Travel on a budget?

Raise your hand if you like to travel!? I do, I do! But let’s be real, who can really afford the great family vacations without feeling like Clark W. Griswold!? We love exploring and seeing all the wonders of the world. I think my favorite part is just taking in the history and design of somewhere new. When we are looking at going on vacation to somewhere new, we always look up what it is known for. We typically go somewhere with a purpose and so we have plans pretty well in place. But I always look for that Hole in the wall adventure and my family just goes along for the ride.

Saving for a destination is always my biggest anxiety. We typically plan most of our vacations 2 years in advance. We travel once a year to my Father in laws house in the south. That one is a bit easier to plan so let’s start with that. We have about 3 choices for airports to fly into and 2 major ones to fly out of. Give yourself options but remember to compare gas to the further and parking costs at the airport, gas, etc. I love the website gasbuddy.com to calculate our gas cost. We have used it a few times when we travel and it is great because you can put in the model of your vehicle as well as your starting and ending location. You are then able to see the route with the best gas prices, and it estimates your total trip cost based on your MPG and the current cost of gas on that route and the best price gas stations. When we drove to Myrtle Beach, it was seriously pretty spot on. I think we went over by $50 but we also got lost a few times so there is that. I’ll do a section on gas buddy later. Back to flying. We love Southwest. Now, Southwest and Gasbuddy.com is not paying me to love them, although, if they are reading this, I am not above big discounts ;)! Southwest typically has the best deals for our families destinations, but Southwest only flies out of certain airports in our area and to certain ones in Texas. We start pricing out tickets about 6 months in advance. You can watch prices and save your searches in Southwest website. We try both locations for leaving and for arriving. Last year, we found that leaving from Milwaukee and flying into Houston was less than Milwaukee to Austin like the year before. Another year it was better flying from Chicago and into San Antonio. It can vary and having the patient to know it can make a difference is everything. We also love Southwest because their policy for cancelled and delayed flights have afforded us the ability to travel a lot more because we could be flexible.

Side note, as you may know from previous blogs, my son has autism. The first time he ever flew, I was a wreck. Autism parents already have to plan for the unexpected but to plan for the unexpected you cannot control will literally make you stay up at night. Of course his first flight, we had issues with flights and ended up taking a flight from Milwaukee, to Washington DC, to Miami, to Austin, and then still had to drive 2 hours to my father in laws. it was a very long day and I can tell you that we will honestly always try to fly direct whoever possible with the kiddos from now on. Southwest is also our favorite because the care they go through with Kameron is amazing. They are helpful and won us over because of the care they took with Kenzie and Kamerons first flights.

Once we determine the best way to travel, the next thing we do is plan the days flying out both to and from. For example, if we are flying out of Chicago, we will give ourselves a good hour to walk from parking to the check in and baggage check. **Southwest still offers 2 checked bags flying free. Lord willing, we have never lost our luggage, however, 2 free bags checked is a huge time and money saver** we calculate drive time, which google maps can actually give you. realistic view of how long it will take if you put in the date and time of day you are leaving so you can play with the time and see what traffic patterns look like. We always factor in the 2 hours before our flight in this calculation as well because with kiddos, car seats, and Nate’s plate in his leg, we will always need to plan for possibly stopping at security. Because of how far away we live and what time our flight out is, will determine if we get a hotel the night before or not. Other fun savings plan, many hotels near the airport, offer free parking for those who stay the night before you fly out. Many will then also give free shuttles to your gate which is also a big time saver. The ones who charge typically have it factored into your room cost.

Using Chicago as the example, if we are flying out later in the day, we may take a small double vacation and do something fun in Chicago the morning of so that 1.) we are already there and more than on time and 2.) so that the kids can get some energy out before a long flight. Same for the way home. We love Houston and there is so much to do and so we have gotten a hotel in Houston for the night before we fly out and actually go back to Houston a full day early and spend the day exploring before heading to a hotel near the airport to crash for the night. We will order pizza to the hotel and just relax before a long day of flying.

Rental Cars: There are a lot of great car rental places out there. Because we are so loyal to Southwest, we will always check the prices for renting a car through them. Key reminder, always check directly through the company website for cars, flights, and even hotels. You can sometimes get better deals going directly through them because they do not have to pay an advertising fee to the booking company you are choosing. We are pretty faithful to Enterprise. Some ask why is that and I can tell you that in all the traveling we have done, pricing has been fairly comparable, rewards points back for renting is a bit more than other companies, and they have always been very good about taking care of us when we have needed it. We will still always check else where just in case the timing is tight but if we are able, we will usually go through them. Once you pick your rental car company, if you need one, always remember to check with the airport website and rental company website to see if they are on site or will you need to take a shuttle. On a trip to Los Angeles, we needed to take a shuttle and the shuttle only runs on certain intervals. So we needed to know when it stopped running because of how late we got in to determine if we could use the shuttle or need an Uber or Taxi service. It will also help you figure out how long you need to factor in for heading home from the airport. You want to give yourself a good 30 minutes to return the car, plus the schedule for the shuttle to pick you up and the drive to the airport. Also, time saver, Enterprise for sure offers it but they give you an option to pre-pay for a full tank for drop off. So they give you a lower rate for price per gallon and you can drop off the car on empty if you have to and that set price is already factored into your rental and they take care of it for you. No need to try and take care of it before you return it. Take into account too on your choice, where you are going and price per gallon. We typically will try and rent something big enough that Dan can ride with us when we go somewhere just because his car isn’t quite big enough, but not a Tahoe, like our home vehicle. The price per gallon compared to a Mini van is huge and so that can save you a ton of money. If it is a special occasion, of course splurge and get the convertible but make sure you have saved to make that happen. For us, it wouldn’t necessarily make sense with the kids because it wouldn’t hold everything we need.

Hotels: One of my favorite ways to travel and stay at a hotel was something that I could find a great savings with. Our hotel in Myrtle Beach was Sea Crest. I cannot express how much I loved it and what a great value it was. What sold us was the ocean view and a small kitchenette. We were able to go to the grocery store when we got there and pick up pre-planned meals for a fraction of the restaurants and make them in the room. If the kids were tired and cranky from playing at the beach all day, we didn’t have to worry about cranky kids in a Restaurant, they could fall asleep if they want and we could could or just snack. We of course still went out a few times but it was amazing. We spent around $150 at the grocery store and that was 3 meals a day for 4 people for 5 days. A treat to Applebees for example, for a family of 4, can be $50 alone for 1 meal. Plus, because we drove and had a cooler that plugged into our ac outlet in the car, we could take the food with us that we didn’t eat and snack on the way home and not have to stop as much on the way home either. The hotel had a great option for pools and varying prices for ocean or street views. VRBO and Air B&B are other great options to look for rentals that offer kitchens and if split by multiple people can be a huge cost savings.

Watch for Part 2!

XoXo Katie