School holiday and Term time holiday price hiking

Wonder how the government got on discussing it today. Hopefully they’ll put a stop to the money grabbing . Living on the Isle of Wight, I am self employed and also work on the mainland so I get stung big time for ferry prices in summer.

You can guarantee that rather than forcing holiday companies to be fair, they will do something ridiculous, such as the suggestion of staggering school holidays

Its not money grabbing it’s simple supply and demand. In any case the UK government cannot make a policy which impacts other countries which is where many people take their holiday. The UK should do what the French do and stagger holidays, for example Feb half term week holiday is spread over a month from mid Feb to mid March depending upon region.

You can guarantee that rather than forcing holiday companies to be fair, they will do something ridiculous, such as the suggestion of staggering school holidays

Why is staggering holidays ridiculous – see my post above. If British holiday makers cannot charge the market price the foreign holiday providers, e.g. hotels etc, will just rent their accommodation to people from countries who pay the market price

Living on the Isle of Wight, I am self employed and also work on the mainland so I get stung big time for ferry prices in summer.

Move to the mainland?

As a parent of two small children, I’m struggling to see anything wrong with it. Supply and demand, as Jambalaya says. And it’d be most amusing seeing the UK govt trying to legislate foreign holiday prices.

Course, they could always put out-of -school-holiday prices up to equalise things.

Most of my work is on the island so if I moved to the mainland, the ferry costs would be higher as islanders get discount.

Taking kids out of school for holiday this spring. Can’t afford to go in summer holidays. They’ll cope with missing 10 days school just fine. School obviously denied permission but cest la vie.

The price of holidays during school holidays just punishes the less well off. Can’t afford to go outside term time so no holiday. For the more affluent it doesn’t matter, so it’s obviously fine for poorer kids to go without holidays…

Sounds like a right wing policy to me.

Usual dim argument.
ever considered that prices drop at times of low demand and the higher price is the norm?
Anyway it would be totally wrong to equalise prices. supply and demand is right. Individual whim is not.

Usual dim argument.

+10,000

Plus it’s not as if having children is compulsory.

It’s a nice try but I’m not sure it will work long term. It was the same situation before taxes were introduced. The reality is that airlines rely on the peak season to make their money with the best deals being in the off peak season to stimulate business and try to fill empty planes. Just like other ticket selling industries. The airlines will not necessarily pass on all the savings from taxes to the consumer. I think they’ll use the tax savings to cheapen off-peak tickets to attract more people to fill their partially empty planes in the off-peak season. The planes are already full during the peak season, so no real competition to start a price war.

As a parent I’d love a more sensible pricing policy, but planes are very expensive and airlines will not saddle themselves with too much overcapacity.

So when I look at holidays that cost £300 during term time when can’t take my kids out of school. It’s ok to charge nearly a grand for exactly the same holiday during school holidays. If that’s not money grabbing, I don’t know what is.

Same goes for the ferries to/from the IOW same journey can cost £20 at 7am but nearly £100 a couple of hours later.

It’s charging a vastly exaggerated premium for the period of time that most people can travel.

Taking kids out of school for holiday this spring. Can’t afford to go in summer holidays. They’ll cope with missing 10 days school just fine. School obviously denied permission but cest la vie.

How much are you actually saving?

And not sure how many folk know, but we in Scotland usually have different holiday times to England. So does that mean that the holiday firms have to make it as expensive in June/July as it is in July/August?

Its nearly half price, had we not took advantage of it the kids wouldn’t have a had a holiday this year. Not really fair on them, most of their peers will have a holiday, its important that my kids do too, if that means during term time then so be it. They’re 8 & 4, they aren’t missing GCSE revision….

The price of holidays during school holidays just punishes the less well off

Surely the less well off dont buy holidays at all. My heart is bleeding for you!

Taking kids out of school for holiday this spring. Can’t afford to go in summer holidays. They’ll cope with missing 10 days school just fine. School obviously denied permission but cest la vie.

Presume you will be fined as well? If school are following the correct procedure it should be an automatic Penalty Notice of £60 for each child to each parent – so if 2 kids £240 (going up to £120 per parent per child if not paid within 21 days). Of course this still might mean the holiday is cheaper, depending on the saving you are making. 😀

I’m sure I’ll be fined, I’ll live with that. Still much much cheaper.

Still much much cheaper.

Thought so.

You can guarantee that rather than forcing holiday companies to be fair, they will do something ridiculous, such as the suggestion of staggering school holidays

They already are.

Surely the less well off dont buy holidays at all. My heart is bleeding for you!

Actually, we as a not very well off family either don’t, or we go camping on the fly, day by day as we can’t afford to book anything.
Due to the price hiking and school fines, we are stuck either way.

Leicestershire school hols are a week earlier than anywhere else… handy…

I signed the petition re the banning of term time absences. The “group” who got the 250k? signatures emailed yesterday to say they were disappointed that the debate was leaning more towards the pricing of holidays and not their initial reinstatement of the 10 days leave that was stopped recently. Personally we would consider the odd day but not two weeks away in term time.

Clipper, it’s frustrating I know, but it’s a reality. Airlines are not laughing all the way to the bank. The majority of them hardly make any money at all. Even when giants like BA post profits of £350 million pounds, well that just about buys 1 A380, and they’ve bought a fleet of them as well as a huge fleet of other aircraft. Hardly money grabbing…..teetering on the edge of bankruptcy more like.

Airlines have to buy aircraft to support a schedule of varying demand so they have to price high in the peak times so they can afford to run loss making services in the off peak times. Grounding aircraft in off peak times is not an option as they’re supporting a network and a grounded aircraft cost hundreds of thousands of pounds a day. They need to maximise the flying as much as possible.

It’s a bummer for us parents (and non parents too) but a reality.

Charging high prices for peak use periods is a standard method of restricting demand for limited capacity services. Its used in all industries with those kinds of restrictions.
Its not blatant profiteering you’re just getting a bit DailyMail on us.

Nothing will change.
Just the govt keen to be seen to do something for the popular vote.
Nothing will change.

I predict some classic trolling on here later though.

Just to clarify, it’s not just airlines, were going with euro camp, driving over, they’re still charging over twice for a couple of weeks later.

I was going to make a joke about politicians getting involved from the title and then saw the OP and read that they were????? Bizarre.

Prices go up when demand is at its highest. Which bit is news worthy?

One day makes a difference not just weeks. Easter holidays as an example. Fly east mids to Tenerife on either Good Friday easter sat/sun, was 300 more just for the flights.

As above. The prices aren’t hiked up in the holidays, they’re discounted outside of them. Holidays are not priced on a cost plus basis, they are priced to give the industry enough money over the year to get by. And they generally only just get by.

It’s one thing charging higher prices at times of higher demand, but some of the price hikes are bonkers! We are going to Portugal in May half term and we were quoted £3000 for 2 adults and 2 kids for a 2 hour return flight for a week.

Yep, blatent profiteering, only last year Thomas Cook was rolling in it:

Travel group Thomas Cook has announced it will cut 2,500 jobs in the UK and close almost 200 stores as it attempts to revive its profitability.
For the last financial year to September, the firm reported pre-tax losses of £485.3m.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21686547

A holiday is not a right, it’s a privilege if you can afford it.
People seem to think they are owed 2 weeks away at a price that suits them and grizzle when companies sell a non-essential for a profit.
It’s not milk/bread/electricity/healthcare/housing but a vanity purchase.
Deal with it.

A holiday is not a right, it’s a privilege if you can afford it.
People seem to think they are owed 2 weeks away at a price that suits them and grizzle when companies sell a non-essential for a profit.
It’s not milk/bread/electricity/healthcare/housing but a vanity purchase.
Deal with it.

Thatcher is alive and well!!!!

To be fair he does have a point!

It’s not like anyone forced you to have children….

Red funnel ferries blatantly price hike. No it isn’t the normal price with off peak being cheaper. £80 one way from the mainland? That sound ok for a 1 hr ferry?

Taking children out of education to obtain cheaper luxury goods.

Pretty **** disrespectful if you ask me

I don’t have kids but I sympathise with those of you who have. Staggering kids holidays does seem like a sensible idea, but then when have the (this) Government ever done anything sensible.
So with that I think you’ve got a long old fight on your hands, sorry.. 😐

To be fair he does have a point!

It’s not like anyone forced you to have children….

Erm, yes they did. My wife. Wasn’t my idea!

And even if she didn’t, you certainly don’t think ‘hang on, if we have these kids, we really need to consider that the Tories may change the regulations in 9 years time which means that, should we not be as affluent as we’d like, we won’t be able to give the kids a holiday without taking them out of school and therefore incurring a fine..?’…

I got on a train the other morning in rush hour. The bar stewards charged me twice as much compared to when its quiet. How dare they charge more at peak times.
Supply and demand.
I don’t have kids, please don’t ruin my really cheap term time holidays. 😀

I’m a teacher, so have to take holidays during school holidays. This year, we’re taking our kids (8 and 10) for their first foreign holiday, during May half-term. For the last ten years, we’ve gone to Scotland during the summer.

A foreign holiday is a luxury, not a right.