10 Best Replies To “I Hope You Had A Great Holiday” (2023)

Sometimes we are posed with a statement or question and unsure of the best way to respond to the other person’s inquiry. Here we discuss 10 ways that you can reply to someone who says “I hope you had a great holiday.”

What Are The Best Replies To “I Hope You Had A Great Holiday”?

Some of the best replies to “I hope you had a great holiday,” include the following:

• Thank you, I had a great time!
• Thank you, I did.
• I did but it’s great to be back.
• It was very pleasant, thanks for asking.
• Thank you.
• Thanks for the kind words, I hope you did too!
• It was great. How was yours?
• Yes, I had a lovely time.
• Yes, it was definitely nice to get away.
• I did! Thank you for checking.

The preferred response if a person asks after you return from a trip would be “Thank you, I had a great time!” This phrase acknowledges your appreciation towards the person for caring about how your vacation went. At the same time, it confirms to them that it was great.

The other nine replies include ones that can be used in a similar context and some that are appropriate if the person making the comment is referring to a particular government or religious holiday. These types of holidays would include ones such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Fourth of July, etc.

Thank You, I Had A Great Time!

Use the reply “thank you, I had a great time!” when to show appreciation towards the person who is commenting about your vacation. This response leaves the option open for you to continue the conversation and provide more details about your vacation.

This reply also keeps the conversation upbeat and can be a good lead-in for you to discuss some of the things about your trip that were great.

For example:

• “It’s good to see you back. I hope you had a great holiday!”
• “Thank you, I had a great time! It was amazing to see that part of the country, as I’ve always wanted to go there.”

Thank You, I Did.

The simple reply of “Thank you, I did” would be appropriate if the person making the comment says it in passing or you do not have enough time to get into a longer discussion. It positively acknowledges their statement and confirms their thoughts that you had a great time.

You may use this quick reply if, for example, you were passing by someone in the hallway, or in an elevator with them for a short period of time. It is a pleasant and succinct reply and a perfectly satisfactory response to the comment “I hope you had a great holiday.”

• “Hey John! I hope you had a great holiday!”
• “Thank you, I did.”

I Did, But It’s Great To Be Back!

The reply “I did, but it’s great to be back,” is another one that you could use if you have just returned from a vacation. It acknowledges that you had a good time while away, but you are glad to be back to your regular life again.

This response would be appropriate to use in a workplace setting. For example, you might use this response if you were having the first meeting with your boss after returning from vacation. It shows him or her that you enjoyed your leisure time, but are glad to be back and dedicated to your work again.

• “I hope you had a great holiday. Things were quite busy here while you were gone.”
• “I did, but it’s great to be back! I’m ready to dive back into work.”

It Was Very Pleasant, Thanks for Asking.

The reply “It was very pleasant, thanks for asking,” is a very polite response to a person commenting about your recent holiday. It shows that you are appreciative of the person taking the time to be interested in the happenings in your life.

Since this response is so formal sounding, you might want to choose to use it with someone that you don’t know very well. This would be someone like an acquaintance or co-worker whom you don’t work with very closely.

• “Good to see you back in the office Sarah. I hope you had a great holiday!”
• “It was very pleasant, thanks for asking.”

Thank You.

The simple phrase “thank you” is definitely the most concise response that you could give to such a comment. However, it is acceptable as a stand-alone reply and would satisfy the requirement of a response to a statement about your holiday.

As with the phrase “thank you, I did,” the response “thank you,” should primarily be used if you are talking to another person in passing, don’t know them very personally, or know that they are short on time.

For example, if you were going for a neighborhood walk and a neighbor in passing says “I hope you had a great holiday,” you could simply reply “Thank you,” and continue on your way.

This phrase is appropriate both for instances when the “holiday” is a vacation or when referring to an actual government or religious holiday. However, if it is a case where the holiday was also celebrated by the other individual, you may want to follow up with a quick phrase inquiring about how theirs was as well, as a courtesy.

For example, if the neighbor passing by was talking about your Thanksgiving celebration and not a vacation, you could say “Thank you, how was yours?”

• “I haven’t seen you on your morning walk all week. I hope you had a great holiday!”
• “Thank you.”

Thanks For The Kind Words, I Hope You Did Too!

The response “Thanks for the kind words, I hope you did too,” would be used if you were not just returning from vacation. Instead, it is appropriate if both yourself and the other person commenting had just recently both just celebrated the same holiday, such as Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving.

This phrase acknowledges that the other person is being quite kind by inquiring about whether or not your holiday was pleasant. At the same time, it also shows that you are interested in hearing about how the other person’s holiday celebration went as well.

Therefore, it would be a good one to use if you run into someone at the store a few days after Christmas and know that they also just celebrated Christmas as well. By saying “Thanks for the kind words, I hope you did too,” you acknowledge that the other person also celebrated the same day.

• “I can’t believe that Christmas has already passed. I hope you had a great holiday!”
• “Thanks for the kind words, I hope you did too!”

It Was Great! How Was Yours?

This phrase “It was great! How was yours?” is a less formal response than “thanks for the kind words, I hope you did too.” However, it holds the same sentiment. It should therefore also be used when both people have just recently celebrated the same government or religious holiday.

Since this phrase is rather informal, it would be a good one to use with a person that you know very well, such as a close friend or co-worker. For example, if you were getting together with a group of friends right after the new year, and one of them said “I hope you had a great holiday,” you could easily respond with “It was great! How was yours?”

This response also shows the other person that you have the time to get into a little bit of a conversation about the things you did to celebrate. It shows that you have the time to dedicate to carrying on the discussion further.

• “Hey Maria! Good to see you again. I hope you had a great holiday!”
• “Hi Joan! It was great. How was yours?”

Yes, I Had a Lovely Time.

Responding with the phrase “Yes, I had a lovely time,” is appropriate if the other person is referring to a trip or vacation from which you just returned. It is a polite and somewhat formal sounding reply to the statement “I hope you had a great holiday.”

Since this statement is so polite and formal sounding, it would probably not be used casually amongst close friends. Rather, you might choose it to speak to a person whom you want to show respect, such as an elder or a superior.

If you have just returned from a vacation and your elderly neighbor inquires about your trip, responding with “Yes, I had a lovely time,” is perfectly acceptable. It also does not require any additional follow-up conversation.

• “I hope you had a great holiday! I kept an eye on your house while you were away.”
• “Yes, I had a lovely time.”

Yes, It Was Definitely Nice to Get Away!

Use the phrase “Yes, it was definitely nice to get away,” if you have recently returned from a vacation and had traveled to another geographic location. It acknowledges the person’s statement that the holiday was “great.” It also shows that you enjoyed the traveling part of your vacation.

This phrase is not too formal or informal and is a good option to use for any type of audience. You can use it with either a close relationship or an acquaintance. It also opens up the door to an additional conversation or allows it to remain as a stand-alone statement if additional conversation is not desired.

For example, if you reply “Yes, it was definitely nice to get away,” the person you are speaking with might then continue the conversation further by saying something like, “that’s great, what was your favorite part of the trip?”

• “I heard that you just got back from Maui. I hope you had a great holiday!”
• “Yes, it was definitely nice to get away!”
• “I’ve always wanted to go there. What was your favorite part of the trip?”

I Did! Thank You For Checking!

The phrase “I did! Thank you for checking!” can be used either if a person returning from a vacation or on an occasion where the person making the initial statement did not celebrate the same religious holiday.

For example, if Easter has just passed and the other person did not celebrate it but knew that you did, the response “I Did! Thank you for checking!” would be completely appropriate. It acknowledges that you enjoyed celebrating your holiday. At the same time, it shows that you are grateful that the other individual remembered that you celebrated that particular holiday.

As with many of the other phrases discussed, it is also a perfectly acceptable one to use as a response to another person who is commenting about a vacation that you had recently taken.

• “Hi Miles, I saw that you recently celebrated Passover. I hope you had a great holiday!”
• “I did! Thank you for checking!”

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Is It “Happy Holiday” or “Happy Holidays”?
10 Best Replies When Someone Says “Happy Holidays”