Are you planning a family vacation sometime soon? Do you need help planning your vacation? Are you on a limited budget? Do you want to plan the best vacation possible with the least amount of money? Then read on for some helpful tips on planning an affordable family vacation.

Most people over pay for everything when they travel. Did you know that the listed prices for hotels and airlines are NOT the final price? Did you know that when traveling, if you are somewhat flexible with your arrival times, you could possibly get a first class ticket without paying extra? This and several other helpful tips on planning an affordable family vacation are listed below.

Helpful Tips on Planning an Affordable Family Vacation

-Book everything at least 30 days in advance. Hotels and airlines offer discounts for people who plan ahead. You can save up to 30% on airline tickets, bus tickets, and hotel rooms by booking in advance.

-Consider traveling by bus. The average bus ticket cost only a fraction of the cost of a plane ticket! If you are traveling anywhere within a 500 mile radius you can get there the same day. You can get almost everywhere in the United States within 2 days traveling by bus. This option gives you a good chance to see the country and unwind from the busy life back at home before your vacation starts. You can see so much from a bus. You can see the mountains, lakes, cities, beaches and so much more from a bus. From a plane, all you see is clouds!

-When booking a flight, don’t settle for the cheapest listed price. Those are NOT the cheapest. Airlines have to make a profit, so they list the price online that will give them the most profit while still competing with the other airlines. They can still go lower without losing money on the seat. But why would they post their cheapest price when other airlines are charging higher prices. Competition is what really sets the price of a seat. Have you ever noticed when looking online, most airlines have almost the same prices. If one of them drops the price by $200, you can be sure the others will be soon to follow to keep business. Use this knowledge to your advantage. When you call, negotiate with them. Tell them what you can afford to pay. Be reasonable. If you can’t afford to pay more than $20, there is no amount of negotiation that will get you that ticket. Take their cheapest listed price and start with 40% less than that. If they say no, ask for a supervisor. Eventually they will negotiate with you to keep your business. For a $1000 flight you may start negotiating at $600 and finally agree on $800, but that’s a $200 savings on each ticket you buy. That’s a good deal. The same tactic works for most major hotel chains as well!

-Take a bump! When you book a plane ticket, sometimes they overbook the flight! If this happens they will begin offering to “bump” volunteers. This means they will offer you something for the inconvenience of missing this flight and taking another flight. They will offer cash, free tickets, and other freebies. They will put you on the next available flight. Many times, since first class is rarely overbooked, they will place you there. You don’t always get first class, but many times you do. So you got cash, free future flights, and a first class flight, just by being generous to offer your earlier seat! Now that’s a deal!

There are many helpful tips on planning an affordable family vacation. These are the ones that the travel industry does not want you to know. It saves you money and they want your money! Travel the world, on any budget!

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