My Jet Set Travel

Archive for April, 2009

Due to the recent outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico Thomson Holidays have cancelled all flights to Mexico until the 8th of May.
If you still want a holiday why not try Turkey or Cape Verde?

Yes, random I know, but I have just seen Dom Joly’s Excellent Adventure and surprisingly Syria looks a rather interesting place to visit. I’m slightly worried by its ‘axis of evil’ status, however, I’m sure the ancient ruins (with out the tourists) will be worth the trip.

Now, how do I convince my friend to travel with me?

There is another random place I’d like to visit but i’ll save that for a later post.

Cheap all inclusive holidays to Turkey are surprisingly good value for money, even in peak season; and they offer something that you don’t normally see at all inclusive resorts unless you are prepared to pay for them – water slides.

Of course the water slides are not the only criteria I use for choosing a hotel to stay in (although they do go a long way to persuading me). When we took family holidays all inclusive resorts were out of the question. They were so expensive it was just not worth it. Now I have changed my mind. The cheap all inclusive holidays to Turkey I have been looking at are only about £200 more expensive for a family of 4 for two weeks, compared to a self catering apartment. I don’t know about you, but when I am on holiday I do not want to be slaving over a hot stove. So we tend to eat out and let others do the hard work. When you add the cost of the food to the holiday, plus the drinks around the pool when you’re soaking up the sun, the pennies soon mount up, way above the initial £200 all inclusive premium.

Of course there are going to be some discrepancies between the all inclusive and other boards, but the difference in price has closed a lot. If you are happy to eat every meal in the hotel, drink around the pool and do some activities that are on offer then cheap all inclusive holidays to Turkey (or elsewhere) are great value for money.

Another thing that I have found is that when you are searching for hotels independently try asking whether they do an All Inclusive option. We did this when we booked our hotel in Zanzibar and the premium was only an extra £20 per person per night. When you consider that all the drinks, activities and food was included I reckon we saved ourselves some hefty pennies; especially since the food prices were not cheap. It was convenient as well. We were quite far from an ATM machine and had little cash left other than the $20 departure tax. Not having to worry about having cash to pay for everything was a great weight off our shoulders.

P.S. About Zanzibar. I have been meaning to post about our trip to Tanzania, so stay tuned!

According to this BBC report Britons are seriously reconsidering holidaying in the Eurozone due to poor exchange rates. It has always been the case that holidays to Europe have been cheap largely because of the strength of the British pound. Now that the British pound has fallen in value the usual European holiday hotspots are feeling the pinch.

Its another sad side effect of the current economic situation, and as the report states last minute holidays may not hold the bargain that they once did. Booking early is more likely to get the bargain people are looking for.

What are the options. Well, there are still holiday hotspots within easy reach of Europe that offer better value for money. Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Tunisia and Cape Verde still offer deals because they are not as affected by the fall in the strength of the British pound.

For those who are really feeling the pinch there really is nothing more to offer than the hope of a better summer than the last two. The economic slump will not last forever, better days are coming!

The one thing that should be the travel industry’s primary concern is to make peak season holidays just as affordable as term-time holidays. The difference in price is astonishing. Fortunately there are holidays to Turkey in October that offer great value for money, with a 5 star all-inclusive resort coming in at under £1600 for a family of four.

The great thing about holidays to Turkey in October is that the weather at that time of year is a pleasant average of 26 degrees; a lot warmer that many popular European alternatives, and there is plenty of things to do.

Whichever resort you chose (Bodrum, Dalaman or Antalya) there are plenty of beaches, scenic excursions, fun activities such as water parks and ancient ruins to explore. You can fly from virtually any UK regional airport as well. Holidays to Turkey in October are an ideal solution for a cheap getaway.

The current economic situation has had me thinking. Will people still go on their summer holidays? My mother seems to think that the one thing people will not give up on is their holidays.

I am thinking that people will not totally give up their summer holidays, more change what their original plans are. Summer holidays are a hard commodity to give up on.

Rather than give up their summer holidays altogether, it seems likely that they will opt for cheaper holidays abroad; heading for Spain rather than the Caribbean. Holidays abroad will not be as affected as most people might think because it is often just as expensive (or even more expensive) to take a holiday in the UK, where the weather doesn’t always play ball.

What do you think? Will you sacrifice your summer holiday? Let us know!