Supreme Court hope for families facing price hike for half-term holidays
Ruling could be good news for dad Jon Platt who has been dragged to court after refusing to pay a fine for taking his daughter out of school for Disneyland trip
FAMILIES face huge price hikes on half-term holidays that can add hundreds of pounds to breaks.
Schools punish families who take children away in term time - meaning families are at the mercy of higher flight and hotel costs.
The new half-term holiday price differences come in a report released ahead of landmark Supreme Court ruling tomorrow on taking kids out of class - which might give hope to parents.
Comparing 120 return flights from eight airports across the UK, the report by FairFX found a flight during half term costs an average of THREE times more than the same flight earlier in the month - with some differences far bigger.
For example, East Midlands to Venice a return flight departing during half term is over nine times (844 per cent) more expensive (£406) than travelling just two weeks later (£43)
And Birmingham to Lanzarote will cost you 376 per cent more to travel in half term. A half-term return flight costs £376 compared to just £79 two weeks earlier.
And it’s not just flights which have soared in price as the schools break up - package holidays followed the same trend.
A family trip to Barbados with Virgin Holidays rockets in price by £7,000 in half term.
It would cost just over £2,919 in early February. But just one week later, when half term hits, the cost is an astonishing £9,914 – an uplift of 240 per cent.
Related Stories
A trip to Algarve with Hays Travel is pricier too. A visit to Albufeira during half term for a family of four clocks in at £1,200 – three times more than the previous week at £397.
And in the Canaries, a spot of winter sun in Fuerteventura nearly doubles with First Choice (from £1,844 to £3,393) and is 80 per cent more with an Airtours trip to a kids resort (from £1,170 to £2,102) just for travelling during half term.
Despite winning a High Court ruling last summer, he now faces an appeal by Isle of Wight Council at the Supreme Court in what is set to become a landmark ruling.
Ian Strafford-Taylor, boss of FairFX, said: “There is a huge debate about whether families should be allowed to take children out of school for holidays but with incredulous price rises, it’s clear to see why. There’s an obvious supply and demand mechanic behind pricing strategies but with the cost of holidays being hiked up to nine times over, that’s downright scandalous. The cost of holidaying outside of term time can leave families feeling they have no other choice but to take their child out of school until the issue of overpricing is addressed.
“As a consumer champion, we’ve campaigned over the school holiday price scandal for some time now and, despite national outcry and a legal battle reaching the Supreme Court, the industry has not yet listened to the plight families are facing up and down the country.”