How the hoo do you afford a family holiday abroad?

Gloomendoom

consumers_revenge wrote: »

disney £1100 all in, we pay that here by the time travel, entertainment and food come into play. could just as well of been staying onsite at alton towers. technically yes in reality not alot in it.


I class spain as a plane flight and a real abroad holiday. almost double the price!!!

I think the point being made was that your holiday abroad this year isn’t exactly a one-off as you mentioned others in previous years.

Gloomendoom

FBaby wrote: »

I disagree. When you can swim with turtles it's an amazing experience that is more than just spending time together as a family. Same with meeting cultures that are nothing like what we experience in this country.

Some people just want a holiday though. Not everyone wants to experience different cultures, swim with strange creatures or assault their stomachs with bizarre foods.

fred246

Going back to OP. The cheapest way to go abroad with a family is either by driving to France or by scouring the internet for cheap flights. Dover Calais ferries are very cheap. Once you have driven to France then camping is going to be the cheapest. You can get all the kit for a few hundred pounds. I actually think camping is very educational. It's good to get the family working as a team. Get the kids to fetch the water, go to the shop, empty the bins etc. Have a barbecue in the evening. Eurocamp is a good introduction to camping but isn't cheap in high season. We ended up progressing to a touring caravan which was a few thousand initial outlay but has been a fantastic investment. Mammals are territorial. A caravan is your territory that you can move. I always sleep well in my caravan but not in a hotel. Who slept in this bed last night? Is it clean? etc. I always found with camping everything just took a bit too long. With the caravan you get running hot & cold water, central heating, sink, fridge, cooker, toilet etc. Soundproof too - better for noisy sites. The family are ready for the days exploring quicker in the morning.
If you manage to get cheap flights then you have to find cheap accommodation. Airbnb has been good for us but you have to be careful. We tend to go for ones with loads of good reviews.

Tabbytabitha

copperclock wrote: »

It's that time of year, isn't it? All those ads for holidays on TV for amazing-looking summer holidays. And I have to admit that I am feeling quite poo about it. We're a family of 5 and we have a pretty decent income, but holidays abroad in the school holidays are sooo pricey. How does anyone afford them?

Examples: TUI search for a random week in August in a hotel in Turkey or Spain is £4k plus

Villa Plus search for a random week in August in Spain is about £2700, plus food and car hire

My children don't really care about going on holiday abroad, but I feel like I have let them down by never affording/prioritizing one. And my eldest is nearly an adult so I feel like I have run out of time.

How does everyone else afford their family holidays? And do you pay upfront of put it on a card and pay it back over the year?

consumers_revenge wrote: »

Who sets the demand? Local Education Auth ( gov )
Who will supply us with an overpriced holiday? ( travel agents )


You get my drift hopefully....

How many people use travel agents these days?

peachyprice

OP, if you really want to go abroad this year this is how I would (and do) go about it.

1. Decide how much money you want to spend on flights per person
2. Find a few destinations within your flight budget that you think you'll like
3. Search for self catering accommodation in those destinations and choose the one that matches your budget

These don't have to be the usual holiday destinations, in fact steer clear of those and go somewhere far more cultured and interesting. Don't be persuaded by all those 'happy family sunny beach' ads that make you believe that is what a holiday abroad has to be.

FBaby

Gloomendoom of course not which is why I say we are all different. However I often get comments from distant friends/colleagues about how lucky I am to on the holiday I go on and how they would love to do so but cent afford it. However these are people who come to work on Monday going on about having gonecouyr to it and drinks both Friday and Saturday and spent a fortune who go out shopping at lunch oncecot twice a week coming back with stuff which to me is a complete waste of money, who complain how cold it is in the office because they have the heating on all the time at home.

My point is that many people could afford luxury holidays abroad if that's what they want IF they cut down significantly on other aspects of their lives.

Pollycat

copperclock wrote: »

Yeah, it is true. It's me who worries about it. The last time we had a conversation with DS1 about it he said 'you've just bought this big house, I'd rather that than a holiday'. And it's true - our mortgage is massive.

You appear to have raised a very sensible lad - without the 'benefit' of holidays abroad.

I'd stop worrying about it unless you and the kids are desperate to go abroad.

Fireflyaway

We didn't have a holiday for 8 years as we couldn't afford it. The worst thing is how much the holiday companies inflate the prices during school holidays, talk about exploitation!
I'd say look ahead. Might seem annoying hut will be worth it. Where do you want to go and how much will it cost ? Then work out how long it will take to save. Maybe it might be 2019 or 2020 but no holiday for a couple of years is fine, trust me!
Some companies do direct debits so if you save up a nice deposit then set up a direct debit for the balance that could help spread it.
I like booking in advance. More time to plan and get excited and makes paying easier. Nice beach picture on desk for motivation!

Nebulous2

A lot of this thread comes down to lifestyle choices. Different things have different priorities for different people.

It isn't an all or nothing option. We've done lots of different types of holidays - flying abroad with two children and lots of money and holidaying at home with four children and less money. We've also done a huge amount of camping, little tents with a minimal approach, large tents with all the gear, a folding camper and caravans. I can honestly say we enjoyed them all.

It's interesting though that if you go to a large campsite in France with fixed tents, pretty much every second car is a people carrier. That is the cheapest and most straightforward way to take a big family abroad. We've done that in fixed tents - there are cheaper options than Eurocamp, we've also done it with our own tent towed behind the car in a trailer and with 6 bikes. The secret for that type of holiday for us is mixing it up. Yes we can spend a couple of days on the beach, but we will also use the campsite as a base and visit castles, aquariums, museums, woodland walks, aerial adventure courses etc. The same with Eurodisney. We once did a two campsite holiday with a week reasonably close to Eurodisney. We went to Disney one day, which was good, but was enough for us. We've also visited other parks in France. My son was a big Asterix fan and we preferred parc asterix to disney - but the same wont apply to everyone. Once the children were bigger we preferred gites to campsites - but my wife was very good at shopping around and getting cheap deals in out of the way places.

The only time we've begun to dislike holidays was when we spent a lot of money on a nearly new caravan and felt obliged to use it. We did 64 nights in it the first year and loved it. We did a lot of caravanning with another couple and the relationship began to grate. They were much more organised than us and wanted everything planned precisely, whereas we were much more make it up as you go along. In the third year we came home from our main summer holiday and agreed we were no longer enjoying it. We booked a week flying to the South of France with Ryanair in the October break and in the springtime we sold the caravan.

So we have prioritised holidays in our budget, but like to mix it up. Short breaks at home, mixed with longer breaks further away. Driving to France - we're a long way from Calais - was taxing but definitely worth it when our children were young, and much cheaper than flying in peak season. Even there you need to plan, shop around and book in advance to get the best deals.

But it's your money and your choices. Family discussions while planning threw up some interesting results. We often found that there was a preference for the cheaper options, and now that our children are effectively grown up, the fond memories are not of the expensive bits. Barbecues in the sun are remembered fondly all over the place, so much so, that my son asked for a barbecue for his 21st birthday.

Tabbytabitha

Fireflyaway wrote: »

We didn't have a holiday for 8 years as we couldn't afford it. The worst thing is how much the holiday companies inflate the prices during school holidays, talk about exploitation!
I'd say look ahead. Might seem annoying hut will be worth it. Where do you want to go and how much will it cost ? Then work out how long it will take to save. Maybe it might be 2019 or 2020 but no holiday for a couple of years is fine, trust me!
Some companies do direct debits so if you save up a nice deposit then set up a direct debit for the balance that could help spread it.
I like booking in advance. More time to plan and get excited and makes paying easier. Nice beach picture on desk for motivation!

On the other hand, booking a long time in advance means that you're stuck with what you've chosen even if your health or circumstances change or if the political picture changes in the country that you've chosen.

For me, a beach holiday that you've saved up and gone without for several years is always going to be a let down, particularly if you've got excited about it. A holiday of a lifetime might be different but not a bog standard beach holiday.