Hankering for more holiday time next year? Want to squeeze in more than one break?
With some clever holiday hacking and annual leave know-how, you can strategically book your days off to maximise around public holidays and weekends. This means you can have maximum time away - you can get up to 48 days, in fact.
The minimum annual leave amount in the UK is 28 days, but for a lot of people this is eight public holidays and then is 20 days they can book off. While this might seem stingy, it’s more than a lot of countries. For example, in the USA there is no minimum and employees are lucky to get a mere 10 days off per year.
How to maximise your annual leave
So, we’ve broken down the days we think you should book for maximum holiday time in 2020. This is based on full-time employees, working Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.
Book the days in italics off - the other days are weekends or bank holidays.
January
Wed 1 Jan
This is a bank holiday.
April
Fri 10 April
Sat 11 April
Sun 12 April
Mon 13 April
Tues 14 April
Wed 15 April
Thur 16 April
Fri 17 April
Sat 18 April
Sun 19 April
Get 10 days off for only four days annual leave.
It’s worth bearing in mind that this will also be the Easter Holidays, so bargain trips abroad will be few and far between. If you don’t have the budget for an overseas holiday, you could go camping in the UK or look at lodges and cabins.
May
Sat 2 May
Sun 3 May
Mon 4 May
Tues 5 May
Wed 6 May
Thurs 7 May
Fri 8 May
Sat 9 May
Sun 10 May
Get 9 days off for only 4 annual leave days.
Sat 23 May
Sun 24 May
Mon 25 May
Tues 26 May
Wed 27 May
Thu 28 May
Fri 29 May
Sat 30 May
Sun 21 May
Get another 9 days off for only 4 days annual leave.
Making the most of the May bank holidays means you can get a great holiday deal on shoulder season travel. Shoulder season is that bit between peak and off-peak dates, so the temperatures are still warm but destinations are less crowded and often less expensive. We’d recommend visiting Greece, Spain, Turkey, Italy or other Mediterranean hotspots over either of the May bank holidays.
August
Sat 29 Aug
Sun 30 Aug
Mon 31 Aug
Tues 1 Sep
Wed 2 Sep
Thu 3 Sep
Fri 4 Sep
Sat 5 Sep
Sun 6 Sep
Get 9 days off for 4 days annual leave.
The end of summer can be a great time to bag a last-minute bargain, as the kids are heading back to school. Try places with late summer sun like Croatia - or if you really want to treat yourself, September is a great time to visit the Maldives.
December
Sat 19 Dec
Sun 20 Dec
Mon 21 Dec
Tue 22 Dec
Wed 23 Dec
Thu 24 Dec
Fri 25 Dec
Sat 26 Dec
Sun 27 Dec
Mon 28 Dec
Get 10 days off for only 4 days annual leave.
Enjoy a relaxing, long Christmas break by booking the days off between the weekend and Christmas Day.
Find 7 alternative beach destinations for less or see our top tips to save for a holiday.
Disclaimer: All information and links are correct at the time of publishing.