Your holiday packing survival guide

We learn from a holiday expert that 42 days ahead is the ideal timescale to plan your holiday, from passport prep to best deals.

Transcript

00:00So this is some new research that we've had from Holiday Extras.

00:03Now, they analysed 11 million bookings that they took last year and discovered that 42 days was the absolute sweet spot.

00:11That's six weeks. In terms of getting everything ready for your holiday,

00:15making sure that you've ticked off all of those things that need to be done before you get to get away.

00:20What sort of things are you doing within those six weeks? Why is that six weeks such a sweet spot?

00:24You need to allow at least six weeks, particularly at busy times of year as we're coming into the summer season,

00:30six weeks to get your passport renewed. Now, if you're heading off somewhere exotic,

00:34maybe you're going to Thailand or to a safari in South Africa, you're probably going to need some vaccinations.

00:39And the NHS recommends at least six weeks before you go away to have those.

00:43But in terms of actually booking the holiday, does that six weeks make much of a difference?

00:47Apparently six weeks is actually the time where you can save up to 48 percent on flights, particularly flights.

00:53Now, that's because obviously the closer you get towards a departure,

00:56airlines will start to actually lower the price of seats because they want to make sure they've got bombs on those seats

01:02and they're making sure they've got the most out of those planes.

01:05Brits are spending over £3,000 now on their annual holidays.

01:10Yeah, that's right. So, I mean, this is research done by Holiday Extras.

01:13They've got all of that data from everyone who's booking with them.

01:16On average, they take three holidays a year and about £3,000 in spend across those three holidays.

01:22So, you know, this is significant amounts of money for many people.

01:26And we want to make sure that if we are investing that in a really fabulous holiday,

01:30that we've done all of our research first, we've done all of our homework.

01:33Obviously, coming back from the EU now, there's some slight changes with the foot and mouth they've got out there.

01:38Are there any things people should be aware of in terms of preparation for, you know,

01:42what they can and can't bring back with them now from European trips?

01:46Yeah, I mean, this is very specific to right now.

01:49With the foot and mouth outbreak, there is concerns about it getting into the UK's agricultural system.

01:55So now there is absolutely no meat or milk products, dairy products allowed into the UK from Europe.

02:02And that can be anything as simple as like maybe a baguette sandwich that you pick up on your way back through the airport.

02:08You cannot bring any products back, even if they are already sealed and packaged.

02:12You cannot bring them back from Europe. Now, that is just a temporary measure.

02:17We don't know how long that's going to go on for.

02:19But I think it's something that's not really been talked about that much.

02:22And it is very important. They will take this off of you if you try to come into the UK with any kind of meat or dairy product.