Court victory leads to immediate rise in term-time holiday sales
Bookings for family holidays during school term dates have risen 88% since last week’s High Court victory, according to an online travel agency.
Data from Sunshine.co.uk suggests the figure will rise further. Searches for holidays during school term time are up 92% since news broke on Friday that judges ruled a council could not legally force a fine on a father who took his daughter out of school for a holiday.
Over the weekend, bookings and searches for holidays during the school summer break fell by 32% and 45% respectively.
According to the term time family bookings made so far, most parents plan to take their children out of school during the first week of July or last week of September.
To assess the impact the case of 44-year-old Jon Platt’s court victory, Sunshine.co.uk analysed both searches and bookings made on Saturday and Sunday (May 13 and 14) and compared them to the previous weekend.
Sunshine.co.uk managing director Chris Clarkson said: "We wanted to keep an eye on bookings and searches over the weekend to see what impact the case had, especially since the Government announced that it would consider making alterations to the law as a result.
"It seems that many parents are already taking this court case as a sign that they too could get out of a fine if they take their children out of school for a holiday – especially those who’ve already booked."
Flight search website Cheapflights said families could save up to 45% travelling during term-time; it is advertising flights to Lanzarote in September for £204 compared to £374 in August.
"Hopefully this ruling will lead to some relaxation of the rules to flatten out those peak demand periods, giving everyone the chance to enjoy the benefits of a family getaway," said MD Andrew Shelton.
For those who don’t want to take their kids out of school for holidays, Shelton said they could save money by booking flights at the right time.
"Tuesdays are the cheapest days to book, and generally the best fares are advertised about 50 days ahead of departure with the most expensive being seen three days before travel," he said.
"The time of your flight departure can also impact flight costs; morning flights tend to be more expensive so those who have the flexibility to travel between 6pm and midnight can benefit from savings.
"Further, Friday is consistently the most expensive day to fly because of the increased demand of those trying to get away for the weekend. It’s also worth considering currency fluctuations – where the Pound has strength against the local currency will also provide families with more bang for their buck."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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