TRAVEL-WORLD | Family travel on a budget

CNA/NEW YORK TIMES – In the seasonal surge to the skies and roads, spring break promises a recharge – and a financial pinch. That’s especially true this year, when flight prices are up 20 per cent compared with last March and April, according to travel booking app Hopper, and hotels in the United States (US) are averaging USD316 a night, up 64 per cent in the same time frame.

Naturally, even eager travellers are nervous. A recent study from the non-profit Family Travel Association found that while families are keen to travel – 85 per cent of parents said they were very likely to travel with their children in the next year, compared with about 70 per cent in 2019 – budget concerns are top of mind.

“Affordability has always been the number one challenge for families,” said director of research for the association Peter Bopp, adding that the pandemic’s effect on family finances and inflation have heightened that concern.

“Everything is higher,” said travel agent Lauren Masarik based in Jackson, New Jersey, who runs Vacations by Lauren.

To help families stretch their vacation budgets, agents, analysts and bloggers offered the following tips for saving money.

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BUDGET FOR TRAVEL

Conscientious spending allowed Antonia Grant, a Minnesota-based publicist and writer for the blog Families Love Travel, her husband and eight-year-old to spend a month in Italy last summer. They are planning a similar trip to Scotland this year.

“After our mortgage and groceries, travel is our third budget item,” said Grant, who sets aside roughly 20 per cent of the household’s budget for travel. She added that the family has one car and “not the best car or biggest house” because “travel is what we prioritise.”

START WITH FLIGHTS

Flights are often the biggest travel expense, so experts suggest tackling them first.

“A lot of time, instead of saying, ‘I’m going to Paris,’ I’ll start with the flight,” said founder Colleen Lanin of family travel blog Travel Mamas.

She has a USD49-a-year membership with Going (formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights) that alerts her to inexpensive flights from her selected airports. Based on a sale notification several years ago, her family went to China for USD450 a person, round-trip from Phoenix.

“I set up price alerts when I get the school calendar,” said Kate Williams, the chief communications officer for travel search platform Kayak and the mother of three boys, referring to a Kayak tracking tool that notifies users when prices drop or rise. Her latest tracked flight recently came down USD65 a ticket for an April trip to Arizona.

Since many airlines have relaxed penalties for cancelling trips and often return the value of a cancelled ticket in the form of a flight credit, travellers who find a lower fare after they’ve booked can cancel and rebook using the flight credit, assuming both reservations are with the same airline.

When hunting for flights, use basic flight search budget strategies, including searching for alternate airports near your departure and arrival destinations, and using flexible dates to show the lowest fares.

Online travel agency Expedia recommends flying domestically on a Wednesday to save 15 per cent on average and booking at least a month out to save 10 per cent.

Read the fine print on budget carrier sites. Their ticket prices often don’t include things like carry-on bags or seat assignments, as do most fares from larger airlines, except for basic economy fares. Add those fees in when comparing prices.

FIND ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS

As with flights, be flexible about your destination, advised Lauren Doyle, president of the Travel Mechanic, an agency based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For savings, she recommends Belize in place of Costa Rica, and St Lucia over Hawaii.

Consider visiting more popular places during their low seasons. In summer, when US national parks can be overrun, consider a secondary preserve. The 16,000-acre Harriman State Park in eastern Idaho, for example, lies within the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, and has 22 miles of trails, and rental yurts from USD82 nightly.

CASH IN ON THE CURRENCY’S STRENGTH

One way to get more for your money is to travel to a country where the currency is strong.

Bopp of the Family Travel Association noted that closer destinations “make a lot of sense because it’s not expensive to get there.”

SAVE ON CITY STAYS

Full-service hotels in some big cities such as San Francisco and Washington have not fully recovered from the pandemic crash, which might yield some deals, according to national director of hospitality analytics Jan Freitag at CoStar, a real estate analytics firm.

“Be aware of the meeting calendar,” when hotels are likely to attract business travellers, he added.

Scrimp on urban accommodations if you’re unlikely to spend a lot of time in the room.

“The key is a good location to walk to places, but you’re just crashing,” said Prakash, who, instead of staying in an expensive hotel, rented a bargain two-bedroom Airbnb in Rome last April for USD100 a night.

BOOK FAMILY ROOMS

Finding spacious rooms suitable for the entire family takes some digging. Booking site Hotels.com has a “family friendly” filter to identify properties with multiple rooms and amenities for kids like clubs or child care.

Or consider a hostel. Design-focussed groups like Generator, with 15 locations mostly in Europe, and Freehand, in four US cities, have rooms with multiple beds that families can book privately. The Freehand Chicago recently had rooms with four beds from about USD145 and the Generator London offered them from about USD234.

The more basic a&o Hostels have family rooms with up to eight beds among its 40 European locations. A recent search for a quad family room in Vienna turned up a rate of about USD30 a person.

RENT A VACATION HOME

Since the pandemic began, travellers have embraced home rentals for privacy and space.

Airbnb said its family business has grown 60 per cent compared with 2019, with the average price per person on family stays globally at USD52 a night.

In a recent survey of 1,000 Americans commissioned by short-term rental service Vacasa, 65 per cent of respondents said renting homes offered the best value.

RENT A TENT

Spending time in the great outdoors doesn’t require a huge investment.

Glamping sites with platform tents often have high rates. But affordable French company Huttopia operates more than 60 sites globally and recently made its North American debut with sites in Quebec, New Hampshire, Maine, New York and Southern California. Canvas-and-wood tents with kitchens and accommodations for up to five people start at USD140 a night.

“We are working to make this easily accessible in price, but also accessible for families who don’t know how to camp yet, don’t have the equipment, and want to do it in a safe and accessible environment to educate their children,” said business development manager Margaux Bossanne at Huttopia.

AVOID THEME PARK PITFALLS

For theme park vacations, “I always tell people don’t put money into your hotel because you’re never there,” Masarik said. Instead, opt for cheaper accommodations with easy access to the park.

For instance, in Florida, Disney World resorts like Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge start above USD500 in early April, while the nearby Caribe Royale Orlando has rates from about USD200, including shuttles to the parks. Buy advance park admission from BestofOrlando.com, run by the local tourism office, to get discounts. Recently, SeaWorld Orlando tickets were selling for about USD100 a person, compared with nearly USD148 at the gate.

For some parks, a season pass can be a better deal than paying a daily rate. At Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, season passes start at USD164, compared with USD89 by the day, worth it if you spend two days at the park.

SPEND SELECTIVELY AND NEARBY

Economise on food by eating breakfast in your room or rental and packing picnic lunches.

“In the evening, you’re tired and ready to have someone serve you, so we do restaurants at dinner,” Lanin of Travel Mamas said.

GET CREATIVE WITH SOUVENIRS

Instead of buying USD25 T-shirts at each stop, Lanin suggested having children select a postcard from each gift shop, then writing about their experiences and mailing them to relive the trip back home.

Finally, you don’t have to go far to be exposed to new things and to bond.

“Emphasise the experience of the journey,” Grant of Families Love Travel said. “When it comes to traveling, the most important part is making memories, and you can do that close to home.”