How to save £1,190 on a family trip with our cheap holiday booking tips including how to search and where to stay
MILLIONS book their summer holiday in January – but many pay over the odds when just a few hours of research could save them as much as £1,190.
Nat Smith, a family travel expert who blogs at frugalmum.co.uk, advises: “Decide your budget at the beginning and then work back from that.
“Include everything, from motorway tolls to excursions, so you don’t end up busting your budget. We did this for a three-week trip to Italy for four of us for £2,000.”
Here, Nat and other experts share their best holiday booking tips.
GO PACKAGE HOLIDAY OR INDEPENDENT?
MONEY expert Sarah-Jane Outten, from myvouchercodes.co.uk, says there is no set rule for whether a package holiday or booking separately is cheaper.
“But as a rule of thumb, a package holiday is usually better value in well-known resorts, and you also get better consumer protection,” she explained.
Nat Smith, from Dymchurch, Kent, who travels with husband Jay and kids Finn, 13, and Lola, 11, says: “When you see a holiday you like on the TUI website and click through for info, you can scroll down to compare prices.”
“The green pound sign shows the cheapest date for travel for each month.
“Jet2holidays has a ‘switch dates and save’ button, which also brings up a calendar for that particular trip to help you easily compare the cost on different dates.”
WHEN TO TRAVEL
MANY families face limited flexibility, with strict fines for taking children away during term time.
But there are still options.
Stephen Ellison, of villa company Vintage Travel, says: “Book a week starting the last weekend of August and benefit from the drop in rates.”
Some holidays are cheaper in the last two weeks of the school break.
Also, with much of Europe experiencing high temperatures outside of summer months, travelling in the May or October half-terms might give you a more pleasant experience for less.
A week at the four person Villa Olga in Menorca through Vintage Travel (villa only) is £960 in May half term, whereas if you stay for a week from August 16 it’s £2,150, which is £1,190 more expensive.
It might also pay to take fewer days off work. For example, if you travel on Saturday, August 23, and return on Sunday, August 31, you’d get nine days’ holiday but then would only need to take four days off work because of the bank holiday on August 25.
Research from payroll service New Millennia shows you can take 64 days holiday in 2025 using only 29 days of annual leave by being savvy and booking over bank holidays.
WHERE TO GO
TO save cash, ditch the big resorts or most popular cities and opt for lesser-known locations.
In Skyscanner’s top ten cheapest places to fly, Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Tirana (capital of Albania), Podgorica (capital of Montenegro) and Riga (capital Latvia) all feature.
Bremen in Germany tops the list, with more traditional destinations including La Rochelle in France, Milan in Italy and Asturias in Spain all taking a spot too.
Last summer, the Post Office named Sunny Beach in Bulgaria, Marmaris in Turkey and the Algarve in Portugal as the top three best-value holiday destinations for families.
Nat says it can pay to be away from the coast, too, adding: “Holiday parks in rural locations tend to offer the best value.”
If you are flexible on location, doing an “everywhere” search on Skyscanner for the weeks you can travel will come up with the cheapest options first.
You can look at whole-month pricing and see when the cheapest time is to fly.
Searching “everywhere” for return flights on Saturdays in August, Sun Money found tickets for under £100 to Madrid, Barcelona, Prague and Oslo, among others.
If you do have an idea where you want to go, the site’s “Savings Generator” shows you the best time to book flights to your chosen destination.
WHERE TO STAY
CAMPING or staying in a holiday park are cheap options — and you get children’s entertainment as part of the deal.
Nat says: “On the Eurocamp site, I found 50 family holidays under £1,000 for July and August, with prices starting from just £193.”
Also look for deals with companies Landal, Canvas Holidays, Siblu and Suncamp.
Vintage Travel’s Stephen suggests sharing big properties with other families to cut costs.
He says: “If you’re sharing the costs of the accommodation and self-catering, they work out much better value.”
For the cheapest accommodation, consider housesitting or house swapping, where you stay in someone else’s home while they stay in yours.
DIG DEEP FOR DISCOUNTS
EARLY-BIRD deals and last-minute bargains can cut costs.
Check out the free kids’ places with the big tour operators such as TUI and Jet2holidays.
Many travel firms are also offering deals in their January sales. If you have used the company before, ask for a loyalty discount. But be sure it really is a good deal by comparing with the price on other websites.
Check apps, too. Consumer group Which? found an apartment in Amsterdam that was £270 cheaper on booking.com’s mobile app than on its website.
It also saved almost £100 on a weekend in Florence with an Expedia mobile exclusive.
With Holiday Hypermarket, there is an “odd durations” search feature, where you can potentially save by booking outside the usual seven or 14 nights.
You can also book through cashback sites to get some money back in your wallet.
Nat also recommends using Nectar and Tesco Clubcard points to get money off your trip, as well as checking out discounts on Kids Pass.
FLYING HIGH
WHEN it comes to getting to your destination, flights can cost as much as your accommodation. Taking a ferry with your own car may work out cheaper in Europe.
If jetting off is the only way, use Skyscanner’s price alerts or “drops” feature (via the app), which lets you know when prices fall.
Martin Nolan, from Skyscanner, says: “On Skyscanner, you are not tied to the same airline going there and back. Being flexible on this can save you money, as can travelling at more unsociable hours.
“With some low-cost carriers, by the time you’ve added in seat selection and hold baggage, it might have been cheaper to go with a different airline where it’s included.
“Think about what matters to you. Do you need to all sit together? Can you take less luggage?
“Compare the true cost of getting you and all your stuff on the plane rather than just going for the cheapest flight.”
PROBATE DELAYS GET WORSE
THOUSANDS of people waited over a year for their probate cases to be granted in the last three years, new data shows.
The number taking more than 12 months soared by 134 per cent over the period, while ones dragging on for between 21 and 23 months rose by 132 per cent.
Probate is the legal process of dealing with the estate of someone who has died. This includes ensuring the right people inherit any money or assets and that outstanding tax or debts are paid.
It can all be long and drawn out, typically completing after around 9.3 weeks, according to official figures from July. But new data obtained through a freedom of information request by wealth firm Quilter shows a huge spike in the number of cases running to between one and two years.
According to the figures, 2,791 took over 12 months to resolve between the start of 2022 and March 2024, while 294 went on for between 21 months and 23 months.
Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter, warned: “With pensions set to become part of the taxable estate from April 2027, the situation is only likely to worsen.
“These delays and added responsibilities compound an already difficult situation.”
Broadband rises
NEW rules for broadband and mobile providers introduced this week could see millions of customers facing “unfair” bill rises.
From yesterday, telecoms firms are required to set out any so-called “mid-contract price rises” in pounds and pence terms.
Providers can no longer link price increases to inflation figures – which has previously seen customers face huge hikes.
In October 2022, when inflation hit a 41-year high, some bills rose by 17.4 per cent.
Ofcom said the increases demonstrated that the old system had “unfairly” put the burden of shouldering inflation costs onto customers.
But experts have warned that those on the cheapest contracts will be hardest hit.
For example, if you pay £24.99 a month for broadband and your contract rises £3, that is costlier than an inflation-linked rise of 5.9% (June 2024 inflation +3.9%), which would be around £1.47 extra.
But on a more expensive £59.99 monthly contract, a £3 rise works out better than an inflation-based rise of 5.9%, costing £3.54.
Consumer rights expert Martyn James said: “Introducing a flat fee rather than an inflation-linked increase will unfairly penalise those on tighter budgets, particularly as the pounds and pence rises are uncapped.”