Free Cirque!
AKA True Deal Mommy Confessions: I spent my kid’s camp tuition on plane tickets to Montreal! Now that everything is booked, I wanted to show how I managed to take the three of us to Montreal for the same price as putting the kids in full-day camp for a week. Yes, I could have bonded with my kids at home over craft projects and playdates, but let’s get real. After a week at home with no planned activities and no time away from each other, both the Deal Kids and I get pretty stir crazy!
The total cost of the trip (AKA Le campement de Mere) is $661, or $220 a person.
To recap, US Airways had some great promotions on Twitter for Washington National based travelers to celebrate their expansion into DCA. Earlier this summer they held a flash sale I couldn’t resist: $128 round trip tickets to Montreal for the last week of August. I grabbed three for me and the deal kids (ages 5 and 9) and we’re headed North! Cost: $383.
We have four nights. I’ve booked the first two at the Residence Inn Westmount using the free night I got from The Marriott stay two get one free promotion and transferring 12,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott to top up the 3,000 I earned with those two stays. The room would have cost me $426 for two nights, but TDM pays Nada!
In Montreal, most of the activities I want to do, are either free or free to us using my museum trick. Deal Kid is especially excited about the Star Wars exhibit at the Montreal Science Centre. I am budgeting $40 for the bus trip from the airport and metro cards.
Thursday morning, thanks to the trick I learned about renting downtown and returning to the airport, I’ll pick up a rental car and head three hours to Quebec. We’ll listen to the new Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles 
The Second two nights are at the Sheraton Four Points Quebec, which has a free shuttle to Old Town and great views right across the river. The first night is costing me $53 + 2800 Starpoints under Cash and Points, the second night I booked using this priceline promotion, so the net cost of the room was $113 (Cash and Points was unavailable for Friday).
The activities we want to do in Quebec are all free. We’re most excited about the free Cirque de Soleil show.
Even taking Mom out of the equation, it’s $330 a kid for four nights of cultural immersion…and I’ve seen camps that cost that much. We’ll also be earning double miles for the airline tickets and Starpoints for the car rental and Quebec hotel stay, but I’m not counting the earnings for this exercise to keep it simple.
Other expenses? Well, there’s food. Fortunately, the Residence Inn will offer full breakfast and a happy hour that can often sub as dinner. Otherwise, the Deal Kids are pretty easy to satisfy with a loaf of bread, pb&j, and some fresh fruit. I don’t think eating on the road has to cost much more than eating at home, especially with all of the great french bakeries. I will, however, be splurging on the poutine as I am intrigued be the gravy, cheese curd, and french fry concoction…
Mmm…Poutine!
Please share any Montreal and Quebec tips with kids!
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