There’s no way around it; big vacations usually cost big bucks.
No more so than when you want to take the little ones on an adventure. Traveling with your children can be one of the most rewarding things you can do,but it inherently comes at a price as there are lots of potential hidden costs and extras to contend with on top of the usual travel expenses. In this article, we take a look at some of the ways you can mitigate the cost of traveling as a family and enjoy a fun–filled vacation.
Budget for your transport costs
There are lots of websites out there to help you source cheap flights, and they invariably cost compare across a variety of airlines, allowing you to source the most affordable flights for your trip. Very often, you can set up and save flight searches and preferences so that you can get the latest deals emailed to you. Finding the cheapest flights is almost always done well ahead of time, so the earlier you start looking, the cheaper your flights will tend to be. The second-best option is to leave it until the very end and look for last–minute deals or special offers from airlines as they desperately try to fill up any empty seats on popular routes.
If you plan on driving to the airport and paring there for any length of time, then another top tip his to use an online airport parking service; ParkON.com is a perfect example, to reserve your airport parking space. Services like ParkON come into their own when helping you source the cheapest parking option, and it only takes five minutes to do so it also saves you time.
Sourcing the best value accommodation
An increasingly popular way of booking a vacation is by organizing your accommodation independently of your flights rather than going for a package deal. This opens up a world of excellent value accommodation via online portals, such as the ubiquitous Airbnb. There are options in almost every city of every country in the world, and you can set your search parameters to exactly meet your budget, location, and accommodation needs. The other significant advantage of building a DIY vacation in this way is that you remain in control of each element of the budget, including food, while an all–inclusive package might seem like the easiest option; by breaking it down, you can probably save money by self–catering.
Budgeting your food and entertainment costs
One of the essential parts of a family vacation is the quality time you get to share together. A self–catering holiday allows you not only to set your own sensible food budgets but also to enjoy that quality time together, exploring local food markets, and preparing meals together each evening. When you are in control of your vacation budget in this way, you can easily make better decisions about the treats, trips, and excursions that you go on while you are away.
A fun–packed family vacation doesn’t have to break the bank; simply think about breaking it down into flight, accommodation, and food or entertainment budgets and source each component separately. Most importantly, enjoy that quality time together.