Tag: Affordable Fun

How To Find Affordable U.S. Travel

Posted in Read Them All, United StatesTagged , , , , , , 1 Comment

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.

Tips on how to find affordable U.S. travel.
Airplane in the air | TeamTravelsBaby

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!

How To Save Money In Order To Travel

Posted in Free Kids Fun, Read Them AllTagged , , , , , , 2 Comments

It can be easier said than done to have a “travel fund.” I have found that there are some lifestyle choices that allow us to have that cushion in our finances to afford travel without digging through the cushions for change. We loved to travel before our daughter and we love showing our daughter the world, including our own backyard by being a tourist in the DMV. Whether your goal is travel or something else, I hope you pick up some valuable tips.

Housing. We bought a condo in 2015, shortly after getting married. A condo appealed to both of us because of the low maintenance living (e.g., no mowing grass or worrying about roof replacement) and because it had a pool. Condo living is very conducive to travel because you lock the door and don’t have to look back or worry. We have lived in a one bedroom, one bathroom condo for over 9 years that’s under 1000 square feet (including our balcony). We are not minimalists, but we make a point to constantly rotate things through so it’s not a one way street to hoarder status. The condo is walking distance to buses and the Washington, DC metro and our utilities are included in our fees. (A few things to consider here is condo fees fluctuate year to year, there can always be special assessments and rules may dictate certain things like renting out space.) Public transit availability is huge because it feeds into my next point.

Transportation. We’ve had one car since 2014. We bought a used car on Facebook Marketplace (with the help of a car smart family member) and now we’re well over 200,000 miles! While I feel like we pay a reasonable price for car insurance and pay every 6 months in full to save money, there are many other expenses associated with car ownership. There’s of course gas, regular oil changes, emissions testing (at least by us), registration, and other maintenance expenses that come up. By making one car work for us, we have saved significantly as all of these costs double with a second car. We also have never had a monthly car payment since we bought our car outright and when we were physically commuting to work, our jobs provided a transit subsidy.

No annual or recurring memberships. Cable, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ are luxuries and we don’t have any of them. This is not to say we’ve never borrowed a friend’s creds (before it became way harder) or had a friend or family member help us out with an order, but we have never subscribed to these ourselves. Don’t get me wrong – I love my shows, but not enough to pay a recurring fee, on auto pay. (It’s bad enough with how the internet company creeps up on the monthly cost each year, which I always try to renegotiate down.) I have found some good shows and movies with our library card through Hoopla and Kanopy, especially for our daughter. We also live without a gym membership (we do have a gym in our condo, although we don’t use it). We make a point to get out and walk, hike or play outside. I also found that putting my 5-lb free weights next to my coffee machine means I pick them up more often.

Thrift or Buy Nothing and avoid unnecessary consumerism. I feel so fortunate to live in an area with great thrift stores (Value Village, Unique and 2nd Avenue Thrift are my favorites near me) and an incredible Buy Nothing community. I LOVE finding a good deal and personally find the thrift stores to be fun! It’s also been a great lesson for my daughter to learn about money and the cost of things. The generosity of neighbors fulfilling wishes and giving away gently used items is also a blast! She loves going on pick ups with me. I also enjoy being able to return the favor and move items out of our condo. Our biggest savings have been on clothing and toys.

Get a library card. Every library’s offerings are different, but at a basic level, the ability to check out books is a great way to try new content without a price tag! We have also found libraries in our area offer Vox books (books that read to you), Playaways (tablets with preloaded games and audio books), Hoopla (movies and tv shows and also books), Kanopy (movies and tv shows), Overdrive/Libby (e-books), Freegal (music – I even found the new Taylor Swift album), computers/print capabilities and lots of free programming. Some even have tickets to venues that typically cost money or lending libraries (like one of ours has garden tools you can check out, another offers cooking accessories and toys/games). In our area, there is a lot of reciprocity offered so we’ve gotten over 10 library cards already from different systems in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia! At some point, I’ll make a full post for our area, but for now, I do have some in a highlight like free ABC Mouse access (an amazing game for young kids) and free DC Children’s Museum tickets with the Alexandria library card.

Lidl, Aldi, Wal-Mart for groceries and eating in. We shop where groceries cost less. Lidl and Aldi take some getting used to, but overall, we save a ton on our monthly grocery expenses by avoiding the larger grocery chains. For example, their k-cups, milk, butter, cream cheese, bagels, etc. are significantly cheaper than a chain grocer and it’s worth joining free rewards programs. When we travel throughout the U.S., Wal-Mart tends to be our go-to. We also rarely eat out for a full meal or order in (we like to get treats out and I have a coffee habit, but that’s for another post). We avoid alcohol and soda (flavored water makes it home on occasion), which also saves us money.

Spending with a benefit. We put everything on our Fidelity Visa credit card because there’s no annual fee and you can earn cash back, which we put directly into the financial market for the future. The biggest thing about using a credit card for most expenses is to ensure paying off the monthly balance, in full, each month, to avoid paying interest (which is very expensive). This card also recently started waiving foreign transaction fees, which used to be the only downside of it! The reality is, we all have expenses, and we may as well get something for that spending! And this past year, I started using Fetch*, which is an app where you can scan your receipts and earn points to redeem for giftcards. While many receipts only yield 25 points, you can earn more points by checking the promoted offers, playing games, and referring friends. For example, when scanning receipts, I find my grocery store receipts usually earn the most points (i.e., sometimes by scanning a single Safeway receipt you get extra points).

* Fetch – If you’ve never used it before, please consider using my referral link or code (DBXCPE). When you sign-up and scan your first receipt, we both receive bonus points. (I think the Barnes and Noble giftcards offer the best redemption value.)

Free and low cost fun. We all know that having a kid(s) is expensive, but there are ways to save! One of the biggest ways to save is by taking advantage of free fun for outings like playgrounds, libraries and nature centers. Also, living in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area, we have a lot of additional free options with the Smithsonians, including the National Zoo and other free local museums (more here). When my daughter was really little, we looked for places that were free for kids under 12 months. And the biggest saver has been buying the annual Maryland Science Center family membership when it’s available on GroupOn each November (something like $80-$90). The pass pays for itself in two visits during the year, but the best benefit is it gives FREE admission to a long list of museums that are 90 miles or more away and 50% off to museums that are within 90 miles. We always consult the ASTC Passport list when planning a trip to ensure we can maximize the benefits and have literally saved hundreds of dollars while being able to have incredible family experiences in the U.S. and Canada. I also regularly check GroupOn, CertifiKID** and LocalFlavor (particularly great for the Lancaster, PA area) for discounted admissions. For example, DoodleHATCH is a super fun immersive experience in Columbia, MD that’s often on GroupOn, we found our first deal to the Cartoon Network Hotel on CertiifKID and a deal to explore the Hands-On House in Lancaster on LocalFlavor. Many places offer free or discounted days, which is a great way to visit without spending a lot of money (although it may be more crowded). For example, we drove to Hagerstown to explore Discovery Station, which is their kids museum for free on the third Sunday of the month. Lastly, this is one account on Instagram that I like, which shares lots of freebies too!

** CertifiKid – If you’ve never used it before, please consider using my referral link. When you sign-up and make your first purchase, I receive a small benefit from CertifKID in the form of credit.

One life to live. 

Make affordable family travel possible and consider what your day-to-day choices are. If you value and would like to prioritize travel and experiences, then something has to give in order to make that possible sooner than later. Nothing has to be done to an extreme. Pick one aspect of your life and try to reduce your expenses. If you track it, you’ll be more likely to repeat the habit!

Was this helpful? Let me know in the comments something you learned or something you plan to start doing or trying!

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!