- Introduction to Cost Effective Holiday Planning
- 25 Ways to Have a Cheap Family Holiday
- 1. Know the market
- 2. Book early or last minute
- 3. Travel off peak
- 4. ‘Bookend’ your stay
- 5. Look out for cheap flights on flight comparison sites
- 6. Fly indirect
- 7. Consider alternative modes of transport
- 8. Travel to lesser known destinations
- 9. Travel to cheaper destinations especially long haul
- 10. Stay in an area away from the centre
- 11. Book with private owners
- 12. Choose self-catering accommodation
- 13. House sit/ swap
- 14. Consider hostels and glamping
- 15. Don’t eat out at restaurants for all your meals
- 16. Pack light
- 17. Use alternatives to airport parking
- 18. Use public transport or hire a car for transfers and days out
- 19. Use discount codes and cash back offers
- 20. Pay in the local currency
- 21. Pre-purchase travel insurance and car hire insurance
- 22. Buy sun cream from Aldi
- 23. Buy toiletries from the local supermarket
- 24. Take your own water bottle and food for the airplane
- 25. Save weekly for your holiday fund all year round
- Conclusion
Introduction to Cost Effective Holiday Planning
Looking for ways to book a cheap family holiday? Discover 25 ideas to save money on your DIY family holiday and book a low cost trip. Here, you will find tips to find budget friendly flights and accommodation, and save money even while you are away.
I have written many guides to help you book a DIY holiday and plan your perfect bespoke itinerary. These 25 tips are a culmination of my top tips for saving money and booking a cost effective family holiday.
See my 10 Step Guide to DIY Holidays for 10 simple steps to book your dream trip without using a travel agent:
25 Ways to Have a Cheap Family Holiday
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1. Know the market
Keep an eye on prices and see what the travel agents are offering. Travel agents are a great starting point to see what the current prices are and to give you an idea of a realistic budget. I like to get a price from 3 travel agents and then see if I can beat them.
We have booked a cost effective family holiday to Mexico. After finding that the TA prices were around £2000 pp for a 2 week break in Cancun, I put together a DIY trip for £1000 pp.
We like to mix things up a bit and book more than one area so we can really explore and we also book a mixture of budget and midrange accommodation plus a luxury stay as a treat.
2. Book early or last minute
The early bird catches the worm, or in this case, finds the bargain accommodation and cheapest flights.
We often book up to a year in advance to get the better cheaper accommodation and flights as soon as they are released.
You can take advantage of the January flight sales too. Try to book your accommodation as soon as you have dates.
Alternatively, if you are booking last minute, there are often deals to be had because companies are trying to sell up empty seats and rooms. Unfortunately there not so many empty seats or rooms during peak season.
For this reason, bear in mind that if you wait till the last minute you will have less choice.
3. Travel off peak
It is no secret that the school holidays are the most expensive time for inflated travel costs. Travelling outside of this peak season is the best way to save money. Obviously, this is difficult when you are booking a cheap family holiday if your children are in school. However, if they are too young for school or have finished early after completing their exams, then you should take advantage.
4. ‘Bookend’ your stay
If you are opting for self-catering, you often need to book accommodation for 7 or 14 days, Saturday to Saturday, and flight prices can reflect this. If you want to take advantage of cheaper week day flight prices, ‘bookending’ your stay with a low-cost hotel can save you money so you don’t have to buy the most expensive plane tickets. We have literally saved hundreds by extending our holidays.
5. Look out for cheap flights on flight comparison sites
Search for flights on flight comparison sites like Skyscanner, Google and Kayak. You can set up price alerts and sign up for emails to notify you of any bargain trends.
If you are flexible, join Jack’s Flight Club. They post lots of cheap flights every week for destinations all over the world. You can set up preferences too.
Join Jack’s Flight Club. If you use my referral link here you can try it our for free for 30 days and get a sweet discount too: ‘Jack’s Flight Club’.
6. Fly indirect
The Americans call this ‘positioning flights’. It is often frugal to fly via another airport. Flight search sites will pick these up for you.
See my guide Tips for Booking Cheaper Flights
7. Consider alternative modes of transport
Have you ever considered travelling by coach, train, boat or drive to save money? It may take longer but alternative modes of transport can be less expensive than air travel and more fun. Plus, you will be reducing your carbon footprint.
8. Travel to lesser known destinations
There’s a premium on popular destinations. Accommodation, flights and restaurants are more expensive in popular tourist areas. You can book a cheap family holiday by staying in a less commercial area.
9. Travel to cheaper destinations especially long haul
Morocco, Tunisia and Albania are good examples of beautiful destinations that cost less than the usual Spain, France and Italy.
When travelling long haul, the plane ticket is more expensive but often the accommodation and costs when you are out there are much less. You can get more for your buck by travelling to a cheaper destination and stay in a fantastic quality hotel for a similar price to a mid range hotel in Spain, France or Italy.
10. Stay in an area away from the centre
Choosing accommodation a little way out of the centre is often cheaper and you get more for your money.
Not only is accommodation less expensive but restaurants and supermarkets will cost less too.
11. Book with private owners
Owners of villas and apartments have to pay a hefty fee to accommodation booking sites. Find sites that have a yearly advertising fee rather than ones that take a percentage of each booking.
If choosing this method, please be careful of scams. To avoid unscrupulous scammers who pose as owners, look up reviews on Trust Pilot for the site you are using and always check that the accommodation really does exist.
A good example is Simply Owners, which has an excellent score on Trustpilot.
12. Choose self-catering accommodation
As a family of 5, we find it difficult to find hotels that cater for odd numbers and usually get better accommodation by going self-catered. All-inclusive is often quite expensive and the food isn’t always the best. Choosing self-catering means we can eat out at a variety of establishments and eat in to save money too.
Also, there’s no fighting over the sun-loungers!
13. House sit/ swap
This is become an increasingly popular way of saving money on holidays and there are sites where you can find other families to swap with or even get paid to look after their property and pets.
14. Consider hostels and glamping
Many hostels and Eurocamps have top quality facilities and cater for families. Hostels are not just dormitories and many have private family rooms and great facilities too.
15. Don’t eat out at restaurants for all your meals
We love to have a picnic at the beach or bbqs by the pool. We also take packed lunches on days out. Guaranteed beautiful weather makes this a tempting option.
16. Pack light
Use your luggage allowance and try not to pay extra for expensive luggage costs. If you do need more space, pay for one large case and use packing cubes to separate everyone’s belongings.
See my guide to Smarter Packing
17. Use alternatives to airport parking
If airport parking costs are too high, consider taking public transport or see if you can save money with an alternative like Just Park or Purple Parking.
18. Use public transport or hire a car for transfers and days out
Taxis can often be very expensive and they have a reputation for ripping off tourists. Transfer services are often unnecessary if there is a perfectly adequate public transport option. Public transport is much cheaper and a fair price.
If you prefer to hire a car, compare prices and prebook using a comparison site like rentalcars.com.
For days out, travel like a local. Take public transport instead of using package trip providers. We have saved loads of money by taking the bus, or driving ourselves.
See my guide to Hiring a Car Abroad
19. Use discount codes and cash back offers
Before paying for anything online, google to see if there is a discount code. There are a few companies that offer cashback when you book through their site. We have joined Top Cash Back, who have lots of travel cashback offers.
20. Pay in the local currency
When paying by card, opt to pay in the local currency and not in pounds.
21. Pre-purchase travel insurance and car hire insurance
If you are travelling more than once a year, it is more cost effective to buy yearly travel insurance. We pay yearly for a family policy.
Buying your hire car insurance separately is cheaper than buying it from the hire car company.
See my guide to How to Protect Your DIY Holiday
22. Buy sun cream from Aldi
Aldi sun cream is cheaper than all the other brands and much cheaper than buying it abroad.
23. Buy toiletries from the local supermarket
To save luggage space, buy toiletries from the supermarket at your destination.
24. Take your own water bottle and food for the airplane
The majority of airports have water fill up stations and you can always ask at one of the food establishments if they don’t. If you are not being provided with a meal on your flight, you can take your own to save costs and it tastes better too.
25. Save weekly for your holiday fund all year round
Save a little every week so that you have a holiday spends fund. This way you will be in control and have a budget ready before you go.
Conclusion
Family holidays don’t have to be expensive to be memorable and fun and you don’t have to book a cheap package deal to save money. If you plan ahead, compare prices, and remain cost savvy, you can book a budget family holiday that is perfect for you and your family without breaking the bank.
What are your top money saving tips for booking cheap family DIY holidays? Let me know in the comments.
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