We went to Portugal on free holiday thanks to Sun’s Jet2 competition… it was all expenses paid with extra freebies
THE only thing better than a luxury holiday in the sun, is winning a luxury holiday in The Sun.
More than 20 families have just returned from an all-expenses-paid trip to the Algarve in Portugal courtesy of Jet2.
We teamed up with them for the competition last month to offer the fabulous prize for a family of four.
Jet2 whisked families away on a seven-night break – dubbed their “Big Family Getaway” – at the luxury Tivoli Alvor all-inclusive resort on the Algarve.
A special VIP bash was hosted by TV presenter Jeff Brazier and rounded off with a gala dinner and concert by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Here we meet just some of the families just back from the trip of a lifetime . . .
‘The whole week has been amazing’
MIKE MARLOW, 42, not only won one dream holiday with Jet2 but TWO.
Mike brought his partner Emma Griffiths, 38, and daughter Kacie, nine, along for the all-expenses paid trip to Portugal, then scooped another £2,000 voucher for a Jet2 holiday after correctly answering a tie-breaker question at the finale party.
Mental health assessor Mike, from Walsall, West Mids, was in tears when Big Family Getaway host Jeff Brazier told him he had won another free holiday.
He said: “I can’t believe it. The whole week has been amazing. Jet2 made sure we had a great time, they couldn’t do enough for us. The resort is fantastic.”
Mike entered the Jet2 giveaway after joining the Sun Club.
He said: “It was brilliant value before we won, but now it has massively paid off.”
‘This is such a special place for us’
ALVOR has special significance for intensive care nurse Laura Clarke, 38, and her husband Richard, 41… it was where they had their honeymoon.
Laura and Richard, from Hedon, East Yorkshire, won their holiday after entering through Sun Club.
They brought along with them children Aria, six, and Logan, nine.
Laura said: “It is a beautiful area and a special place for us. It seems like fate to win a holiday to come back here.”
Laura works 13-hour shifts as a nurse in ICU and her husband works for a solicitors’ firm. She said: “We had no holiday planned this year so this has been brilliant.
“We both work hard so this has been great.
“We just couldn’t believe it when we got the email saying we had won.”
‘Jeff helped us warm baby’s bottle’
WHEN Ricky Bennett, 32, won a place on the Big Family Getaway, the bus driver from Gravesend, Kent, begged his bosses to allow him the time off to come.
Fortunately he was able to change shifts so that he could go – and bring partner Gemma Norris, 31, and children Elijah, five, and 10-month-old Oakley away for a luxury break.
And the holiday couldn’t have come at a better time for the young family, as life is about to get busier with the arrival of another baby in June.
Ricky said: “It’s certainly nice to get a relaxing break away together before we begin life with three young kids! Everyone has been so helpful.
“Even Jeff Brazier helped us find somewhere to warm a bottle when we had just arrived.”
‘It’s great to get away with my boys’
SINGLE parent Dawn Thrower loved having a week in the sun with sons Taigan, 13 and Taylor, 11.
The 51-year-old, from Bow, East London, collected codes to enter the Big Family Getaway competition through Sun Savers.
She said: “It is great to get away with the boys.
“I feel pretty lucky to have won a holiday with The Sun.
“I always get theme park tickets with Sun Savers but have never won a holiday before.
“It has felt like a real break as the boys have got to know lots of the other kids on the trip and have played loads of football, which has given me some time to be by myself. It has been great chatting with other mums and families on the trip.
“As a single mum there is always a lot to juggle at home, things to worry about, so this has been a great break.”
‘Sophie Ellis-Bextor was wonderful’
RETIRED police officer Tessa Chapple, 53, hadn’t been abroad on holiday in so long she didn’t even have a valid passport when she won the competition.
Tessa, from Somerset said: “You enter these things but never think you will win, so when I did I panicked! I managed to get my passport sorted in nine days so I was delighted we could come.”
Tessa brought daughter Elizabeth, 11, and nephew Tom, 25.
She said: “The whole break has been fabulous, from meeting new people to seeing Sophie Ellis-Bextor perform – I thought she was wonderful.
“The resort is lovely, the restaurants are great – we loved the steakhouse. We also had a brilliant day out at a nearby water park which was included.
“I couldn’t usually afford to stay somewhere like this so it has been a real treat.”
‘It’s been such a relaxing break’
MATERNITY support worker Francesca Averill, 31, from Worcester, works long shifts so she was delighted to win the surprise break.
She brought along mum Kim Averill, 65, as well as two-year- old daughter Georgia.
She said: “I love my job. Every day is different but this has been so relaxing.
“Everything has been so smooth from start to finish and Jet2 has been great. You hear about people winning holidays but you never think it will happen to you.
“I was planning a caravan holiday this year so this has been great.
“We had to leave my other half at home because he had to work but it has been lovely to spend some quality time with my mum. We have been in the pool every day with Georgia.”
She added: “My husband reads The Sun every day. He’ll love seeing us in the paper!”
‘We just couldn’t believe we’d won’
RACHEL and Hassan Thomas’s hopes of a foreign holiday seemed slim this year after the gearbox on their car broke.
Rachel, 31, an accountant from Camborne in Cornwall said: “It was a huge bill and just one of those things, but we certainly weren’t planning any holidays.
“I entered this through Sun Savers and just couldn’t believe we won.”
The couple’s daughters Olivia, five, and one-year-old Aamira, loved the Tivoli resort’s special kids’ splash pool and mini water slides.
Rachel added: “The food has been brilliant in all the restaurants, the girls are quite adventurous eaters so that has been great.”
Hassan added: “There is a free train from the hotel into the village of Alvor so we have taken that to look around.
“It’s been really nice to be away together.”
‘The children really enjoyed it’
KIRSTY Miller’s daughter Cecili, ten, was so excited her family had won the luxury break to Alvor that she made her mum show her YouTube videos of the resort every day before they finally arrived.
Kirsty said: “It is amazing to win a holiday and a total surprise. It is a lovely resort and the children have really enjoyed themselves.”
Husband Daniel and sons Matthew and Alexander, both 12, also made the trip.
Together the family won a holiday voucher from Jet2 by winning the BFG Treasure Hunt Challenge, correctly hunting down letters hidden around the resort which spelled out the word “FAMILY”.
Matthew also took to the stage to assist with a trick during a special magic show laid on for the families.
Kirsty said: “I almost booked a caravan holiday and wasn’t planning on going abroad, so this has been a real bonus.”
‘A huge bonus for us as a family’
KIRSTY and Gabe Croaken were not expecting to have a holiday this year as they are saving up for their forever home.
The couple, from Coventry, have a two-year-old daughter Aila, who came with them on their sunshine break.
Paralegal Kirsty, 25, has just started training as a solicitor and husband Gabe, also 25, works in a warehouse, but is training to be an electrician.
It was Kirsty who entered the competition through Sun Savers.
She said: “We sold our house the same week as we won. We had just said that we wouldn’t have a holiday this year because we are saving for a bigger house.
“We are both on training contracts too, so money is a bit tight.”
“We are so busy all the time, working hard and also looking after Alia so to get a break has been such a bonus.”
‘It was so unexpected and brilliant’
SUN winners Suhail and Ameera Khalifa saw in 2025 watching Sophie Ellis-Bextor perform on the BBC’s New Year’s Eve show at home in Dewsbury, West Yorks, wearing their pyjamas.
School office manager Ameera, 35, said: “I love her and I wouldn’t go to bed until she had performed Murder on the Dancefloor.
“Little could I have guessed a few months later I would be watching her up close in a private show. She was brilliant.”
The couple brought their three-year old son Ibrahim away with them.
The lad was delighted to go on stage to collect a prize when his family won emoji bingo.
The couple told how the luxury trip had given them precious time together as a family.
HR administrator Suhail, 37, said: “It is so unexpected and brilliant I cannot put it into words.”
Bear we go, with Charlie
SUN families had a whale of a time on the Big Family Getaway.
Each family was also gifted a camera with underwater casing and a Jet2 Teddy Bear called Charlie on arrival and tasked with taking the best pictures of him enjoying his hol.
Here is Dawn Thrower’s great snap of him perched on Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s shoulder.