Traveling "CHEAP" With Kids

Yesterday we talked about the "Must Takes" when traveling with kids today we will share our Cheap travel ideas with from the MOMversation on 24/7 MOMS Live web cast.

Transportation

- Use frequent flier plans through credit cards.

-Trekaroo: Sign Up for Alerts, Deals – Many airlines offer “deals of the week” specials, or affordable one way fares, but it’s not easy to stay on top of them all. Through partnerships with Expedia and others, Trekaroo will announce deals through Twitter (@Trekaroo), as well as a monthly newsletter.

- Flying TIP: Pick up at the Departures concourse, rather than at Arrivals. The line at Arrivals is always torturous, whereas there is never a line at Departures. This strategy works great when you call a taxi or town car, too—just tell the dispatcher to pick you up at Departures.

Lodging-

-Rent houses (i.e. Florida) vs. hotel.
www.homeaway.com
www.VRBO.com
www.vacationrentals.com
www.myvacationrentals.com

-House Exchange, try home exchanges-www.JewettStreet.com
-Stay at hotel that offer “kids play free” or all-suites hotel with kitchen facilities. (Helps avoid eating out).

- No WiFi-??Need to stay connected? Search ahead and you can also find wi-fi hot spots around the country with Wi-FiHotSpotList.com.

Food-

-Picnics - Bring a backpack, find a grocery store and get some French bread, cold cuts, cheese and beverages.

-Eat out for lunch instead of dinner. Usually cheaper menu.

-Google for coupons prior to leaving town print off places you might eat. Plan
ahead by gathering coupons for nationwide restaurants and grocery stores.

- Calling Tip: Avoid calling Fees i.e. (555-1212 and 411) to get a phone number for a restaurant or hotel. Everyone should program this number into the speed dial of their cell phone: 800/GOOG411. It’s a completely free telephone information service from Google.

Attractions-

-Coupons; Figure out which museums, parks and attractions you are going to want to see during the trip. There are coupons for most major attractions online. If you can’t find a coupon for the place that you want to go, call and ask them if they offer coupons. Many places will tell you where to find coupons with just a simple call.

-Entertainment Books for the city you plan to travel.

-On-line... attractions (theme parks, zoos, museums, etc) book passes online ahead.

-Call local attraction and ask where you can buy coupons/check local grocery stores.

-Check your zoo and museum memberships for reciprocal locations. (We went to the AZ zoo free with our zoo passes)

Souvenirs –

Pre-buy your souvenirs before you go to theme parks and you can save huge money. Before you go, shop at major retailers like Wal-Mart and Kmart, where you’ll find tee-shirts, baseball caps, and bags with favorite characters on them. There are also stuffed toy versions of these characters. It works with nearly any theme park you can think of, from Sesame Place to Disney and Universal


Want to save on gas money? Roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning when you’re on the highway. Open windows create more drag, which uses up more fuel. Also, drive at the speed limit. The faster you go, the more gasoline your car needs to get from A to B

Think outside the weekend-to-weekend vacation box. Sometimes shifting your flights one or two days forward or back can make a big difference in airfare. Also, midweek flights are often less crowded, which makes for a more pleasant trip.

BOOK -

“Let’s Go” book by Harvard Students Agencies for lower cost hotels in Europe.


From the 24/7 MOMS Live MOMversation on 6/23/09