Travel Smart, Not Spend-y: Your Ultimate Guide to Budget Family Trips

Dreaming of a family vacation but worried about the cost? We've got you covered. In this episode, we're sharing our best-kept secrets and proven hacks to help you save money every step of the way—from flights and accommodations to food and activities. Get ready to plan the trip of a lifetime without breaking the bank, proving that incredible family memories don't have to come with a hefty price tag.

Transcript

KeisaB 0:05

Friends. The time has come to break down our top travel hacks that will help make more family experiences a reality. I have chatted previously about the importance of non-traditional families with all of our beauty, traveling, exploring, growing, and influencing outside our home country. If you missed that episode, no worries. Definitely check it out. It's out there for you, not going anywhere. But now we are going to dive into some of the how's, in particular, how to make that travel budget stretch. In today's topics, I'll include five budget costing mistakes. Navigating use of points and miles plus cash for flights, and utilizing rewards programs for discounts on other tools you'll need for travel. So this is all from a queer POC blended family lens. You're here. I'm here. We are here. So let's get to it. Hey everyone. KeisaB here. Over the past 26 years, I've traveled to 12 countries. And four continents, sometimes solo and often on a shoestring budget, but always having a queer ol' time. And through personal adventures and the testaments of fellow explorers, I've definitely picked up some pretty useful travel hacks along the way and. everything wasn't perfect. Sometimes I visited places where I did not know where I was gonna sleep that night or where it just didn't work out the way I thought it was gonna be when it came to traveling from one destination to the next by train or a bus. That's all part of the journey. And just when though I thought I had a perfect system, in we threw a kid into the mix. Believe me, trip planning changed drastically after having a kid. But the core strategies for making adventures a reality, it all remained the same, and it all starts with a budget. Once you have your everyday expenses covered and you've got those savings buckets for the future and emergencies, then you can focus on that lump sum for travel. If you're gonna make this a priority after we have discussed why it's so important for our families to do that, then let's go ahead and budget for it. Let's make sure it's a priority. So perhaps your travel budget looks though a bit like my family's: we're two women, one with a darker complexion, and who have dedicated most of their careers to serving others primarily in nonprofits. You can make your own assumptions to what that looks like for our salaries, but no matter how you roll, here are some helpful travel tips and hacks from the QFW Arsenal plus a bonus if you're narrowing down your next destination.

KeisaB 4:18

Let's start with QFW's top five budget costing mistakes. One: Not having flexible dates.

KeisaB 4:32

One of the best features out there is flexibility when it comes to travel. Your personal flexibility with the dates that you can choose based on the destination, and sometimes even just changing the destination altogether and seeing what wonderful adventure might come from that. One thing that I've found in talking to many other parents out there is we start to shift those explorations and adventures around school holidays and usually sometimes work holidays. One thing that you might not know or feel comfortable with is being able to talk to the administration or the teachers about times when you might be taking your kid outta school and it's not one of those traditional times. It's okay! I have talked to parents who have had to go to Africa for work 'cause they're in a world health type of organization and they have taken their kid out for a month so they can spend time with them while they're there. So say it is a fall break, they have that might for a week, but then you go ahead and add on somewhere before or after that fall break again. A lot of parents are like, ah, I can't do that. They're gonna lose so much. What are they gonna lose? Make sure they bring their work with them. They're covering things maybe, in the morning while they're nice and fresh. We can then bring that with us as we travel and that's okay. we don't have to be considered a family that is a nomadic family to be able to do that. We can do that on our own. And still come back to the school where our kid is enjoying being with his friends and socializing and the teachers and the community it might build. It's so important is that then you can use some really amazing tools like Google Travel, use the explore part of it, and then you can say, oh, I want a week or two weeks in April. I want a week in December. I want a week, and May I want a week in August. Depends on when your kid goes back to school. What about September or October? November, around Thanksgiving is a great time to travel, to many different destinations. usually it's one of those shoulder seasons where it's not extremely busy. It's not their, their highest travel time where the costs of flights and hotels and other accommodations, restaurants, et cetera, they, they all increase. During those times where it's peak season, so go a shoulder season and it could save you a ton of money.

KeisaB 7:43

The second hack that we are going to go through is sticking to a bucket list. This could be a big mistake. Not because we don't love bucket list. I have a very long personal bucket list. But think of it, if you only did your bucket list the whole time, and that bucket list might be pushing your rest of your family to do something They might not enjoy. so maybe it needs to be a solo travel when you're doing that by yourself or with a good friend, but maybe not a family travel experience. it's extremely relevant with young kiddos. maybe there is an alternative historic site that's just as memorable, but more accessible. And so then it might be easier for little legs maybe just physically or mentally don't have the capability quite yet to do it, or maybe ever. You really have to think about those different aspects. I definitely have done this with cities. Like I wanna always go to the biggest city with the biggest and best and most popular excursions, but I've always found that sometimes the smaller areas, about an hour outside that big city are just as vibrant, and usually more authentic than some of the big cities. And if we can find those places that we feel just as safe and protected than we do in a major city. Think why not go there? And maybe it might be even more enriching to the experience, just like we talked about the why and why that's important. So the second one is sticking with your bucket list. It might be a pretty big mistake.

KeisaB 9:53

The third mistake is always going with vacation rental sites. I am one who was doing this for so many years. First thing I do is maybe go to an Airbnb or VRBO, or Hopper or Booking or Travelocity name, any site that we might go on to do a search Sure. You can start there. That's usually what I do. I start I start with these big search engines, bigger commercial sites, maybe a booking for accommodations, for a hopper, for flights or skyscanner. But then once I start to see the trend and see some discounts, then I go directly to the sites of the hotel, to the b and b to the hostel. To the airline, to the train connector, and or even the agency, and I will book directly with them. What this does is usually you can find the same price or they'll match the price on any of those bigger sites. They also, too, will have their own rewards programs, which is wonderful. So then you're signing up for a local, program, which could then also give you some more benefits. Unless it is a ridiculous deal that I'm getting on this commercial site, I try to stay away from them. You could do a Google search, in Google Travel for accommodations and hotels There's some travel hacks and strategies around, finding the best deals that we will have to go through on another episode for sure. let me know in the comments if that's something you would be interested in, that I really break down those strategies that I use and others that I've learned from, have used and. We can share all that knowledge and make sure that everyone's getting all the discounts and deals. 'cause there is definitely an art to booking and finding the best accommodations for families and especially non-traditional families so that we feel safe and taking care of while we are exploring. 'cause that's the last thing we want is for us to be going with our family, and especially our kids, and feel uncomfortable in any type of way.

KeisaB 12:28

So the fourth budget costing mistake is not utilizing non-car transportation options in other cities, especially in very densely populated cities, Sometimes cars just aren't the best approach when it comes from getting from A to B and more advanced societies it's becoming trains. that type of transit is extremely friendly to families. Think of it, you don't have to sit through the same line for security. You have more food options, there's more restroom options. You can get up and walk around, and it doesn't seem like you're bothering literally everyone. Having to go through the counter of getting a rental car, and then what if something happens to that rental car and you don't know your destination very well, or even just learning the rules of the road while you're there. I think there's so many more benefits to utilizing the non-car transportation options while you're exploring. That goes even deeper. A more authentic experience connecting with locals more. 'cause sometimes those locals might be using those buses and trains on a more regular basis than in their cars. Also showing your family and showing yourself that you can do it because there is, you should give yourself a pat in the back every time that we, especially as Americans, go to another place and use mass transit constantly, because there is a very small population in the United States that does that on a regular basis. We are extremely car centric. if you're not from here, it shouldn't surprise you. And of course, if you are from America, then you know. Usually it's cheaper to do it that way. Maybe a car sharing program from time to time, depending on your weather or how your kid's doing, you might have to use it. Sure. But I have definitely traveled with me and my kiddo, just the two of us with luggage up and down train station steps. We have gone, of course through the airport. It's fine. But gosh, I would take a train any day. Also think about biking. And how much, more exercise you're getting, biking and walking around different places. Then you continue talk to people who are local. Maybe you'll get to see that rainbow flag in a window of an establishment, and you would never notice it if you were in a car speeding by. There are a lot of other things, including really amazing learnings that we can find if we get out of the car and all we do is walk, maybe bike, trains, some form of transit while we're traveling abroad.

KeisaB 15:34

And the last of the five budget cost mistakes is being wise with credit cards. And I guess it's not the way that I'm wording it, it's not necessarily a mistake, but I guess I'm saying not being wise with a credit card. So the of the top five budget costing mistakes. The last one is not being wise with your credit cards. And I don't mean leaving a credit card somewhere because you accidentally left it when you were paying for something or it fell outta the pocket somewhere. Yes, there are so many perks to using credit cards when we travel. There are safety nets there versus doing a debit card or just cash. When you use a debit card in cash, most of the time there's no way to get those back, especially cash and I'm for having cash and change when we go travel in the local currency, but Yes. Credit cards have many perks for traveling, like the security if theft occurs, or travel insurance. But not all credit cards are the same. Having a dedicated travel rewards card can really up your travel game by putting everyday purchases that turn into miles. Or other awards if you already are paying for groceries, school supplies, extracurriculars, at least be getting something in return that spits out FUN, because we already spend enough, and a lot of us are hearing how beneficial putting things on credit cards are. But if the main purpose of you having this travel card is so that you can then travel with it, then definitely utilizing it to the best of your ability is always good. There are even travel awards cards that don't have an annual fee. They bring a ton of value and they are taken around the world even with smaller merchants. And yes, I'm not talking about Amex, that is big pet peeve of a lot of different peoples, how Amex is not used across the board. And sure, it might have some benefits, but I think there's other cards we can all consider. Personally, we have been using a Capital One Venture card with zero, yes, zero annual fee, for years. And I love the ease of the platform. It's really easy to use. And there's no sponsors to our podcast, so this is information from personal use that I'm sharing with you, or that I know of someone who has personally used it themselves. So know that we have used these cards, we have used these sites, we have used these things, and we wouldn't speak about them if we haven't vetted them, as well for being very friendly to the L-G-B-T-Q community. Not just trying to promote us during pride, but also they treat their employees well. They're constantly given accolades based on the quality of their products as well. Like when we're using a hotel chain we wanna make sure that their staff is being trained. In what our families look like and the language that needs to be used when we're checking in and out, when we have our kids with us, so we've been using Capital One and we've really liked it. I know another one that people really have loved has also been Chase's travel cards. I would look into them as well.

KeisaB 19:52

That moves us into the awards part where you can navigate these point miles plus cash for flights and use it to really minimize your budget, especially when I'm flying abroad. There are many different ways to do this. One of the ways that I like to utilize it is by finding and not being locked in to one airline or say one hotel chain, call me crazy, but I don't like to be put into a box at any time. So I like to have a card that allows me and my family to use many different airlines to then add miles directly into the rewards program and then use those miles for flights plus cash, and that cash is gonna be usually taxes. You can't get away from it the vast majority of the time. With Delta, it's become so hard to use miles and cash. You have to have so many thousands and thousands and thousands. I'm talking hundreds of thousands of miles. So what we have found. Delta flies everywhere around the world. Extremely comfortable. That's why it also costs usually a bit more. It's not a discount airline. So if you want to use part of the Sky Team, look at Flying Blue. Which is KLM which is out of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, or use Air France, which is based out of Paris and is France's number one airline. Those are both part of Sky team and Flying Blue has amazing, amazing point structure, so you can be using 30,000, 15,000 points to fly direct from possibly your location anywhere in the country. I have seen direct flights that low, even out in the west coast, going to France and to Europe. You could see, um, I've seen that going to Amsterdam as well, especially if you can get into or live in the Northeast, Boston, New York, great places to fly out of, to Europe. Actually, New York's currently great to fly out of anywhere, so you could do that. You could also fly into, say London, and use Virgin Atlantics Airlines, great, great partner. Really wonderful with kids. Air France was too, honestly. This really helps some special perks just for kiddos and we really liked flying from New York to London using Virgin Points. And again, I'm talking about using like 6,000 points, that's it. And then having to pay again, maybe between $160 to $350 a piece. That's major. Think about it, I just put my groceries, gas, everyday expenses on this card for a bit, and now I can use these and only pay $150 per person. You're spending less than a thousand dollars on flights for your whole family from it. from the United States to Europe and the back- game changer. Definitely something to look into and really take advantage of how strategically you can use those points and miles for cash. If you're like to fly American or United or again, Delta. Um, those are, there's some great programs. I think the number one program right now for rewards is actually Alaska Airlines. So if you live in, a major hub of Alaska, the Seattle, Portland, Oregon area, then really consider Alaska. my kiddo and I flew from Atlanta direct to Seattle on Alaska and had a great time. And actually it cost definitely a lot less than flying with other airlines got a direct flight and we actually got really nice seats, so it's best to sometimes not lock yourself in. That flexibility point we talked about before, not just dates and times of the year, but also your airlines or even hotels.

KeisaB 24:36

The last nugget of information to pass along is making sure to utilize those reward programs with their other partners for other tools for travel. Think eSims: sometimes we always forget, oh, how are we gonna use our phones when we're abroad? Uh, because our cell service usually doesn't work there. vast majority, it doesn't. I think there's only one, no, excuse me, two carriers I know in the United States that you can use abroad and it, and they have lot cheaper plan plans, or it's part of your plan that is T-Mobile as well as Google Fi. I used to have Google Fi. I definitely recommend it. It has always been a really strong service, especially when I used to travel a lot for work, but also we've had family members who use T-Mobile and have enjoyed it. it really just depends on your preference, where you live, um, where your signals strongest. I know a family, Members that are in T-Mobile and have had a hard time when it comes to being in the mountains where they live, or it's more rural area So just know that there are options out there Uh, one thing I wanna put on your radar is visible, which is a more discounted phone plan by Verizon. So Verizon has an extremely strong network within the United States. I used to have it when I was, traveling a lot for work It went everywhere with me, and I never felt that I had drop signals. So when visible came along, I was like, yeah, let's check it out. And I've been happy with it. I like visible. They actually just introduced a discounted day rate, so now you get 12 days of travel throughout the year that you don't have to pay for the extra data. 12 days. Pretty amazing. So that gives you time at least to land set up whatever you might need, I'll have a lot more of these kind of travel hacks and things like that as we go along. But I just want to make sure that you are aware that there might be some other perks if with your rewards programs. for instance, flying Blue, which I just was mentioning, has a partnership with an eSim company and you get a discount while you are traveling within Europe. I used that in our last Europe up trip and it was great. Didn't have any drop calls. It definitely was cost efficient. And it was really easy to set up and also to add more money on, um, excuse me, more data on as, as needed.

KeisaB 27:13

And if you're unsure where your next adventure should be, I highly recommend Lisbon, Portugal, or Bogotá, Colombia. Fantastic places for families like ours, integrating with the local community. There's nature, there's the bustle of the city, there's beaches, and there's definitely a community. That are thriving and loving each other and embracing their queerness, as well as embracing what it is to have families that are blended so beautifully with a different melanin in their skin. I was impressed by both of these places. Think of Maribel's home in Encanto. And how beautiful and how blended all those people were. Yeah, that Columbia. so I just wanted to throw out those two options. If you're trying to search for your next beautiful destination, I have a lot of other ones to share and also some, a deeper dive in the research so look from that episode coming up, um, in the near future. Please do subscribe so that you don't miss a moment. This was another episode of QFW Parenting. I'm your host, Keisa B, and I'm always so appreciative for you all being here. Thank you. Thank you so, so much. I can't do this without you. You will have a new episode each week, so be sure to subscribe to QFW Parenting wherever you receive your podcast. As well as our YouTube channel, which will be launching soon. Remember, keep your head up. We can make anything possible, together.