Tips on Planning a Family Vacation from a Travel Agent

As a travel agent, I work with a lot of families that are on a tight budget and want to go on their dream vacation. More often than not, people believe that a dream vacation is impossible without a massive budget. This is not true! Aside from being a travel agent, I am a married mom of twins. My husband and I love to travel with our kids, and bring along grandma and great-grandma. While I do indeed get travel agent rates on some places, it is often better for me to work my budget magic and not use those discounts for my family vacations. Here are some money-saving tips that you can use for your next family vacation.

Accommodations
People mistakenly think that they are saving money by having their entire family stay in one hotel room. While a few dollars might be saved by a family of five sharing one room with two queen beds and rolling in a cot, the real value is in renting a vacation home or a condo. You can find vacation rentals by owner at a variety of websites, including the reputable Vacation Rentals By Owner. While you might pay a little more than a hotel room, you have a heck of a lot more space, not to mention a nice backyard and a kitchen in case you want to eat at home for some meals.

Car Rentals
Hotwire has the best rates on car rentals by far. You won't know who you are renting through, but the rates are often at least $75 less for a week than booking directly through a travel agent or even directly through the car rental website.

Airfare
Even as a travel agent, I always go through Kayak to see who has the best airfare. Then I do a search on Google for any available promo codes. (Tjoos usually has some.) Don't forget to consider costs for checking baggage and selecting seats in advance. If you are a frequent traveler, I recommend flying the same airline as much as possible. That way, you will qualify for elite status (which gets you more perks) as well as accumulate miles for free tickets quicker. Flight rates change every Tuesday.

Tickets
Tickets are a rough one. I save on tickets by purchasing them through sellers on eBay. Sometimes I can purchase tickets directly through the theme park's website for a lot less, like tickets to Hershey Park. Theme parks often partner with major companies, such as Coca Cola and Burger King, to offer discounts to people that purchase those products. Before purchasing tickets, I always do a search on the name of the theme park with "promo" next to it, and check out what pops up.

Vacation Packages
Believe it or not, it really is better to book an all-inclusive vacation package through a travel agent. Simply find a travel agent (such as my company, Candy Cain Travel Co.) that does not charge a service fee. Travel agents are able to beat rates that you find through sites like Expedia and Orbitz. If you run into a travel agent that cannot beat the rate, find someone else. Using a travel agent is worth is because of the value in working with a person rather than booking online. If something happens during your vacation, you will receive personal service from a travel agent, rather than having to call a hotline that is outsourced to India.

Destination
The destination with the most bang for your buck is 100% Mexico. Unfortunately, the US news makes sweeping generalizations about Mexico, making it sound like a dangerous, third world country. This is not the case. In 2011, I went to Mexico 14 times, so I really do know what I'm talking about. The majority of the danger is in the border cities, which are nowhere near the vacation destinations of Cancun and Riviera Maya. Not going to Cancun because of violence in Juarez is like not going to Disney World because of violence in Chicago. Mexico is AMAZING and they want your business. Tourists are treated like royalty, and your dollar will go a long way.