Most people take an all-inclusive holiday as it helps them budget their holiday spend better, but a new report by the Post Office has questioned their true value.
The 2013 Post Office All Inclusive Report reveals holidaymakers could could save money in some European destinations by booking a B&B holiday, eating in resort restaurants and buying drinks in local bars.
The biggest potential saving was found in Portugal’s Algarve, where canny travellers could save more than £648 per couple by swapping an All Inclusive holiday for a B&B one.
The report compared the prices of all-inclusive and B&B holiday packages in six popular European destinations over the summer and added the price of drinks and meals for a week taken from the Post Office’s ongoing Holiday Costs Barometer research.
In the Algarve taking the B&B route in July 2013 and adding meals and drinks will cost two people £857 – £648 less than the cheapest All Inclusive package which came in at £1,505.
A July B&B package including meals and drinks was also cheaper than an All Inclusive option in Cyprus by around £144 and in the Costa Blanca by over £5. However, going All Inclusive worked out slightly cheaper along the coast in the Costa del Sol by £6 and would put more than £54 in the pocket in Corfu and Majorca.
The report also showed that of 3.5million all-inclusive holidaymakers, one in six admitted to paying for a la carte meals to avoid the repetition of eating in the hotel buffet restaurant. At an average of over £30 per meal, the Post Office estimates that All Inclusive holidaymakers who paid to eat a la carte collectively spent £104.5 million extra, 36 per cent more than last year.
The Post Office’s Andrew Brown said: “Our research has shown that European All Inclusive resorts consistently offer less than their long haul counterparts so holidaymakers need to be aware of what is included in order to avoid getting caught out.
“We found that the All Inclusive route is not always cheaper. In some destinations like the Algarve and Spanish Costas where restaurant prices have fallen dramatically this year, it may be cheaper to book a B&B package and eat out each day. It also depends on when you are travelling because prices vary quite significantly from month to month, depending on peak and off-peak seasons for each resort. The only destination we researched where All Inclusive was consistently cheaper was Majorca.”
