Expensive holidays?

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi all,

Firstly this is not a cry for help, we have been so lucky to have travelled to Florida so many times since our first holiday there in 1990.
Having been to the Keys, Naples, Sarasota, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando (of course) we can hardly complain.
From motels, to budget hotels, to luxury hotels and of course villa's we have stayed all over the place.
What now? well, if you had asked me after our 2006 holiday I would have said "never again", so many things went wrong, then followed 2 cancellations but finally last month we returned and had a great time, Joshua was a star.
Flying Premium Economy both ways made such a difference to his comfort and health on the flight, especially upstairs in the 'bubble' and the cabin crew were excellent too. It's so hard him being autistic and non verbal, seeing him suffer so much the previous holiday was horrible to say the least, so was delighted in turned out ok this time.
As for the future, to be honest we never thought of going next year, and with one or two other financial commitments to take care of it was never an option....until of course we got back from holiday last month!

Bearing in mind we can't consider Economy again realistically not being a snob (though that is reason enough!) ...but for the little lad's sake and also we are stuck with summer holidays now really, Julie is a teacher.

Pricing up 2010, cost is through the roof:
Fly Drive with Virgin - approx £4500 (bearing in mind inflated summer price, PE , fuel surcharges etc)
villa - approx £1000 (could be more could be less)
Spending Money - we have $1100 left over but will need at least another £1000 especially with the low exchange rate
Car Hire - usually book our own Minivan and tends to work out cheaper than an upgrade with Virgin, approx £350
Taxi to airport and back - approx £80
Insurance - approx £80
Park tickets - depends, we have disney tickets so I suppose it's whether we go to Universal/Sea World - if we do it will be a minimum of £200 perhaps
Now I was kind of thinking of staying on-site at a DVC resort as we really need cooking facilities, maybe Bay Lake, for 3 nights it could be approx £900 (educated guess)...and obviously now the cost is really out of control

Even dropping Universal/Sea World and DVC which seems a natural thing to do given the costs above - we are talking £7000, as an approx figure.
We can't do indirect flights, we have to fly to MCO and we have to upgrade to PE - all with Josh in mind.

Doesn't take an expert I suppose to see that the summer fly drive price £855 for adults and the PE upgrade which is around £1800 are the real culprits in all this.
So how much is too much? anyone else feel the same way?
I suppose after all this drivel, there is one other option, viva Benidorm?

 

[Claire L]

I would try costing up a flight with VA and then car hire seperate even in August you may get a better price than a VH flydrive. But agree that PE is a nice way to travel

Claire

 

[Claire L]

Even for August this year prices are £3600 for flights and then £500 for a minivan with paltinum ins. There are PE seats left for mid August so I would wait until September and see how things are then.

Claire

 

[Claire L]

Oh and Tues 4th to Tues 18th is coming out at just over £1070 a ticket for this August and I am sure next year wont be much more so that is looking good. I take it Josh is over the child ages for flights?

Claire

 

[jen_uk]

I know how you feel! I was bored the other day and decided to price up our holiday, if we were not DVC the exact holiday (excluding spending money)would have cost of over £5500!! I then priced up staying at Pop which we would do if we didn't have DVC and even that was £4400! There is no way we could have afforded to pay that, if we had not bought into DVC when we did we wouldn't be going to WDW anymore

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Yes Claire, he will be 13 next August (my little boy is getting old way too fast).
He is 'teen price' according to Virgin Holidays brochure/online etc which comes in around £120 less than adult price.

I did consider the booking just a flight option but didn't price up yet.

Funny thing is we can afford to go, but it's just an awful lot of money.

 

[wayneg]

For flights do you have 22,500 Virgin miles saved? PE miles & money are easier to get than economy.
They are still available for this August to give you idea of price, eg. 31st July-16th August 22,500 miles + £2,878.50 (from MAN)
Or look for the lower priced dates like Claire says, dates I just checked were £3,220.50 and you would earn 10,560 miles pp.
Fly drive is by far the most expensive way of going in August.
Hope you find a way to do it.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I know how you feel! I was bored the other day and decided to price up our holiday, if we were not DVC the exact holiday (excluding spending money)would have cost of over £5500!! I then priced up staying at Pop which we would do if we didn't have DVC and even that was £4400! There is no way we could have afforded to pay that, if we had not bought into DVC when we did we wouldn't be going to WDW anymore

Especially in the current financial climate Jen, though like I have said we have been lucky to have gone many times already.

For flights do you have 22,500 Virgin miles saved? PE miles & money are easier to get than economy.
They are still available for this August to give you idea of price, eg. 31st July-16th August 22,500 miles + £2,878.50 (from MAN)
Or look for the lower priced dates like Claire says, dates I just checked were £3,220.50 and you would earn 10,560 miles pp.
Fly drive is by far the most expensive way of going in August.
Hope you find a way to do it.

No Wayne, we totally totally messed up on the miles thingy, and were not even part of the flying club for a long time - Julie deals with that side, I think we have 10,000 or so.

To be honest as I said to Claire we have never booked flight only before, it's always been the fly-drive. And you know how that works, the prices drop right towards the end of August but that's no good for the school holidays if you go for 2 weeks.
I think late July it's £855 and then it increases to £885, end of the month I think its £550 or so! but too late by then.

It's not that we don't have the money, it's just the combination of all the things you pay for as part of the holiday, especially summer prices and PE seating. Just cannot put Josh through economy long haul flights again *based upon his special needs, no disrespect to the many Economy travellers on here*. £7000 is just crazy money, even without a Disney stay, I think the fuel surcharges and extras were over £1000 also.

 

[Claire L]

To be honest flight and car hire seperate is easy to do and alot cheaper than a fly drive, most of the time. Virgin Atlantic do have some good deals on at times.

Claire

 

[wayneg]

What about the miles from your last trip? you have upto 6 months to claim them and get added to your account.
Would seriously consider flight only, its no different to fly drive and booking your own car, just means paying all upfront when you book rather that a few weeks before you leave and waiting for a price you are happy with.
Totally understand its not about money, thankfully we have enough in the bank to fly upper every trip but I have a £500 limit on a flight, to me a flight is not worth any more whichever class seat it is, although I can see DS having a different view soon at age 14 and 6' 2" economy is getting cramped for him.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

What about the miles from your last trip? you have upto 6 months to claim them and get added to your account.
Would seriously consider flight only, its no different to fly drive and booking your own car, just means paying all upfront when you book rather that a few weeks before you leave and waiting for a price you are happy with.

They were the miles I was referring to

So I assume then we are talking about booking direct with Virgin Atlantic, if so and as Claire has said we wouldn't book as far in advance (usually at least a year on our past bookings) ?
Checked on their site - just goes up to April 2010.

 

[Claire L]

VA, as with all airlines, only have direct bookings 330 days from departure and with a return ticket this is from the date of the return flight.

Claire

 

[wayneg]

They were the miles I was referring to

So I assume then we are talking about booking direct with Virgin Atlantic, if so and as Claire has said we wouldn't book as far in advance (usually at least a year on our past bookings) ?
Checked on their site - just goes up to April 2010.

So you have 21,120 miles between you both? Then you would only need get 1380 to buy a Miles and Money fare. 2 easy ways to get the miles get a Virgin Credit card and use it once and they give you 3,000 miles or buy 2,000 for £45.

Yes its direct with VA, you can book from Sept onwards for next August still lots of availabilty now for this year. Its just down to you when to book when you see a price you are wiling to pay.

 

[wicket2005]

We have booked with Travel City Direct for next June, we stay onsite at Universal and need 2 rooms but booking with TCD as compared to the same holiday with Virgin saved us £3100. They use the same flights as Virgin and you can upgrade to PE, same terms and conditions as Virgin, manage your bookings takes you to the Virgin site. The only thing is it is a bog standard 14 days.

It may be worth you pricing a holiday up there and comparing it. I would add I am hoping it is all okay and we don't get a massive price hike.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

So you have 21,120 miles between you both? Then you would only need get 1380 to buy a Miles and Money fare. 2 easy ways to get the miles get a Virgin Credit card and use it once and they give you 3,000 miles or buy 2,000 for £45.

.

I honestly don't know mate, I assume it's 10,000 between us both based on 1 holiday.

We have booked with Travel City Direct for next June, we stay onsite at Universal and need 2 rooms but booking with TCD as compared to the same holiday with Virgin saved us £3100. They use the same flights as Virgin and you can upgrade to PE, same terms and conditions as Virgin, manage your bookings takes you to the Virgin site. The only thing is it is a bog standard 14 days.

It may be worth you pricing a holiday up there and comparing it. I would add I am hoping it is all okay and we don't get a massive price hike.

Thanks Bev - did see that on another post somewhere.

 

[jockey]

That really is expensive for one trip and is hard to justify. Have you even thought about Continental business class or BA. I know BA had an offer on 2 for 1 club world, maybe they will bring something similar out in time for your trip

 

[wayneg]

I honestly don't know mate, I assume it's 10,000 between us both based on 1 holiday.

A round trip MAN~MCO gives 10,560 miles for every traveller aged 12 and over. Do you both have a card? If only one of you have the miles on one card then that person can get the other to join thru Miles more friends http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/frequentflyer/miles_morefriends/index.jsp the new account would then be able to claim the other 10,560 miles(+ 3,000 bonus) and the original account gets a 5,000 mile bonus.
If you already both have accounts then you both should have 10,560.
How complicated is this getting?

I have heard TCD are doing Fly drives by phone now but not on their website. Probably still expensive but might be worth asking.

 

[VailaTigger]

Hope you find a way to reduce your costs a little, as that seems to be what you're looking for.

It's obvious that you want to do this trip, or you wouldn't have asked the question in the first place.

Yes, there are many many many cheaper ways to holiday out there (Spent every holiday as a child on the West Coast of Scotland in a caravan in the rain...), but it's not what it costs, it's what it means to YOU as a family. If you want to do it, and can afford it, then go for it. I certainly wouldn't advocate getting into debt... I'm of the old school who saves first, then spends, but you sound like you're being sensible.

I'm lucky enough to have travelled to some far-flung places, including WDW 3 times already. Going back next year, and I couldn't be more excited. Taking more people with me this time, and during school holls, so it's LOTS more expensive than my previous trips. But all calculated, and saved for in advance. Some of my friends would pass out at the amount we're spending on 2 weeks in Florida, but it's worth it to ME. Seeing two little faces light up is worth it. Life's too short, and I'm going to do these things while I can! I don't think I'm being wasteful, I'm just going without other things which just aren't as important to me.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

A round trip MAN~MCO gives 10,560 miles for every traveller aged 12 and over. Do you both have a card? If only one of you have the miles on one card then that person can get the other to join thru Miles more friends http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/frequentflyer/miles_morefriends/index.jsp the new account would then be able to claim the other 10,560 miles(+ 3,000 bonus) and the original account gets a 5,000 mile bonus.
If you already both have accounts then you both should have 10,560.
How complicated is this getting?

I have heard TCD are doing Fly drives by phone now but not on their website. Probably still expensive but might be worth asking.

ah I see 'each' I will have to stop posting on here and working at the same time!, Joshua was 12 when we went so maybe we have tripled up now! I will show this to Julie and yes, she has a Virgin Credit Card.

 

[Elise79]

ah I see 'each' I will have to stop posting on here and working at the same time!, Joshua was 12 when we went so maybe we have tripled up now! I will show this to Julie and yes, she has a Virgin Credit Card.

If anyone of you hasn't got aflying club account make sure you register and claim the miles

Its a Virgin Atlantic Amex card that gives you the miles - I should know they have rung me enough times trying to take one

Just wanted to say that I am glad to hear your trip this time was better than last and hope you get everything worked out so you can go next year

BTW totally understand the need for PE - we flew with DD at 9mths and were upstairs with her and the extra room and quietness of the cabin made the flight so much better for her and she doesn't have any 'special needs' (and DH appreciates the extra room as he is 6'3"!)