I know I’m fortunate to live in an area with three major airports to choose from (as a bonus, they all have play areas)! In the Washington, D.C. metro, we have Baltimore-Washington airport (BWI), Washington Dulles (IAD) and Reagan National Airport (DCA). This helps with pricing flights and having options.

My formula for evaluating travel is:

(Flight price total + Car rental price total + Lodging price tota)l / (# of people x # of nights)

More on this in a minute.

Find the flights

I know there are many “travel experts” who want you to pay and subscribe for flight deals. Personally, I swear and live by Google Flights (even Southwest Airlines was finally added in 2024). Google allows you to put in your home airport(s), enter “United States” as the destination, add your dates and then see the prices for various places. From here, you can see what blue dots appear on the map that intrigue you for the time of year you’re looking to travel. You can also use the filters if you prefer to stay under a certain price per ticket or want to limit to non-stop/direct flights. Once I narrow down the destination, before I book, I also check one way flights to see if that helps with the overall price or presents better time options then roundtrip with a single airline carrier. As a tip, use a computer to search instead of a phone. I find it’s better with the explore feature.

One major thing to consider is how you pack. My experience is that we most often end up flying Spirit, Frontier. Sun Country or Allegiant (all low cost carriers), which does not bother us. But, it does mean that we have to each pack in a “personal item” (with small and specific dimensions) to avoid tacking on additional fees. We checked the specs and got super small luggage pieces from Sam’s Club to ensure compliance. If you can’t pack this way, you may want to consider what adding the luggage cost is for each way and then compare it to the next airline carrier that will include your bags (such as Southwest or Delta). Also, sometimes it’s cheapest to pack as a family into one larger checked baggage. 

Reminder: Airlines allow you to cancel your flights AND get a full refund to original payment within 24 hours of booking. This is the U.S. Department of Transportation’s regulation.

Find the rental car

The next thing I do, especially if I’m torn between two destinations, is look at the cost of a car rental during the period. I regularly use CarRentals.com to check this. I know many recommend checking Costco prices, so if you have a membership, don’t forget that’s an option. Some car companies will offer a lower price if you pay in full with no rights to cancel. Others allow for free cancellation (by a certain date) and this can be very appealing. We typically go with whatever is the least expensive since it’s only 3 of us traveling. We bring our own car seat too. Another thing to do is consider using your credit card (if you have more than one) that gives you travel protection as part of its benefits.

Find the accommodations

The last major piece is to find where to sleep each night. This piece is easier or harder depending on whether or not you’re moving locations (e.g., cities), how long your trip is for and whether or not you’re traveling during a busy season. I typically use Booking.com, Super Travel and Airbnb.com to see which route is more affordable for a particular city and my needs for that trip. For example, if I’m on vacation and only plan to sleep in the accommodation, as long as it has a decent review, I don’t care how small it is (e.g., a Motel 6 or a room in someone’s house). But, if I need to work or spend more time in the accommodations, I look for something a bit bigger or one with a kitchen and private bathroom and high speed internet. 

The great thing is looking for affordable options with “free cancellation” and then taking the time to continue looking. These appear on the sites and allow the most flexibility in planning and finalizing a trip.

Back to the formula

Once I have my prices (which I usually screenshot or record into a Word doc), I can see what my base price for a family trip is. 

(Flight price total + Car rental price total + Lodging price total) / (# of people x # of nights)

Example:

• Flight price total (for all 3 people): $600
• Car rental price total (for 6 days): $200
• Lodging price total (for 5 nights): $500
• Total: $1300
• Formula: $1300 / (3 people x 6 nights)
• Result: $72.22 – – This is the average price per night per person.

The $72.22 is one way to look at this. It shows that by person, I’m paying that amount for each night. Put another way, I could eliminate the number of people in the denominator (since this is my family and I’m not being reimbursed by another person for their share) and see that each night of the trip will cost $216.67. If I want this “base cost” of travel to go down, I have to do better on one of the three main cost areas (flights, car rental or lodging). 

Other considerations

We like to spread out the costs whenever we can across multiple credit card statements. This helps with not having one huge credit card bill at the end of a trip. For example, the flights and sometimes an Airbnb reservation may go on one bill, but then the credit card may not charge until after we return the car rental. 

If you’re able to have a friend or family member drop you and pick you up from the airport, this will be a cost savings. I know in our area, it can easily be close to $50 on  Uber* or Lyft* each way, which will add to the cost of the trip. Compare the pricing in the apps and book a ride in advance if you’re going that route. If public transit is available to your nearest airport, this is another possible way to minimize additional cost.

It’s probably obvious, but of course you can always consider driving your personal car instead of flying and renting a vehicle or picking a destination that’s fully accessible with public transportation and shared rides or visiting a place where you know someone and have a place to stay. This are all ways that will cut down on your cost and make travel more affordable.

At the end of the day, I hope you don’t wait for retirement to start experiencing the world! If you’re looking for other ways to save money to afford travel, check out my article “How to save money in order to travel”. 

* The Uber and Lyft links are referral links. There’s no additional cost to you and if you’re creating an account for the first time, I appreciate you using my link which may provide me with a small benefit in the form of a credit or discount by the provider.

About the Author

Lydia Garry and her family, TeamTravelsBaby, live in Silver Spring, Maryland, and are working to achieve “vagabond status”. Much of their affordable family travel experiences include U.S. travel, national parks and Europe. Adventure with them here, subscribe to their newsletter and follow along on Instagram!