Free child place holidays are one of the easiest ways to reduce the cost of your family trip. But, since they can save you some serious cash, they can sometimes be a little difficult to score!
That’s why in this article, we’re going to break down exactly what’s included in these free kids’ place holidays and how to nab yourself one with TUI – even in the school holidays.
In this article
The Basics
- What Are Free Child Places?
- What’s Included in Free Child Places?
- How Many Free Child Places Can You Get?
- Can I Book A Free Child Place When I Have More Than One Child?
- What Age Do Children Need To Be For a Free Child Place?
- When is the Best Time To Book a Free Child Place?
How To Find a Free Child Place Holiday
- How To Find a Free Child Place Holiday on TUI
- How Do You Find Free Child Places in the School Holidays?
- Can You Get a Free Child Place As Well as a Discount in the TUI Sale?
Our Top 3 TUI Deals for This Year
What Are Free Child Places?
A free child place is a type of holiday deal where, when two full paying adults book a holiday, a child can also go at no extra cost.
What’s Included in Free Child Place Holidays?
A holiday with a free child place will often include the same parts of a holiday that the adults are paying for. When booking a holiday with TUI, that will mean that the flights, hotel stay and transfers are free for one child.
Your free kids’ place includes whichever standard board basis is offered at the hotel. If you want to upgrade the board for the free kids’ place, you can pay a supplement to do so.
You can read more about what’s included, as well as all the terms and conditions, here.
How Many Free Child Places Can You Get?
For every two full paying adults staying in a participating hotel accommodation, you get one free spot for a child.
Can I Book A Free Child Place When I Have More Than One Child?
As the deal offers only one free child place per two adults, any additional children you bring along will be charged at the regular rate. However, the good news is that you don’t have to do this as separate bookings – just simply put in how many children you’re travelling with and the discount will be applied accordingly.
What Age Do Children Need To Be For a Free Child Place?
The age restrictions for the free child place will vary from hotel to hotel, but on the whole the age range is from 2 to 16 years old. Be sure to double check the age restrictions with the accommodation you’re thinking of booking.
Also, remember that your children need to be the age that you’ve stated on the return date of travel so if they have a birthday whilst on holiday, you’ll need to book them as the older age.
When Is the Best Time To Book a Free Child Place?
Since they offer great value for money, it’s no surprise that child free places can get snapped up quickly – especially if you’re after spots in the school holidays!
Therefore, it’s a classic case of ‘the sooner the better’. TUI, for instance, currently allow you to search up until October 2025 for a free child place! But don’t worry, there are still many options available for this year – we’ve linked our favourite deals down below.
How To Find a Free Child Place Holiday on TUI
The best way to find free child place on TUI is to use their very handy online tool:
- Visit TUI’s free child place finder
- Click on ‘Find Free Kids’ Places’
- Fill in how many adults and how many children are going
- Enter the age of the children and tap on ‘go to next step’
- Select what month you want to search
- Click on ‘search free child places’
What I like about this is that you don’t have to specify a destination, allowing you to discover all the possible options for your dates!
How Do You Find TUI Free Child Places in the School Holidays?
If you have to go away during the school holidays, there is an easy way to find availability.
Use all the steps above and once you’ve got a list of potential holidays, select ‘Dates’ from the list of filters. This allows you to search for:
- an exact date
- a date that’s +/- 3 days
- a date that’s +/- 7 days.
The last two options mean it’s going to be much quicker for you to find appropriate dates without having to search every single possible date.
For example, for the summer, I’d select a date a week into the school holidays and then select ‘+/-7 days’. That will bring up 2 weeks worth of options that are all in the summer holidays! Then you can simply repeat this until you’ve covered all the possible dates for your trip.
You can also use the other filters – like departure airport and board basis – to whittle down the options.
Can You Get a Free Child Place As Well as a Discount in the TUI Sale?
What’s great about TUI’s Free Child Place is that you can use this deal in combination with other discounts. Meaning you can save even more on your holiday booking!
They’re currently running their ‘Live Happy Sale’:
Use code SALE to
Save £100 when you spend £1000
or £250 when you spend £2500
You can also save up an extra £20 if you are logged in to your MYTUI account
(it’s free to sign up and you’ll find your discount code under ‘My Benefits’)
Departures 1st May – 31st Oct 2024
Book by 29th Feb 2024
Terms and conditions apply
Our Top 3 Free Child Place Deals on TUI
Okay, so we’ve shared how you can find your own free child place holidays but here’s 3 deals to get your started.
If the free child places have been snapped up by the time you get to them – we told you, they don’t hang around! – then please just use them as an example of what you could get. Prices can also fluctuate!
6 Nights All Inclusive Greece Holiday in May from £347pp
What's the holiday?
This off peak deal is perfect for parents who are able to travel outside of school holidays, so it’s a great one for those with younger kiddos who haven’t hit the classroom yet.
Departing from London Gatwick on 1st May 2024, you’ll be flying to Rhodes with TUI Airways, complete with hand luggage and a 20kg checked bag each. Transfers are included too!
You’ll be staying for 6 nights at Rodos Star in Afandou, Rhodes and it’s all inclusive. Their family room with balcony offers views of the mountainside and comes with a double bed, and 2 additional beds. And yes, it has AC!
There’s a pool – and paddling pool for the wee ones – and inside there’s a restaurant and a cocktail bar, where entertainment takes place.
Why is it a good deal?
Not only are TUI offering a free child place but you can save an extra £120 if you’re logged in to your MYTUI account and use the discount code that’s under ‘My Benefits’.
That’s how we got the price down from £1161 to £1041 – which works out at £347pp between 3 people!
7 Night Self Catering Turkey in the Summer Holidays for £407pp
What's the holiday?
Think you’ve missed out on all the free child places during the summer holidays? Nah pal – there’s still some out there!
For this trip, you’ll be flying from either Glasgow or London in August and spending 7 nights in the beachy Dalaman area of Turkey. Check in baggage and transfers are also included!
Staying at Bilnur Apartments, you’ll be in a self catering apartment with a balcony and a full kitchen – so it’s great for saving money on food whilst away.
Why not get in a few fruity cocktails at the outdoor bar then relax at the pool while the kids have a splash in the special shallow section.
You’re also staying right in the city centre – the perfect location for exploring all the local bars and restaurants.
Why is it a good deal?
The cheapest deal flies from Glasgow – it’s £407pp for the week (based on 3 people with the MYTUI discount code applied) – and the reason it’s so ‘cheap’ is because it departs on 7th August from Scotland where most of the kids go back to school around 14th August.
Whilst quite tight for Scottish holidaymakers, it does mean that those in the north of England who are willing to travel a little, could save themselves a pretty penny on a peak family holiday by opting for this.
However, if you’re further down south then don’t worry – you can fly from London Gatwick on 13th Aug 2024 for £421pp after the MYTUI discount.
7 Night Luxury Ultra All Inclusive Greece Holiday from £651pp
What's the holiday?
Wanna go all out?! Well, one way of looking at free child places is by realising that the more the adult places cost, the more you get ‘free’ for your child… Yeah, this is proper girl math territory!!
There’s options from several UK airports for this one but let’s hone in on deals from Manchester.
This 5 star stay is nestled along the Greek coast – right on the sands of Kiotari Beach. You’ll be absolutely spoiled for choice at Princess Andriana Resort & Spa; we’re talking three pools, two restaurants and six bars. If you find time between eating your bodyweight in free mediterranean food and lounging around the Turkish spa, take a stroll along the sparkling shores of the private beach or maybe take to the sea with a hotel canoe.
You’re staying right in the city centre – the perfect location for exploring all the bars and restaurants.
Oh, and you also get a 20kg check in bag as well as coach transfers.
Why is it a good deal?
Yep, we’ve selected another deal that also has money off thanks to the current sale as well as a free child place. We love a double deal!
The cheapest dates we found for this trip from Manchester was for £651pp on 4th May 2024 based on 3 people travelling – with that extra MYTUI discount applied. If you’re after that school holiday break, the best deal we found was leaving 13th August and would cost £965pp (again, with the discount you add later on!).
There’s also deals from other UK airports for this hotel – just change your departure location in the search bar!
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