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“We need not wait to see what others do” Ghandi
I’ve noticed more and more a huge gap in the travel community: real life advice for “real families”, especially those with school aged children. I’ve asked for three years for more family seminars to be included in FTU and Chicago Seminars, but after the success of the recent “Mile Madness” event in Charlotte, I can’t help but think it’s time to create what I think many want to see.
I envision talking about topics such as:
- Scheduling around a school calendar
- Saving money without relying on only credit card bonuses
- Condo Rentals and hotel rooms for families overseas
- Booking award tickets when you need more than 2
- Destination Planning for families
- How to Save on Theme Park vacations
But mostly, I envision finding a group of like minded people and helping each other. I know a couple of other bloggers who share my family situation and my concerns that would be a natural to join me, but I learn more from readers than I can possibly teach and would love a chance to meet more of you.
So, I’m asking for your opinion. Do you agree that a Family Travel event is a good idea? Would it be something you would consider attending? Please add any other thoughts you have in the comments.
This will be held in Charlotte, right? 😉
If you build it, I will come;)
Good for you on trying this out. I think traveling to the DO might be a little harder for the same reasons that sharing info on how to travel with a family is so needed. Perhaps smaller DO’s in larger hubs where you travel to the people would help that?
Matt,
Thanks…you guys inspired me. I was thinking a “show on the road” as well, or maybe even a scheduled webex.
I think you could pull this off and personally I think the way to do it is have it as a very family friendly place and maybe on a holiday weekend so families can make a break of it. So I am thinking somewhere like Orlando where folks could mix it in with theme parks (I have been to professional conferences at both Disney and Universal and they can be fun) or a more sedate option like that Hyatt Lost Pines out near Austin.
I personally regularly plan travel for my family of four and am very familiar with the issues and challenges it poses. I have done everything from a trip for all of us to the Maldives through to a trip to Disney in Orlando. It is definitely a unique set of challenges and I’d be happy to share what I have learned and learn from others too.
Thanks! I think it’s an under-tapped and MUCH under-counted subset of our group. I like the Orlando or similar idea…Williamsburg VA could be another good choice on the east coast.
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I would suggest Orlando as a venue because 1) it is cheaper/easier to fly to MCO (or a nearby FL airport) whether you book revenue or award tickets, 2) the mouse…and many more family entertainment options that Williamsburg just doesn’t have, 3) something like nearly 60% of the US population lives east of the Mississippi and many people have no qualms driving to FL, 4) with the huge number of hotel and timeshare properties in the area, you might be able to find a willing resort partner who could offer a ridiculously good deal to host the DO (especially a timeshare company like Hilton, Starwood, or Diamond which have families as their target customer audience). The key with Orlando is that a family could plan their vacation around the event – maybe Dad attends the seminars while mom/kids hang out at the pool (or vice versa). Then after the DO, the family visits Mickey, Universal, NASA, etc.
All good points. Thanks!
Dia, this is a very neat idea! Hey, it rhymes! 🙂 I agree with you that our segment is a bit underrepresented.
It’s a shame too, because regular families are great candidates for this hobby, and can get much more out of travel than most budget blogs would suggest. I’d love to participate if it takes place in Orlando. Count me in, as long as it doesn’t overlap with my scheduled commitments. I live in Florida, so it would be perfect for me.
Am I the only one who doesn’t know what DO stands for? LOL
Since we are a family of 5, it would be hard for us to attend one of these on miles, so for us a webex would be more useful. But there’s definitely a market out there for this!
Lol…DO is FlyerTalk slang for gathering. I once asked where it comes from and even legends like Mr. Pickles couldn’t say.
I would absolutely attend something like this if the weekend was right. Would have loved to go to Charlotte, but Mothers Day weekend wasn’t a convenient time for me to go away (although I accidentally did last year, but that’s another story). I have been planning our family travel using miles and points since I had my first kid 10 years ago. We would ever have been able to go all the places we have been otherwise.
I can’t decide if I’d rather have an event in a location to bring the kids or to have an adults only getaway weekend though:)
Well, we went to the Charlotte DO (from San Antonio) as a family and all had a great time, even though I was the only one from our family who attended the official sessions. Kids had a great time at Discovery Place as well as hanging out with and observing fellow crazy people at the hotel. So yeah if many like-minded folks will be there. Traveling on my own ain’t happening. In fact a DO heavy on MS like CLT is exactly what most families need. Find efficient strategies for your situation to collect millions of miles, cashback and points across all the programs, and the booking-for-4-or-more problem becomes much smaller.
Hi Kenny,
I agree with you in principle, but the families I’m trying to reach are pretty gun-shy when it comes to MS. It’s also a topic that at least is covered. I’m lucky to convince most Moms to get one credit card a year for the bonus!
There are a couple of methods that work well for families and I’d present them as ‘making the most from the money you spend’ instead of as MS. Kids need either cash or a debit card by 13 or so, why not use a Buxx set up and earn on that allowance spending?
Buy gift cards at 5x for your regular spending, I’d sell that as a budgeting tool, but also as a make the most from what you spend.
Open a special account to save for a trip, doesn’t Bluebird have a vault or some such thing? I know Serve does.
So pretty maximized spend instead of manufactured spend.
My thoughts exactly…let what you already do work for you!
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Great idea!
A lot of my FF friends are into the game because they have families and the game makes it easier to travel.
We are based in Houston and would love to attend a DO in this (or driving distance!) area 🙂
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You’ve been reading my mind lately!! We are a family of 4 in Wisconsin (children 12 & 11) and have many of the same issues you talk about. I am planning a trip to Europe next summer and economical lodging is on my mind as well as figuring our the best way to get those 4 tickets across the pond. I certainly would love to get tips from experienced parents out there to make my planning easier. I would definitely be interested in attending an event. I agree–the Chicago seminars should add some of these topics!!!!!
Hi Lisa,
Definitely check out my “travel inspiration” archives as I spent a month in Europe with my kids last summer. Thanks for your feedback…it’s inspiring me to stop complaining and get off of my butt!
I think this is a great idea and a huge void in the points/miles hobby. We are a family of four and frequent travel as a family for the experience and quality time far outweighs the idea of flying first class (I won’t lie though…staying at a luxury hotel is still quite enjoyable…but not a necessity!). I love what you bring to the table and was just telling a friend last week how I love your idea of Camp Mom in the summer. Our family is taking a similar approach this year.
Since it is where I live, I vote for Austin!
Thanks! This makes my day…Yea Camp Mom!
Have a #milemadness-familystyle DO in Disneyworld.
Sort of a work and play set up. Bring the kids along. Disney has great childcare options, obviously tons to do, and you have a blog reader that plans Disney events (been at it 11 years now) and knows every trick in the book and some we never speak of for getting the most out of a Disney stay.
Room prices to fit every budget and convention discount on tickets would give people a lot of value.
I’m bachfancy on twitter, DM me if you want more info.
We’ll have to compare notes, and you’ll have to do a Disney presentation at such an event. I’m working on getting the annual pass for as little out of pocket as possible now with various techniques.
Not the very best I’ve ever done, but the AmEx Sync deal at Lowe’s gave me $500 in Disney Gift cards for $400 (yes, I have many Am Ex cards. Serve cards allow 4 sub accounts and each can get sync deals via twitter).
10% off is easy at Target, Red Card + RX coupon. Note that after the 5% comes off your total from swiping a Red card it then asks how much you want to put on the card… so you can really do even better since you can buy Target gift cards at a discount. YMMV.
Thanks, Haley! I’ll definitely hit you up for some more ideas.
It’s like you were reading my mind. I see a lot of amazing content out there for individuals or couples, but when you gotta roll with 4 or more, it’s different. There are a few points & miles families/bloggers in the Cincinnati area and I was thinking if trying to throw something together for all of us. This would be perfect.
If you did this in Orlando, as some have suggested, our family of 4 would be all over this.
Id recommend some sort of content around travel strategies and goals that fit your family’s life stage, and game planning from there. For instance, we are short on vacation weeks so we stick with the Western Hemisphere to minimize travel time. That’s why I prioritize Avios and their distance based chart.
Also, I think a session on MS would be interesting from the right person.
Great ideas…Thanks!
Great idea. Although I am single no kids, this is a great idea to do for those of us ex-pats who move around the world. Now that I’ve ramped up my own points and miles hobby, I’ve shared with international educators at schools I’ve worked at, how they can save. I thin there is a whole market for teachers going to live overseas internationally since many new teachers are not offered complete packages for airfare and other benefits. I’d love to participate.
I would LOVE to attend something like this!!!!! Let us know when and where!
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