Bank holidays: How to turn 18 days of bank holidays into 45 days of holiday

Pre-plan your 2022 travel itinerary by converting 18 days of bank holidays to 45 days of no-work-day. Read more to find out how.

Turn 18 days of bank holidays into 45 days of vacay
© Osman Rana
Turn 18 days of bank holidays into 45 days of vacay

Are you already making plans for a well-deserved holiday splurge in 2022, especially since the previous two years were a washout owing to COVID and lockdowns?

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Without further ado, in 2022 we're going to show you how to squeeze 45 days of holiday out of just 18 days of annual leave. Get your calendars out and let's start checking.

Let's start with the new year's.

New Year

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New year Danil Aksenov

Because the first bank holiday of the year is on 3 January—and because New Year's Day is a weekend—you could take off January 4, 5, 6, and 7 to receive nine days of holiday out of 4 days of official holiday used.

Even if you aren't able to book your slots, don't beat yourself up. We will try to help you squeeze in a few more for the rest of the year.

Easter

The 15th of April will be Good Friday and the 18th of April is Easter Monday. So with this Easter hack, you can turn it into a 10-day break.

Simply take off the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd of April. As the 16th, 17th, 18th, 23rd, and 24th of April are all holidays or weekends without getting anything deducted from your salary.

May hack

Make the most use of this month. Another clever holiday move would be to take an eight-day holiday for the price of four days of yearly leave.

This is due to the fact that April 30th and May 1st are both weekend days. Monday, May 2nd, is a bank holiday. If you take the 3, 4, 5, and 6 days off as annual leave, you'll get two more days off the following weekend.

Jolly June

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Queen Elizabeth II Getty Images

Gear up to take a week-long holiday in June.

In 2022, the country will commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The Spring Bank Holiday is June 2nd, while the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday is June 3rd.

You may take annual leave on the 30th and 31st of May and the 1st of June, then take advantage of the Thursday and Friday bank holidays on the 2nd and 3rd of June, followed by the weekend on the 4th and 5th.

August Summers

Extended summer plans make a good idea, right? We can see a potential 9-day holiday period.

August 27th and 28th are weekend days. Then there's the Monday bank holiday on August 29th. Take annual leave from August 30 to September 2. Voilà! You'll get an additional weekend off.

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Summer island  Blair Vermette
Ireland is trialing a four-day work week Ireland is trialing a four-day work week