to be honest, what is the school going to do if you book out off school holidays, they are not going to keep your child from going, they may fine you £50. but isn't that cheaper than paying the full high season price. you will save at least £150 with the fine thrown in,

ok a lot of people do not like taking children out of school time for holidays, but this depends on your childs age, if they are going through tests ect... then yes keep them in school but for kids around 5yrs to say around 12years then i do not see what the fuss is about, i take my little girl away every year in the second week in september for two weeks, (been warned by school) but i have never been fined as yet. i have booked again for this year aswell, even got a free child place.

in todays struggle with money you have to look at the pros and cons about saving money

Hi raych

I'm not a great one for letting my kids miss school just for a holiday, so always go in school holidays. I have found the best people to get good deals from are when you book direct with one of the big companys. Like http://www.portlanddirect.co.uk (These are TUI) or http://www.directholidays.co.uk (these are Thomas Cook).

For example Portland have a one bed apartment, 2 adults 2 children in Corralejo for 1916 going 22.7.09 for 14 nights.

Direct have the Oasis Village which is an All Inc for 2 adults 2 kids for 2641. also 14 nights.

Another way to get the price more competative is to look at going for 10 or 11 nights.

The other way to get a good deal even in summer is to DIY, by shopping around for flight prices and booking when they are cheap and then booking your accommodation separetly and organising your own transfers.

This normally works best with destinations that are served by budget carriers like Easyjet and you need to book flights as soon as they become available as they just creep up in price the more that are sold. Not sure if Fuert has budget's flying there. Major downside to me at present for DIY is you don't get the same financial protection.

Hope you get something booked, Doe

"our school now wont allow children to take hols in school time which is so very annoying can anyone get me good price in the school hols thaks in advance"

Good luck

As someone who is stuck with school holiday dates I am really fed up this year as prices seem even worst than ever! For Lapland the cost goes up over £400 per person per week just because it is half term !!! Grrrrrrr

If you find anything good let me know!

It would be a shame if this thread turned into yet another debate over the rights and wrongs of term-time holidays.
The original poster asked for help finding a good price at a particular time of year.
Perhaps if the original poster returned to the forum with details of how many people will be travelling, what sort of resort they're looking for and whether they want self-catering, half board or all-inclusive, we could maybe offer more helpful advice.

Hi

Have always been a friendly chatty member of HT and have always thought that HT has been a place to have friendly chats and chunters with friends. I am more than happy to be given advice by admin if I am out of order but really dont need to be told off by fellow posters. I come on here to chill !

Perhaps I should have just said that anyone will be very very lucky if they can get good prices in school holidays. If they do please let me know how ------------------- as we all know it is really difficult. It was not a debate just plain fact

Last time I post on the matter

Presto2 wrote:

really dont need to be told off by fellow posters

Presto2 - My apologies. My post was not actually directed at you and my intention was not to cause offence to anyone, I was merely pointing out how tiresome it can become when these kind of threads continually go completely off-topic and end up in the usual debate for which there is never an outcome which everyone can agree with, particularly when people come in with comments like:

little legs wrote:

what is the school going to do if you book out off school holidays, they are not going to keep your child from going, they may fine you £50. but isn't that cheaper than paying the full high season price. you will save at least £150 with the fine thrown in ...... for kids around 5yrs to say around 12years then i do not see what the fuss is about

I work in a primary school, teaching 5-8 year-olds, and spend most of my day running intervention programmes for children who have missed lessons through parents' apathy towards education...
I shall say no more on this matter.

Anyway, back on topic to the original post - it is difficult to get reasonable prices in the school holidays, that is just a fact of life. I remember someone posting on the General forum a while ago saying they always managed to get their bargains by looking 8-10 weeks before travel, round about the time when people start cancelling or can't afford to pay the balance for a holiday they booked a year earlier. I suspect this year, with the current financial climate, there will be a good number of cancellations or unsold holdays which tour operators will be desperate to sell off, so you might just get lucky
Then again, everybody else might be waiting to book later when they know they have the money in the bank, so the prices may not drop very much My advice would be to compare prices on a week by week basis and when the prices start to drop, jump in and book
I managed to get a fairly good price for the Easter school holidays this year at the Broncemar Beach in Caleta, with a free child place too! I booked this through the Thomas Cook website and got a nice discount for booking online, and the free child place is for a 16 year-old! Although I did book this last August, it might be worth checking various high street travel agents to see if they can offer any free child places or reductions. Going DIY is not always cheaper and if you have children who like to join in with activities and make friends then you'll probably be better off in a big family hotel/complex run by one of the main tour operators.

cyberspacekadette, you said above that it would be a shame for this thread to be a debate about taking children out of school ect... but you still intent to bring into debate and name me personally

as said there is people who take kids out off school, and there is some who do not, my point was the original poster was looking for a cheap holiday and i gave them the option to think outside the box and my consider looking at cheaper months. ok you say your a school teacher or a teaching assisant or whatever, you may be a bit peeved that you your self are restricted on your holiday movments by working at a school so you have not got the option of seeking cheaper months like others CAN DO,

on the subject of my child i treat it a like a field trip aswell, she learns the local history, the lingo, ect.. we just do not sit around the pool all day. so if thats the case we have to stop this school trips as well then.

somewhere there is a thread on here about this subject, sorry admins but as i was named i had to defend myself, and sorry for mucking this thread up

thanks for that doepsmp we are actually a family of 2 adults 3 kids i usually do the cheaper option with ryanair and thomson hotel only but this year i dont have that option. i do have to go with thomas cook or direct hols as i have vouchers i have found a good one but my lips are sealed until ive booked as its such a good deal but not from any of my local airports.and its only a day before they break up so guess my kids will miss 1 day. will fill you all in on my bargain later

Hi Rachy141

Well done. Just goes to show it can be done I've normally manage pretty good deals in the school hols.

Dont blame you for not posting until it's all signed and sealed but it would be good if you could come back on later and let us know what you managed to get when it's sorted.

Someone at work has just booked to go back to the Broncemar Beach this summer, they went there last summer with son, DIL and little granchild and it suited them so well they are going back again this summer. Think they booked with thomas cook, they said they had a good deal both times.

Ive been looking for Easter and seem to be getting good prices on the Thomas Cook web-site but the bookings are actually with the Direct Holidays not TC, so am wondering if I might just as well book with Direct.

Doe

i went into thomas cook myself to try and match the price but they couldnt do it the one im hoping to book is with direct hols on the thomas cook site but direct holidays own website is alot more expensive. t/c said it was because direct are not charging fuel supplements and have more free child places left. talk about strange when its on their site

doepsmc wrote:

Someone at work has just booked to go back to the Broncemar Beach this summer, they went there last summer with son, DIL and little granchild and it suited them so well they are going back again this summer.

Great to hear a good report about the Broncemar Beach, we will be there in 8½ weeks (Easter hols), so excited, especially with this awful weather we're having at the moment!
I am happy with the price I've paid; as I said before, I paid for myself and 16 year-old daughter, got a free child place for her best friend (friend's mum is supplying spends) and got an overall discount of around £150 for booking online.
At the time I booked there was a problem with the online system, so I phoned the helpline number, quoted the online reference number and a very helpful lady sorted it all out for me, with the same discount and everything, and she had even been there herself so could tell me lots about it.
We were in Caleta 2 years ago (Easter hols 07 Club Caleta Dorada) There was a great atmosphere for the kids, the complex was full of families and we had a great time - it was a little more expensive than term time but the kids clubs were in full swing and everyone made lots of friends.

I always take the kids abroad in school hols. Book budget airlines via skyscanner and then look for apartment with alpharooms or travel republic.

I can recommend the oasis dunas apts in correllejo for kids. Great complex.