I suppose it depends on what you are looking for in a holiday. Somewhere couple hours flight time, or somewhere more exotice.? We like our holidays abroad, although we do tend to go in February and october school holidays, when it is a little cheaper than the main July, August and September holidays.

We are two adults and two children aged fifteen and sixteen this year. Once we have booked somewhere, every week i religiously go into the Travel Agents and pay off a certain amount, that way no big bill 12 weeks prior to departure

Hubby and I have lower than average paid jobs but are in the fortunate position of our children being grown up so we only have to fund a holiday for the two of us. however, we now can afford a week away at Easter as well as 2 weeks in the summer. The only way we can do this is because neither of us smoke, we don't make a habit of going out and we don't drink regularly.

Tbh, I think it depends how badly you want a holiday as they can be found reasonably cheaply if you go diy e.g. book cheap flights with budget airlines and look on the various budget bed bookers for rooms. I do understand that costs shoot up when you have 2 teenagers to fund but we have always managed to do it.

Ive just been pricing up a holiday we had 2 years ago,allinc in august between 4 and 7 grand..... its so mad.We went on hols 4 years ago and it was 2200

Shirley,when the kids are out we will be able to do so much more.... unfortunatly i think i'll be dead by then .... lol

Shirley,when the kids are out we will be able to do so much more.... unfortunatly i think i'll be dead by then .... lol

Yes it's so much cheaper without the kids. Our eldest had his last holiday with us when he was 15 and three years later our youngest had had enough at the same age. We have been holidaying without them now for almost 10 years although I would love us all to go as a family again

My eldest is 15 and would love to come with us abroad but its just all out of our league now.
Shame cos hubby works his ass off working nights and i work 6 days a week.... cost of living is so high now

I always look at the best prices on the websites of Thomas Cook and Thomson then ask the travel agent to match it.
They always do with Thomson more reluctant to do so.
Just yesterday I looked on both sites to see how much the hotel I was at last October was for the same dates this year.
Thomson were £187 dearer than Thomas Cook for the same dates and almost the same flight times.
I look on their websites almost every day and if I see a bargain I book it.

I'm now paying around 6K for a family holiday (5 of us) over the summer . A few years ago we were paying around 3.5 for the same type of holiday.

Ok my eldest son works and he does pay a good chunk towards his bit but I have no idea how I'm managing to fund it on top of another 3K for a week at easter.

My husband works long hours. Most weeks 6 or 7 days and we spend very little on ourselves and never go out .
My middle son more or less pay's his own way with a part time job and my youngest son demands very little.

I pay on the credit card and transfer all holiday money to a low interest card and pay it off weekly. I still havnt finished paying for last years yet and this years will be going on in a couple of months.

I'm not worried because I prefer to make the most of having the lads still with us for a holiday whilst they still want to.

We personally couldn't afford to pay £4k+ for a two week break. We have a holiday limit which is affordable and realistic for us to be able to save a bit each month towards it. We are both in average paid jobs but we don't go wining and dining every month, we both gave up smoking years ago and we also don't have the urge to waste what we have left over from payday so any extra cash we have all helps with being able to budget towards a holiday.

We have two children 14 and 9 and like to have at least one family holiday each year for them. We have had hard times too, OH is self employed so income hasn't always been steady, I have always had low paid jobs when my children were small to fit around childcare issues so holidays were not top priority. I work in a school now but am tied to the dearer holiday periods but it isn't necessary to us to go abroad to have a nice family break.

The cheapest holiday we had was in Skegness in a caravan sharing with my sister and her family. The weather was rubbish but we had a great laugh. A holiday to us is about getting away from it all and it doesn't have to be spent abroad although the guaranteed good weather does help.

Like others have said my children are grown up now so its only hubby and myself , we are fortunate enough not to have a mortgage anymore but in saying that ours was really low anyway , but we are hit with prices because i have to have school holidays because of my job when the children were younger we used to go by coach to spain because it was much cheaper than flying plus my sister in law came with us so we always got two children free , we were a party of 6 but booked two rooms , hubby myself in one room paying full fare so son was free, sis in law and my elder daughter paid full fare and my younger daughter was free , have you thought of a coach holiday

I'm still at a loss to understand why holidays have risen in price so much over the last few years . Well I do it's probably the lack of competition around now . We are all mugs to be paying these stupid over inflated prices .

I'm still at a loss to understand why holidays have risen in price so much over the last few years

Whilst I also bemoan the "cheap" holidays perhaps we should not be so surprised - or judgemental. For many years we enjoyed "being rich" and the truth is very simple. The standard of living and wages have risen in these countries and now we have to pay for it. But then if you want guaranteed sunshine you are not going to holiday in the UK. And the other (unasked) question is can you afford to holiday in the UK. Prices are even higher here.

fwh

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And the other (unasked) question is can you afford to holiday in the UK. Prices are even higher here.

You are so right Fwh. You can still holiday cheaper abroad than in this country. The prices they want for a half decent caravan on a good site in this country are ridiculous.

My son's mate priced up a hotel for the weekend with a couple of passes to Alton Towers and ended up booking for Tenerrife because it was cheaper- That says it all to me.

im just looking for a week in may for daughter and friend found self catering in span from around £80 each , Portugal from around 120 each Cyprus [penera] from around 125 each and turkey B&B around 125 each all with a trustworthy company ,so there are still deals around if you are flexible and put in time searching instead of just going to the bigger names

wizard

The prices families pay going in school holidays is the problem, travel companies hike them so much it's a wonder any normal working person can afford that sort of money.

When we went away when my boys were younger I saved liked mad, going without new clothes etc. we had a holiday abroad every other year until the eldest was 12 and after that once a year.
The last time we went with my youngest, was to Cyprus in 1992 and as far as I remember paid more for the trip than I ever have done since.

We are near retirement age and I now have as many as possible, whilst we are healthy enough to enjoy them. There are bargains to be had if you can be flexible with dates and check the net every day, I paid £360 for the two of us for the last one to Lanzarote.....Caz

I'm still at a loss to understand why holidays have risen in price so much over the last few years

Quite simple, demand, capitalism and plutocracy are the order of the day.

Who is making the money.? The greedy Tour Operators and if you want good standards in hotels, the hotel owners have to makes some profit to keep refurbishing the hotels, they also have to absorb the rising costs from their suppliers of just about everything"¦.if the cost of soap powder goes up, the laundry bill goes up, if the price of fuel goes up, the deliveries are dearer etc.

The TO's hold the trump card, they can barter a hotel chain down to operate on a shoestring, they can threaten to pull out and go somewhere else.
If you're operating on a shoestring to hold onto the contract and the customer expects a certain standard of food, cleanliness, facilities and amenities, then something has to go and it's usually saving on the wage bill of the employees.

Your average José in Spain still cannot afford his own house, he is still working long hours for a pittance because every wage rise is swallowed up in the rising cost of goods and with the present level of unemployment, he's just thankful for a job.

Today we have less choice and a generation who have it all, some think they have a right to take a holiday even when they cannot afford it and the plastic becomes their "get out of jail" card"¦.until the holiday is long gone forgotten and they are still paying for it"¦.2 weeks of sunshine and 12 months of misery making those already rich, richer.
Priorities are upside down, nobody dies from not having a holiday and at the end of the day, YOU the public can vote with your feet and if you don't pay the extortionate prices, then the companies who are trying to get away with squeezing every pound out of you, they WILL be forced to have a rethink about their profit margins.

I'm retired, I've stayed in death traps in the past and we've all come to expect high standards these days, but I flatly refuse to pay the prices being asked because I ask myself, who is making the money? IMO it's not the hotels when the average take home pay for a chambermaid working in Spain, working unsociable hours is 800 euros a month after deductions.

Yep, all that bull in the 80's from a certain lady about privatisation would bring in competition, more choice and drive prices down, it was exactly that"¦a load of old bull.

Sanji

I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I only have one child who is still at infant school so I can - and do - take her out of school for our holidays (we are taking her out for 7 days this year, it will be unauthorised on her records, but her attendance is over 96% so im not concerned). I have already checked when the SATs will be and other important dates, so I know that she will not miss anything (and at the end of June, they start winding down for the summer break anyway and not a lot is happening). However, once she reaches junior school, we will have to seriously think about taking our holidays during the school breaks and then, with how expensive I know they are during this time, probably only every other year. Holidays are important to us (as no doubt they are to others). Hubby works long hours and it is the only time that we can all be together uninterupted and relaxed for a significant period. Only hubby works and although he is quite well paid (we manage all our bills, rent, etc with no additional benefits), I wouldnt say it was a brilliant wage. We save every penny we can often going without nights out, meals out etc.

I tend to search the net for the best deal I can and then get the local TA to price match. I think booking early is key. We managed to get our 10 day break at the end of June for just over £1,000 for the 3 of us and even though it seems alot, a 7 day holiday to the same place, same flights etc is now well over £1,500.

I am lucky that we dont have to go away at peak time and dont book months ahead.
I have just returned from a fab 2 week holiday in Tunisia in a Riu hotel with Thomson and paid £365 each.
We met a couple who booked last year and they paid £500 for 1 week.
They were retired and so didnt have to book months ahead.
Last December after looking on Thomas Cooks website I found a holiday to Hurghada in Egypt for £355 each for 2 weeks.
I thought this was a mistake but the agent matched the price and it was an amazing hotel.
The deals are there,out of the main season,and by looking on the website often I hope I find a few more!

I will tell you this, I am currently not working been in and out of temping for over 6 months..job hunting is stressing me out so thus havent booked my holiday to fuengirola unfortuntly we like to go peak time july aug so this is a problem for us at the mo, the flights are a problem and plus the hotel we want has now sold out...im not flexible you see thats my problem i like hot weather and dont wanna chance goin early or late incase it rains,get enough of that here in manchester..il just have to wait and see on the job front...but at the mo its not looking good..:O(