My Top 5 Family Vacation Planning Tips

Vacation planning tips are always welcome. Well, in my book anyway! Summer is only a few weeks away. And if you are looking for vacation planning tips, you came to the right place. I wish I had known these tips before booking my last trip. We took the kids to Panama City,  Florida last year for our summer vacation. Although the condo we rented was clean and beautiful, we got charged some unnecessary fees when we got there.  I partly blame it on myself for not reading the fine prints, but we still ended up paying more than we budgeted for. These tips that I am sharing with you below are based on personal experiences. I hope you find them helpful!

My Top 5 Vacation Planning Tips

1. Save enough money for the trip

Having enough money for the trip will allow you to do more and visit more places. It also allows you to book a decent hotel with comfortable beds. My husband and I ended up spending more money on the things that the kids wanted to do when we got to our destination.  We also spent a lot of money on food. Dinner was the most expensive. This year, we booked a hotel that serves free breakfast. We will probably not eat at the hotel everyday, but knowing they have free breakfast is already a relief. I just hope the kids like the food. This way we will have more money in our pockets to do other things.

2. Start looking early

Get a nice cup of coffee and start looking for vacation spots early. My frustration this year was finding the hotel with the best amenities and price. We looked at a couple of 4-star hotels that had the same amenities as the 3-star hotels, although the beds looked more comfortable at the 4-star hotels. The pools are probably cleaner, too. But using TripAdvisor helped me look at travelers’ pictures. You need time to look at travelers’ pictures. They are the best! They show you what the hotel doesn’t want you to see. These pictures are usually at the bottom of the page when you click on travelers’ pictures.

3. Get everybody involved

We are driving to our next destination this year. While I was on my laptop looking for hotels, my son was on his dad’s laptop checking out the distance between our home and the hotel. My husband also took turns looking for the distance. And when I was not looking for a good place to vacation, my husband was. It’s a good idea to get everybody involved.

4. Use  money saving apps like Ebates

 

Ebates  helped me save over $30 on my vacation last year;  and over $25 this year. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it’s better than nothing. I added the add-on to my browser and they reminded me to activate my cash back. The reason why I saved more money last year is because we spent more money on the hotel and our stay was longer. Honey is another app that can save you money when booking your vacation. Honey finds the best coupons and apply them to your purchase.

5. Take advantage of online deals

When we went to Panama City, Florida last year, we got our hotel deal from Groupon. It was a fantastic deal because we had a room with a queen bed and a sofa bed in the living room for the kids. We also had a nice kitchen with everything we needed. My husband enjoyed the balcony and the beach view. The tiny bit of problem we had was having to pay for parking and cleaning fees. These fees were mentioned in the fine prints, but I did not read them. Make sure you read any fine prints before booking your trip with Groupon.

I hope these tips are helpful for your next family vacation. Don’t forget to subscribe for more tips.