School Holiday Travel Tips

Some of these school holiday travel tips might help you budget more effectively – so saving you money to spend on the things that really matter.

Stuck For Ideas?

A number of websites offer a whole range of ideas for keeping your children occupied during the summer holidays – from day trips to activities to foreign holiday packages.

If you are stuck for ideas, the Money Saving Expert, for instance, this year suggests more than a hundred different fun-packed but inexpensive adventures.

Flights & Accommodation

Cheap flight booking sites abound on the internet – a blessing and a curse since some are reputable and others less so.

Exercise some care in your choice of sites, therefore, and make sure to visit several of them rather than just the one.

Whilst you are looking for good deals on the cost of air tickets, you might also want to take advantage of the further discounts offered if you book your accommodation at the same time through the same site.

In-Flight Entertainment

According to a posting on Mumsnet, some 86% of parents are stumped when it comes to keeping their brood happily occupied on plane journeys.

Surprisingly, perhaps, the same source suggests that classics such as Lego and Play-Doh might be more effective in keeping your hands and minds out of trouble than modern inventions such as iPads or games consoles.

Getting Out & About

For many families these days, a hire car might be considered essential for getting out and about rather than a luxury.

Commonplace it may have become, but there are still ways you might avoid spending a fortune for the convenience of having your own transport.

One of the main ones is simply to remember to arrange your car hire excess insurance through an independent, UK-based specialist – such as those of us here at Bettersafe – before you go rather than spending considerably more on such cover if you buy it at the last minute from the car rental company.

If you are going to be driving, remember too that in many countries there are laws about carrying children safely in car seats – although your car hire company might offer them to rent, more competitively priced deals might be found from independent suppliers close to the airport, or you might even think about taking those from home along with you.

If All Else Fails!

If you really want to break the mould and are able to countenance the prospect of leaving them at home, a holiday without either your children or spouse might make a more radical alternative to school holiday travel.

A story in the Mirror newspaper gave a detailed account of one young Mum’s experiences of holidaying alone, whilst the same report alleged that 78% of British couples believe that their marriage relationship might be strengthened through the occasional holiday alone without their children. 

School holidays often go hand in hand with family travel – whether close to home or further afield. Some of these suggestions may help to take any sting – whether financial or otherwise – out of the experience.