The Deal Mommy

I was chatting with a friend yesterday about life and travel (for me they tend to be one and the same) and as she was peppering me with questions I realized it had been a while since I laid out my basic strategies about trip planning.

When I re-read my last “top tips” post, I also realized I had so much more I wanted to say…it’s a good thing I have a blog! So, I thought it would be worthwhile to do a series of posts addressing not only the “how” but also the “why” that goes into the decisions I make when researching and booking a trip.

Here’s where you come in: what areas of family travel planning remain challenging for you? I know where some of my hot spots are: making sure I have money to travel, the school calendar, booking 4 awards tickets and hotel rooms that sleep 4, and balancing activities that entertain all four of us (or at least two of us at a time).

Please share with me your problems (and successes!) and together let’s get out there!

Here’s my original list from July 2012, which contains some of the topics I want to talk about in detail to give you a start.

Make a commitment to your family! Here’s what I mean: if you think travel is important, DO SOMETHING about it! Schools release their calendars at least a year in advance and employers PREFER employees that let them know far in advance about upcoming time off. By telling your family (and the world) that travel is IMPORTANT, you are setting an example. We include our kids in every step of the planning process from saving to destinations to watching videos about our destination. Our travel plans are also a great weapon against the Gimmies: “No, Deal Kid, you can’t have more Yu-Gi-Oh cards right now. We’re saving for our trip to Ireland!”

Think about the experience, not the destination. We think more about what we want to DO as opposed to where we want to go, especially when traveling with the kids. Everyone dreams about Paris, Rome, London, etc. and some things, like the Eiffel Tower, just can’t be duplicated no matter how hard Epcot tries. However, many other experiences are not as location specific as you might think.

For instance, I recently heard from a reader that wanted to go to “Rome and Venice”. I asked her why those two cities and she didn’t really have an answer besides “that’s where I’ve heard I should go”. Digging down from there, I asked what she wanted out of a trip to Italy and the answers were food, culture, and “la dolce vita”…all things that can be found in many other cities in Italy. I suggested Siena, Trieste, Sicily and many other towns that will both cost much less and give much more in terms of experience because they aren’t full of American tourists! Family Getaway has some amazing deals on European hotels and gives $50 credit with referral.
What if she wanted to see awesome Roman ruins? Well, I would have suggested Baelo Claudia, a perfectly preserved Roman town IN SPAIN.

Plan Early! This is a point upon which some bloggers disagree, but when you’re buying for four (or more), you need to strategize and it is more challenging to get four free tickets (for example) than one. Credit card bonuses take a few weeks to months to show up, and airlines release tickets 11 months before departure. I’ve already booked Spring Break 2013 and am now starting to work in next summer’s family trip to Ireland…follow my blog for details!

Open Jaws and Stopovers are your friends. A stopover is where you stay in a transit city before taking your next flight, an open jaw is where you fly to one city and depart from another. For instance, I used free stopovers allowed to visit Madrid and Paris for free en route to Tenerife last month.

Periodically re-check your reservations and be prepared to make changes if a better deal comes up. For instance, Marriott announced a promotion that gives you a night free after you stay at two separate properties. I had booked a Marriott property already, in downtown Madrid, for $80 net (after using 20% off Marriott gift cards purchased during the Daily Getaways promotion). So, I only needed one more stay to get the free night. The only Marriott on Tenerife is a Ritz-Carlton, that cost $247 a night. Luckily, with my AMEX Platinum’s Fine Hotels and Resorts program, at that Ritz-Carlton I got free breakfast, an upgrade, and $110 in room credit…and a FREE night I can use anytime in the next year!

Car rentals are notorious for going down closer to departure. I saved $46 on my car rental in two minutes by re-checking a month before departure!

Hedge! If you want to travel later and see a way to get some points or free stays cheaply now, DO IT! For instance, I spent less than $200 taking my kids to Amish country and got 92,000 Club Carlson points I can use next year. Little getaways throughout the year using promotions help top up my accounts so I have miles and points handy when the big trip comes up.

I’m always curious about how families get off the ground. Please share your family travel tips!