Package holiday prices

eDicky

neilied said:

Is £5k reasonable these days for a week in Europe? Does everyone just accept that things increase this much and the people at the top just throw the riches back in our faces showing the profits they make. Even worse now is my daughter’s school highly recommending no hols taken during the early school hols as they are setting revision for the school breaks. As for do I earn the same as 8 years ago. No but my increase has been a 35% increase on salary from then. Mortgage/rent has been almost a 100% increase (from renting to owning) and disposable income is lower than 8 years ago. 

It's always possible to find something to complain about, your situation could indeed be even more fortunate than it is, relative to that of others, but at least you're not trying to survive in a dimension of warfare, famine or severe climatic disaster, etc. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps it would be better to dry your eyes and appreciate your current good fortune.

bagand96

Holiday prices are dynamic and vary all the time based on many factors, but essentially supply and demand. 

In your example you're looking at a specific hotel, during a school holiday, flying from an airport where TUI have no competition.  That will equal a high price unfortunately.

NoodleDoodleMan

The OP might consider trying the same deal as a DIY exercise for comparison.

The results would be interesting.

Neil49

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The OP might consider trying the same deal as a DIY exercise for comparison.

The results would be interesting.

You beat me to it but that's the best way to approach it. Even the cost of transfers from (and back to) the airport all mount up. 

My sister in law lives in Greece and she is saying that it has got very expensive out there and the number of tourists is increasing every year. 

zagfles

Neil49 said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The OP might consider trying the same deal as a DIY exercise for comparison.

The results would be interesting.

You beat me to it but that's the best way to approach it. Even the cost of transfers from (and back to) the airport all mount up. 

My sister in law lives in Greece and she is saying that it has got very expensive out there and the number of tourists is increasing every year. 

Yes, certainly in the school holidays. Packages are generally expensive in the school holidays but if you DIY and account for variations in local peak times then it can be much cheaper. For instance in a lot of Europe the second half of August is off peak, so accomodation is a lot cheaper.

The other thing to look at is flights and even packages from a non local airport, accounting for differences in the school holidays for instance we've had some cracking package deals flying from Glasgow when the English schools are off but the Scottish schools aren't. Even with the travel, a night's hotel stay and parking the cost has been much cheaper than going from Manchester. There are differences in the school hols across England too, particularly Easter. 

Pre-booked "transfers" can be expensive but you rarely need them, getting an Uber or even an airport taxi would likely be far cheaper. Or sometimes it'll be entirely possible by public transport. 

We went to Greece in Oct on a package, I was surprised how cheap it was. Generally around EUR 30 for a meal for 2, in tourist areas. 

neilied

Hoenir said:

neilied said:

eskbanker said:

neilied said:

Does everyone just accept that things increase this much and the people at the top just throw the riches back in our faces showing the profits they make.

Like any other commercial business, their raison d'etre is to make profits?  If you don't want to book holidays with a profitable company, there'll still be loss-makers around if you want to accept the resultant risks....

But how much is a decent profit. Hotels locally set up an association agreeing a room rate increase for when an event was in town. All agreeing a far inflated price but all the same across the big six hotels so there was no undercutting or competition. The local authorities came down heavily on them directly or by indirect means and the press trashed them. The town lost several annual events. I also come from a hospitality business background and ethically I guess we always charged enough but never wanted to test the boundaries. 

How much did the European hospitality business lose during the Covid era?  Hoteliers weren't furloughed. Receiving a steady income. Was a total 100% cash hit loss. 

Worth remembering that the cost of employing someone in Greece is around half that of the UK.  If wages were at UK levels then holidays would be far more expensive still. 

Not true either. Yes wages are lower. There was a Greek government furlough style system through Covid paying a percentage of income.

neilied

The uk hospitality industry was in the same way. Has your pint gone up by 250% since Covid? My pub at Covid had an annual rent of £125k, business rates of £45k with the door firmly closed.

neilied

strawb_shortcake said:

But your screenshot is just momentary, holiday prices fluctuate all the time. I've been looking for next year and the first that came up was the one below, I've seen that hotel over £1kpp for the same time. 


We has a good deal last year £500pp for 10 days over school holidays. I wouldn't pay £5k for a week in Europe, but I don't have to as there are much cheaper acceptable holidays for a lot less.

I have a family member that's paying over £11k for 2 holidays with their young family next year so people clearly can afford to pay the going rates.

Would be all over this but its term time hols. Local authorities now have taken the decisions on this out of the schools hands. Term time hols now has a mandatory £120 per parent per child. Do a week away during term time with 2 kids is almost £500. Also I think it’s 3 absences in so many terms and it bounces to a straight magistrate appointment. Ridiculous.

neilied

kinger101 said:

There's lots of reasons behind this.  Inflation.  Oil prices.  Currency movements for both USD and EUR.  And I suspect wages will be much higher now in Greece given unemployment was exceptionally high back in 2016 in Greece.

You can't change it.  Your either pay the price, don't go or find a cheaper alternative.

My observations

It's a very expensive all inclusive hotel (about £3.500 or the price) which looks really nice but;

Options that are 60%-70% of the cost will probably 90% as good;

I've not done many package holidays but have never found justification for full board over half board price wise.  

Flying from Cardiff is costing you about £200-£250 per flight per person more.  And you're arriving at a bad time as most the day has gone by the time you've arrived.  Staying a Heathrow or Gatwick overnight and arriving at your destination around lunchtime might be a more civilized option.  

Agree. We won’t be going and the use of that quote was to show comparability with the same hols over the last so many years. Cardiff does sometimes come out cheaper however again on that quote I suspect that the school hols are not in line with England hence much higher for that week as is a Welsh school hols.

we did use Gatwick one year and had a good rate staying the night before and night of return but it still adds around £400 for accommodation, fuel and parking so depends on the difference

neilied

eDicky said:

neilied said:

Is £5k reasonable these days for a week in Europe? Does everyone just accept that things increase this much and the people at the top just throw the riches back in our faces showing the profits they make. Even worse now is my daughter’s school highly recommending no hols taken during the early school hols as they are setting revision for the school breaks. As for do I earn the same as 8 years ago. No but my increase has been a 35% increase on salary from then. Mortgage/rent has been almost a 100% increase (from renting to owning) and disposable income is lower than 8 years ago. 

It's always possible to find something to complain about, your situation could indeed be even more fortunate than it is, relative to that of others, but at least you're not trying to survive in a dimension of warfare, famine or severe climatic disaster, etc. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps it would be better to dry your eyes and appreciate your current good fortune.

You are absolutely right but I fear we are heading that way. And as for my circumstances it’s difficult to judge on a forum like this and maybe shouldn’t assume all is well as we consider hols. Family, disabilities, health issues, redundancies and mental health have all played a part of life for us over since lockdown. For many years I lived to work and put in 80 hours per week. Times have changed and the treat of a hols is an absolute luxury and no longer for every year.