If you’re a parent, you’ll know just how expensive family travel can be. Once you have children it is inevitable for everything to become more expensive, including vacations. Don’t get me wrong; I love taking family trips, so I devised 5 handy hacks for making family travel more affordable.
Want to hear the good news? It can be! That’s right, despite appearances, family travel can be budget friendly. It’s just a case of understanding what you need to do to cut costs. There are so many ways family travel can be made more affordable, and yet, many of us aren’t taking advantage of them.
Choose the right time to travel
I know, I know, the cheap times aren’t during the school holidays. Some schools don’t allow kids out of school during the last week of the semester, which can make family trips seriously expensive. Unless you’re going to pull your kids out of school, there’s not much you can do about this. However, you can search around for the times when the deals are cheapest. Leaving a day before the school holidays start will significantly cut costs, for example.
Choose a hotel with cooking accommodations
Opt to book self-catered accommodation and you can save yourself a lot of money. Self-catering means you may have to cook, but if it’s saving you money, it may be a good option! Having somewhere to stay that has a kitchen can significantly reduce the cost of your trip. Even if you’re going to eat out each evening, it gives you a place to make breakfast and prepare packed lunches for the day.
Take advantage of air miles
Did you know that your kids can qualify for air miles too? Make sure that both you, your partner and your children are saving air miles so that you can use these to make family travel cheaper. If you save your air miles up for a couple of years, you’ll have enough for free flights for your next vacation.
Research the best deals and discounts
This might go without saying, but far too many of us don’t bother to do this. If you want to keep the cost of your trip low, it’s crucial to take the time to look for deals and discounts. From discounts on the cost of flights to airport parking deals, there are always plenty of deals around. It’s just a case of making the time to find them, and you can significantly reduce the cost of your trip.
Rent a car from an independent place
If you’re going to rent a car, try not to rent it from the airport car rental locations. Instead, rent a vehicle from an independent location offsite. You’ll find that by doing that, you’ll save yourself a lot of money. Airport rental cars are overly priced, whereas independent companies offer more affordable options. Just make sure that you get your rental car from a reputable company!
So there you have it, all the best hacks for cutting the cost of your next family vacation.
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