Teach me how to plan a family vacay?

[glitzy07]

As I mentioned in a thread on ML, I'm going to be getting a bonus this year. H and I are talking about splitting out some of the money I'll get and MAYBE planning for a spring break family vacation in March. Obviously I'm late to the planning for a trip that would be only ~7 weeks away, but I want to at least research my options to see if any of them are viable and within budget.

We are a family of five (kids are 4, 6, and 13), traveling from Minneapolis, hoping to keep things under $5k. We do not currently have passports, so this would have to definitely stay in the US, though I assume the budget would prohibit international travel anyway.

I started by looking at FL, since we're in such an awful winter climate and it seems like there are so many family friendly type of places. I'm currently looking at St. Pete's Beach/Clearwater FL, but I think the cost of flights might kill our budget and make it unrealistic for us. 

Anyone have any tips/tricks for planning a vacation like this with kids? Particular websites or resources? Or destinations that they would recommend for someone coming from the Midwest? I'm not sold on FL, but would like to escape the winter at least a little bit! 

Additionally, any general tips for traveling with kids would be appreciated. We've never been on a "real" vacation, and have been limited to a few overnights in a local hotel or camping close by in an RV. Specifically I'm wondering if certain "add-ons" are worth the cost or not? I.e. Non-stop flights vs a layover, a room with a balcony or ocean view vs courtyard/garden view, etc.

TIA!

[jamaicam]

With kids I love airbnb or similar. It also helps to keep the costs down as you can eat some meals where you stay. So we usually eat breakfast at the villa, then have a big lunch out and snacks for dinner at home or something like that. Also, I like having the extra space in an evening to relax after the kids are in bed!

If you aren't sold on a destination, I'd see where I could get a cheap flight to from your home airport. wanderingback usually has good suggestions for how to look for flights from your home airport - I think she does goggle flights?

[expectantsteelerfan]

I'm not good at planning exciting vacations, but I do love a last minute get-away, and I rely heavily on my travel agent friend for finding deals. In your case, I would get passports ASAP and then contact a travel agency with your dates and ask for the best deal for a tropical vacation, likely Mexico. My bff and I went to an all-inclusive in Cancun last March for less than $1000 per person, including flights, which were the most expensive part.

[Velar Fricative]

Depending on exchange rates, international travel may not be cost-prohibitive even with the cost of passports. Obviously, if you want to stay within the US that's fine, but just putting it out there in case you do want to consider non-US destinations.

Ditto pp that you should start by checking flights out of your local airport and seeing what might be feasible for your budget during that time period. Spring break could be expensive given the week so I definitely would check flight options first and foremost and narrow down your list from that. Then once you know where you're going, you can plan hotel, itinerary, etc.

Also, March might be cold but probably not bitter cold, so I think as long as you're okay with not having to put on thermal underwear during your vacation, most locations even in the northern part of the US (or even parts of Canada) might work out. But obviously, if you want beaches, go wayyyyyy south.

[somersault72]

It gets some flack on these boards, but when we're flying to FL we always fly Frontier. It's no frills but it gets there and back non-stop and for cheap. 6 of us flew to Florida and back last June for under $700 including bags, and that was getting the 1 year old her own seat. They have kids fly free deals frequently. I would sign up for their email list, you'll get promos all the time. We absolutely love the St.Pete/Clearwater area. DH and I got married down there so it has a place in our hearts anyway.

[steamboat185]

If you are open to different spots try google flights. You can put in your time frame and just type in Florida and it give you the best flights. You can also explore and it will give you additional locations you may not have thought to check, but the no passport thing is definitely limiting!

For us direct flights are worth a good bit. We typically don’t care about views, but do like Airbnb or Vrbo over a hotel when we are staying somewhere for several nights.

[ssmjlm]

I always prefer non-stop, but those are rare for the airports near us. And at 6.5 she did fine our last trip with a layover.

If you're not set on a beach vacation, check out Arizona. Several posters have stayed at some nice resorts that appeared to have a lot of activities. It's somewhere I'm tempted to take a look for a future trip.

ETA: I think if you do a closed loop cruise, then you can do just a birth certificate.  I'm not 100%, but I remember there being 2 options when we disembarked our last one.  We went ahead and got a passport for E, but it could be an option.

[mrsGreeko]

We are also 5 people. We always fly for free using points from credit cards because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to afford to fly anywhere plus actually be there if that makes sense. We usually spend around $5k on a trip, but that doesn’t include flights. But, since that’s not an option, I’d figure out which airlines fly the most flights from your airport and start with them. Then I’d just plug in potential cities until I found something that was reasonable. It’s probably not going to be the first place you look at. I’d probably look anywhere south to try to get warmer temps.

We almost always stay in a house/apartment/condo because with 5, hotels are usually not the best option. Plus then we can buy snacks and breakfast at the grocery store and we usually do a few lunches and dinners at the rental to save some money. I used to mostly use vrbo.com, now I almost solely use booking.com. I have never used airbnb and don’t plan to mostly because I don’t like the interface, and I prefer the ease of use with the other two.

Renting a car is another place that can be more expensive with 5. My kids generally cannot handle to be 3 in a row so we almost always rent a minivan to get some space between them. Otherwise I lose my mind!

If you look at traditional spring break destinations this late in the game I think you will find that flights, lodging and transportation are already going to much more expensive.

If you push to summer instead I think you will be able to find more options.

I don’t usually care about layover vs. nonstop. If nonstop is an option I’ll take it, but since I use points it’s not always more points to do that (depending on the airline). I might pay a little more for nonstop depending on the flights. We fly late often because southwest prices those flights less points so we do that. Not ideal, but more points saved means another trip.

Sometimes I’ll pay premium for a place right on the beach or something, but I wouldn’t pay more for a different view, that’s not important to me. We prefer to travel on the cheap so we can travel more than to travel in luxury only sometimes if that makes sense.

[joy]

Oh, I love planning trips!

My suggestion would be - for now - to bundle. Look at flights + hotel groupings. Expedia and Travelocity are especially easy for searching different destinations and grouping them together.

Fly somewhere the hotel is not far from the airport. Last spring, we flew to a resort in northern Florida. We ended up needing to rent a car because the airport was over 45 min from the hotel. No bueno. It was also secluded so it meant more driving for off-site restaurants, etc. Either go somewhere that everything is onsite and you plan to leave little or go somewhere that everything is offsite but close by so you can walk or uber.

I usually research a place and come up with a VERY LOOSE itinerary. For example, we went to Charleston last fall. I had it down that one day we could go to the aquarium, one day for Angel Oak, and one day for a farm visit. We could add or take away depending on everyone’s general mood but there was always an option.

Be flexible. Build in time to relax. Have fun!!

[Saudade]

Allegiant flies from St Cloud to Florida for $300! That would save money on flights if you're interested in Florida and the drive to St Cloud isn't that bad.

[shauni27]

If you are willing to wait and go in June then you will get cheaper flights, but I understand wanting to get away from the cold as soon as possible

Google Flights will be the best place to start. Look for flights from your airport and see what areas are cheapest to fly to. I think with kids your age, layovers will be fine (though obviously not ideal--they never are!)

For sure rent a house through Airbnb or vrbo.

Cape Coral in Florida is generally pretty cheap to stay, as is West Palm Beach. Hollywood FL is going to be cheaper than Miami or Ft. Lauderdale but is super cute and lovely. Arizona is a great idea, I have done the Biltmore ($$$) but I know there are other options. You could also look at San Diego? For not HOT but nice and warm you could look at San Francisco and DC...they will seem lovely after a long MN winter! You could also look at San Padre Island in Texas, though I think tickets might be pricier there.

Have fun!

[egishere]

Jan 15, 2020 12:00:48 GMT -5 somersault72 said:

It gets some flack on these boards, but when we're flying to FL we always fly Frontier. It's no frills but it gets there and back non-stop and for cheap. 6 of us flew to Florida and back last June for under $700 including bags, and that was getting the 1 year old her own seat. They have kids fly free deals frequently. I would sign up for their email list, you'll get promos all the time. We absolutely love the St.Pete/Clearwater area. DH and I got married down there so it has a place in our hearts anyway.

We always fly them too.  DH gripes about it but you can't beat the price and we try to take advantage of the kids fly free when we can!  

[egishere]

For FL I like the Siesta Key area - you can fly into Tampa and drive about an hour and the 30A (Rosemary, Seagrove, etc) Really family friendly and we always do a VRBO there. We usually eat out for dinner but do breakfast and lunch at the condo to keep it more budget friendly.

[waverly]

We are also in the Midwest but farther south from you, and the trend is that the flights to FL during Spring Break have gotten really expensive. Many people here have started driving or have had to pull their kid from school and do a Tues to Tues flight or something like that.

With kids we also like ARBNB and VRBO type places with their own pool in the FL area (typically Sarasota which is near Siesta Key), those book up quickly so for spring break they will be hard to find now. We use to book in August for the following March for example. I wonder if there might be more inventory in Ft Myers? Or maybe on the east side near Kennedy Space Center, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Panhandle? Check all the different airports for pricing. Tampa and Orlando are not super far from St. Petes. 

I love direct flights, so I will pay more for that. A balcony is nice, but not necessary. Spring break tends to be warmer throughout the country but in our experience FL has the best weather. Other places could be hit or miss, but could be possible like Hilton Head, Savannah, Georgia, and other places in the Carolinas etc.

[mrshandy]

Florida is very expensive and crowded around that time of year. We're going, but we have family there that we will be staying with and driving from VA because flights are so expensive.

What about Austin or San Antonio ? Or Albuquerque?

Just throwing out some warmer options that might not be as crazy as FL at Spring break.

That being said. I love family vacations. We're trying to do more of these as the kids get older. The majority of our trips are to visit family (hence the FL trip) since we don't have family in the area. Our family does live in cool places to visit (Florida and Maine). But I want to see other places. We did our first big family trip to Ireland last year and it was a lot of fun and quite the adventure for the 4 of us. We did discover though that 7 days is the max we could handle of just being the four of us. LOL. We were definitely ready for a break from each other after that length of time.

[macmars45]

Airbnb is great! H, DS (3.5) and I flew to AZ back in Oct. We had a whole house to ourselves a 5 minute walk from SIL's (and nieces) house. When we travel there again we will try and get that same house. It was so convenient.
We now always get a direct flight at a reasonable hour. My sanity is worth that alone. We've done really early and really late before DS was born. Let's just say after 10/11pm and before 6am I'm not my best self and wrangling DS at those times when he is also usually asleep sounded like hell.

[thebreakfastclub]

When we fly to Florida, I look at Southwest first to see what is direct. For me, that is Ft Myers, which is a great place for kids. We rent a beachfront condo.

I do not travel over spring break because prices are inflated. We have gone to FL in early June with success. Weather is warm and pretty dry. 2 years ago, we went to Club Med in Punta Cana for a week during June. Kids were free and it was comparable to the FL trip.

[nicolewi]

We have gone to Naples a couple times (flying into Fort Myers), but we got lucky with flights. They are really expensive right now. We had a free place to stay, and a car, but I really enjoyed that area very much. We would drive to different beaches every day, collect shells, walk down the pier, go out to eat, etc. When you go that far down in Florida, you have a good chance of nice weather for spring break.

Destin is supposed to be beautiful, but it's not necessarily super warm in March.

Maybe you could try something like Savannah, GA area?

I definitely prefer non-stop flights, but your kids are bigger, so a layover wouldn't be the end of the world. With kids, I don't care much about the view. Usually we're not in our room much anyway.

I think if I were you I would first look for flight deals to any place that seems interesting, and then research lodging options/things to do. If you want warm/beach/US, you are pretty much limited to Florida, S. California, or Hawaii, I think. And Hawaii is probably too much $$ for sure. If you don't care about swimming-level warmth, you could do something like New Orleans, San Antonio TX, AZ. There would be a lot of cool things to do in any of those places.

[waverly]

Good idea about Florida in June too. It can still be pretty rainy/ cool here in June so Florida would definitely be better. Flights are likely cheaper, and we get out super early in June. We have issues getting away because of camps/ activities, but lots of other people have better schedules for June.

[awkwardpenguin]

I would use kayak.com/explore and use your dates plus your home airport to find cheap flights. I'm seeing Denver, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, LA, San Diego, and New Orleans all for under $300 per person the week of our spring break. Flights are a big chunk of the budget if you have to spend a lot per person. Try flying Saturday to Saturday for cheaper tickets as well.

I'm a huge proponent of AirBnB for families - it is so much easier to find a place that meets your needs. I find we tend to spend more time in our "room" since having kids so it's nice to have a place you feel like you can return to and just chill. Pre-kids we were very much budget hotel folks since we spent most of our time doing activities but that has changed for us with kids. You also can have the option to cook at your AirBnB which can save money. Eating every meal at a restaurant is also hard on our kids, although it may get better with age.

Good luck! We love travelling as a family.

Good luck!

[flatlan]

Jan 15, 2020 12:31:05 GMT -5 mrsGreeko said:

I used to mostly use vrbo.com, now I almost solely use booking.com.

I also use booking.com for travel a lot. I go through Ratuken or Ibotta when I book to get some extra cash back.

[mrsGreeko]

Jan 15, 2020 18:38:20 GMT -5 flatlan said:

Jan 15, 2020 12:31:05 GMT -5 mrsGreeko said:

I used to mostly use vrbo.com, now I almost solely use booking.com.

I also use booking.com for travel a lot. I go through Ratuken or Ibotta when I book to get some extra cash back.

Yes me too! I got a smoking amazing deal on a place in Kyoto for next summer on Black Friday and 10% back on Rakuten/ebates! Totally awesome! Better than the straight $10 offered usually for vrbo bookings.

[circa1978]

If you are trying to be budget-conscious, Naples in March would not be my recommendation, LOL.

[gt7301b]

I use a combination of google.com/flights, scott's travel, and travelzoo to watch sales and pick a location if we don't have a specific location in mind. I look for a deal and then figure out if that location would be good for a trip.

[hamster]

In full disclosure, I haven't traveled with kids yet.

But my approach would be to look at flights and see what you can get to directly from your airport. I'd do some basic research on ones that interested me. I look for ease of transportation as a big one. I don't want to rent a car, so walkability is huge. Beyond that, what kind of attractions are there, hotel costs, etc.

[egishere]

Jan 15, 2020 23:01:37 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Jan 15, 2020 14:26:13 GMT -5 egishere said:

For FL I like the Siesta Key area - you can fly into Tampa and drive about an hour and the 30A (Rosemary, Seagrove, etc) Really family friendly and we always do a VRBO there. We usually eat out for dinner but do breakfast and lunch at the condo to keep it more budget friendly.

30A has got to be 6ish hours from Tampa!

I was referring to the Siesta Key area for the Tampa airport!

[mrssandro]

I love planning trips but I prefer to do them very far out. Spring break on short notice will cost you to some serious coin or less options. We first always identify the stuff we want to do and what our priorities are. (Budget, direct flight, snorkeling from shore, wildlife for example) Then I make a list and excel sheet of the costs and wishlists items for each of the destinations. We usually travel as a family (inlaws and BIL/SIL) so this can be difficult at times but usually we have a few family meetings and talk about it. We have had success with airbnd and vrbo but also always check Costco because they have some pretty decent packages.

Also try to make getting your passports as priority regardless where you go. It just will make last minute place so much easier for you. The process can take 3+ months sometimes.

[goldengirlz]

If I don’t have a specific destination in mind, I like Google Flights for ideas. You enter your dates and your home airport and it shows you prices for various flights.

Then I cross-reference against hotel prices.

The add-ons are so personal. For example, DH and I both hate layovers and, especially with kids, try to avoid them whenever possible. (Like we’ve even changed vacation plans because direct flights to our first choice were out of budget.) I don’t care that much about views but sometimes a balcony is nice with little kids because they go to bed early and H and I like to sit outside while she sleeps. It just depends.

My overall rule for traveling with kids, particularly the first time, is simpler is better. I also try not to be too overscheduled. One “big” activity per day and then plenty of time to hit the pool and chillax. And make dinner reservations in advance!

Have fun!!

[dontlook]

Minneapolis to Phoenix has some decent prices. $5000 is going to be a little tight during spring break with no points, especially if you want a car. It’s doable but you will need to be flexible. I have found Wednesday flights to be a little cheaper.

I planned a trip for 5 (one was a baby) 3 weeks before spring break for under your budget. A few things we did:
- found a resort that had a lot of stuff near it so we didn’t need a car
- found a great deal on a shuttle service to our hotel
- Decided what we had to see and stayed on resort at the pool the rest of the time. This means we did about half the time enjoying the pool.
- kept bags small and light in case of bag fees
- bundle as much as you can. I went through Expedia. Flight, hotel, plus shuttle came out to $3000ish.