How to plan a family holiday vacation

• You should begin to plan a family vacation as soon as you know the dates and destination.
• Airlines are cutting flights and capacity, so book your flights as early as possible as you will find lower choices and higher prices this fall.

• If you want to plan a for a longer family holiday vacation instead of a brief visit you can take advantage of last-minute travel deals. Consider looking by theme, not location. Instead of the beach in Florida, look for any beach. The key is to be flexible with your travel dates and destinations.
• Warm weather locations are usually the most popular—and most expensive.

• Try traveling mid-week to save on the fare.
• You can often find good deals during the “low period” between Thanksgiving and Christmas, even to some warm weather family vacation resorts and destinations.

• Cruises are great options for planning a family vacation as you can control your costs. You can find almost any cruise to meet your budget.
• Look for larger ships with the most inventories. These have lower prices.
• Look for cruises that launch from a port city within driving distances of your home—this will save you extra travel expenses.

• Don’t bring gifts—shop online and ship ahead.
• Wrapped gifts will be unwrapped at airport security.
• The airlines’ additional baggage fees have made traveling with anything extra very expensive.

CYNTHIA: Hi, I’m Cynthia Guaba for howdini.com. If you want to take your family on a holiday vacation, just how early do you need to plan it? Genevieve Brown has the insider tips. She’s Senior Editor at Travelocity. Welcome, Genevieve.

GENEVIEVE: Thank you.

CYNTHIA: How soon should a family start planning for a holiday vacation? Let’s say Thanksgiving?

GENEVIEVE: You should start planning as soon as you know your plans. And what that means is, as soon as you know the dates you want to travel, the destination you want to visit, go ahead and book your airline tickets. The reason it’s so important to book tickets earlier this year, is because the airlines have announced large capacity cuts that are going to come into play this fall. What that means for travelers is fewer choices and higher prices. So booking early to secure the flight time and day that you want, at a price that is reasonable to you, is key to getting where you want to go this holiday season.

CYNTHIA: And are there ever any last-minute deals that families can take advantage of?

GENEVIEVE: If your family is set on going to Grandma’s house for the holidays, don’t wait until the last minute to book your trip. You just don’t want to get shut out. On the other hand, if your family is thinking about taking a vacation for the holidays, you might be able to wait and see what pops up. That said, you’re going to have to be really flexible. There aren’t that many airline seats available, particularly around the holidays. So if you want to book a vacation, think about shopping by theme, rather than by destination, and being very flexible with your dates. So think about, instead of going to a beach in Florida, maybe a beach anywhere will suffice. Think about instead of traveling on the weekend, which is usually the most convenient time for all of us, traveling during mid-week to save money. But if you have a particular place in mind or particular date you have to travel, I don’t recommend waiting until the last minute.

CYNTHIA: And any ideas for some fun family vacations over the holidays?

GENEVIEVE: Yeah. You know, you want to stay away from the warm weather destinations. They’re the most popular around the holidays, and therefore the most expensive. But, that said, if you could travel between Thanksgiving and Christmas, that’s usually a low period for these warm weather resorts because there just aren’t that many people willing to take the time off of work and go to these destinations. If you have that kind of flexibility, you may be able to take that warm weather vacation this winter after all. Another great option: cruising. Cruises come in all sizes, in all shapes, in all price ranges. So there are great options for families looking to stick to a budget.

CYNTHIA: That was my next question to you: what about cruises? Are there any deals that families can take advantage of over the holidays?

GENEVIEVE: Cruising is a great option for families around the holidays because it allows you to control your costs. You can pick a cruise that comes in any size, shape, or budget; whatever’s going to work for your family. They’re a particularly good deal for families who live in, or within driving distance of, a port city because you can eliminate that airfare altogether. Which means you don’t have to plan quite as far in advance. Look for ships that are going to have the most inventory; those are the larger ships, the Carnivals, the Royal Caribbeans, the Norwegian Cruise Lines. They will have the most inventory and, therefore, probably let you get the lowest prices.

CYNTHIA: And what about baggage fees? Families tend to travel with gifts. Any advice?

GENEVIEVE: You know, I like to shop online and ship gifts ahead to the recipient, in the box, let them know it’s coming, and when you get to the person’s house, take it out, wrap it there. You can’t travel with your gifts wrapped. They will be unwrapped at security, and no one wants to waste all that time that you spent wrapping that beautiful gift. The other option is to ship things through UPS. Especially with these baggage fees that have recently come into play, it’s going to be expensive to bring those gifts on the plane with you. So ship ahead whenever possible.

CYNTHIA: Genevieve, thank you so much. I’m Cynthia Guaba for howdini.com.