How to Minimize Family Vacation Expenses
So you have decided to take a family vacation. Everyone needs a break. But often, the expense of just reaching your destination can be daunting. Here are some ideas and tips to help you cut down or minimize some of the expenses while still enjoying a wonderful vacation.
If you could travel anywhere in the world with your family, where would you go? What is holding you back? One of the main responses is probably the cost of the trip. Traveling can get expensive. Add traveling with the entire family and the price often goes up exponentially. But, there are ways to get around that with a bit of planning and creativity.
Your Destination
Where do you want to visit this year? Create a list of places you would like to visit with the family. Are you planning for a major vacation or would an alternative to a faraway destination such as exploring your own area work? You could even break up the vacation into several weekend trips instead of one week-long excursion. Children will think that they are getting a treat every couple of weeks.
Once you make the selection on the destination, start planning your itinerary that will include visiting not only the popular sights, but things in the area that are free to the public or included in your lodging. Plan a picnic at a local park instead of eating out every night. Enjoy a late lunch (when prices are cheaper) and then have snacks before bed at the hotel. Learn about public transportation and use that when visiting a destination that offers it.
If you are set on a popular resort destination, make sure to look into travel packages. Depending on when and where, families can travel to the Caribbean or other locations and stay at an all-inclusive resort. Packages for these trips often include airfare and while you are there, the food and drinks (and some of the entertainment) are included as well.
Mode of Transportation
While everyone, or most of us would rather just hop on the plane, it isn't always the most cost effective or convenient – especially when traveling with children. Spend a little time checking out train and bus fares. Yes, it will take you a little longer (okay maybe a lot longer) to reach your destination but the traveling can be part of the adventure. Learn about the sights you will be passing or make up games that the family can play to pass the time. If traveling by rail, I suggest at least two of the tickets share a sleeping compartment. Everyone can rotate through, but when not sleeping they can be in the main cabins. If the family has never ridden a train, treat it as an adventure. We have over the years, split the transportation methods up depending on the ages of the children. Some would drive with one of the parents and the other parent would fly when the little ones were able to sit on laps and fly for free. Believe me, it saved a ton of time, money and the sanity of us all.
When planning flights, check several airlines and multiple dates when you have the option of when to travel. I have found that flying in the mid-afternoon on Friday (before everyone gets off work) is cheaper than later that night or on Saturday morning. Also booking as far in advance as possible will save money and let you select your seats.
If you are driving to your destination, will you take your own vehicle or rent one? Make sure to check the rental fees closely, especially if you are renting for more than three days. Once you cross the time into the fourth day, it is often cheaper to rent the vehicle for the entire week. This can be helpful when you can pick up the vehicle the day before leaving and not return until the day after you get home. It allows time for you to load it and unload it without being rushed.
While most would advise that you should rent the smallest, most fuel-efficient vehicle you can reserve; I will tell you that listening to “he is touching me” or “I am being squashed” for 12 hours is worth looking at a larger vehicle. Yes, you may pay a little more for the vehicle but your sanity is worth it. Before renting, make sure to check with your insurance carrier or with the credit card company you are planning on using. Sometimes your personal insurance will cover you on rentals and some credit cards cover the additional insurance fee if you use them. Yay for American Express!
Food and Snacks
By far, food can be the biggest hidden cost of a vacation after transportation and lodging. With a family of four or more, food costs can amount to hundreds of dollars a day. While eating out can be fun and exciting, you can save a ton of money by planning out your meals. Depending on how you are traveling, you can bring snacks and drinks that your family enjoys (or purchase once you reach your destination). When traveling on extended trips, look for lodging locations that offer a kitchenette so you can prepare some of your own meals and save the difference. Certain hotel chains offer breakfast with your room rate. Others like the Drury include dinner and breakfast in their room rates. Yep, you read that right! Drury Hotels are the first place I check when planning a trip because by the time I factor in dinner and breakfast for my crew, it is a no brainer where we are staying. Embassy Suites also include an evening manager's reception (aka hot wings, wedges, finger food) and a full breakfast in their room rates. The Embassy offers two room suites which are great when traveling with mixed genders.
Vacations are fun but can cost quite a pretty penny. Start your planning process by identifying the largest expenses and then finding ways to cut back or save on the cost without sacrificing the quality of the trip. Between travel packages and lodging with meals included, we have been able to travel to several places that at first glance didn't seem affordable.
We take food from home and carry a lot of water bottles to save on paying high prices.
What great ideas, thanks for sharing.
I love these tips. I love to save money anyway I can.
As a past Travel agent, when you call these places to book your getaway. Ask for Ex-Military discounts, AAA, Government employee discounts and local rates ( IF applicable)
Great Tips
Great tips! Have two trips planned this summer so far. I will definitely be putting some of these to use!
Good way to save money.
Incredible Helpful Post.
Super helpful! Thanks for the great tips!!!!
It is just my husband and I now our trips won’t be as expensive as when the kids were home. Thank you for sharing.
Great tips! As the kids get older, they get more expensive. These will come in handy!
We stay at places with free breakfast. The food is good, lots of choices.
Check to see if there is a Drury on your way. They include both dinner and breakfast in the price of the room.
Embassay suites is my faaaaaavorite!!!
Great ideas. It is always nice to save some money.
The checking of hotel meals is great. I didnt know some of this. I like Road trips.
Now you are making me want to plan a trip! Isn’t that half the fun? I laughed about the small car and crowded kids.
My little slow cooker was my best friend. We would purchase but what food we needed for the meal that day and easy light lunches, like sandwiches, soups, and such. We also always booked at places with a free breakfast.
Last time we took an overnight family vacation was up north for Christmas. It was fun and since a lot of family went we all pitched in.
I love the idea of a train or bus trip.
Great ideas
Wonderful ideas thanks for sharing them.
Thank you for these tips. Kids grow up so fast. We are planning on a vacation this summer so I can use some of these tips.
Unfortunately, we haven’t had a family vacation in a long time, but whenever we do I’m definitely utilizing these tips. Thank you!
Lot of great tips for a family vacation. Want to add a tip regarding travel with other family members. You should talk about who or what pays what “-)
I have not been fortunate to take a vacation or a honeymoon but I do take weekend getaways to see family and most of the time I stay with them or we camp. Or we just go to our destination and drive back home the same day. Some day I hope I am fortunate enough to go on a real vacation where I get to see great things eat great food and sleep in great establishments.
Great tips. Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the ideas, now all I have to do is be able to go on a vacation. I teacher all year and then do summer school so my “vacation” time is down to none. Great stuff though,
great ideas!
Awesome tips
I am always using coupons, sales and various thing in ways to save , thanks for sharing
These are all really great ideas and I will use a lot of them the next time we travel.
Use coupons
We almost check online for cheaper deals . Always rent a room with a kitchen and cook most of our meals in the room instead of eating out every night.
I need as much help as I can get with saving! Thank you!
It’s also worth checking for coupons or AAA discounts to theme parks, museums, etc.
Great article, we are always looking at ways to save when we travel
Going for a vacation is so expensive. I love your tips. thanks for sharing.
I’m going to utilize these tips on my next vacay.
Great advice. My son is 12 and we haven’t went on a family vacation since he was 5. We are long over due.
We were blessed to have my Mom pay for a Hawaiian cruise for my family of four but we had to pay for excursions, drinks, snacks, etc. I did a lot of research and we were able to rent cars at each stop and have great days filled with fun for a fraction of the cost of the ship excursion.
Great tips! 😀
We have never been able to go on vacation. I would be ecstatic.
Haven’t had a family vacation or any vacation in over 20 years!!!! Ugh !!!
I loved your tips on how to save on a family vacation. You have some amazing ideas. I learned that the Drury and
Embassy Suites hotels offer both breakfast and evening meals or snacks. This is a real game changer in keeping my crew fed for less. I ‘ll definitely be checking these hotels first when traveling.
Our kids are young so we don’t usually have to do or spend much to have fun as a family! This Summer we plan on camping in our backyard and going to the zoo. 🙂
We travel just before or just after the busiest travel season for our destination. You can save a lot on lodging and transportation cost.
Thank you for the tips. When we go on vacation we will usually bring our lunches and our drink to keep from stopping.
This is a great post. We try not to eat out much at all. We get a room with a kitchen and make our own food. It always seems to save a little. We also explore multiple airlines and dates to find the best deal.
This is a great reminder and list that I will keep for our summer outings for sure!
I so needed this we have never had a family vacation like this thx for the tips
great ideas, i try to make some time for breaks but money is so very tight
My family has never been on an actual vacation because of financial reasons
Bring a lot of our own food to save money
We always take a ice chest with drinks and snacks while on the road. Prices can be pretty steep depending where you are. I am always glad to hear tips from others. Thank you.
We always try to make sure the room has a kitchen so that we can cook as much of our food as possible. Eating out can really add to the cost of a vacation. Thanks for the tips.
Bring your own food and snacks is a great money-saving idea. I’m going to remember that this summer, every dollar saved helps. Great article.
Don’t go…. I haven’t been on a trip in a year (once a year) and its the best trip ever… its to Las Vegas, but that’s t=not the reason, its a family gathering that means the most
Thanks for the great tips on saving money.
Travel packages are definitely the way to go!
great ideas thank you for sharing
Great tips!
Thanks for sharing !
I always bring a snack tote on every trip that we take and always search for free thing s to do in the town we re visiting. Next week my 16 year old and I are visiting LA for 3 days, we are going to see a taping of a television show, which is free!
Awesome!!! You find a bunch of good free stuff!
Thanks,
Annette
I didn’t know that about Drury I’ll have to see if there are any around Chicago weber we are going
Vacations are so expensive. Thanks for the great tips on saving money.
These are great tips! I always take a ton of snacks and a cooler full of drinks when we vacation!
Some great tips. We do a summer vacation every summer to Edisto Island, comin up in June:)
have a kitchen to cook in
It seems to be an expense that I just don’t want to take. Always so much other stuff to use the money for. Have not been to the beach in 20 years. Well maybe it is due again after all. 🙂
Lots of great tips here. As a family of five…we definitely need to find ways to cut expenses. Some of the best memories are made on family vacations though. Can’t leave them out of the budget!
Saving money is always at the top of our list when making plans to take a vacation. I have not had a real vacation in 10 years.
We used to picnic while driving. Then we could splurge on a little extra at our destination.
Great tips thanks for the wonderful article
Love this article yes we always try to book the free breakfast hotels too only because we have picky eaters and we also bring snacks with us on our car drive..I love how you covered all these things in this article .. gonna look into the Drury hotels deals if I ever need it and it’s available at my destination vacation. Thanks looking forward to reading more of your articles..
I know the best way to have an inexpensive family vacation. Leave the kids home with a baby sitter!
Thank you for your tips. We always have to plan before we take a trip. And that means saving money.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing! We are planning a vacation soon so this is very helpful!
I’ve always wanted to take a train! I might need to look into that next time I travel
Thank you for the advice. I’m always shocked when I look at my bank account after coming back from a trip!
Great tips! Not everyone can do this, depending on location and who you know, but a HUGE vacation money saver is to stay with friends or relatives. It’s more comfortable, it’s much cheaper, and it’s more fun too!
These are some really great money saving tips. Thank you for posting. God bless.
We always try to haveakitchen in our hotel. So many hotels are now pulling their microwaves out of rooms and just having a ‘centrally’ located one downstairs. I can’t stand it!we have dietary restrictions in my family and when staying at one resort I felt like I walked a mile each night microwaving everything and bringing it back up.
Great tips! Haven’t tried a Drury inn in a long time!
These are all very great tips on how to handle expanses on family vacations. It can be tough on the budget or stressful. Thanks for sharing.
We haven’t flown in a while. I like your advice. I will have to check for the specific days and times you mentioned.
Great tips! Thank you for sharing!
I know we prefer to fly versus any other form of transportation. We have an upcoming long weekend coming this summer to Chicago – about 4 hours away. We decided to save on parking costs downtown and will be parking in Wisconsin and taking the train into downtown.
Traveling costs a lot, definitely some great trips to help reduce the stress on the wallet.
though usually less feasible with a family, looking for last minute deals can also save money
Great article! We are planning a family vacation to Myrtle Beach so this is. Wry useful ‘
Making our own sandwiches and bringing our own drinks is what we did when my children were little and we went to Disney world. I think we saved quite a bit doing that. Not sure Disney would allow that now
Really useful tips
Yes!! The food costs are always so surprising when on vacation. Thanks for posting!
Pop tarts & milk for an early breakfast, then do brunch and an early dinner. Early dinner means lower prices
Great tips for travelling and saving money i love to travel and stay on budget at same time.
smart ideas!
Oh gosh, minimize vacation expenses, sounds like a foreign phrase. My ex-husband and I use to take trips with our daughter, but shoot, we always spending a fortune. I think the only vacation that we saved any amount of money was when we took a trip up the coast of California in our RV. It was a great trip.
Great tips for travelling and saving money i love to travel and stay on budget at same time.
I love to stay where you relax and have a kitchen to cook in. When I stay in a hotel or motel I like a nice clean room,and no bed bugs
I have never had a vacation. If I won won one now that would awesome.
Very good money saving tips. Thanks for sharing.
The food expense is the biggest one for us. My hubs and my teen son could eat all day! Bringing snacks and shopping while there (and getting a rental with a full kitchen) helps.
vacations can be very expensive. thanks for the tips. when traveling solo I like to stay in a travelers hostel.camping is also a good way to save money, try traveling abroad on the off season.
we share food and bring snacks and fruit
GREAT TIPS AND I ALSO MUST HAVE A SMALL KITCHEN IN THE MOTEL(THIS SAVES MONEY ON TAKE OUT)
Saving money is key but F I had the chance to win a vacation It has to have a little kitchenette because I’m 70yrs old and that’s a big hrlo
Great tips! My family, when I was younger would only take camping trips. We wouldn’t stay in a motel/hotel. We lived in Cali at the time so there was always something to see and visit.
Excelente articulo.
this is awesome. thank you for all the awesome tips!
Thanks for the article, it was very useful.
I usually book my hotel with my airfare at the same time through Expedia.com. I save money on the cost of my travel by doing this.
We like to stay in a hotel that has a kitchenette; that way we can cook 1or 2 meals per day and eat out for the other meal(s).
Some great tips and I always liked staying at Embassy Suites when traveling with kids. Thanks!
Very smart I love these Ideas. Thank you.
I love your blog!
Thanks for the info… I was not familiar with Drury Hotels, so that is definitely something I will look into. Also, the fact that we occasionally vacation with my daughter & son-in-law makes the two-room suites at The Embassy another possibility.
I love saving money on vacations. All of these ideas will help
We like to take our own vehicle and cooler to save money on meals. It has worked for us many times.
Most persons have had a vacation in which they have had a memorable time. Even though my family has tried to save enough to afford a vacation, medical costs have been arriving quite often, on average, only that of using the imagination is our sole source of vacation. Saving money for a number of other things are able to be mentioned but I know that of a smile (being priceless) for which my single mother always reminded us children can make the biggest of difference – in her scenario our father was suppose to pay child support but never gave a dime!
We usually use Skyscanner to help monitor airfares so we can get the absolute best price on airline tickets.
When we go on vacation we try to make it to the beach, so going during the off season is best for us as a family. We get an efficiency motel room, make our own breakfast & lunch, and sometimes even dinner in order to afford a longer vacation. It definitely helps to plan out what we want to do, where to go, and how to save money doing it.
I always love to save money when I travel.
It can be hard to cut corners while on vacatiob,I mean how many dollar burgers,cab you eat? How many times can you stay in the hotel from hell.
Watching how we spend our money not using it for frivolous items.
Great tips Thank you! We are leaving for our vacation to an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana this Sat our selfs and I can’t wait !
Eating in a couple of days saves quite a bit of money. Check out the park system whereever you go. We went down to Florida recently and found a neighborhood park with the greatest water park for cooling off. They also had their own train museum there. Cost was minimal.
Its important for us to save money and do things frugally! Thanks for the tips!
Saving money when traveling is the only way we can travel as a family.