Beat school holidays rip off

School holidays advice: The travel industry has once again come under fire for rip off prices during the school holidays.

Package holidays are the most family friendly section of the market, as they regularly offer free child places and child fares.

Councils can and do issue parents with £100 fines for persistently keeping children off school for a variety of reasons.

So would you pay the fine, take your children out of school and save on average £800 on your holiday? It seems most of us would…

Many parents argue however, that holidaying with children in term time is not wrong, as parents cannot always take time off from work during the school holidays.

We have reported that package travel firms are “penalising more brutally than ever” parents who take children away during the school holidays.

It seems that families travelling over the Easter break could pay up to £2,300 more for their trip.

The National Association of Headteachers accused the travel industry of cashing in on the plight of responsible parents. A spokesman told the newspaper: “We know holiday companies are out to make a profit, but you have to ask how much.”

“As we’ve said for years, there are market forces are work. Prices rise during Christmas, Easter and August because they are also the main times for holidays in many different countries too, so pressure on flights and beds comes from all outbound markets – not just from the UK.