If you use social media in any capacity, odds are that you’re now familiar with Leeds-based leisure airline Jet2, and its holiday packages, even if you have no good reason for knowing that. It almost seems like “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” has become the official anthem of summer 2025 travel.
But what’s actually going on here? What is Jet2, and why has this gone so viral? The reason I’m writing about this now is because Ford asked me yesterday what is going on with this whole Jet2 thing, and I realized I don’t exactly have a great explanation…
In this post:
Basics of the “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” ad
In late 2022, British budget airline Jet2 released a 30-second ad, which features a family going on vacation, set to Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand” song. The words in the ad are as follows:
Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday!
Darling, hold my hand…
Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday, and right now, you can save £50 per person. That’s £200 off for a family of four. We’ve got millions of free child place holidays available with 22 kilograms of baggage included. Book now with Jet2 holidays. Package holidays you can trust!
The ad is quite catchy, no doubt, though it’s interesting how it has really only gone viral over two years after being released.
As an aviation geek, I find Jet2 to be a fascinating airline. The company has a fleet of roughly 130 aircraft, and despite its large size, its primary business is selling budget friendly package vacation holidays. For example, roughly 80% of the company’s revenue comes from package holidays, while only around 20% comes from standalone flight bookings.
That’s pretty amazing. Just to contrast that, Ryanair, arguably Europe’s most successful airline, isn’t even in the package holiday business. So it’s cool how the two airlines have both sort of carved out their niches.
Why are Jet2 holidays going so viral, though?
It’s funny, I think we often just go along with some sort of a viral meme or jingle concept, without actually thinking much about it. So when Ford asked me what the hell this Jet2 holiday stuff is about, I tried to answer, but then realized that I don’t actually have a great explanation (based on the fact that his follow-up to my explanation was “why is that funny, though?).
For the most part, people are using the “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” jingle in conjunction with travel mishaps. So they book a trip thinking that something is going to be amazing, and then when it isn’t, the “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” jingle is used.
But not everyone seems to be on the same page. Some people use the “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” thing as the track for just posting a nice video from their vacation.
If we’re going to analyze this, I assume the more correct interpretation would be the former. Jet2 no doubt offers great value and affordable vacation packages, and that’s lovely. However, I don’t think anyone would argue that “nothing beats” a Jet2 holiday.
Regardless, there’s no denying that this has been incredible marketing for Jet2. While the company has good name recognition in the UK, it’s otherwise a pretty unknown entity.
Bottom line
Jet2 has become quite the travel brand name this summer, with “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” perhaps becoming the most recognizable travel jingle in the world. While the Jet2 ad that inspired this is catchy, I think the actual way that this jingle has been used isn’t entirely rational. Then again, that’s often the case for things that go viral.
What do you make of this viral Jet2 holiday ad?
I have flown Jet2, but never on a Jet2 holiday. I had no issue with the airline and felt that for any trip within Europe, it was decent. This summer, I was excited when while in Malta, I met a couple who was on a Jet2 holiday. They told me that they played the song on the plane.
@Ben, I think you've done enough Lufthansa first class reviews for awhile. Readers need your candid review of Jet2Holidays - the whole package including a meme worthy video! You can couple it w/ a Premium Economy flight review to London. Thoughts?
I like this idea. Would be nice to get Ben's opinion of Norse's PE product (which I think is quite nice).
It's not necessarily a cheap package holiday by any means. They've got significant presence at plenty of upscale resorts, and I am sure they happily sell luxury ones too.
My only exposure to this is the travel mishap meme, so that's what I associate it with. To that point, one of the aviation instagram accounts I follow, Pete Hutchinson, had a Jet2 Holiday meme yesterday or the day before with a hard landing by a Jet2 plane xD
While I was I. London in early July, I would see the Jet2 commercial on the tv multiple times a night.
Pair that with videos of folks arriving to over touristed locations (Lisbon, Barcelona, Italy) and 6 hour immigration lines, crowds so thick you can’t move…… it’s perfect
I think maybe you need to be British to fully understand it ! It's to do with Brits abroad and their sometimes terrible (mainly drunken) behaviour and having a mishap like a fight etc
It's worth pointing out the use of Hold My Hand has been a bit of a meme in the UK for about 10 years now and Jet2 and that song have been as tightly linked as possible for a long time.
The ad going viral isn't really surprising and makes alot of sense from a UK perspective for the videos it's been used with initially and was viral here for a few weeks before...
It's worth pointing out the use of Hold My Hand has been a bit of a meme in the UK for about 10 years now and Jet2 and that song have been as tightly linked as possible for a long time.
The ad going viral isn't really surprising and makes alot of sense from a UK perspective for the videos it's been used with initially and was viral here for a few weeks before going global. Its a decent example of a piece of British culture and humour going global which is hard to truly understand if you aren't British.
Jet2 is regarded by many, myself included, to be the UK's best airline.
They're both reliable and easy to deal with, which is a lot more than what can be said about most of their competitors.
They don't really follow the hardcore LCC model. They'll be happy to arrange things like lounge access, fast-track security, onboard meals that are actually edible etc, and they charge very reasonable prices for those add-ons.
I almost booked a Jet2 flight last week. Had no idea about the viral jingle or had never heard of the airline. It was the lowest priced option though for my needs and they offered a free carryon too. In the end, I used up some Avios and booked a flight with BA (that included a checked bag and carryon) when last-minute space was released. The Avios+money price was lower than the Jet2 fare and...
I almost booked a Jet2 flight last week. Had no idea about the viral jingle or had never heard of the airline. It was the lowest priced option though for my needs and they offered a free carryon too. In the end, I used up some Avios and booked a flight with BA (that included a checked bag and carryon) when last-minute space was released. The Avios+money price was lower than the Jet2 fare and definitely lower than the BA fare. A win for Avios (except that they made me wait until 24 hours before departure to see the award seat!).
Jet2 fares can be quite expensive as there's a significant opportunity cost in selling a cheap airline seat and eliminating its potential to generate a juicy resort booking!
I flew Jet2 in May, and found it to be much more of a leisure airline than a budget carrier – 10kg bags for every passenger, friendly staff across the board (much more so than BA/easyJet and on par with Virgin), and someone's birthday was announced over the PA.
I read what you wrote and still don't understand it.
Separately, my brother and his partner and my cousin and his family just flew Jet2 as they needed one way tickets from
Places in Spain and Portugal, respectively, to London. They were among the 20% of pax who only booked tickets- no holidays- and reported an overall very pleasant flight with service that exceeded expectations.