What this page works out
This page holds two calculations. The first totals a holiday budget from travel, accommodation, daily food and spending money. The second checks a set of bag weights against an airline's limit.
Both address the same problem: costs that are known in advance but not added up until they have already been committed.
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Luggage Weight Checker
Check several bags against an airline limit and see whether weight needs to be redistributed.
Before you set a budget
- Travel should include everything to get there and back — flights, transfers, parking, baggage fees and seat selection.
- Accommodation is the total, not the nightly rate. Check whether tourist taxes are included or payable on arrival.
- Food per day is easy to underestimate. Costing a realistic day rather than an optimistic one produces a figure that survives contact with the holiday.
- For the baggage checker, weigh bags at home rather than guessing. Airport excess charges are among the highest per kilogram of anything you will buy.
Baggage, seat selection, transfers, resort fees, tourist taxes, travel insurance and airport parking are frequently excluded from an advertised price and can add a substantial proportion to it. Budgeting from the headline figure is how holidays overrun, and the additions are all knowable in advance.
How this calculator works
A sum of four components:
Total = travel + accommodation + (food per day × days) + spending money
Baggage checker: total weight and per-bag excess against the stated limitThe budget calculation deliberately separates spending money from food, because they behave differently — food is broadly predictable per day, while spending money is a discretionary pot that tends to be spent whatever its size.
Worked example: a week away
Using the default figures — £300 travel, £600 accommodation, £50 a day food for 7 days, £300 spending money:
- Food total: £350
- Holiday budget: £1,550
The travel figure is where this most often goes wrong. £300 of flights becomes £420 once two hold bags at £45 each and seat selection at £30 are added, taking the total to £1,670. Those charges are visible at booking and are routinely left out of the mental total, which is why the budget set in January rarely matches the spending in August.
Common mistakes
- Budgeting from the advertised flight price. Bags, seats and transfers are extra.
- Forgetting tourist taxes. Many destinations charge per person per night on arrival.
- Underestimating food. Cost a realistic day, including drinks and one meal out.
- Omitting airport parking. For a week it can rival a hold bag.
- Guessing bag weights. Airport excess charges are punitive.
Frequently asked questions
What is usually left out of a holiday budget?
Baggage and seat fees, airport parking or transfers at both ends, tourist and city taxes, resort fees, travel insurance, currency conversion costs, and the first and last day's meals. Individually modest, together frequently 20% or more of the headline cost.
How much spending money is realistic?
It depends entirely on destination and habits, so the more useful approach is to work backwards: decide what you can afford, divide by the days, and see whether the daily figure looks plausible for where you are going. A budget that fails that test is better revised before departure than during.
What are my rights if a flight is cancelled?
For flights departing the UK, and for UK and EU carriers arriving in the UK, passengers have rights to rerouting or a refund and, depending on the circumstances and delay length, to compensation and to care such as meals and accommodation. The Civil Aviation Authority publishes the current position, which is worth checking rather than relying on the airline's summary.
Should I pay by credit card?
For anything over £100 and under £30,000, paying by credit card gives protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, making the card provider jointly liable if the supplier fails. For holidays booked months ahead that is worth having. Check the card's foreign transaction fees separately — they are a different question.
Is what I enter stored?
No. Figures are processed in your browser and never transmitted or retained.
Related tools
References
- GOV.UK — travel advice, passenger rights and consumer protection
- MoneyHelper — budgeting for holidays and travel money
Sources are checked at publication and can change — how I choose and check references.