Trend Seven

	Annual leave given back to bosses in 2007
Average price paid per city for a three-star
room per night in 2007
	
        
            Salary Bracket 
            Remaining Holiday for 2007
             Equivalent Value of 1 Day’s Holiday
            Equivalent Value of Remaining Holiday
        

            £7.1 - £14k
            4.7 days
             £37
            £174
        

            £14.1k - £21k
            4.6 days
             £61
            £281
        

            £21.1 - £28k
            5.8 days
             £86
            £499
        

            £28.1k - £34k
            4.9 days
             £109
            £534
        

            £34.1k - £41k
            5.7 days
             £131
            £747
        

            £41k - £48k
            7 days
             £156
            £1,092
        

            £48.1k - £55k
            7.6 days
             £180
            £1,368
        

            Over £55k
            6.1 days
             £192
            £1,171
        

            

Salary Bracket	Remaining Holiday for 2007	Equivalent Value of 1 Day’s Holiday	Equivalent Value of Remaining Holiday
£7.1 - £14k	4.7 days	£37	£174
£14.1k - £21k	4.6 days	£61	£281
£21.1 - £28k	5.8 days	£86	£499
£28.1k - £34k	4.9 days	£109	£534
£34.1k - £41k	5.7 days	£131	£747
£41k - £48k	7 days	£156	£1,092
£48.1k - £55k	7.6 days	£180	£1,368
Over £55k	6.1 days	£192	£1,171

Holiday maximising

The average Brit loses 4.4 days of their holiday allowance each year26 and recent Expedia research has revealed that this equates to giving bosses back up to £1,368 each. This results in a UK holiday blackhole worth a staggering £13.9 billion each year. The table below reveals that it’s the UK’s high earners wasting the most amount of annual leave.

The French have long taken part in a piece of clever holiday management called ‘faire le pont’ – literally ‘making the bridge’ – where they look for bank holidays which fall on a Tuesday offering the chance for a short break for minimal holiday cost allowance.

Although in the UK our bank holidays don’t fall on a Tuesday, Brits are increasingly looking at how they can maximize existing holidays to make more of their annual holiday allowance and try and keep costs down when going away over peak bank holiday weekends by leaving a day or two earlier or coming back later.(27)

Almost a fifth of Brits (19 per cent) prefer to add extra days to bank holidays to maximize their break and Londoners are the most strategic with over a quarter (28 per cent) extending their bank holiday with added days.(28)

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