A few weeks ago I was on my friend Diana’s (www.PantryOverFlow.com) radio show.  It was so much fun!  You can visit her site and listen to her radio show daily.  She asked me to share some travel tips here is some of what I shared.

My husband and I make an effort to go away every quarter, just the two of us.  Early in our marriage we came to know the need for this in our relationship.  Everyone enjoys getting away, my husband especially needs this quality time we spend together.  Quality time is his love language (I will share a post soon about the 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman) .  Since having children we try and go away at least once a year as a family. 

I know it costs money to travel and get away and a lot of people live paycheck to paycheck and don’t see any way they can take a family vacation or couple getaway.  It amazes me how many couples I meet who have never been away just the two of them or haven’t been away since they have had kids.  With a little planning and preparation you can have getaways with any size budget.    Here are some tips to help you.

Rewards Programs
Sign up for rewards programs through hotels, airlines and any other travel sources you use.  Many times hotel chains as well as airlines will run specials with extra bonus points for signing up.  If you or your spouse travels for work, many times you can sign up for these programs and use your work related travel to gain points for your family vacations or weekend getaways.

Travel Search Engines
Utilize travel search engines, such as Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline, Hotwire, Kayak, Trip Advisor.  Research prices on a variety of sites before choosing, and sometimes, when you find what you think is a great deal for airline tickets through one of these sites, if you call the airline directly or visit their site directly you can even still find a better deal.  If you have a flexible schedule, there is usually a box to click on these sites to check prices a couple weeks before or after your desired dates to find the best value.

Timing of Travel
When possible travel off season, or right after the peak season of where you are traveling. Not only will you save money, you’ll avoid the crowds.  In regards to timing plan out your vacations well in advance, this gives you time to save for your vacations and not go into debt.  Sometimes you can book last minute cruises and trips at half the price when travel sites are trying to offload inventory.  If you have money saved and budgeted for travel and have a flexible schedule, you can find some great deals.  The key though is to have the money saved ahead of time, budget in vacation money.  Say it takes you eighteen months or two years to save for a vacation, its better than not saving and letting five years go by since your last vacation or going into debt for vacation.  Who wants to getaway only to return to the stress and burden of the debt you incurred, does not help with fond memories.

Visitor Bureau
Check with the Visitor Bureau of the city you are visiting and check local on-line sites before you arrive.  Many times you will find discounts for tourist locations, transit, and other savings.  Check out the Calendar of Events, you might be in town when a great event is taking place.

Consider driving!  Gas prices are down, and this can come in handy when traveling with a family in avoiding rental car expenses and you will already have the necessary car seats.  I know road tripping with children can be difficult between the frequent potty stops and the “don’t touch me”, “don’t look at me” bickering amongst siblings.  Depending on how far you have to travel plan pit stops with the kids in mind.  Research things like parks, family tourist spots that you can let your little ones out of the car to run and stretch their legs.  If it works you could even stay one night at the halfway point in your road trip adventure.

Transportation
Learn more about transportation options, car rental, shuttles, buses, public transportation options, etc.  My husband has had to travel for work in a couple of his occupations and one time for example, he was not paying for the cab or rental car for his company trip, but he did a little research to where he was traveling and saved his company money by taking the airport shuttle to the public light rail station that took him directly in front of his hotel room.  Don’t only utilize saving tips for your personal budget but also for the company you work for, as a business owner I know they will appreciate you being frugal with their money. 

I am not talking about being cheap, but frugal and wise with your finances.  Sometimes saving money on a rental car or other way can give you more money to enjoy a tourist attraction, or fancier meal out.  When you are traveling, think about quality with frugality in mind. 

Meals/Eating out
Whenever possible book with a hotel that provides free breakfast, this will save you money and time searching for somewhere to eat.  Also something to keep in mind is if you will eat a large breakfast and a big lunch, you can eat lighter for dinner, which is typically pricier when eating out.  Many restaurants offer some type of happy hour, where appetizers are half price. 

When booking a hotel try to book one with a refrigerator or small kitchen.  This enables you to have some snacks, drinks and food in your room.  You can plan a picnic lunch or dinner when you have this option available.

Vacation Rental Home or Condo
If you are traveling with a large family or group consider renting a vacation house or condo.  One time when traveling to Disneyland with my husband’s family, just the adults no kids, we rented a 4 bedroom vacation home; it was less costly than booking multiple hotel rooms.


Find out if you can offset some travel expenses by staying with family or friends for part of your trip.  Not only have I stayed at families homes or vacation timeshares, but I also have opened my home for family members to stay or even stop by on their way to where they are going for a home cooked meal and time spent together.  Just don’t drop in though, give them ample time to prepare for your visit.

Cruising
I think cruising is a very economical way to travel especially if you live near a cruise port.  Many times you can find cruises for the same amount per night that you would spend on a hotel room per night and it includes all meals and entertainment for each night.  Everything is right on the ship, no need to drive around and find things to do, there is plenty to do.  Although you can explore as much as you like off shore.

All inclusive Packages & Excursions
Research before you commit to an all-inclusive package or resort and cruise excursions.  They are convenient, but remember most times you are paying for that convenience.  One time when cruising in Hawaii, I wanted to sign up for the snorkeling excursion which cost well over $100 per person.  My husband recommended that we book snorkeling on our own once on shore.  We saved well over 75% by taking  a short walk from the cruise boat and reserving our own snorkeling adventure, we were provided the equipment, transportation to and from the ship and we had a great time, the location was beautiful and ended up being the exact same spot if we would have booked in on the ship.

Souvenirs/Shopping
When shopping for souvenirs, shop around.  Many times you can find the same souvenir you saw right on the beach shops around the corner or down the street a little bit for half the price.  This also comes in handy when traveling with your family.  If your kids are like mine, they love stuffed animals, and any other type of souvenir that is at their eye level.  When we visited the San Diego Zoo one time, we found the same type and size stuffed Polar Bear that was $40 at the Zoo at a local store for $10 outside the park.  You can plan ahead when you plan to visit places like a Zoo, or Amusement Park (Disneyland, Sea World, Lego Land, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, etc.)  Pack and prepare souvenirs that you have purchased ahead of time and even throughout the year if you know you are planning a trip. 

You can surprise your kids each morning at the hotel room with a stuffed animal, Lego set, T-shirt of their favorite character, coloring books, autograph journals, etc. at a much lower cost than what you will spend at the amusement park.  This not only saves you money but saves you time, you can spend more time riding the rides, swimming in the pool then overspending by souvenir shopping. 

If you know shopping is important to the people you are traveling with, plan for that, again it’s not only about being cheap and saving money.  Vacations are supposed to be fun, with three boys I can get away with a lot of this because they really show no interest in shopping, they would rather be exploring, swimming, and actively participating in something.  If you have girls or a wife that likes to shop, budget for that.  Even if your budget allows for them to shop for and pick only one item, if that is important to them, make it happen.

Stay-cation
And last but not least have you heard of a Stay-cation?  It’s a vacation in your own hometown.  Depending on your budget you can work this idea a variety of ways.  At bare bone minimum costs you can stay at your own home, plan picnics in the park, tour the tourist spots right in your city or nearby.  You can eat most meals at home.  If you have some budget to work with, you can rent a hotel in your home town for all of the days or some of the days of your vacation time.  You save on the expense of renting a car, and airlines, but are still able to order room service and get out of your home.  My husband and I have done this a few times.  We stayed in town at a nearby hotel, sometimes for different reasons, sometimes due to not having a lot of time to take off work, sometimes due to our children’s school events, that we wanted to be at, but also wanted to get a way for the weekend but not too far.  Sometimes because we did not have a huge budget to work with but we knew the importance of just the two of us getting away together.  Many times people live in their hometown never experiencing the local tourist spots.  Stay-cations are great opportunities to experience what your city has to offer. 

I hope these tips help you in planning and budgeting for your next family vacation or weekend getaway.  Life is too short to not enjoy life with the people you love, explore this big beautiful world we live in.  Use the gift of travel to learn and grow closer together as a family.  Many times when you ask your kids what they received last Christmas they don’t even remember, many of the toys are broken or outgrown.  When you ask your kids about a family vacation I find they will rattle off multiple memories they have.  It’s not always about the amount of money you spend on your kids but the time you spent together creating memories.  

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