I have to be honest the thing I was most stressing about when our little boy started school was finding school holiday travel deals and losing the freedom to book a bargain. I know what I think represents value for money and an arbitrary price hike for 13 weeks of the year is *not it*.
I’m nothing if not stubborn and was determined not to be beaten by ‘The System’ and in our first year we landed a Half Term long weekend in Spain for £500 (when the same weekend at Centre Parcs cost £1200!!) and a holiday at a luxury resort in Cyprus for around half the price of the going rate. What makes the biggest impact is mastering airmiles and loyalty point systems and this is where I unpack that in more detail. I should note that I am no financial expert but this is an honest account of what I have learned so far:
Capitalise on flight (and accommodation) sales
We utilise the January and flash flight sales for airlines to book flights and holiday packages for the best school holiday travel deals. An example of this is an Easter holiday week in a 5* hotel in Cyprus: booking the hotel alone the rate was £600 per night but we got the whole trip for £429 a night inclusive of flights using the British Airways January sale. It takes a bit of front loading to buy a few flights at the beginning of the year, but you can spread the cost by only paying the deposit and delay paying for the whole trip until nearer the time.
Gather and use airline points
I admit, I have become a points freak. We have been able to increase the amount of times each year we can travel by leaning into this and these are my top three tips:
- Frequent flyer numbers: Each member of the family needs an individual frequent flyer number where all points are pointed towards a household account to build up points. We use both Avios and Virgin Flying Club.
- Stay loyal: Building up loyalty over time pays off, we do this by flying with British Airways or Virgin Airlines any time we fly. This is because British Airways are attached to Avios and our BA Amex, so there are lots of opportunities to earn points and their list of destinations is extensive. Virgin have a smaller list of destinations but their reward system of airmails is generous, so if you are flying to any Virgin destinations they are worth looking at building up a loyalty with.
- Download the Avios app: We have connected all our Avios from credit cards and airmiles through the Avios app. We also shop via the app which boosts points on things we would buy anyway (for example when we buy school uniform we boost our Avios points shopping with Marks and Spencer).
- Booking reward flights: Reward flights are released a year in advance, this is the best time to book as this is when availability is highest. While you can secure flights nearer the time for more off-the-beaten-track destinations or out of season, peak flights will fly off the shelf. We get around one (buy one get one free) Companion Voucher from our BA Amex per year and we spend that a year in advance on reward flights. You can also book reward flights using airmiles but the same rules apply! Although it takes some long range planning its certainly worth it to take significant cost out!
Other loyalty and cashback programmes
- Hotels: Hotel loyalty is especially useful if you travel a lot with work and are able to build up brand loyalty quite easily. We are members of the Hilton and Hyatt loyalty programmes which offer benefits such as drinks packages, room upgrades and reward night stays.
- Car hire: We love the flexibility of hiring a car and have loyalty with Hertz, which gets us 10% off the best available rate and allows us to build up rewards for free-driving days.
- Cashback: As well as the normal cashback sites, such as Top Cashback it’s worth looking at the cash back deals offered by your bank and credit cards and getting to grips with your Employer Benefit Scheme if they have one. Most large employers will be members of a scheme where you can have discounted membership for things like car hire and extensive cash back deals.
Utilise inset days
We utilise inset days that are tagged on to a school holiday to travel at a slightly cheaper price. That first Saturday of a half term is a killer for inflated costs, but the Thursday night or Friday tend to be more reasonable and enables us to find the best school holiday travel deals.
Take a risk on the weather (but choose destinations where that doesn’t need to matter!)
At the time of writing, we have travelled to the Costa Del Sol and Cyprus in February half term. These destinations are not ‘guaranteed’ good weather, although both ended up being fabulous sunshine holidays. We always hire a small car and pick destinations where there are ‘emergency’ days out we can rely on that would still make it an amazing trip (for example, in Marbella I had Ronda, Malaga and Mijas in my back pocket for a rainy non-beach day).
Choose unusual destinations
Later this year we are flying to destinations that are non-standard and more off-the-beaten path – this is a great way to still use reward flights and steer clear of destinations where there is a massive price hike at peak times (I’m looking at you, Greece in August…).
This is an ongoing project for us (until he’s 18!!) and so I will keep this blog updated as I go when I find new hacks. I would love to hear in the comments if any of these hacks work for you!
Happy bargain hunting my loves.
That Holiday Mum x