Going on holiday costs money, that’s a fact, but if you do not travel regularly like us it can be a bit for a shock adding up all the little extra’s that you need.
We are off to Turkey next week, leaving our eldest in charge of the house and the cat, which saves money putting her (the cat, not Abbey) in a cattery.
I had always assumed that travelling in Europe meant that as a British Citizen that you wouldn’t need a visa for any of the countries within the continent, however, it seems we need them for Turkey. They were really easy to apply for and all done online, but at $20 each plus an exchange rate charge, it was an extra £80 on our holiday.
Checking your passports are in date is important too and this year I had to replace Isaac’s and mine at a cost of £118. Thankfully are renewals are mostly spread out, I cannot begin to imagine renewing for the whole family at the same time.
Travel insurance is another important add-on to your holiday and I was surprised to find out that our European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) – which gives you access to reduced-cost emergency medical treatment within the European Union member states –
is not valid in Turkey. Whilst researching travel insurance I soon discovered that some insurers don’t cover Turkey as a European country at all, so we need worldwide cover. The comparison websites offered prices from as little as £16 and all the way up to £132 but thankfully we have annual travel insurance covered by our bank accounts.
Then, of course, you need clothes. With hubby and I it’s not too bad as we have summer clothes but these children all seem to grow at an alarming rate. I found that H&M have a brilliant range of inexpensive children’s clothes and managed to update Isaac, Eliza and Sebastian’s wardrobe for under £50 between them.
UV / sunsuits are important pool / beach wear to protect the kids from the sun, working alongside a good sun cream. Luckily Kian and Isaac’s from last year still fit, but I need to order Eliza and Sebastian a new set and have been stalking the Beach Factory website which has some fabulous offers at the moment.
Then there is the car. Our flight departs Heathrow at 7.30am meaning we have to get to the airport at 5.30am which means we have to drive. I had such a good experience with APH last year that we have booked them again. They meet you at the Terminal and take your car and park it securely when you leave and bring it back and meet you at the Terminal when you arrive home – brilliant! At a cost of almost £100 it’s not the cheapest option, but certainly the most stress free.
We did consider staying overnight in a budget hotel but as we are a family of 6 we would need two family rooms which is a cost which we just cannot justify on top of everything else.
Last year I went to Rhodes with Sebastian, who was a baby at the time. I took baby food and water for him to drink into the airport and was shocked when they made me throw the water away and opened all the baby food to ensure it was safe as I went through the baggage checks. They do have shops where you can buy this once you are through the checks, so my advise is to budget and buy food for the journey once you are there.
That’s £400 spent on top of the holiday cost, even before we get there and I have not even touched on spending money! Luckily we are going to an all-inclusive resort but we will still need money for excursions and some activities. I know Kian is desperate to do a Scuba Dive course and I want to get off site a couple of times during our week-long stay so we need to take money with us too.
Do you go abroad regularly – have I missed anything?
No we don’t go abroad regularly, not as a whole family anyway. My older kids go and visit their dad in St Tropez at least once a year and at the moment they are the only ones with current passports. It’s the other costs that put me off. I know a holiday here in Britain can cost just as much in the school holidays but with all the extras it puts a holiday abroad out of our budget 🙁
It certainly does add up very quickly. That is what is putting us off, we all need new passports and that will cost a small fortune x
its amazing how many hidden costs there are it can be frightful for someone new to travellling
If you have to pay extra for any baggage, booking the seats you want on the plane, and even food on a long flight that you have to buy at the airport at jacked up prices (we seldom do flights less than 10hrs, ah, the joys of living in America and returning to the UK).
And I always find its the little things that really add up…. bottled water, parking at different locations, tolls and all the things I’m forgetting. Enjoy Turkey! Wonderful country and so much fun!
There are a lot of hidden costs when travelling such as visas and injections if you are travelling to areas that need these and medicines such as travel sickness tablets, mossy repellant, suncream. It’s worth it though!
It certainly does add up and so many companies want to make money out of holiday makers. We have the EHIC, but watch out because I think they need to renewed every so often.
Wow, I didn’t know you needed a visa to go to Turkey! It’s amazing how all these things add up. For the USA you have to have an ESTA – it used to be free, but it’s now $14, which isn’t too much, but it soon adds up for the 3 of us – and they have to be renewed, costing money again. Don’t get me started on passports – they are extortion!
This is exactly why I don’t get back to Italy as often as I would like but luck would have it I am going this year and I cannot wait as trips abroad really are good for the soul.
There are many hidden costs such as prebooked seats so that everyone can sit together, extra money for extra baggage and also paying for meals on the plane. Airlines are charging so many extras now.
It definitely adds up quickly doesn’t it? I’m surprised about the EHIC not covering you in Turkey – thanks for sharing x x
Money for the plane if you want
Reminds me I need to renew my passport
I would love to go abroad more – it’s been a few years now since I went to Paris – its amazing the amount of costs you can overlook.
We haven’t even contemplated going abroad because of the cost of renewing all our passports!
I hope you all have a fantastic time. We would love to go abroad but by the time we have got 6 passports we couldn’t afford the holiday!
Blimey that is a lot of hidden costs! Definitely food for thought when considering a holiday xx
Theres definitely a lot of hidden costs. We are lucky enough to have bought our own place in Portugal. We don’t rent it out and leave it fully furnished with all of our stuff there, so we just turn up and live there as a second home. You’d think that means a cheap holiday – but it never works out like that!
we have just paid our insurance and it crippled me with my hubs and his conditions .. 20 days before we head to Tunisia so was using this post to double check i had done it all ..
some injections that are needed for other counties you have to pay for so thats worth baring in mind too 🙁
There’s definitely a lot of extras involved when going on holiday. It’s nice to travel abroad every now and then though. Hope you have a good holiday.
The costs definitely mount up….are you going independently to Turkey? We went a few years ago and were really shocked to discover there’s a charge to get IN to the country! It’s not a huge amount €10 or something and we luckily had just enough to scrape the money together (as we hadn’t changed any money for the trip). I don’t know if this is still a case – this was about 6 years ago but worth looking into!
There are so many extras, I discovered this when booking our break! Still great to get away as a family 😉
The costs certainly add up – some of us needed passports renewing last year and some next year! They cost a small fortune – and we have a pup to kennel too now! Kaz x