How to turn your 19 days of annual leave into 47 days off next year
If you’re already dreaming about your 2027 holidays, now might be a very good time to open your work calendar.
For anyone working Monday to Friday and getting bank holidays on top of their annual leave allowance, a little strategic planning could turn just 19 days of annual leave into 47 days away from work next year.
And yes, that means five separate breaks without using up your entire holiday allowance in one go.
Josh Felber, entrepreneur, performance coach and founder of FLBR Motorsport, has highlighted some of the key dates to keep an eye on, including a simple trick that could make your post-holiday return considerably less grim.
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Here are the dates to know.
Turn four days into a 10-day Easter break
Book off: Monday 22 March to Thursday 25 March
Annual leave used: 4 days
Time off: 10 consecutive days
Good Friday falls on 26 March 2027, followed by Easter Monday on 29 March.
Book the four working days before the bank holiday weekend, and you could finish work on Friday 19 March and not return until Tuesday 30 March.
That’s 10 days off for four days of annual leave - not too shabby for a spring getaway!
Get nine days off in May
Book off: Tuesday 4 May to Friday 7 May
Annual leave used: 4 days
Time off: 9 consecutive days
The Early May Bank Holiday falls on Monday 3 May.
Take the following four days off, and you could be away from work from Saturday 1 May through to Sunday 9 May.
That’s nine days off while only using four days of your allowance.
Do it again at the end of May
Book off: Tuesday 1 June to Friday 4 June
Annual leave used: 4 days
Time off: 9 consecutive days
The Spring Bank Holiday lands on Monday 31 May, giving you another handy opportunity.
Take Tuesday to Friday off, and you could have Saturday 29 May through Sunday 6 June away from your inbox.
That gives you two nine-day breaks within just over a month, using eight days of annual leave.
Stretch the August bank holiday
Book off: Tuesday 31 August to Friday 3 September
Annual leave used: 4 days
Time off: 9 consecutive days
The Summer Bank Holiday falls on Monday 30 August in England and Wales.
Book the four days afterwards, and you could be off from Saturday 28 August until Sunday 5 September.
Ideal if you fancy a proper summer holiday without burning through a huge chunk of your annual leave.
The Christmas trick gives you 10 days
Book off: Wednesday 29 December to Friday 31 December
Annual leave used: 3 days
Time off: 10 consecutive days
Christmas Day falls on a Saturday in 2027 and Boxing Day falls on a Sunday, so substitute bank holidays fall on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December.
New Year’s Day 2028 also falls on a Saturday, with the substitute bank holiday landing on Monday 3 January.
Book just 29, 30 and 31 December off and could potentially be off from Christmas Day until Monday 3 January.
Three days of annual leave to get 10 days away from work.
The Tuesday return rule
There is one small catch with maximising every possible day off.
Coming home late on Sunday and rolling straight into a Monday morning at work can leave you feeling like you need another holiday.
Felber recommends considering a Tuesday return where possible, as using Monday as a buffer gives you time to unpack, catch up on sleep, get your life vaguely back in order and mentally switch back into work mode.
It may mean sacrificing one day of potential holiday time, but it could make the return considerably less painful.
The other trick is to plan the whole year before booking anything.
Popular bank holiday dates can disappear quickly, so getting requests in early could save you from staring at your calendar in February wondering where all the good dates went.
And maybe keep a couple of days back for spontaneous plans, long weekends or the occasional 'I simply cannot be bothered today' day.
Because annual leave is for holidays, but sometimes it’s also for absolutely nothing.
Rhiannon Ingle