When you’re a mom, the responsibilities of travel planning may fall on you. You want a great family vacation that will allow you all to enjoy your time and one another.
You want to build memories with your family as a mom, and the rigors of busy everyday life may not allow for that like a vacation will.
At the same time, vacations are expensive, particularly when you’re traveling with kids.
You may want to balance getting the best experience and maximizing your time with staying within your budget.
The following are some general tips that can help you save money on family travel.
Look for Packages
If you’re going somewhere that has a lot of attractions and you want to do several of them, start looking for vacation packages. An example is Myrtle Beach.
If you’re planning to travel to Myrtle Beach, there are a lot of different family-friendly attractions, but the ticket prices can add up quickly.
Look for a Myrtle Beach vacation package which might contain multiple discounted tickets to different attractions and in some cases may also include discounts on lodging and accommodations.
What’s great about packages is the fact that not only can you save money, but these packages can also make it easier to plan and organize your trips, since they can offer a built-in itinerary.
Be Strategic with Flights
If you’re going to be flying to your destination, there are a lot of ways you can save money on flights. One is to use a travel rewards credit card and accrue miles. Look for a card that lets you earn miles on everyday spending such as groceries and gas.
Some airline cards will only offer generous rewards when you’re spending with the airlines themselves, but others will give you competitive rewards for regular purchases.
As well as using miles or airline points for flights, there are other ways to save money.
You can take the evening flights, which may be cheaper, for example.
If you’re traveling with kids, this may actually be better than daytime flights because your children are more likely to sleep.
If you can be flexible with your dates, you might also be able to save money.
Be cautious of budget airlines too.
Sometimes they can be a good deal for family travel, but not always.
Once you factor in all the added fees, budget airlines may end up costing more than traditional carriers.
Saving Money on a Cruise
A cruise, in general, can be a good family-friendly vacation that’s also budget-friendly.
With that being said, there are certain ways your expenses might start to add up on a cruise, and you should be aware of them so you can avoid these extra costs.
For example, excursions when you’re in port, aren’t included in the price of a cruise, and you pay for them later. They can be outrageously expensive, particularly if several people in your family are going.
One option is to avoid the excursion altogether and enjoy the quiet of the boat when everyone is off it. Another is to book your excursions outside the cruise company. This can save you quite a bit, and the companies you can buy from are generally the same ones the cruise company uses.
You can also book a car and serve as your own guide in the ports.
Look for Favorable Exchange Rates if You’re Going Abroad
If you’re going out of the country, when you’re selecting a destination, you should think about the exchange rate because you can save quite a bit if it’s favorable compared to the dollar.
Of course, with that being said, don’t go to a dangerous country for the most competitive exchange rate.
There are a lot of places where you can find smaller differences in the exchange rate, and you can still save around 30% on the cost of your trip.
Use a Cashback Website
A cashback website is something you can use as part of your booking process, so you get something back for the cost of your booking. There are certain browser plugins that will automatically identify any cashback opportunities when you book anything related to travel.
Finally, don’t underestimate the importance of perks like free breakfast options in a hotel because you end up saving quite a bit each day. Even if you choose a hotel that doesn’t offer free breakfast, you may be able to contact them directly and negotiate to have it included with your stay.
These are great tips! It can also be helpful to keep in mind some destinations have travel agents that specialize in that area and can help you find great deals. Most travel agents are free and there’s no additional charges for going through them. I’d still recommend doing research to make sure they are on point if you’ve never worked with them before though.