Eight Tips to Reduce the Cost of Your Family Vacation

Family vacations are a staple of the summer months. Unfortunately, they are also a big drain on your savings. Here are seven tips that should help you enjoy your family time without breaking the bank.

#1 - Be flexible with your travel dates. Just because you have to be somewhere for your cousin's wedding on a certain day doesn't mean that you have to arrive only on the day before and leave immediately. It may save you literally hundreds of dollars in airfare to fly in on Thursday and leave the following Tuesday, for instance. And if you're traveling without a specific time and place to arrive you can easily book your vacation for the cheapest price rather than for specific dates.

#2 - Book transportation and hotels yourself, rather than using a travel agent or booking a tour. You can try priceline.com or similar services to book a hotel by submitting what you are willing to pay per night. Such sites will help you find a hotel that meets your specifications and will accept your proposed discount. This goes along with flexible travel dates, as hotels are often willing to take a much lower rate to rent a room on a Wednesday night than on a Saturday.

#3 Check for local discount airlines that fly to a hub from which you can catch a much cheaper flight on a bigger airline. Look on Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, and others of the dozens of booking sites on-line. Compare several of them to find the best rate possible. Also look for specials on the sites for larger carriers like Northwest, United, and Delta.

#4 Take a look at trains. While flying can be faster, it also has some major hassles. Taking the train may not be much cheaper for long-distance vacations but the trade-off is that riding the rails requires no driving, gas money, over-zealous security, or plane changing on your part. As an added bonus, you can move around freely as the miles pass. If your children are small or just restless, the reduced fussing and whining is worth a fair amount of money by itself.

#5 Plan your driving for each day around places to camp. There may be wonderful state or national parks along the way or just resorts or campgrounds that offer a spot to put up a tent, cook out over a lovely fire, and watch the stars come out. Try sites like roadcamping.com to find spots along your route where you can book a night in advance. You'll pay a fraction of what you would for a hotel. A recreational vehicle (RV) offers a whole realm of added possibilities, but buying one just for the vacation in question will cost more than the trip would have in the first place. Of course, you may prefer to stay camped for your whole vacation, rather than continuing on to that family reunion.

#6 Travel during off-peak times of the year, if possible. Again, many businesses have far lower rates in October and March than between Memorial Day and Labor Day or over the winter holiday season. If you can do it, schedule your vacation during times when fewer people are traveling. You'll get better deals and your destinations will be far less crowded.

#7 Research free events, activities, and tours in the area where you'll be taking your vacation. Do a web search for the town in which you'll be staying and look for festivals, museums, and other fun activities that are free of charge. While you don't want to schedule yourself to death trying too hard to have fun, it's a good idea to actually have something else for your family to do when Aunt Ida invites you over for her (in)famous prune and pineapple cake in the afternoon.

#8 Stay home and do all of these things in your area. You'll probably be surprised at what you'll find doing the same sort of search for your home town. There are often little-advertised activities and places you would never have thought of going. And if you live in a tourist destination, ask yourself when the last time you actually took the time to enjoy the things that make it a vacation destination for others. Plus, you'll save money on everything from hotels, gas, and airfare to restaurants and toll fees. Take a look around where you are and remind yourself how good you have it.