Time your holiday right

If your children have not yet reached school age you can avoid high season premiums and take them on a holiday whenever it suits you. You will get better choice, emptier beaches, better rates, less restrictions and better service if you can travel out of school holidays or at least in the shoulder periods. Consider the fact that the UK for example have shorter school holidays than Ireland and this can affect bookings and demand. 

If you are confined to school holidays try booking when it is not as expensive. You might find for example that is cheaper in the last week of August when parents are keen to be home to get ready for the back to school frenzy than the first week in August. Our school calendar for Ireland may help you. Look at midweek flights which are better value.

In most cases you will need permission to take children out of school during term time and depending on the age of your child it can be hard to get authorisation. If you can point to exceptional circumstances such as returning to your own country for family reasons such as a funeral or a wedding, the illness of a family member or a close friend, a period immediately after an illness or a crisis of some sorts you will stand a better chance. It is highly unlikely that your child's school will accept a request based on cheaper accommodation and tickets and this is something you will need to deal with. The older your child gets the more rigid a procedure is applied.

Tips for top travel savings

Think about taking a weekend the other way around and take the Monday off rather than the Friday. Flights are cheaper that way and Sunday nights are generally cheaper in hotels than Fridays as business travellers have not yet arrived. You could also try the Saturday to Tuesday option.

Book early as prices are generally lower and be flexible if you can to get the best deals for flights as well as packages. For hotels you will save more if you hold off but may not get what you want so their is a trade off. You can get late deals on packages for sure but with supply tightening in some cases such bargains cannot be guaranteed or suitable for the family holiday you want.

Depending on your child's school, mid terms and half terms may be different to the rest of Ireland or say the UK so try to capitalise on this.

Airlines allow you to sign up for their sales and newsletters and they are having such great sales at the moment that it is worth checking on a regular basis.

Private national schools and secondary schools also have longer summer holidays and a summer holiday in June is likely to be cheaper than in July and August.

Do not forget the travel agent  can put together some great bargains under inclusive rates which can often mean you get the cost of a weekend or a long haul stopover for a few days in a five star hotel can be cheaper than the flight if booked alone. Ask about these fares called IT fares.

Watch shoulder periods and book at either end if you can.The last week in August is usually a good bit cheaper than earlier in the month as is the last week in the Easter holidays when compared to the peak of midterm if you are thinking of a ski break.

Critical dates differ for short haul and and long haul and pricing for long haul is very seasonal and priced on the date you leave. A day either side can make a huge difference so do try out a few dates if you have flexibility or ask your travel agent to look at these specifically. 

Time the booking right

The price of your holiday can be affected not only by the time you want to holiday but also by the time of your booking.Tuesday lunchtime and the first day of the month are supposed to be the busiest days. Try a Sunday morning as there will be less people online and new rates are often loaded up on a Saturday night.

One tip to see how many seats are left a particular price is to note the price for one and then try to book for nine people. If the price increase you will know then that there is not much time left before for the cheap price goes up.  

You will find lots of family friendly travel tips and advice in our research and advice section to help you book the right family holiday. Check out also the experiences of other parents and travellers in our parents forum and add your own experiences as we are a great believer in real parent's experiences as the best measure of whether somewhere will suit you for your family holiday. 

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