How to Save Money During Your Spring Break Family Travels

HOW TO GET THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK DURING SPRING BREAK

Money Saving Tips for Traveling Families

Traveling with kids can be so expensive, and with spring break around the corner, you may be combing the sofa for coins in hopes you can afford to take your family somewhere beyond the front yard. Luckily frugal family travel tips abound, and we use them, not just during the school holidays, but year round. Here are some of our favorites:

Finding Deals

Do check the website of the place you are going. Often they will offer special deals or offers, like The Great Smokey Mountain Railroad did this past summer, and the Biltmore is doing now. Checking the website got us reduced admission into the Jacksonville Zoo too!
Do check Groupon for offers. 1/2 price bowling, snorkeling with manatees, and more. We love Groupon!
Do use your AAA card for additional discounts. You can purchase discounted tickets at AAA offices– we did Rock City, The Incline Railway and Ruby Falls in Chattanooga Tennessee that way. I always ask if there’s an AAA discount- seriously. There is no harm in asking!

Inexpensive Accommodations

Do consider camping. Have tent will travel! If the thought of being too close to nature sends you squirming, try www.priceline.com or www.hotwire.com for hotel deals, or consider joining a hotel reward program for discounts.

Food for Thought

How to Save Money During Your Family Spring Break Travels

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Do bring your own water. Two purchased bottles of water tend to be the same as buying a pack. We bring water everywhere. Staying hydrated is the number one rule, but it’s cheaper bringing along your own!
Do consider bringing your own lunch. I discovered fast that Polk County attractions are not self-sufficient and started packing picnics when the kids were toddlers. Now we enjoy eating out- outside that is, like by the creek at Amicalola Falls.
If you are in a theme park/attraction, do consider leaving the park to dine. Food is cheaper (with more of a selection) when you are not a captured audience. Just get that hand stamped for when you return!
If you are at the beach, the restaurants off the beach are usually cheaper than those with the seaside view. But of course, if you like that seaside view……
Do consider a meze/tapas meal: a meal of appetizers. Seriously, there are whole places that are devoted to serving appetizers! But if you are in a restaurant, sharing a bunch of appetizers can be cheaper and make for more of a social meal. Calamari and mozzarella sticks anyone?
Do share a meal. Some places charge for sharing, others don’t mind. In Helen, Georgia, our German Sampler platter for two stuffed four of us!
Do check for kids-eat-free nights. Mid-week, some eateries offer a buy and adult meal, get a kid one for free. Check out websites for these deals (or ask around).
Speaking of eating: Do stay in a place that offers free breakfast. These free breakfast with room deals seem to be the norm in the chain-hotel world, and they are competing with one another now: some with omelette stations and fresh pancakes, (Embassy Suites) others with make your own waffles and biscuits and gravy, like at our stay in Apalachicola. Feed the family with free breakfast, have a late lunch (lunch is always cheaper than dinner) and have a snack later instead of dinner!
Eating a late lunch and snacking for dinner saves money. How to get the most bang from your buck during spring break.
Do carry snacks. Snacks don’t have to equate to junk food. On road trips, we’ve munched on cherries, gobbled grapes and passed around pre-made bags of trail mix (though someone did extract all those chocolate chips!)

Extra Prepared for Savings

Do bring a swim bag-If you are in a warm climate, bring swim suits and towels, and a plastic bag to put them in later. This is great for those spontaneous spring swims, or side trips to a creek. Also saves on last minute purchases when you find out there’s a Splash Zone at an attraction!

How to get the most bang from your buck during spring break

You never know when there’s a splash zone…Jacksonville Zoo

Ditto on spare clothes. When you are adventuring, you never know what will happen, and there’s no sense in letting a slip into the river ruin an outing!

A spare set of clothes allows for those spontaneous dips in the creeks.

Do set a limit to those souvenirs. My husband avoids souvenir shops like the plague, but will stop at those backwater cabins filled to the brim with crafts and flea-market buys. We give the kids a set amount of money each and it is up to them to decide what to spend it on.

How to Find the Best Deals in Town

Do talk to the locals. Seriously, they KNOW where the cheapest restaurants are and the best swimming holes and the least crowded beaches. That’s how we found the Devil’s Elbow, and took that trek to The Edge of the World- really. And chances are you will meet so colorful characters along the way!

Happy Adventuring!

How do you save money on your travels with kids?

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