Travelling with children can be a stressful and expensive experience, transporting your little treasures to their holiday destination can get your trip off to a bad start if not handled well and once you have arrived costs can soon spiral out of control if you’re not careful.
Many people are concerned about their finances at the moment and the annual holiday can be one of the first things that are sacrificed when looking at ways to save money, particularly when there is a whole family to cater for. This doesn’t have to be the case, holidaying with the family can be budget friendly, here are a few tips on how to get the most out of your holiday budget:
Shop Around for Deals
One of the best ways to save money when planning a family holiday is to shop around for the best deal. There are comparison sites such as travelsupermarket.com set up solely for this purpose. Also many travel agents offer free child places so it is worth seeing what is on offer before making a final decision. Staycationing either with fun days out close to home or holidaying in areas only a short drive away could also be ways of further decreasing the costs, if you do a little research you may be surprised by what great things are nearby.
Take out travel insurance
Travel Insurance may feel like an added cost that can be ignored but this is one cost you really shouldn’t overlook. For the relatively small initial payout before you go this can save you a great deal of money if anything were to go wrong whilst you are away such as cancellations, loss of baggage, accident and injury and theft or loss of holiday money and documents. Purchasing a family travel insurance policy can often prove better value for money as many offer ‘kids go free’ offers. Again do your research and use price comparison sites to make sure you have the best policy for your needs.
Travel Games
Not having the children occupied whilst travelling can lead to distractions, arguments and often purchasing expensive toys and games from duty free just to keep them quiet. The best way to combat this is by preparing some games to play before you begin your holiday. Word and memory games are particularly good if travelling long distances by car, keeping the children engaged with a game as simple as eye spy can provide hours of entertainment. If travelling by plane, these types of games aren’t as suitable with other people around, instead pack plenty of pens, paper and colouring in equipment to keep your little ones busy, asking them to draw and write about all the exciting and interesting things they see can not only keep them busy but leaves you with a nice keepsake from your holiday.
Preparing snacks
Another costly element of travelling with children that can often be overlooked is the food purchased whilst getting to your destination. Fast food outlets and sweets are charged at much higher prices at airports and service stations than they would be normally anywhere else, so a great way to save is to pack your own food. Go for fruit and granola bars with some added small treats of chocolate and sweets for snacks and your favourite picnic items for a more substantial snack, the slow releasing energy from the fruit and granola bars should keep the children calmer for longer than excessive amounts of chocolates and sweets.