Airlines, holiday companies and tour operators have joined the Black Friday sales day in an attempt to encourage bookings from holidaymakers worried about the falling pound.
Following what it claims were record-breaking bookings last year, the all-inclusive operator Club Med is offering up to 30% off its packages, which include all meals, lift passes, resort transfers and lessons or guiding.
British Airways’ offers include savings of up to 50% on flights to the top North American destinations of New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore and Toronto, as well as the Middle Eastern hot-spots of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat – where in each case the airline is offering two return Club World tickets for £2,016 (£1,008 each).
“An estimated £1.1bn was splashed out on Black Friday in the UK in 2015 so this year we are expecting a huge surge in traffic to ba.com,” said Adam Daniels, BA’s chief commercial director. “This weekend is a fantastic time for holidaymakers to book a trip as the savings they can make could cover their spending money.”
Sterling has declined 20% since the Brexit vote in June, pushing up the cost of holidays and cutting spending power in resorts.
The Black Friday bargains include discounts of up to £500 per person on British Airways Holidays to the US and Canada, while European city breaks to Barcelona, Venice, Malaga, Alicante, Naples and Turin are on offer from just £99 per person. The offers will be available until midnight on 28 November, or Cyber Monday.
The family holiday specialist Mark Warner is luring customers with 50% off all children’s prices for Christmas and nine-night New Year holidays. A week’s stay for a family of four at Chalet Hotel Tarentaise in Méribel, France, costs £849 per adult, saving £380; and £590 per child, saving £590.
Club Med said that in 2015 its bookings surged by 274% in the four-day period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday compared with the previous year, and Cyber Monday saw the highest number of bookings in Club Med’s history. This year, Club Med expects to exceed bookings from last year, and forecasts that holidays to ski resorts will be particularly popular due to the recent heavy snowfall across the Alps.
One of the most eye-catching Black Friday bargains comes from Air New Zealand, which is offering 100 flights from London to LA from £199 return to those booking from 10am (and lucky enough to get through) on Cyber Monday, and for departures in February 2017.
National Rail is shaving £10 off its 16-25 and Family & Friends one-year Railcards. The offer, which will run from 25 November to 30 November, means the two cards will cost just £20, instead of £30. The railcard, which gives a year’s unlimited usage, saves travellers an average of £142.80 a year, more than four times its cost at standard price and up to six times as much at the discount price.
