To score a last-minute family travel bargain, pay attention to these top, parent-tested, tips:
Follow the economic bad news for late deals. This year – like last year – that means Europe.
Greece has been the happy hunting ground for bargain lovers in recent months. The most popular islands are
Rhodes
and
Crete. The Peloponnese and Samos are also offering good value this summer. Spain and
Cyprus are worth a browse too, for wallet-friendly family holidays.
Sharm el-Sheikh
The Euro is weak, making on-the-ground costs lower
in the Eurozone. Stepping outside Euroland is even more affordable. The
resort areas of Egypt, such as
Sharm el-Sheikh, are bouncing back after last year’s turmoil.
Turkey is a perennial favorite with those looking for Mediterranean sun at a lower cost and
Morocco and
Tunisia have long been good alternatives to the Med.
Package vacation on the Algarve
Remember that
package deals can offer the best value for money, although self-catering is a popular option too.
Pools, jungle gyms and other activities keep kids occupied on a cruise
Be flexible and open to adventure. If your budget
doesn’t run to a villa in Tuscany this year, perhaps a resort with loads
and loads of kids’ activities will allow you to laze by the pool for
hours on end. Alternatively, cruises can be wonderlands for children
with oodles of clubs and activities.
Camping vacations are an option for cash-strapped families
Camping is another good idea, especially where ferry routes offer a cheaper way of getting there than pricey, high-season flights.
Let a late summer festival occupy the kids
Arrange your vacation around a free festival and let
the events occupy and entertain the children. Find a campsite or cheap
self-catering accommodation nearby and capitalize on all the free stuff
that’s going on.
Play around with times and dates
You can reduce the cost of a last-minute vacation even further by
playing around with flight times.
The early-morning and late-night flights (midweek is always cheapest)
might be unpopular with most families, but if you can cope, you can
enjoy savings. Just make sure that getting from the airport to your
hotel or apartment will be possible at frankly unsociable hours.
Included in the price of your flights?
For your
flights, if you’re putting together your own break,
cost everything before you commit your cash.
That includes check-in fees, baggage charges, in-flight meals and
entertainment, priority boarding and credit and debit-card fees.
Depending on the airline you fly with, these may be included in the
ticket price.
Pack as little as you can
If you have to check bags, think really carefully about how many
pieces of luggage you’ll need. Pack as lightly as you possibly can,
taking advantage of the (hopefully) free cabin baggage allowance. Even
the littlest ones can be persuaded to drag their own suitcase or
backpack onboard, which might mean one less checked bag (and charge).
Memories are made of this
Collective-buying websites such as
Living Social and
Groupon
often have fantastic family-centric deals. But make sure you read the
fine print very, very carefully before you whip out your credit card.
(Images:
Aster-oid;
winton;
glenbowman;
seanandlauren;
cvilletomorrow;
vastateparksstaff;
flowizm;
Augapfel;
highwaysagency;
♥ Melissa ♥)
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