Since we have been on a quick weekend vacation not long ago I’ve got planning and saving money when on a vacation on my brain. There were definitely a few things I did not plan for cost wise and hopefully this will help others not make the same mistakes.
Areas to Budget for
Flight Saved $200-$300 by booking 3 months ahead of time and doing weekly searches for fares for 2 months before finding a great fare.
Parking cost at the airport – $8/day open lot, $10/day garage. Example of costs HERE
Car rental – Originally $30/day went down to $6/day using an online booking agent
Gas
Check luggage cost – last time I flew each person had one free check bag, this time it was $25 per bag, per person. Luckily we only had bag to check.
Meals ~$10/person per meal
Hotel ~$65/day
Souvenirs/shopping
Forgotten items (advil, diapers, toothbrush, shampoo)
Tips on saving
Use a booking agent – hotwire, kayak
Book car, hotel and flight together.
Use Groupon ahead of time to save on meals
Carry-on vs. Check luggage or even mail home your luggage.
Unable to change flights when booked under hotwire or similar. We tried to get a flight home sooner but we were unable to because of this. I booked through hotwire without knowing what car rental company we had or times of the flights. Saved us a few hundred dollars and kept life interesting. Didn’t arrive home from the airport until 2am.
