Taking the Kids™
Taking the Kids on Southwest - And Five Tips to Recession-Proof Your Summer Vacation
The timing couldn’t be worse.
Just as we’re all planning summer getaways, gas prices go through the roof, and the pundits suggest the economy is going to get worse. No wonder for the first time in a decade AAA reports that the numbers of us traveling over July 4th has dropped.
All this when you were gearing up to celebrate your parents’ 50th anniversary with a big family trip, your college roommate is getting remarried across the country, the kids keep reminding you that last winter, during that horrible weather, you promised a trip to Orlando or your daughter (like mine) just graduated from college and you want to take her on a special trip to celebrate. is graduating from college and you want to take her to Europe to celebrate.
Still, I don’t think we should give up planning those special trips to Orlando, Europe, Alaska or wherever you’ve dreamed of celebrating that birthday, graduation or anniversary — as long as we can figure out how to make it work financially. I say go for it! And obviously so do you. Many of us may not be planning that trip of a lifetime, but we are planning to take a vacation this summer. A new survey from the big travel search engine kayak.com found that while the economic downturn has caused 79 percent of travelers to change vacation plans, those surveyed say they still intend to get away this summer.
The trick then is to figure out how to vacation this summer without busting the budget. “You’ve got to plan carefully,” suggests MaryAnn Whipple, a mother of four from Canandaigua, N.Y., who has made her kids oatmeal in hotel rooms’ coffeemakers and is one of the winners of www.cheaptickets.com’s “show us your cheap” contest. (Visit the Website for more tips from the winners.) “If you go with another family, you’ll definitely save money,” she says.
That’s an especially good tactic for single parents who not only can split costs but childcare chores. Here are some other ways to save bucks and vacation happy this summer:
- OPT FOR A FEW DAYS IN THE CITY where you can find plenty of weekend deals
on hotels when the business people are gone. Check their official tourism
websites. Go to Houston for example, and see Lucy’s Legacy at the Houston
Museum of Natural Science (www.lucyexhibition.com). Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old
skeleton
retrieved from Ethiopia in 1974, is the oldest and most complete adult human
ancestor ever found on African soil. Go to Detroit where the city is celebrating
The Year of the Car, which commemorates the founding of General Motors and
the sale of Henry Ford’s first Model T. There are scores of activities,
museum exhibits and projects. (Ready to build your own Model T? (www.motorcities.org).
Or see The Horse, a comprehensive exhibition on the enduring bond between
horses
and humanity, which opened May 17 and runs through Jan. 4, 2009 at the American
Museum of Natural History (www.amnh.org).
- CONSIDER A CRUISE. Especially with
multigenerational groups and kids of widely different ages, this is a good
choice especially because your lodging,
food (all
you can eat!) and entertainment (including organized activities for the kids
and teens) are included on board. . And with more than 24 domestic ports,
you can save more by driving rather than flying to your ship. Look for deals
where
kids, as third and fourth passengers in a cabin, cruise at deep discounts..
Visit www.cruising.org.
- THINK OFF-SEASON. Who cares if it’s hot, as
long as there is a pool! Fort Lauderdale, for example, is offering Summer
of Discovery 2-for-1 deals
(www.sunny.org/summer) on everything from golf to spas to movies to kayak
and snorkeling tours. Charter
a yacht from SunSail (www.sunsail.com) for 35 per cent off. You’ll
find incredible deals — and cheaper flights (maybe you can finally
use those frequent flier miles) throughout ski country. Keystone Resort in
Colorado (www.keystoneresort.com)
offers a family adventure package that includes an Adventure Passport for
activities that include a golf clinic, guided hikes, paddleboat rentals and
more. I love
that spa treatments are discounted too. Opt for Smugglers’ Notch Resort
in Vermont (www.smuggs.com) with dawn-evening family activities. Aspen, Colo.,
(www.aspenchamber.org) offers a “green” package that includes
free gas and bike rentals. If you’ve got a hybrid, you’ll save
even more.
- GO FOR THE FREEBIES and discounts whether it’s kids eat free, activities are free, or you get a gas rebate. and hotel credits for the new airline fees for checked bags. (Kimpton Hotels, www.kimptonhotels.com, and hotels on Amelia Island, www.ameliaisland.org/freebags, off Florida’s northeast coast, offer either room credits or access to special services. ) The Hyatt Grand Champions Resort near Palm Springs, www.hyattgrandchampions.com, not only offers rates starting at $99 a night but also discount cards good for 25 percent off meals, spa and discounts at Camp Hyatt. Sonesta Resorts, www.sonesta.com/aaa, meanwhile, will feed two of your kids free (from the kids’ menu) and take 20 percent off your room rate, as long as you’ve got an AAA card.
Wherever you go, ask what the hotel, cruiseline, resort can do for you. Remember, they want your business!
By: Eileen Ogintz
