Sunday, August 19, 2012

Traveling with Twins Tip #1: Saving Money








My wife and I were eating dinner in a restaurant one evening and were discussing an upcoming excursion with our twin children.  An older gentleman sitting with his wife at the next table chimed in.  He told us that when he and his wife went away with their now grown up children, they called it a trip.  It was only a vacation if they went away by themselves.  I think almost all parents can relate to this but particularly those of twins or multiples.  So here is the first of ten tips to turn your trips into events that resemble vacations.
There are several ways to save your family money when planning such a trip with twins.  The Entertainment Book offers discounts on restaurants, hotels, attractions, and even car rentals.  Over the years we have saved hundreds of dollars using it on vacations.  You can buy books for most North American cities for about 25 or 30 dollars each annually. 

If you live in Canada, flying out of nearby US airports can save you a fortune.  For example, my wife and I saved over $1000 on a recent flight to Baltimore by flying out of Buffalo instead of Toronto.  The taxes are most of the savings.  Sure you have to weigh the drive to the airport, and weather is certainly a consideration too.  You may not wish to risk driving through a winter snow storm to catch a flight.  But when you consider the ease of going through the border by car, you actually aren’t losing much time.  I have also flown out of Seattle instead of Vancouver, when I lived there.  Most of the time you should book directly through the hotel or airline to get the best deal.  Many of the hotel chains and airlines will even guarantee this and beat a rate or fare found on an outside website.  Keep in mind that may generic travel websites make you pay ahead of time with no chance of cancellation, which is always risky when booking with children. 

Tripadvisor.com won’t save you money directly, but it will give you an idea of whether you are getting good value.  Trip Advisor ranks hotels and restaurants based on user reviews.  Reviewers rate the property on value and often comment on this.  You can even read only the reviews written about family travel to narrow your focus.

More tips for travelling with twins in future blogs.

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