Travel during school holidays

Tigsteroonie

As I said ...

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

As the parent, I will leave you to decide for yourself whether you want to absent your children from school or not, as you will read arguments for and against on MSE.

zagfles

glentoran99 wrote: »

Did you walk?

Because flight prices shoot up too

IME not in August - they are expensive at the start and end of half terms because everyone travels at the same time, but in the summer holidays they're not much more expensive than other times of year. Though will depend where you're going.

Or drive - we've had some great holidays in France.

Second half of August is generally less busy and cheaper that late July/early Aug.

zagfles

peachyprice wrote: »

Easy solution, don't go on package holidays to package holiday destinations.

We travelled DIY all over Europe and America when our three were at school, we never ever paid the ridiculous amounts tour operators charged and got to see some wonderful places not full of tourists.

Yup us too. Especially if you go somewhere where the schools aren't off. A lot of Europe goes back to school mid Aug.

zagfles

Here are some tips I posted in another thread:



For the last 10 years, since DD was 5, we've never taken holidays in term time (generally we take 2 or 3 holidays a year). Not that we have any strong views on this, just that it really is quite easy to get cheap holidays in the school holidays if you put a bit of effort into it.

A few tips:

1. Don't book packages, do it DIY
2. Look for the local off-peak times, ie try to find out when it's school holidays in the UK but not the country you're going to. Second half of August is usually a good time.
3. Flights aren't generally much more expensive in the school holidays, except at the start and end of half terms. We've had some good deals in August and Easter (eg £50 return each to Lake Garda in Aug, £100 return each to Sorrento at Easter).
4. For the half terms consider flying from another part of the country where it isn't half term. We've had some very cheap deals from Glasgow, even with the extra travel, parking and a night in the airport hotel saved a fortune compared to going from Manchester at the same time. This works for packages too.
5. For hols in the UK, again look at differences in holidays in different parts of the country. We've had loads of cheap weeks on the south coast first week of Easter as our Easter hols are usually a week earlier than down south
6. Consider campsite holidays, not necessaily camping, but a static caravan can be more comfortable and spacious than a hotel and easier/safer to let the kids go off on their own. They're often right on a beach and usually loads of entertainment etc. And if in France (or even Spain) consider driving rather than flying, no worries about baggage allowance etc.

NoodleDoodleMan

You can still go on a good holiday and only miss a few days school at the most.

Many schools have a week long "educational excursion" to somewhere in Europe in the last week of term time (a jolly by any other name) when everybody is in demob fever mode - so don't feel constrained to take a family holiday then, their education will suffer little.

That doesn't apply to other times in the academic year.

budgetflyer

Some Typical prices available via Skyscanner.
EDI -PALMA- 14 to 25 Aug 11 days £67pp
Arcos Playa Apts, S'illot £990

NEWC - PALMA 3 July to 12 Jul - 9 days £43pp
Apts Club Sa Coma £765

took me 15 minutes to find these via skyscanner and Trivago

Both based on 2 adults and 2 children.

There really isnt any need to spend crazy money or take children out of school

English Holidays - fly from Scotland
Scottish holidays- fly from England

holidaysforme

first78 wrote: »

Okay, so I'm wondering if we'll be able to go abroad next year with our kids (4&5). As we will have to go in school holiday time I thought I'd have a quick look online at prices...tried Lanzarote and Kefalonia and was horrified that prices start at around £3500!!! Just wanted to ask those who have already encountered the issue of school holiday travel whether this is an accurate price. Thanks.

That's a lot of money to spend on what is essentially a beach holiday! We spent around £ 3.500 for a week in New York last year and that was everything including spending money for three people. For a sun/ beach holiday destination. We usually spend around £1,800 Packages will always be more expensive in the school hols. Like others have said, think outside the box a bit.

We've done loads of school holidays in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, and always book flights and accomadation separately.

You could halve that figure of £3,500 if you do this.
Too late for this year, but for next summer book flights well in advance. Easyjet and Ryanair usually release flights around October time for the following peak summer dates. If you really want to do a package though, look at .Jet 2. They have some decent deals.

steve1500

melanzana wrote: »

Now seriously.... will children of 4 and 5 really suffer from a week away from school. They are in nursery or reception.

I would pay the fine to get away on the shoulder seasons for a greatly reduced price. Win win.

I'd pay the fine not to be controlled by some Local Authority jobsworth too.

Personally I would make the fine at least 10 times higher - Using this philosophy, lets just do away with school holidays, take your kids out when you want, oh & the teachers can go on holiday when they want!

We have an 11 year old - It just take a bit of planning - Use the likes of Skyscanner for the flights.

Be flexible on dates and airports

As many have said look to book the hotel separate.

If you have loads of Tesco clubcard points look into the possibility of using then either via Avios or Hotels.com

martindow

There is an interesting effect when you put a price on an action. There was a famous study carried out with nurseries in Israel. Some parents are always a bit late picking up children and an experiment was carried out charging an extra fee for late pickups.



To everyone's surprise the number of late parents increased. The reasoning is that when you put a monetary sum on an action some people prefer to pay to take advantage of this service. I'm not sure if there are figures for the effect that the UK charge for unauthorised absences.


Here's a summary of the study


https://www.parenta.com/2014/07/23/study-into-imposing-late-fines-on-parents-yields-surprising-results/