direct thing. Sitting in a cramped seat for eleven to twelve hours isn't that much fun and paying £360 more for the privilege is a little bit dopey, in my humble opinion. Especially if you are young and it's not a particularly short holiday. So losing a few hours on either side is not going to ruin your trip. Plus as suggested, you can see a little more on the way. The journey should be half the fun.
That £360 can get you a good few nights in luxury accommodation.
So, a two hour stopover each way in exchange for up to a week in luxury accommodation.
It's ludicrous that you write that you feel guilty but then aren't prepared to cut costs where you can.
For me, the stopover is not an inconvenience, but a boon. I get twice the amount to eat, two amenity kits and a chance to stretch my legs. A stopover of two hours or less just flies by.
I also can afford direct flights, but I can take an indirect flight with a better service for less.
Isn't that why you have posted on a 'moneysaving' board?

To have a great holiday without wasting your hard earned. Amazing is not synonymous with expensive.

Look at the standard of accommodation that you can have at a prime Bangkok river location for £70 per night
That is five nights that can be paid for with the saving. So you can save on the one hand and spoil yourself on the other. On the other hand you can spend £20 per night on a basic bungalow at the beach and have an amazing time.

I had an amazing trip to the west coast of the USA earlier this year. Staying in the main in motels. Was fun and memorable. Still surprised at how little we spent. Didn't impact on our fun at all, as the point of the trip was the experience. Staying in motels was part of that experience.
Don't pay over the top for something just because you have the money. There is a wealth of experience on this board. Don't ignore it. Go your own way, but with our words in mind.

Yours too: "My mind always wanders back to 'what the money could be used for instead'"

Yeah...that saving is three hundred and sixty, one plate meals or fifteen jetski rides or a couple of half day cruises on a catamaran for your exclusive use or an aromatherapy massage for every day of your holiday or...

PompeyPete

If you need to have a hotel stay in UK before and/or after your international flights then I'd factor in that with the cost of the flight.

Some airlines have several flights a day from LHR to their Middle East hub, most with reasonable [2 to 3 hours] layovers.

Our most recent trip with Qatar Airways the flight left LHR @ 1505, and our return flight to LHR landed @ 0900. So we didn't need to stay overnight in either direction.

So cheapest might not always be the most economical taking other things into consideration.

In my experience of using several airlines to SE Asia, my favourites are Qatar [hub is Doha], and Oman Airways [Muscat]. I'm not a fan of Dubai [too busy] or Abu Dhabi [2 x bad experiences] airports, so avoid Emirates and Etihad. Flown non-stop with EVA and they were good, and also on [the excellent Thomson Dreamliner] to Phuket. I've not used Turkish Airways, but as the flight to Istanbul is only 3.5 hours, it makes for quite a long flight from Istanbul to Bangkok [but if the price was right I'd use them].

What's your plans for your 3 weeks in Thailand?

duchy

Excellent post nIFTY- MSE is about getting the best value for money. Direct v indirect flights are a prime example of this . The savings can be significant . I spent a week on the USA west coast last month -all my accomadation and some meals were covered by flying indirect rather than direct...... for me it's a no brainer - an economy seat on a plane doesn't very much between carriers (and I actually believe it is healthier to get off halfway and stretch my legs anyway)

Pollycat

gwynlas wrote: »

Lose the guilt this isn't a jolly holiday to Thailand but an important family visit that you are at least able to save towards.

This ^^^^^