Families facing the great half-term holiday rip-off

FAMILIES are being hit with punishing price hikes on half-term holidays that can add hundreds of pounds to the cost of everything from ski trips to breaks in Britain.

Flights to Europe are up to eight times more expensive than at other times of the year.

And parents booking a four-night break at Center Parcs can pay an extra £670 if they play by the rules and take holidays during the official half-term in February.

Schools take a tough line on parents who take their children out of school during term time, with councils in Scotland able to serve attendance orders on parents, who can face fines of up to £1,000 if their children are judged to be absent too often without reason.

This leaves families at the mercy of airlines, travel companies and British holiday parks which routinely hike prices as soon as the schools break up.

This year, Saturday, February 13, marks a double whammy for flight sales because the start of half term in many Scottish council areas coincides with Valentine’s Day weekend – fuelling demand and resulting in huge price rises. A study of the cost of return flights to 75 holiday destinations from 12 UK regions found that the average price increases by almost 200 per cent compared with those departing two weeks later.

The biggest flight price rises were to popular skiing destinations during the February half-term.

Flights to Switzerland were 405 per cent higher. The rise was 354 per cent for Italy and 332 per cent for France. The biggest hike was f ound at Manchester Airport, where a flight to Verona, in Italy, is 762 per cent more expensive departing on February 13 compared with February 27 – taking the price from £55 per person to £474.

The second biggest school holiday mark-up was found flying from London to the popular skiing destination of Salzburg, in Austria, which costs 739 per cent more. The return flight for half-term is priced at £470 per person but two weeks later it drops back down to £56.

Holidaymakers in Glasgow are less likely to be ripped off, but still face paying 131 per cent more for half-term flights. Journeys from Newcastle and Edinburgh cost 146 per cent more.

The research was conducted by FairFX, a provider of pre-paid cur- rency cards, travel money and international payment services. Currency expert at the company, Darren Kilner, said: ‘There are some startling increases across the board.

‘Families with school children often have no flexibility when it comes to choosing their holiday dates, forcing them to pay significantly higher prices.’

The John Lewis currency website advises Scottish families to head across the Border at the start of the summer holidays and fly from an airport such as Manchester to take advantage of the later summer break in England and subsequent delay in price hikes.

Paul Cookson set up the family campaign group Holiday Price Index two years ago after becoming angry at the higher costs during school holidays.

The 42-year-old from Chillington, Devon, said: ‘I understand that demand pushes up prices, but as a parent that doesn’t stop it being a major frustration.’

The Association of British Travel Agents said a solution would be to stagger school holiday dates.

Center Parcs said: ‘During periods of lower demand we actually reduce our prices significantly.’