<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Christmas and New Year period is officially over, which for most of us, means back to the daily grind. This, along with the recent lockdown announcement, has left many people desperately thinking about when they can take their next holiday and use up some of their annual leave.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With the average Brit entitled to 28 days leave each year (plus the extra few rolled over from 2020), we worked out how to maximise your days off throughout 2021 to double your annual leave:</span></p> <p> </p> <h2><strong>When are the bank holidays in 2021? </strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are eight bank holidays in 2021:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Friday 1 January - New Year's Day</span></em></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Friday 2 April - Good Friday</span></em></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Monday 5 April - Easter Monday</span></em></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Monday 3 May - Early May bank holiday</span></em></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Monday 31 May - Spring bank holiday</span></em></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Monday 30 August - Summer bank holiday</span></em></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Monday 27 December - Christmas Day</span></em></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tuesday 28 December - Boxing Day </span></em></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <h2><strong>How to make the most of your annual leave in 2021</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The smartest way to approach booking annual leave is to make full use of the bank holidays. Here’s how to maximise the bank holidays this year:</span></p> <p> </p> <h2 class="h2"><em>April bank holiday 2021:</em></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By April, we’re hoping that the travel landscape might look more positive than it does right now. We will all be desperate for some time off in the sunshine by the springtime, and luckily if you follow this time frame, booking eight days off will provide 14 consecutive days away from the desk. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">April is blessed with two bank holidays, so if you take 29th march - 1st April as well as 6th - 9th of April, you will have a total 14 days off. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bliss!</span></p> <p><strong>TOTAL: 8 DAYS USED, 14 DAYS OFF</strong></p> <p><br /><img style="width: 500px; height: 235.33333333333331px;" src="https://media.caxtonfx.com/img/1100421/corsica-france-travel-money.jpg?width=500&height=235.33333333333331" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/213add71983f4ac996878460f0b8cbc2" /><br /><br /></p> <p> </p> <h2><em>May bank holiday 2021: </em></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If 2 weeks in April isn’t enough time off - you can take an additional four days in May to gain another nine days off work. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first May bank holiday falls on Monday 3rd May, so by taking Tuesday 4th to Friday 7th as annual leave, you'll have eight consecutive days off from Saturday 1st to Sunday 9th May. </span></p> <p><strong>TOTAL: 4 DAYS USED, 8 DAYS OFF</strong></p> <p><strong>RUNNING TOTAL: 12 DAYS USED, 22 DAYS OFF</strong></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <h2><em>August bank holiday 2021:</em></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If your priority is ensuring that you save some annual leave for a summer holiday this year, make sure that you book some time off around the August bank holiday. Taking four days off will allow you to bag yourself another nine day break. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In booking Tuesday 31st August to Friday 3rd Sept as annual leave, you could get a whopping eight days in the sunshine.</span></p> <p><strong>TOTAL: 4 DAYS USED, 8 DAYS OFF</strong></p> <p><strong>RUNNING TOTAL: 16 DAYS USED, 30 DAYS OFF</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 234px;" src="https://mediaumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/img/1099559/friends-pool-travel-money-banner.jpg?width=500&height=234" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c2ecb33f728d428f9ece6db1fdc3a24a" /></p> <p> </p> <h2><em>December bank holiday 2021:</em></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Christmas has only just passed us by, but it’s never too early to start thinking about this year’s holiday. Maximise your annual leave this festive period by taking five days off to gain 10 consecutive days off over Christmas. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you take Monday 27th Dec - Friday 31st off, you get a total of 10 festive days of fun. </span></p> <p><strong>TOTAL: 5 DAYS USED, 10 DAYS OFF</strong></p> <p><strong>RUNNING TOTAL: 21 DAYS USED, 40 DAYS OFF</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following this holiday calendar would still leave you with a few extra days of annual leave to play with. After the incidents of 2020, we’re all definitely in need of some extended R&R this year. </span></p> <p> </p> <h2><strong>Start saving for your 2021 holiday</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To make it even easier to save for a holiday, why not set up a </span><a rel="noopener" href="/currency-cards/travel-savings-plan/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Travel Savings Plan</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> with Caxton to ensure that your holiday kitty builds up in time? It is a great way to steadily build up your travel fund and remove </span><a rel="noopener" href="/currency-cards/exchange-rates/rate-watch/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">exchange rate</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> uncertainty.</span></p> <p><a rel="noopener" href="/the-best-prepaid-currency-card-and-account/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 122.5px;" src="https://az695284.vo.msecnd.net/img/1099043/cardbannerblog-grey.png?width=500&height=122.5" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/072557bc0e014b42b266e1b6f6544c57" /></a></p>