5 Pro Tips For Saving Money While Traveling With Your Kids In Canada
From glaciers to mountains, secluded forests, and lakes – it’s no wonder why Canada is the abode of natural wonders whose beauty is almost unparalleled on this planet.
Not just for the great outdoors, Canada is considered the holy grail of endless work opportunities and other social benefits that people see flocking from different corners of the world.
But traveling with kids can be a nerve-wrecking experience as it could be expensive. You have to pay for the additional seat, which can cost 50% more than air tickets.
But this is everyone’s struggle, who is a frequent flyer. But don’t worry we have got you covered. Here we’ve outlined six sure-shot ways to help you save more for your next flight to Canada.
1. Try to travel off-season to get great deals
Traveling off-season can help you score great deals. You will get cheaper flight tickets and hotel, and be able to see a destination with less crowd in the year. Instead of planning your vacation on holiday weekends or summer vacations when everyone is in the queue, try to plan your trip during mid-to-late October and November. Prices dip very fast during the off-season in many popular vacation spots.
2. You can also use a companion voucher
One secret that most of you don’t know about is the companion voucher that most credit card bank institutions provide.
In a companion voucher the cardholder only has to pay the full fare and the rest of the charges (such as base fare and any applicable charges) will be covered by the companion voucher.
So, if you’re a family of four members, then you or your wife can apply for credit cards with a companion voucher scheme. A companion voucher will allow you to save more than $1,000 while traveling.
3. Plan your detailed travel budget
Traveling with kids internationally can be expensive, hence it’s essential to map your travel budget and stick to it. You create an excel sheet of all the expenses in detail, such as flights, rental car, meals, snacks, accommodations, and medical emergencies (just in case).
Know about the luggage rules
Checking baggage while boarding is increasingly expensive, and it can cost you more than $200 if you’re traveling with kids. I mean what you could do if your little one wants to carry a barbie playhouse during the trip! To get around this, remove unnecessary items such as an air dryer (available in every hotel room) which can occupy most of the space in your backpack.
4. Always pay with a cash or debit card
Keeping cash can be clunky, but it will save you from overseas or network-based charges, such as foreign currency transaction fees, mark-up fees, or cash advance fees. Yes, it’s easy to get carried away in credit shopping when traveling with family, but beware, as you have to pay heavy interest when the bill arrives. Still, if you want to use a credit card, only select a card that comes with heavy rewards for every foreign transaction so that it can nullify the transaction fee when redeeming those rewards.
5. Look out for airlines with all-inclusive deals for kids
In case you don’t know about it, children below two years old can fly for free when they sit on a parent’s lap. But taxes or surcharges will be applicable. Airlines such as Scandinavian Airlines, British Airways, and Air Tahiti offered special deals for kids, when accompanied by parents.