Tips for Booking Flights during School Holidays?

schwinn on 31/01/2018 - 13:07

Hi All,

As parents of kids that have started school, our holiday periods are slowly being squeezed into the peak with all other families. Worst of all, airlines all know the dates of school holidays so most of the discounts do not apply during the school holidays.

Any tips about booking holidays during peak periods? For example, there was once that 20% off Qantas Reward Flights that covered school holidays too, but those are few and far in between. Biggest kicker is flight costs - nowadays have plan to stay locally but still dream of going internationally occasionally.

Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you.

Travel

Comments

  • dasher86 on 31/01/2018 - 13:51
    +3

    find prices that you think are reasonable and book straight away.

    • schwinn on 31/01/2018 - 13:59

      How far ahead do you book? 1 year? 6 months?

      • altomic on 31/01/2018 - 15:45
        +2

        I book up to 12 months in advance. it depends when the flights come out.

        they usually fall mostly with school holidays

        Last Oct I booked a trip to the US in April - $2400 for 4 (2 adults + 2 kids) - kids will miss 3 days of school.

        Last Oct also I booked another trip to Japan in September $1154.75 for 4 (2 adults + 2 kids) Last Oct I booked - kids will miss 2 days of school.

        • schwinn on 31/01/2018 - 16:09

          Those are amazing prices!! So 2 international trips for you this year, Japan and USA!

          I assume your 2 kids have no difference in fare prices - out of curiosity how old are they?

          How did u find the fares (which carrier/sale was it)? Were you just cashed up and pounced on a great deal of flights?

        • altomic on 31/01/2018 - 18:19

          @schwinn:kids rates are slightly lower. I find my cheap flights here on ozbargain. Japan is via jetstar and US with Fiji air. Last year we went to Vietnam, Japan, India and China thanks to cheap deals. If I see a cheap deal then I grab it. Though I'm not going to book any more cheap international trips for this year
          Unless a cheap Bali or NZ price comes up.

        • schwinn on 01/02/2018 - 11:42

          @altomic:
          I just saw, and had quick squiz but for some reason there are no departure flights available at all! haven't got time to tinker with it.

          Thanks for the update.

      • Kiwibigspender on 08/03/2018 - 16:58

        don't rely on the internet only. Often bricks and mortar travel agents have deals you can't even find online.

        For example, we went to USA one Xmas & flew Qantas out & Fiji Air back & it was much cheaper than Qantas both ways & Fiji Air both ways & we did an extensive search online & through agents, as there were 7 of us to pay for.

        As far as I know, you can't search Qantas outbound & Fiji Air inbound anywhere online & travel agents have an exclusive deal on this combination. Phoned Qantas & Fiji Air & neither could sell us this combination.

        Lastly, heard about some new flights to USA starting mid-December with a Euro or uk airline & it's not BA or Virgin Atlantic. Apparently, there will be an announcement in 4-6 weeks, with some opening specials, cheaper than anything out there, even cheaper than the long way via China + heard them say it will offer better services than Qantas, although that wouldn't be hard.

  • singlemalt72 on 31/01/2018 - 13:52
    +6

    Firstly - don't be conned into thinking school holidays are the only time to travel. Honestly, until about year 10 there is no real problem in taking your kids out of school for a few weeks to travel (even if schools frown on it).

    Kids will learn more in a week of international travel than a month in the classroom, especially if you challenge them (working with foreign currency, working out value for money, asking questions in other languages, plus the history and geography they learn among other things).

    I regularly take my daughter out of school each year with a week or so either side of holidays to maximise what we can do and the places we can go.

    Jump on the Australian frequent flyer website for the best tips in travelling and booking, there are even people on the forums who will do the leg-work and find you the best deals for a small 'finders fee'.

    Though Frequent Flyer points deals are not as good in Oz as the USA, look into AMEX and visa credit cards with points deals (between my wife and I we have accumulated in about 8 months 280,000 Amex gateway points, 200,000 QFF points and 150,000 velocity points - just regular spending plus a few small home renovation jobs).

    • schwinn on 31/01/2018 - 13:59
      +1

      Thanks for that. We did consider taking them outside of holidays, but then that leaves us with more costs for daycare during the actual holidays when they have nowhere to go, but need looking after whilst we are at work!

      Generally we are open to a few destinations at a time, eg, at any point we know we have interests in going to Singapore/Malaysia (have family there), Japan, or NZ - so in that way we keep our options open too.

      We have racked up about 300K in QF pts too, but haven't seen any deal exciting enough to jump at. Thanks for your input.

    • Cheapo Moose on 31/01/2018 - 15:30
      +1

      I second this. We have 3 young kids and have taken them on a few holidays, none of which were during "school holidays".

      It gives you must more flexibility and of course cheaper costs.

      As singlemalt says, until they're in their senior years, missing a couple of weeks of school isn't going to negatively affect them in the slightest.

      All the best.

    • Cyphar on 31/01/2018 - 16:38
      +1

      Yep, completely agree with that! I also run a budget travel blog which has been building in popularity and noticed an influx of parents coming on board through FB. Naturally, I also take my kids travelling for 1 or 2 weeks a year without any issues

      I was in Singapore last year and a family had been travelling around the world for 18 months, 2 months per country, and their kids were booked in to a local school in each country. Can you imagine the experiences they would have had! I was so jealous.

    • Randxyz123 on 31/01/2018 - 17:15

      You can leave a few days before and come back a few days after to avoid the school holiday rush.

      As for saving your points for a “deal”. I’m not sure what sort of deal you’re after. If you see seats for dates you want just do it. It’s very rare for any sales to come up.

  • djkelly69 on 31/01/2018 - 14:24
    -1

    Locate lube, apply liberally.

  • Youfah Mizzum on 31/01/2018 - 14:28
    +2

    Using QFF points don't change whether in school holidays or not. Because it's based on mileage/destination not time of year.
    It's buying tix for cash where the fluctuations are. The caveat with using points is ya gotta do it 1 year out (or 353 days out to be exact), depending on the route I think. That's when Qantas release reward seats.

    Buying cash tix - best do it as far out as possible. I've waited for deals/discounts/bargains a few times previously and they simply don't happen. I've watched the same seats just increase and increase. Best bet is just get them as far in advance as possible. That'll get you the cheapest.

    • schwinn on 31/01/2018 - 14:39

      Thanks euphemism (great name). Wasn't aware of the 353 day rule. What exactly do you mean, if I book it less than a year out, I will miss out?

      • Cyphar on 31/01/2018 - 16:40

        if I book it less than a year out, I will miss out?

        Pretty much. International reward flights are highly sought after with extremely limited availability. While I can use my points to book a flight to PER or ADL for tomorrow, if I want to use my points to go to NRT or SIN, at least with QF, it's quite hard (Though not impossible) to find flights that suit my dates.

        So the best bet is to book them the day the seats are made available.

    • JimB on 31/01/2018 - 15:14
      +1

      "Buying cash tix - best do it as far out as possible. I've waited for deals/discounts/bargains a few times previously and they simply don't happen. I've watched the same seats just increase and increase. Best bet is just get them as far in advance as possible. That'll get you the cheapest."

      I've found the cheapest fares are released a day or two after I purchase my seats. Always. Without fail. :D

    • Kiwibigspender on 13/03/2018 - 12:31

      catch with dodgy Qantas ff pts is, you almost always won't get any in school hols, or if you can one way, you won't the other & one way fares can be expensive (much more than 1/2 cheapest return fare).

      So outside school hols when you can get ff seats in both directions ………….

      Other catch with Qantas is the fuel surcharges. Looked at SYD/LAX/SYD a while back & their fuel surcharges & taxes came to about $600 something, whereas at same time could I could fly Fiji Airways, a far superior airline to poor ol qantas for $799 return & no points required. The other benefit with Fiji air is you can have a stopover in fabulous FIji,

      or use qantas pts to fly on Fiji air & points required about the same approx. 96,000 return, but taxes only $220 ish/adult & much less for kids.

      Agree with Youfah, the earlier the cheaper for school hols, EXCEPT, if you go in one direction, just outside school hols, it might get cheaper.

      NOTE: it seems most schools do stuff all, the last week of final term each year.

  • tanksinatra on 31/01/2018 - 15:52
    +1

    Any tips about booking holidays during peak periods?

    Its a tricky question. Peak periods mean that demand outstrips supply. Hence airlines don't release seats in lower fare buckets and can charge what they want. There won't be any promotional fares. Christmas period is the worst.

    Book early
    Consider using low cost carriers.
    Try to travel mid-week.

  • try2bhelpful on 31/01/2018 - 18:27

    Have a chat to the teacher and find out what is considered "down" time for the kids and see if you can take them during that period. They stop actually teaching the kids before the end of the year so you might be able to scoot out early.

    • schwinn on 01/02/2018 - 10:02

      Thanks - I think at my kids current age (reception, ELC/daycare) the content will be low - Just that I do pay for private school so I am partially to blame for the dilemma, having to consider the cost paid for school vs going on a holiday.

      • try2bhelpful on 01/02/2018 - 10:04

        My understanding is private schools are usually more open to kids being taken out early. You can always ask the teacher to give you some work for the kids to do when they are away so they don't miss out.

  • Hoju on 01/02/2018 - 07:27

    We gave up trying to use our points as there was never anything available and taxes were too high.
    We ended up selling all our points on OzBargain and using the money to buy tickets. Much better value and flexibility from our point of view.
    The other thing we have done recently is to set up a price watch with Jetstar for the flights we wanted. Then when the cheapest fares came up we were able to book for five of us to Hawaii for about $2800. Not the cheapest of course but it was during school holidays so pretty good

  • schwinn on 01/02/2018 - 10:04

    Thanks, will try to setup the pricewatch as you said. How did u feel selling it, officially it's not permitted, etc - I know that guy who's buying them (he's probably reading this thread) and he's offered to buy before.

    • Hoju on 01/02/2018 - 10:28

      Initially I was cautious but the whole process was so smooth and easy, it happened over a year ago and there have been no repercussions

  • SlickMick on 01/02/2018 - 12:04

    My information is 40 years old, but back in the day you could tell the teacher you're taking holidays (or sick) and they'd give you the work to do at home.

    It was really exciting taking a holiday while all the suckers were at school, and being "home schooled" for a change almost made it fun. Then I still got the holidays at home too.

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