How To Get 53 Days off With 23 Days Leave In 2024
Annual leave is precious and making every day count is key so at the start of the calendar year, it pays to think ahead. The bank holidays are nicely spaced that if we wanted to maximise our holiday time, being the first to book in our days off around them will provide luxurious stretches of time off in exchange for just a bit of annual leave.
Here’s how to make the most of your time off in 2024.
Ten days in March
As always, Easter is our first chance of the year to make the most of the bank holidays – and with a double bank holiday, we’re off to a strong start. Friday 29 March and Monday 1 April are this year’s bank holidays. So book off just four days – March 25, 26, 27 and 28 – and you’ll get an indulgent 10-day long stretch off work, from Saturday 23 March until Monday 1 April.
Tempted to go to sunnier climes? Travel prices will be higher than usual because of the school holidays, but with a bit of flexibility, it’s possible to jet off somewhere nice for a week, and still have time at home to catch up with friends and family.
Nine days in May
We won’t have to wait too long for our next extended break, because in May, we get two more bank holidays. The first of these is on Monday 6 May. So book the rest of the week off to squeeze the most of out of that time. Booking May 7, 8, 9 and 10 means you’ll have a luxurious nine-day stretch to stay well away from laptops or work environments. Instead, you could take a late spring break and see the world come alive again after the long winter.
Another Nine days in May
We won’t be long back in work before we can turn our attention to the next set of holidays, because there’s a bank holiday on Monday 27 May too. This means you can get another nine-day stretch off if you use up another four days of annual leave. Book the rest of that week off: May 28, 29, 30 and 31, for the welcome nine days off. As Europe really begins to get sizzling in late May, sunseekers among us won’t have to go far to find temps into the late 20s – so there’s plenty of options on the table.
Nine days in August
The late summer bank holiday – this year on Monday 26 August – is a perfect time to book annual leave. Parents will want to take a chunk of the summer holidays off anyway, and non-parents can wait out the highest peak of summer holidays.
Because many families will have already been on their big break and school is just about to start again, it’s a great time to find a cheeky last-minute bargain trip if you could do with a change of scenery. Book off August 27, 28, 29 and 30 to round off summer with a nine-day holiday before normal routines kick in again.
16 days in December
Christmas is always the best time to get maximum time off for minimum annual leave. In 2024, you can get an extra-long break with just seven days of annual leave.
Over the festive period the bank holidays fall on Wednesday 25 December, Thursday 26 December and Wednesday 1 January. So to take a mammoth 16 days of work, you just need seven-days annual leave: book off December 23, 24, 27, 30 and 31, plus January 2 and 3 to get the whole of the holiday season off. That way, you can choose whether to spend the time relaxing or jetting away on a winter break or perhaps even both.
If you’re heading away on multiple trips this year take a look at Switched On’s Annual Multi Trip Travel Insurance. Our feature packed policies provide a 24/7 emergency medical helpline, there’s three levels of cover to choose from and a range of optional extras to tailor your cover.