Everyday expenses are difficult enough to manage, so it can be particularly challenging to make room in your budget for leisure holiday costs. But family travel is an important shared experience, so even when money is scarce, resourceful parents find ways to follow-through on holiday. To save money on entertainment, add these tips to the other personal money management strategies found on Readies, helping you provide funding for travel, recreation and leisure holidays.
Flexibility Pays-Off on Holiday
If your travel plans allow for flexible dates and schedules, you are in a position to save on travel costs. If you must travel according to school schedules or during holiday seasons, on the other hand, deals are harder to find. It is a simple example of supply and demand, as hospitality operators and travel providers do not have much incentive to extend their best rates when business is brisk. During slow, off-peak travel seasons, however, travelers typically enjoy discounted rates and other promotions designed to lure customers. Still, if you must travel during school breaks, target the middle of the week for travel, which can save money over weekend rates.
Use Online Resources to Compare Travel Bargains
Holiday planners have access to a wealth of travel information, including countless online comparison sites. To make the most of your holiday budget, contrast your options using side-by-side comparisons. Advanced planning allows you to check back often, to see daily specials and stay atop travel price trends. By tracking travel rates over time, you’ll be prepared to pounce when deals are most favorable. In some cases, signing up for email alerts gives you a priority look at upcoming holiday promotions.
Consider All-Inclusive Holidays
Holiday spending accounts for transportation, food, lodging and a host of incidentals. Once tallied, the true cost of holiday can be surprising – rising far beyond the price of airline tickets. For some families, all-inclusive vacation packages furnish the perfect holiday alternative, covering all the essentials under a set price. Affordable packages to Greece and Cyprus, for example, have captured bargain-shoppers attention, offering luxury week-long stays at premier beachfront resorts.
Image of all-inclusive resort. Courtesy of MakintheBacon.
Pay Attention to Children’s Discounts
Seasoned parents understand how expensive it can be to feed and entertain kids of various ages on holiday. Fortunately, travel providers and hospitality professionals take this into account when marketing to families. By taking advantage of the specials offered by hotels, restaurants and paid attractions, parents offset the cost of taking kids on holiday, making the most of their travel budgets. Free kids meals, for instance, ease dining expenses, prompting savvy travelers to dine in family friendly spots. Buy one, get one free is another popular incentive offered by hospitality providers sensitive to the financial plight of traveling families.
Buy Ahead
In addition to airline tickets and other arrangements made ahead of time, families on holiday can prepare for departure by handling other travel needs in advance. Airport parking, travel insurance and even travel money can be shopped online, enabling you to compare rates before buying. By landing the best forward rates, you’ll save significant sums over the cost of buying everything at the last-minute.
Carving out cash for holiday is difficult at times, so these proven techniques assist bargain hunters. With a bit of research and cost shopping, you’ll set the stage for an affordable family holiday, with all the joy and amusement of a high-dollar break. For the greatest savings, plan ahead and apply your frugal approach to every aspect of holiday planning.
I’ve found all inclusive trips to be much cheaper than putting together the trip by ourselves. We’re going to a destination wedding next year and it’s a bit strange not picking where we’re going or staying on our vacation, but pretty exciting!
I had originally thought about doing a destination wedding for myself, since I had yet to go to one. It’s a great excuse to go on vacation! 🙂
It can be a blessing or a curse… But going during an off season. Accommodations are usually much cheaper, but sometimes that means the weather isn’t ideal. I once and went to Thailand during their tropical storm season, I got luck and had good weather, but it could have just as easily been bad. I went to Japan in December, it was very cold and all the cherry blossoms and lovely foliage were non-existent, but it was cheaper.
I think I would prefer for the weather to be ideal or presumably be ideal, if I was going away on vacation. Funny enough, I’m having my wedding in October, which for the longest time was considered to be during the off-season. Now, fall weddings have exploded and October is now considered part of the regular wedding season. Weather seems to be a hit and miss during that month, so we’ll see how it goes. 😛
During my last holiday,it was kind of horrible though cheap but we didnt enjoy.This tips will help me provide funding for travel, recreation and leisure holidays.Thanks for the tips.
I also found some all inclusive trips to be cheaper than trying to piece a resort vacation together. However, since I do mostly backpacking I tend to just need a plane ticket then figure out the rest. I also do think people should use fare alerts to help them monitor prices for places they have wanted to visit.
I find it amazing that the price of an all-inclusive vacation can cost as much as a flight to the other side of the country. Just how crazy is that!
We always buy our vacations in advance but we also try to remain flexible. Deals can come up after you’ve booked your plans and having the flexibility to change rooms or flights or day excursions can really save money.