Revealed: Over one in ten Brits spend £1,200+ on holiday extras for a family of four

• Research reveals that Brits are faced with £300+ per person of holiday extras increasing the overall cost of holidays significantly
• Additionally, over two fifths (43%) of Brits find searching for the best deals to be the most time-consuming aspect of planning a holiday
• Experts at Looking4.com have looked at Brits habits when preparing for a holiday including how long they spend doing it, the most time-consuming tasks and how much money is spent on holiday extras.

With the holiday season in full swing and many Brits choosing to jet off to far-away lands, experts at Looking4.com have uncovered how much Brits are spending on their holiday extras, as well as how long it takes them to prepare for a holiday.

Over one in ten Brits (15%) spend over £300 on holiday extras

Holidays can be expensive, with an average a one-week holiday costing £600pp*. But many Brits are spending hundreds more on holiday extras, such as clothes, toiletries, beauty treatments and accessories.

The average adult coughs up an extra £127 per person, per holiday, on their extras. However, over one in 10 (15%) holiday makers spend over £300, adding a huge additional costs. Only one a third of Brits (34%) spend under £100 when going away.

Women spend only about £10 more than men on average (£133 Vs £123), and those aged 18-24 are spending the most on their little holiday additions (£145). 

It’s no surprise that London is the city which spends the most money on holiday extras, with an average of £152.02 compared to Edinburgh, which spends the least at £90.

A quarter of us (24%) take one month or longer to prepare for a holiday

It’s not just additional money our holidays are costing us – it’s time, too.

The average time we spend getting ready for a trip away is 10.5 days, but 20% of people claim it only takes take a day or two to get everything prepared.

In contrast, a quarter of Brits (24%) take a month or longer to get everything prepared for their holiday, and one in twenty (5%) claim that they take even longer than two months.

Additionally, Leeds was found to be the city which takes the longest to prepare for a holiday, with almost one in six of people (14%) spending more than two months preparing for their time in the sun.

Searching for the best deals is the most time-consuming task

We’ve all found ourselves pinching the pennies this year, so it’s no surprise that nearly half (43%) of Brits claimed that search for the best deals was the most time-consuming process of preparing for a holiday. This was followed by actually booking the holiday and their travel arrangements (20%) and looking for holiday activities to do (11%).

Shopping for clothes was also a time consuming task that popped up (6%), alongside having beauty treatments (5%) and packing their suitcase (9%).

Comparatively, Southampton is found to be the city which takes the least amount of time to prepare for a holiday with a third (33%) spending a day to a few days.

Book your parking in advance

A great way to save money when it comes to holiday extras is to organise your parking or transport to the airport in advance. For example, booking your transport, whether that be a bus or train, in advance will save you a significant amount of money.

Likewise, booking your airport parking in advance will also save you money on the overall cost. Also, this comes with the additional benefit of being located closer to the airport itself and therefore having less hassle when it comes to transporting your luggage.

To find out how you can get the best deal on parking visit https://www.looking4.com/uk/airport-parking.

XX, from Looking4.com, commented on the findings:

“We all need to buy little additions when it comes to going away, from our sun cream, to travel pillows, to car parking. However, with the results showing us spending an additional £127 per person per holiday, it’s worth ensuring you have considered your additional costs when working out what you can afford, so your not cut short.”

To find out more about the research visit the blog post here: https://www.looking4.com/uk/blog/time-it-takes-to-holiday