Holiday inflation.

eskbanker

twopenny said:

I've travelled the world on worked out good bargains pre covid. Now, with no fixed prices, no high street companies, no brochures it's nigh on impossible to find those.

Surely having copious live data at your fingertips 24/7 makes it far easier to identify bargains than relying on shops and brochures?  There may be fewer of them, but that's a different issue....

Nebulous2

Rosa_Damascena said:

Nebulous2 said:

We had always done self-catering, often flats or holiday houses and avoided all-inclusive. Winter sun is of interest and my parents regularly went to Tenerife, but again we didn't fancy it. 

Coming out of covid, winter 21/22 we were cautious about returning to holiday, and booked a week in Tenerife, paying around £1300 all-inclusive. We were amazed at how good it was, the food was much better than I expected, and the service was also very good. The following winter we went back and paid £2200 for 10 days. We thought that was pushing the boat out, but we had enjoyed the first one so much that we thought it was worth it. 

Last winter that had risen to £3000 for the same hotel and we did a much cheaper self arranged holiday in Malta, which was a great experience, different, so difficult to compare, but possibly better. We had a lovely flat with a balcony overlooking a harbour / marina. 

This year that inflation has calmed a bit - 10 days in Tenerife in February would be around £3200, but it still is more than we think it would be worth. The over-tourism protests in Tenerife probably influence us as well. 

That initial holiday in Tenerife was possibly discounted to get people back. It certainly sucked us in. However inflation creates what is known as 'demand destruction' people either stop buying or can't afford to buy until supply and demand finds its own balance. 

For the kind of prices you are paying I'd rather have a staycation and enjoy my own environment. Bliss!!

Holidays are a luxury that I can dispense with. Heating however is not.

I'm in the fortunate position of being able to go on holiday, and to heat my house. I'm aware that not everybody is able to do that.

You'll note that I paid the £1300 and the £2200, but refused to pay the higher prices later.

It does however give an indication of how prices have risen in the last few years. 

Rosa_Damascena

TELLIT01 said:

@Rosa_Damascena I don't know about others, but I feel so much better for having the sun on my back for a couple of weeks that the financial situation would need to be pretty bad for me not to find a way to go away each year.

I totally agree. I am very fortunate that my garden is an absolute sun trap and I can walk down to the beach whenever I fancy, so I never feel that I am missing out on summer.

LightFlare

They can’t rely on inflated summer prices to subsidise the rest of the year as people increasingly taking kids out of school in term time.
So they have unilaterally raised prices to compensate accordingly.
There is always the choice of not going abroad etc, but people appear to think of it as an entitlement. (Personally haven’t been overseas since 2019)
If you dont like the prices - find an alternative as with any transaction

jimi_man

LightFlare said:

They can’t rely on inflated summer prices to subsidise the rest of the year as people increasingly taking kids out of school in term time.
So they have unilaterally raised prices to compensate accordingly.
There is always the choice of not going abroad etc, but people appear to think of it as an entitlement. (Personally haven’t been overseas since 2019)
If you dont like the prices - find an alternative as with any transaction

This is very true. There is always value to be found somewhere and it’s still usually cheaper than holidaying in the U.K.  

We don’t necessarily go away for the sunshine - not in the summer and we don’t go away in the school summer holidays - we tend to go to experience things that you can’t get in the U.K, though in the winter we’ll go and find some warmth somewhere - the Far East often as it’s a nice time to go there. The world is a big place and we like to meet people from around the world see some of their cultures. 

We love travelling and tend to go abroad a fair amount - ten times this year. My wife flew for a living so was always travelling - four or five times a month and she still enjoys travel now. We never have takeaways, rarely eat out in the U.K. don’t smoke and don’t have expensive cars or anything so we like and are prepared to spend on travel. 

But not everyone is the same, some prefer not to and nothing is wrong with that either. 

bagand96

As ever it's supply and demand.  It may be that the market, and consumer behaviours have shifted somewhat and people are preferring to book earlier which could be another factor in  inflated prices at this point. 

I've had some decent late deals by waiting and being flexible. I was looking at flights to the canaries next week as it happens, could get there and back for £90! 

eskbanker

LightFlare said:

They can’t rely on inflated summer prices to subsidise the rest of the year as people increasingly taking kids out of school in term time.
So they have unilaterally raised prices to compensate accordingly.

That sounds like a speculative generalisation, or do you have any evidence of term-time holidays increasing to the extent of influencing pricing in this way?

Organgrinder

Interesting.......

I decided to look at term time prices.

3-4 weeks all inc in Egypt in January is still roughly the same as last year/year.

Yet peak season prices have rocketed.

I suspect it's supply and demand. Tour operators have I think cut the number of flights and packages, whilst demand has increased.

Fingers crossed we see more flights announced etc 

Nebulous2

Passenger numbers are increasing. 

https://www.nats.aero/news/uk-air-traffic-increase-continues-through-holiday-season/

There are still problems with supply chains. 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-airways-cancellations-787-rolls-royce-engine-b2628291.html

So we have a perfect storm - high demand coupled with a restricted supply. 

Organgrinder

Well hopefully only for one year. I'm toying with the idea of going further afield as the prices aren't that much more.

At the moment though it's wait and see I think.