Since we started travelling with our children, our transport budget has ballooned.
Pre-kids, we walked everywhere, took long overnight bus journeys and never, ever hired cars. Now when we’re on the road with two young kids, money takes a back seat to convenience and safety. Although we always shop around for cheap flights, we do try to spend extra on getting the times and airports that suit us.
Have you ever thought you’ve got a deal on an airfare just to see it go through the roof when you add luggage for four and seat reservations for four? That’s not to mention the extra-large taxis families need at either end.
Keeping the costs down when booking transportation can be hard work for families who travel.
I’ve teamed up with a fantastic group of intrepid family travel bloggers from around the world. With their help, I’ve compiled this really useful collection of tips and tricks to help you save money on your next family holiday.
This is the second post in an eight-week series where I collaborate with other amazing family travel experts to bring you the very best family travel advice and inspiration. Don’t forget to check out last week’s How to Choose the Perfect Family Travel Destination.
Next week, the topic is how to pick the perfect accomodation when travelling with children. Make sure you don’t miss a post by following World for a Girl on Facebook or Twitter.
Taking small planes between Caribbean islands was convenient – but certainly not cheap!
How to save money when travelling with children
Factor in parking costs
Walking is a great way to explore a city like Washington DC Image: Statebystate
When you travel to a big city, transportation can get expensive. Gas, parking, and vehicle maintenance all cost more. Taking time to plan for how you will get from place to place is important if you want to save money. Many large cities have great public transportation, but when you have a family of five like we do, those tickets sure do add up quickly. We have found that by traveling on certain days of the week or times of day, you can save money because kids might ride for a discounted rate or even for free.
Another excellent money saving tip is to check the parking garages’ rates. Sometimes the prices between parking garages vary greatly. In Washington DC, we found a place we could park all day for only $10, while other places were charging $22 for four hours. We also like to take advantage of free trolleys and shuttle buses too. These are great for saving money on gas and also let everyone enjoy looking around at the sites instead of having to focus on traffic in an unfamiliar city. Knowing how you will get around will not only save you money, it will save you time because you won’t be driving in circles trying to find a place to park or wandering around trying to find the right shuttle stop.
Sarah is a full-time RV traveling wife and mother of three that loves adventure and sharing off-the-beaten-path travel destinations. Check out more of Sarah’s great money saving tips for Washington DC here.
Find websites that help you save
Saving money on transportation is an integral part of any family vacation. We normally drive because it does tend to be a less expensive choice for us. If you are driving, we use gasbuddy.com to check gas prices. We don’t normally fly so we have our car and will not need to use a taxi. When it comes to hiring transportation, I look at which option is more cost effective for us. Apps like Uber and Lyft now give you an estimate on cost. If you want to use a taxi service you can call and get an estimate.
When we do fly I use cheapoair.com because when my daughter came home last Christmas, I checked prices on sites like Expedia or Travelocity and it was cheaper. I can also use the Shopkick App and get kicks by booking through them! There are a lot of transportation options out there. Don’t think of the transportation as getting to or home from your trip. Use that time as part of your trip and making memories with your family!
Melissa Temple is a disability travel blogger who loves Disney.
Use Instagram to find cheap flights
Did you know that flight prices are not going to fluctuate that much between the airlines and sites like Expedia, Priceline and Agoda because the airlines just don’t discount their airfare that often? And when they do, they have about the same rates as everyone else.
So the best way to get good deals on flights is to get an airline credit card and earn free flights, or follow a person on Instagram who is always checking flight prices like CheapSLCFlights, Scotts Cheap Flights, or another person in your area that checks deals and posts them often. Just go to Instagram and search for “Cheap Flights (enter your city here)”.
Annette is a wife and mom of 5 who writes the blog Tips From a Typical Mom where she shares family friendly recipes, parenting tips, family activities and travel and product reviews.
Break up your reservation to save money
Airfare is usually the most expensive type of transportation. Therefore, I focus my money-saving energy on reducing the cost of plane tickets. The absolute best way to save here is to redeem reward points for FREE fares. That’s not always a possibility. My next best tip is. Drumroll, please. Break up your airfare into two separate reservations.
Ticket pricing is often tiered by the number of seats reserved. So when you move from a party of two to a party of four, your price increases. To combat this, make two reservations rather than one and get a cheaper rate. It can be super tricky to make two reservations at the same time. We’ve made plenty of mistakes. You may need separate devices and separate credit cards to be successful. But as a family of seven, we save tons of money this way.
Regina Kay is a worldschooling mother of five, full-time global explorer, and travel writer at fulltimefieldtrip.com where she brings you real-world tips to make your life easier and your travels exceptional.
Factor in walking – it’s free!
Flying doesn’t have to be expensive Image: World Wise Kids
Choosing transportation is a great way to involve the kids in planning, budgeting and decision-making. Researching and choosing the lowest cost options takes energy and time but results in a higher quality travel experience.
Getting there – We plan international travel far in advance when tickets are first available. A favorite research tool is Google flight tracking to follow prices on different airlines and understand the options. Airline websites offer the low-price calendar and the route map to compare dates and locations. We save money by choosing the no-frills, low-cost airlines, traveling with carry-on backpacks, bringing our own food, water, and entertainment.
Moving town-to-town – Getting around is part of the educational experience – a chance to understand the culture. This means avoiding the tourist track of pricey packaged tours and living like the locals. Arriving somewhere may take longer, but the journey is just as important as the destination! A mix of trains, buses and boats enrich the adventure.
Exploring – Our travel routine includes discovering a place through walking. Whether hiking a trail, beachcombing or mapping out the streets of a city or town, foot-travel is free and allows you to stumble upon local wildlife and activities and create your own unique experience.
Deborah is a California-based environmental educator, polyglot and mother of two adventurous kids. Her family travel blog World Wise Kid inspires educational discussions around the globe.
Sometimes it’s cheaper NOT to fly
Be flexible and drop rental cars off where they’re needed to save money
Transportation is by far the most expensive part of any family vacation. What about in-country travel, once you arrive at an international destination? Here’s my top tip for saving money on transportation once you have arrived at your international destination: Rent a car.
While it can be a complete sensory overload to drive in a foreign country, it is also one of the least expensive and most time efficient ways to get around most countries, especially if you want to get out of the city and explore sights off-the-beaten-path. To save your sanity, plan an itinerary that incorporates alternative transportation (train, bus, short flight) to a less popular city.
From there, rent a car and continue on your family travel adventure, simply returning your car at the end of your trip to a predetermined destination. Many major car rental companies in Europe have one-way rentals very affordably priced (ie: 2 GBP/day in the UK!) if you are willing to drive a specific vehicle back into a more popular city or airport.
In the UK, returning a car from Scotland to London helps out the rental company as more people fly into London than anywhere else in the UK. For helping the rental company out, they offer ridiculously cheap rental fees and then you just pay for your own petrol. It’s a genius way to save big on in-country transportation in Europe!
Read more from Shannan at Captivating Compass where she blogs about learning on location using the world as your textbook.
Flight costs can vary dramatically by date
The Gadventure Family have learnt to save money on flights during their gap year adventure Image: Gadsventure
Saving a few dollars on each plane ticket can add up to hundreds of dollars when travelling with a big family. With that in mind, the best trick I have discovered to find savings when booking is using Skyscanner’s ‘Whole Month’ function. This enables the user to compare and choose the cheapest day in the entire month to fly. Being flexible is the most important factor in getting cheaper flights, as well as avoiding peak tourist periods, festivals and school holidays.
Skyscanner is a fantastic tool and I use it to research prices every time I look for international tickets. Another great tip when using Skyscanner is to search using an incognito window so your cookies are not being used and prices remain low. Hit Shift+command+n to go incognito on Apple, or shift+control+n on a PC.
Kris and Brian are totally fun-loving Australians on an international gap year with their 4 kids while world schooling and documenting every step on their blog Gadsventure. They believe that life is short and the time is now!
Self-drive to avoid airfare add-ons
There are so many ways to save on transportation. Personally, we try to drive to as many places as we can, if time allows. Not only can you save time by driving, but you can cut the costs of needing a rental car or taxis, and you can pack your car with snacks and other items you may have had to spend money on if you flew to your destination. With airlines adding on so many fees for everything these days, we rarely fly. Road trips can be fun, even with little kids. Just be sure to properly prepare for your road trip and enjoy! Memberships like AAA (in the US) are cheap and a necessity if you’re planning a family road trip.
If we can’t drive, we try to use airline miles and tools like Skyscanner or Google Flights to find the best airfare deals. Then, we pack as light as possible to avoid luggage fees. When we arrive at our destination, we almost always use Uber or Lyft, as taxi services are almost always twice the cost.
Shannon Elizabeth is the creator and voice behind Grab My Passport, a family-focused travel blog.
Fancy taking a road trip with your kids? You might be interested in our post Ditching Backpacks for Hire Cars: On the Road with Toddlers
Make use of complimentary airport transfers
Using a hotel courtesy bus can save you time and money Image: Gofamgo
Coming by reliable transportation when in unfamiliar destinations can be a hassle. Airport taxis could be expensive or services like Uber might not be available.
Most hotels offer complimentary airport transfers or have some form of shuttle service for a certain fee. Take advantage of this perk and make sure to check ahead for price comparisons with renting a car instead.
A complimentary shuttle service from your hotel gives you one less thing to worry about especially if you’re unfamiliar with the locality. Ensure that you communicate your needs to the hotel prior to arrival. Let them know how many are in your traveling party and when to expect you.
Going to Walt Disney World, for example, is an expensive family vacation. One way to save money while in Disney is to make use of their Disney Magical Express, a free shuttle service from Orlando International Airport to their resorts. They also have other forms of transportation like the ferry, the monorail and the bus within the campus.
Yamy Hartsough is the creator and main blogger of Gofamgo, a multi-generational family travel blog where she chronicles her family’s adventures.
Yay! You got to the end of the page. If you liked this post, you’ll be super excited to know that this is just the second in an eight-part family travel bloggers series!
Over the next two months, I’ll be working with this inspirational group of intrepid bloggers to offer you the best family travel advice and tips.
Make sure you don’t miss any of this fantastic series by following World for a Girl on Facebook or Twitter.
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