Beat holiday price hikes with my five hacks

I sometimes wonder if the holidays were invented so that smug singles without kids like me could experience the rip-offs that families regularly suffer during the school holidays.

I often hear from friends and readers about the eye-watering price increases that occur during the school holidays. If you want to know when your kids are free, just take a look at the cost of booking a week-long family holiday in the UK. The rapid increase in costs reflects the shortening of school holidays to the day.

These rewards are pervasive and unavoidable. Even though you typically can’t negotiate the price of hotel rooms, there are still ways to reduce costs.

Here is my list of secret savings tricks for the 2023 holidays.

Read more: 20 tips for saving money

Family tickets and free transport

It’s the extra costs that end up hurting you, and the same goes for holidays too. Eating and drinking in amusement parks. Parking fees in cities and the price of gasoline. Even souvenir stalls can catch out a careless visitor.

Are you planning a trip this holiday? Then take 15 minutes to identify all potential costs in advance. You can avoid expensive stand bills by, for example, bringing your own food and drinks. It’s even better if that’s not allowed – some rules are worth breaking. Most places are too busy to monitor your dinner.

When it comes to day trips, transportation is one of the biggest costs. Even if the car seems like a good option, I would consider leaving it at home. You could save money and time by avoiding roadworks, petrol stoppages and diesel costs.

Public transport has had a tough time of late, with some downright shocking price hikes on trains. But you can beat that with a Bahncard. Over 20 million Brits are eligible for one of these cards, but many people forget they exist. A Friends and Family rail card can save the average family £150 a year. It entitles you to a third discount on the rail fare for up to four adults. You also get a whopping 60% discount for up to four children between the ages of five and 15.

If you are not eligible for a student, youth or senior rail card, you can purchase a “Two Together” rail card with your partner or a friend. It’s just £30 a year – and you get a third off. I have a Two Together card with my best friend – it paid for itself within two trips.

How about a vacation in Egypt?

I mentioned in my column last week that I jumped on a plane to Iceland shortly after the economy collapsed due to a combination of bank failures and Gordon Brown’s unnecessary dispute with the Icelandic government. Yes, I had to pretend I wasn’t British for a week (with a terrible French “Allo Allo” accent), but I finally got to see a country that had been out of my price range for years.

This is known as “misery tourism” – a slightly exaggerated description of how a country’s misfortune can benefit a traveler. Simply put, when a country’s economy is struggling, you can take a bargain trip. It goes without saying that visiting an unstable country is a complete false economy. That’s why it’s important to check the travel advice on the Foreign Office website and read the news. But there are good offers – and you support this country by spending your money there too.

The Times highlighted that Egypt was a major draw for tourists after the country’s currency fell 43% in just six months. This reduces your vacation costs by around 17.5% compared to the previous year.

Other countries such as Turkey are also experiencing difficult currency times. This makes traveling there more attractive in terms of overall costs. Alternatively, a country does not need to be in crisis to offer good value for money. Portugal consistently ranks at the top of the list of cheapest destinations in Europe for most aspects of your vacation. It’s also breathtaking.

Read more: Tips for traveling on a budget

Use forgotten travel vouchers for a holiday vacation

The effects of the pandemic are still being felt in many industries. And what many of us have forgotten are the vouchers we were given for things we couldn’t do.

Once again it is travel vouchers where the big money is lurking. An estimated £643 million of unclaimed vouchers are waiting to be redeemed at BA and EasyJet alone. IAG, which owns five airlines, also reportedly has £533m worth of unclaimed vouchers. And that’s before we get to hotels and holiday camps. These vouchers have been extended multiple times, but you may need to redeem them before they expire. Some voucher terms and conditions may require you to start your holiday by the date stated on it. It is important that you check with the company to see if this applies to you.

However, to find the coupons you will have to do some email fishing. Companies haven’t made it easy to find notifications about your credit or when expiration dates are extended. Other companies have also introduced some unnecessary and complicated rules for redemption. For example, one airline wouldn’t allow me to use more than one travel voucher per booking. This happened despite the two vouchers I had for a single trip. If in doubt, call and discuss the litter.

In addition, you may need to redeem wellness vouchers, adventure days and gift cards.

If the expiry date has passed but it was not clearly visible or you were not sufficiently informed about it, file a complaint. Millions of dollars are lost every year due to unclaimed gift vouchers. Submit your complaint in writing and be willing to compromise. With a successful appeal you could have a lovely day.

Read more: What rights do I have to a flight refund?

Free holiday fun

If you do a little searching online you should find plenty of free events, festivals and activities for you and the whole family near you. There are plenty of Easter activities planned in our national parks, forests and forests that are fun and free. However, you may need to log in or subscribe to confirm a spot for some of the most popular events. Bring a picnic and an umbrella for the full April experience!

A big attraction for children is the Easter egg hunt. Numerous free egg hunts are currently available to book across the UK. My very rough count was at least 200. But book anyway – these are often the most overbooked events on public holidays.

If you’re visiting a city and spending a long weekend there, take a look at the city passes and see if it’s worth buying one. Most cities have these discount cards, which can be a bargain if you plan to visit multiple attractions. However, you usually have to be pretty motivated to get the best out of them. Increase admission prices for things you want to do. Then compare it to the price of the card to see if it is cost-effective.

Not everything makes it online. So if you’re staying local, stop by your library or community center to find things you may have missed where you live. You can also use local community groups on social media or WhatsApp to get a feel for what’s happening nearby.

Finally, you may find that entry to various attractions is slightly cheaper in the late afternoon. Yes, you don’t see everything you could wish for. However, if you’re up for a quick tour of a theme park or attraction, this can be a fun way to save some money.

Read more: Best rewards credit cards

Have a special sign-up email

If you really want to avoid the holiday family tax, set up a new email address

From dining discounts to free tickets and events, there are tons of coupons, freebies, and discounts for subscribing to a website or social media page. The downside, as you’ve probably experienced, is that your inbox will be blocked by 14,452 emails that you’ll never read.

Therefore, set up a separate email address just for offers and sign-up deals. Make sure you use a different password than your others. These websites sometimes get hacked and you don’t want to give scammers the digital keys to important services.

If you have a dedicated email address for deals, you can easily filter results by “deals,” “discounts,” “restaurants,” and “free events” when you enter those terms in the search bar. You can also mass delete the emails every few months.

My deals email currently contains 47 restaurant and dining discount offers, 10 discounted theater and show tickets, reminders of around 23 free Easter weekend events, and even some cheaper travel deals.