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Approx cost of flights for half term

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Evening all,

Now we're back from our half term trip, I'm trying to fend off the blues by thinking about next year's half term trip.

Am considering flying next time but I want to consider the flight costs now.

So what did your half term flights roughly cost - ball park figures will do, from say LGW or BHX (to GVA or TRN)? We will be 2 adults (well, I will try to be an adult) and 2 children.

It would be a SAT-SAT return flight.

Thanks in advance

Dave
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@jesus, not where you asked for, but we got half term flights with BA, 1 bag each for LHR to Oslo for not much over £400 for the 4 of us.
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@NickyJ, Wow, that is really good. Hadn't considered Northern Europe....
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@jesus, have put more details in the trip report (actually did the maths wrong it was £500 on flights). Sorry - we booked the car hire at the same time.
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@jesus, iirc there were some pretty low prices on Easy Jet as soon as the fights were released very early one morning - have a go with the search function on here I expect theres a thread about it...
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jesus wrote:
Evening all,

Now we're back from our half term trip, I'm trying to fend off the blues by thinking about next year's half term trip.

Am considering flying next time but I want to consider the flight costs now.

So what did your half term flights roughly cost - ball park figures will do, from say LGW or BHX (to GVA or TRN)? We will be 2 adults (well, I will try to be an adult) and 2 children.

It would be a SAT-SAT return flight.

Thanks in advance

Dave


When is half term? Dates please and we will check.

PS I thought your alter ego was Brian and not dave?
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We did the trip to GVA with easyJet for a few years in a row and it was typically £300 per person for a Saturday - Saturday flight. There were savings to be made if you were flexible on days and times.

The cheapest we ever found was last year where we managed three of us to Treviso for £400 but I suspect there was something odd going on there as we haven’t managed that before or afterwards.

You’ll often find people posting much lower flight prices but they’re often flying on a Friday or Monday rather than Saturday - Saturday.
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@jesus, I can confirm we did Sat - Sat (which we found reduced our accommodation options but there was still plenty of choice).

@GlasgowCyclops, it was 10th - 17th Feb for the one just gone for approx 80% (anecdotal guess) of the country.

For 2019 it is 16th Feb for us.
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@jesus, there are some early bargains to be had with easyJet but you need to be on the button literally seconds after the flights go on sale. They then climb rapidly. Sunday is cheaper and much less frantic on the roads - worth thinking about though accommodation choice less - in France at any rate.
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Thanks for replies so far.

Yes, I omitted when half term was/is....the dates are departing Sat 10th or Sat 17th Feb.

My hunch is that driving still works out far cheaper for a family (as the flight cost still needs transfers adding on).

Quote:

Sunday is cheaper and much less frantic on the roads


This is something I will look at - thanks @pam w
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If you have an Avios (formerly air miles) account then at the price it costs to buy Avios (c. 1.5p/Avios) it works out about £150-200 return per person on BA to Geneva with bags included. Clearly, if you buy avios cheaper or earn them "free" from flights or credit cards then the price is effectively lower. This is about the cheapest way to fly to Geneva at half term.

Since I value my Avios at 1p each, it works out c.£120 return per person for us.

As with Easyjet, you need to be ready to buy the instant the seats come on sale, just under a year in advance.

Normal BA prices are around £300-800/person return that week.
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@snowdave, I have been starting to look into this route for flights, my understanding is that there are only limited seats available that can be purchased using Avios points- is that correct? Can any be used for those peak half term seats?
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There's no simple answer. It depends how much hassle you're willing to put up with on transfers. We paid £174 for 2 adults, 2 kids, 3 bags and 4 sets of skis return at half term this year. Probably the cheapest half term flight ever.
Having said which it would probably have been another £120 for the luggse if we hadnt got it free from the ryanair pilots debacle in december.
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Quote:

my understanding is that there are only limited seats available that can be purchased using Avios points- is that correct


Correct. They get released 355 days before the flight and go quickly.

Quote:

Can any be used for those peak half term seats?


Maybe, but less likely. There will always be 'some' reward seats but it does vary depending on lots of factors incl. how busy the flight is expected to be.
They're also released according to BAEC status so Gold will see more seats first etc.
Making a regular booking with cash and then reducing the price with Avios is sometimes an option.
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NickyJ wrote:
@snowdave, I have been starting to look into this route for flights, my understanding is that there are only limited seats available that can be purchased using Avios points- is that correct? Can any be used for those peak half term seats?


Yes, they ALWAYS release 6 seats on every flight for Avios (4 economy, 2 business). They sell out within minutes for Feb half term.

They're released to everyone at the same time, gold card holders don't get first dibs.

However, golds do get additional seats (not usually at half term tho) or the option to get any seat on any mainline BA flight (heathrow or gatwick, not City) for double avios, even at peak times.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

They're released to everyone at the same time, gold card holders don't get first dibs.


Ah, I sit corrected - thanks Smile
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From Yorkshire we paid £250/pp for Sat-Sat flights including luggage. The sting in the tail was the £700 rtn private transfers between GVA and Tignes. Whichever way you look at it, driving is most flexible and cheapest.
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Easyjet are only about 8 months in advance. The flag carriers are about 11 months if using a search engine like google flights. However, booking direct you get them earlier.

BA is live for the 10th but return is not available yet for another week. Business class will not come down for months but if you fly the normal economy you may want to book one way just now and chance it rather than wait for the return available (because both flights will probably rise in price). Most of the fare is taxes so you are unlikely to get it any cheaper than the £46 (including one bag at 23kg). LGW to GVA

If it was me I would book this and get 4 seats for £184. Happy Expect the same in return when it goes live next week.

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PS don't pay to sit together. BA will put you all together (or at least with one adult) if your children are small.
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NickyJ wrote:
@snowdave, I have been starting to look into this route for flights, my understanding is that there are only limited seats available that can be purchased using Avios points- is that correct? Can any be used for those peak half term seats?


Don't just look at the Avios redemption tickets. Choose your ticket and then see how much you can lower it using AVIOS. Then you get the exact flights you want and will always be able to reduce the price. We tested this recently and from London it seems redemption was way better but from regional airports, using AVIOS cash-reduction was better.

So check both.
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@GlasgowCyclops, for next year half term is going out on 16th so not up yet.

I have wondered about doing booking the two legs separately.

Are there any down sides to this?

When I have played with there prices in the past I have notice that if you just do a single leg you get a hired price for the next outward leg than if it was part of a return flight. I have also noticed the outward leg flight price changes dependant on your return date
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@NickyJ, yup, I think vast majority of England is 16th for half term; pretty sure we won't be seeing prices like those for next weekend!

On Avios to GVA, two one ways is never (in my experience) any more expensive than a return, and sometimes cheaper. it's definitely more flexible if you need to change something. On cash fares the return price often varies depending on the outbound price, class of travel etc.
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NickyJ wrote:
@GlasgowCyclops, for next year half term is going out on 16th so not up yet.

I have wondered about doing booking the two legs separately.

Are there any down sides to this?

When I have played with there prices in the past I have notice that if you just do a single leg you get a hired price for the next outward leg than if it was part of a return flight. I have also noticed the outward leg flight price changes dependant on your return date


As you mention, a single can be (and usually is) more expensive than the same leg in a return. The only downside that I can think of in taking cheap singles out would be a risk that the return is stupidly expensive for some reason.
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Birmingham to Salzburg return for 3 of us. Included: 3 x 23kg luggage, 3 x ski carriage, seat reservation, snack and drink. Approx £900 with Eurowings.

We left it quite late to book so didn’t get the best price, but it was the best of what was about (to Salzburg) at the time. Interestingly there were a few seats free on the way there and loads coming back (flight back was a ridiculous 6.45am).
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Themasterpiece wrote:
NickyJ wrote:
@GlasgowCyclops, for next year half term is going out on 16th so not up yet.

I have wondered about doing booking the two legs separately.

Are there any down sides to this?

When I have played with there prices in the past I have notice that if you just do a single leg you get a hired price for the next outward leg than if it was part of a return flight. I have also noticed the outward leg flight price changes dependant on your return date


As you mention, a single can be (and usually is) more expensive than the same leg in a return. The only downside that I can think of in taking cheap singles out would be a risk that the return is stupidly expensive for some reason.


Singles for that day are still £46 which is on the 10th (one of the OP's dates). The problem about waiting for a return is... so is everyone else.

If you wait for a return may be £76 out and back (£30 more on the out leg). So if you book at £46 as long as you get less that £106 on the return it is still cheaper.

The real benefit of booking on the 10th (one of the OPs dates) is you get out for £46 and if BA are more expensive on the way back you silly wait for EZY to go live and et them on the way back.
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IE mix and match different airlines.
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GlasgowCyclops wrote:
IE mix and match different airlines.


You can also fly back from a different airport if there is a transfer or pay the hire car drop off fee (something like £70 when I've dropped cars back at different places, in the same country I note).
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If you're prepared to change aircraft, especially if coming from somewhere other than London then I managed to get a great deal from KLM/Transavia Birmingham to Salzburg via Amsterdam for £260 including hold baggage of 20KG on each flight. 45 mins to Ski Amade from there.
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Back in the day I would stay up until midnight plus a few seconds on day 355 for BA flights to Geneva.
I would be booked for four people within 15 seconds!
By 6am when I checked on my way to work the cost would always be +£100 extra per person.
Even with that scheme it was around £200 per person, and that was 10 years ago.
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From experience, and conversations with a very senior industry figure, I think that the pricing algorithms have got vastly smarter in the last 2 years. It'll be interesting to see if airline prices are low for even the first few seconds for this Feb half term (BA for lastcople of years no longer starts low at midnight, it now starts with only full fare tickets and cheaper ones emerge over following months). It strikes me as odd that an airline will sell _any_ cheap LON-GVA seats for that week. BA also cut its frequency a bit this season and consolidated a couple of flights.

I generally get up at midnight to grab a few Avios seats, but have to admit to being lazy last year and deciding a full night's sleep was worth paying an extra 18k Avios to get the seats at a later date.
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snowdave wrote:
From experience, and conversations with a very senior industry figure, I think that the pricing algorithms have got vastly smarter in the last 2 years. It'll be interesting to see if airline prices are low for even the first few seconds for this Feb half term (BA for lastcople of years no longer starts low at midnight, it now starts with only full fare tickets and cheaper ones emerge over following months). It strikes me as odd that an airline will sell _any_ cheap LON-GVA seats for that week. BA also cut its frequency a bit this season and consolidated a couple of flights.

I generally get up at midnight to grab a few Avios seats, but have to admit to being lazy last year and deciding a full night's sleep was worth paying an extra 18k Avios to get the seats at a later date.


I was suspicious this had happened with the searches I did last year thanks for confirming.

For last year we had decided we wanted the flights to Oslo which cheap ones we released as it isn’t a popular uk Feb half term destination.
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We are on half term this week and our flights LGW to Milan Malpensa cost less than £200 for four of us, including 2 23kg hold bags. Sat-Sat. Booked on the 5th Jan.
But I guess that maybe because more schools were on holiday last week?
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snowdave wrote:
From experience, and conversations with a very senior industry figure, I think that the pricing algorithms have got vastly smarter in the last 2 years. It'll be interesting to see if airline prices are low for even the first few seconds for this Feb half term (BA for lastcople of years no longer starts low at midnight


Yes that was my experience last year booking for half term just gone. I stayed up till BA released them at 335 days, (from memory I think it was at midnight, but I could be mistaken) I was hitting refresh, straight in the second they were released, and they came out at around 300-400 pp each way! Needless to say I gave them the proverbial two fingers, closed my laptop lid, put my wallet away and 355 days later I drove, the full return journey for four of us including hotel each way costing us a tad more than BA wanted for 1 person just for flights. I expect a level of peak time price differentiation but I point blankly refuse to pay a jump from 45 quid each way to 300-400 pp.
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Yes, I think the BA pricing algo is about the smartest, but it's the Easyjet one I'm watching this time (purely out of interest, I almost never pay for flights).
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Avoid Saturday - sure to be expensive. Italy (Milan at least) is usually a much cheaper alternative and Italy is significantly quieter than France at half term in my experience.
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@snowdave, i would say easyjet have a similar system to BA, every year i try and see if I can get cheap flights for half term with easyjet, albeit flying out to either geneva/lyon/grenoble, and each time the flights are ridiculous to start off with. Even though I had all ready to drive this half term, I priced the flights out of interest, and they came out to £2800 for the 4 of us, after you take into account baggage, sitting together (kids!!), and transfer/car hire etc.

whereas we have a budget figure of about £800 to drive all in!!

the £2k saving pays for accommodation and lift passes!
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Yorkshire_Matt wrote:
From Yorkshire we paid £250/pp for Sat-Sat flights including luggage. The sting in the tail was the £700 rtn private transfers between GVA and Tignes. Whichever way you look at it, driving is most flexible and cheapest.


We paid circa £1600 for Manchester->Turin but got away with a £220 fee for a "group private transfer" (a combination of minibuses, cars and a coach).

Looking forward to HT 2019 where we appear to be the only school in the UK with HT starting on 25th Feb and prices for ski jollies that week look on the low side.
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@terrygasson, thanks for that - was that the price as soon as the flights came out or a few hours later? I'm aware easy have a good algo, but I thought it was historically based on rate of demand buildup, so the first few people booking got a good price and then it "learnt" and ramped the price aggressively.
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dw832 wrote:
Avoid Saturday - sure to be expensive. Italy (Milan at least) is usually a much cheaper alternative and Italy is significantly quieter than France at half term in my experience.


Our 2019 half term coincides with 2 French region half terms, hence considering Italy and therefore flights. But driving for us is about 700 return, inc fuel, tolls, crossings, hotels, meals, coffees...

2020 is the critical year for us as our eldest changes school and the next one is a lot stricter on term time absences, so missing the last Fri may well not be an option, which would make a drive to the Alps more of a challenge Sad
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