Moms Q &A: Saving on Vacations

Moms Talk is a new feature on Patch that is part of a new initiative on our sites to reach out to moms and families.

Patch invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in the East Windsor-Hightstown-Cranbury area.

Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council — Susan Masone, Siri Heinrichs, Cristina Fowler, Christine O'Brien and our intrepid columnist Lauren Kim — takes your questions, gives advice and shares their solutions to the problems vexing all of us.

Have a question you would like to share, or just want to provide your opinion on the question of the week? Head over to the comments section to do just that.

So grab a cup of coffee and settle in as we start the conversation today with the following question:

Family vacations: How do you budget for them, and how do you find ways to save? What's your favorite budget family vacation?

Susan Masone: We were lucky enough to purchase a
timeshare many years ago. It has pretty much paid for itself. Aside from the maintenance fees... literally no costs. It is far easier to stay in a timeshare that has a full kitchen than to go to a hotel and have to go out to dinner every night. It has all the amenities of home, but no "everyday responsibilities." It’s also nice that we have picked a different location each time we went away.

Cristina Fowler: Since the birth of our children, our
family vacations have centered around beach destinations within driving distances and extended family. We have driven as far south as the Outer Banks, N.C., and as far north as Maine. Most summers, however, you can find us on the southern tip of the Jersey Shore — our current favorite spot. Together with our extended family, we rent a home big enough to house all of us comfortably and we split the cost of the home. This saves us on paying high hotel prices. We also take turns cooking dinners which, of course, saves us money going out to eat.

In addition, the children have their cousins and friends to play with at the beach and back at the beach house, which is a win-win in my book. Just prior to our trip, we empty our water jug, which has been collecting loose change and dollars throughout the year. We divide it among the four of us to use as spending money while on our vacation. One tip to keep in mind: Renting homes one week prior or one week after “high season” saves about $1,000 on the cost of the rental.

Siri Heinrichs: The biggest thing we do is use a mileage credit card. Since we have family in Nevada and Colorado, our vacation budgets must include airline tickets. We recently switched from using an airline-specific card to a card that allows us to purchase on any airline. We accrue points for each purchase we make, and we can in turn use those points toward flights, hotels, car rentals, etc. In these days of airlines merging and Chapter 11 situations, I feel better knowing my eggs aren’t all in one basket.

The other thing we do is sit down and plan for our vacations once a year. Around October / November we plan out where we are going to go and who we are going to see. With a family of five, we budget one
plane trip per year, and then try to have other get-togethers where we see family locally or within driving distance. Of course it would be nice to see family members in their homes more often than every other year, but unfortunately, it’s not financially practical!

Our favorite budget vacation is a car trip down to Ocean City, Md. We are very fortunate to have family with a condo down there, so when we go down, we get free lodging. If we have my parents along, we
can get into the beach at Assateague for free (with their senior discount). So basically, all we have to pay for is food, which we’d pay for at home… and the gas to get there, of course! The kids love it, and it’s close enough that we can head down for a quick weekend getaway on a Friday night.

Lauren Kim: When I book vacations, I generally look to save by booking special packages (that sometimes include tickets to local attractions or “free” breakfasts) offered by the hotels or by buying vacation packages through AAA.

My family recently stayed at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., for about $160 a night (which was a good rate for staying right in D.C. and at that hotel), thanks to AAA. The room had a mini fridge, so we stocked it up with refreshments and snacks, and some food for breakfast, which helped us to save some money. Plus, all of our activities were free — we went sightseeing, visited the national monuments and went to the zoo and a few museums, all for
free. (The zoo and most museums in D.C. have free admission.)

When we went to Hersheypark last summer, we saved money by staying at the Hershey Lodge, which offers discounted passes to the amusement park for its guests, as well as a free shuttle to the park, so guests don’t have to pay for parking at the park.

In past years, we have vacationed with friends in the Poconos, which cut down on vacation costs. We split the cost of the rental home and everyone chipped in on bringing the groceries and cooking meals. Plus, the kids had extra fun, since they had more playmates along with them!

Christine O’Brien: Family vacations are very valuable to our family, and it is usually my challenge to find the best way to make these trips as affordable as possible. I always comb the Internet for information and ask friends who have previously traveled to that destination for tips. TripAdvisor.com is a good resource also. Using frequent
flyer miles, hotel points, AAA discounts, hotel specials and even traveling “off season” can all help tremendously. As AAA members, we receive discounts on hotels, restaurants and theme park tickets. For local discounts, I’ve come across a few nice deals through Kid Stuff books, the Entertainment book and Groupon.com. The cost of meals can really add up fast. In order to save, we often try to find a hotel that offers a complimentary continental breakfast. If our hotel room has a mini-fridge, we bring a few grocery items to make sandwiches for picnic lunches.

Our favorite budget vacation was to New Hampshire. My husband won a complimentary week at the condo where we stayed. We ate most of our meals at the condo or picnicked, and most of the activities we chose to do were outdoor-related (hiking, swimming, canoeing and fishing) and were also free or close to it!