School holidays send travel prices soaring

Popular family travel destinations cost more for parents who follow rules

Parents wanting to take their children on holiday overseas may have to fork out thousands more to travel during the school holidays. The Herald yesterday reported that more than 23,000 school children were taken out of class for holidays during each school term. The Ministry of Education revealed the figures in light of an attendance report out this month.

Using the Air New Zealand online flight booking system, the Herald found return fares for four popular holiday routes were significantly more expensive in the school holidays than during the term.

The cost of return flights for a trip from Auckland to Los Angeles for a family of four increased 9 per cent in the upcoming September/October school holidays.

The cheapest return seat-and-bag fare was $4727 a person. The same trip would cost $4327 a week earlier, in term time.

Flying Auckland to Queenstown return would cost an extra $100 a person over the same period.

Return fares for four people from Auckland to Coolangatta in the Gold Coast shot up 83 per cent in the holidays (from $1560 to $2956).

For UK-bound holidayers, the price difference was much lower. A family of four would pay marginally more to fly return to London in the holidays ($23,292) than during the term ($23,044).

Flight Centre spokeswoman Dana Duxfield estimated similar figures to the above.

However, return trips to London were $30 cheaper in the school holiday period, because not as many families travelled to the UK for holidays compared with Los Angeles.

Flight Centre’s general manager of product Sean Berenson said there were a number of ways for travellers to cut costs on school holiday travel.

“It pays to research your options, talk to a travel expert and most importantly book ahead, before the cheapest remaining economy fares and room types sell out.”

Brent Thomas, commercial director at House of Travel, said the price of school holiday travel depends greatly on the destination, with popular routes which had limited availability, such as Auckland to Fiji, tending to fluctuate the most.

“It is a case of supply and demand. They can be about 30-50 per cent more expensive [in the school holidays] if you book close to the time.”

He told the Herald another factor that influenced pricing was how competitive a particular route was. More airlines flying to popular destinations meant that fares had to be priced more competitively.

Fares to the Gold Coast had come down recently because low-cost carrier Air Asia X had started flying there, he said.

Thomas recommended parents wanting to travel during the school holidays book trips overseas well in advance, before the cheapest seats were booked up.

“The other thing to take into account is not just the airfares, but the supply and cost of accommodation.”