Budget Tips for City Vacations; A Guest Post by Gone with the Family

Lisa, from Gone with the Family, is a wife and mother of two daughters, from Canada who has a keen eye for travel. I love reading about their adventures from around the world. They recently returned from a trip to Paris, France, and I am always really impressed with Lisa’s knowledge about her subjects. So join me in this wonderful guest post from Gone with the Family.

A family vacation in a large city can be exciting and fun-filled. Some of our family’s favourite vacations have been in New York, Chicago, London, Rome, Copenhagen and Paris. However, the cost of accommodations, food and attractions in a city can very quickly add up, especially for families. Here are a few suggestions for keeping expenses down while still having a great time.

GwtF Apartment Rental

1. Renting an apartment can be a great option for families who are planning a big city vacation. This is almost always less expensive than a hotel, particularly for larger families who may require more than one hotel room. Not only will there be much more space for the family than there is in a standard hotel room, but having a kitchen will facilitate the preparation of some meals at the apartment and will lower food costs accordingly. Apartment living can also give your family a taste of what it’s like to actually live in a city neighbourhood that tourists don’t often visit and, if you do choose to eat out, local neighbourhood restaurants can be far less expensive than the pricy ones located in tourist areas. If you prefer to stay somewhere that has some level of service then another alternative is staying at a hotel that has suites/apartments available or staying at a small family-run hotel. Our family has stayed in apartment/hotels in London, New York, Rome and Paris and found each of them ideal as a home-base for exploring the city.

2. When planning an itinerary, check museum web sites to find out if there are free admission days or discounted tickets available. For example, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris is free to all visitors the first Sunday of each month, many museums in London such as the British Museum have free admission (although there may be a charge for some exhibits), and some museums like the American Museum of Natural History in New York City have suggested general admissions – visitors may pay less if they choose. Visitors staying in a city for several days and planning to visit multiple museums should check into programs that offer a pass to several attractions as the savings over paying individual admissions could be worth the cost of the pass. There are also museum networks which offer reciprocal benefits such that a membership at one museum may entitle you to free admission at other museums. If you have a membership at a local museum then be sure to verify prior to your travels whether it entitles you to free admission at any museums in the city that you will be visiting. An added bonus to free admission is that you can leave when the kids start getting bored and not worry about whether or not you are getting your money’s worth.

3. Most cities have gardens and parks that are both free and great places to entertain kids and let them blow off steam by running around a bit. Playing in local parks also increases the likelihood of meeting and interacting with local residents and learning more about the city as a result. Central Park in New York City is a great example of an urban oasis as is Luxembourg Gardens or Tuileries Gardens in Paris and Regent Park or Hyde Park in London.

4. Cab rides are a costly means of transportation and should be avoided as much as possible – either walk or use public transportation instead. My preferred means of getting around most cities is on foot. I find that I can orient myself much better and get a better sense of the city when I am on foot as I can actually see where I’m going and familiarize myself with landmarks. Public transportation is often the most efficient way of getting around in a city where gridlock is the norm so visitors that use it may end up saving both time and money. If you are traveling with kids who aren’t used to subways or underground trains then taking one is fun for the experience itself. When we visited London, my kids had so much fun riding the London Tube that it was one of the highlights of the trip for them.

5. Another cost-saving option to consider is one of the free guided tours offered by local residents in a growing list of cities. This concept originated in New York City in 1992 with the Big Apple Greeters program where enthusiastic volunteer guides decided to share New York with visitors by conducting free tours of the city’s ethnically and culturally diverse neighbourhoods. As this program’s success grew, similar programs began to pop up elsewhere and the Global Greeter Network was formed as a voluntary association of independent welcoming programs. Over the last few years these ambassador programs have been developed in a number of cities around the world and all consist of enthusiastic residents who provide free guided tours of the city they love.

These are just a few suggestions to make a city vacation with family a bit easier on the pocketbook. I’d love to hear any tips that other families have for reducing costs when visiting large cities with children.

Lisa Goodmurphy is a lawyer living near Toronto, Canada who left the corporate world to stay home with her two daughters, Katie and Emma (now aged 15 and 8). Badly bitten by the travel bug years ago, Lisa considers herself fortunate that her husband and kids are equally enthusiastic about exploring the world. You can read about their family’s travel adventures on her blog at www.gonewiththefamily.com or follow along on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoneWithTheFamily1 and on Twitter as @GoneWithFamily.

Planning for Your Points; A Guest Post by Battered Luggage

I am really excited to have some fantastic fellow bloggers post over the next couple of weeks. First up is Brian from Battered Luggage. I am particularly drawn to Brian’s site because his photography is absolutely fantastic, and I hope you agree!

HDR Photography
Abstract Arch by W. Brian Duncan

“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”
Seneca

By nature, I am not a planner.

I love traveling and when I travel, I photograph the world the way I see it. I use a vivid post-processing technique called HDR photography. It renders the world in an almost hyper-real way. People either love it, or they hate it (sort of like sauerkraut). When I visit a new place, I do quite a bit of research trying to find the best spots to take pictures. When planning to use points for travel, I fall strongly in the “by the seat of my pants” camp.

When Justin emailed me about doing a guest post, I knew immediately what I wanted to write about. I am relatively new to the miles and points game. Over the last year I have amassed over one million miles and points in various programs that seemed to be applicable to the way I travel. No plan, just accumulation.

While this is good, it is completely unfocused. I find myself with decent quantity of points, unsure of what to do with them. There are just so many places I want to go, but I don’t know what the best use of the points is or what most interests me. I am also finding it difficult to let these points go.

HDR Photography
Twilight in the Woods by W. Brian Duncan

This is where planning comes in.

My wife and I want to take a trip to New York City in the fall and I decided it would be a good time to use miles and points. We both have more than enough points to fly. It was the hotel stay that appeared to be the problem. Once I had the goal firmly in mind a number of options presented themselves. The recent Club Carlson promo fit fantastically! We have a few upcoming trips we can easily move to match the promo and it will give us enough reward nights for NYC!

What’s interesting is I don’t find myself wanting to hang on to these points. Unlike my other points, these have a purpose. They aren’t part of the stockpile. They don’t provide me comfort. They have already been spent in my mind. It’s almost as if the plan makes things easier, it helps make the trip happen.

HDR Photo
The Windy Skyline from Millennium Park by W. Brian Duncan

Creating a SMART Plan (The How-To)

Write your goals down on paper. When we commit plans to written form, they gain power. They become real rather than abstract in our minds. Though setting goals goes against my nature, when I do set them, I use S.M.A.R.T goals.

  • S = Specific
  • M = Measurable
  • A = Attainable
  • R = Realistic
  • T = Timely

1) Specific – This is the who, what when where and why of your trip. Where do you want to go? When would you like to travel? Who will be going? Where would you like to stay? In what class would you like to travel? Etc. This is the foundation of your plan.

2) Measurable – This is where you ask the, “How Much?” or “How Many?” sort of questions. How much would this trip cost if you paid for it outright? How much inconvenience am I willing to take to accumulate points? How long will it take me to build up enough points for my goals? Etc. These questions will help establish a concrete criteria for the value of any points you might purchase or get in bonuses.

3) Attainable – Given enough time you can probably attain most things. Working with miles and points will require some flexibility, but once you have defined what it is exactly you are trying to accomplish, you can work on making these goals happen.

4) Realistic – Creating realistic goals is all about goal generation within the constraints of what you are actually willing to do. Be real here. If you and/or your family isn’t willing to hotel hop, for instance, planning this to generate points will only cause problems.

5) Timely –Don’t say I want to go to Italy sometime. Be Specific! Keep these timeframes realistic, but realize our nature works against us here. As Chris Guillebeau says, We tend to overestimate what we can complete in a single day, and un­derestimate what we can complete over longer periods of time.”

Having a solid plan for your points not only helps you achieve your goals, it can help find new goals. It forces you to consider your travel goals in a new light…or in the words of the immortal Yogi Berra:

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

W Brian Duncan is an HDR Photographer and blogger at BatteredLuggage.com. You can find him on most social networks as @IPBrian. Direct links to everything are available on his blog.

Audience Rewards Trivia Update for Free Best Buy Reward Zone Points (6-13-12)

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Update 6/15/12: It is amazing how much Audience Rewards messes up such a simple process. The first and last question below were issued 6/13/12, with no option to select an answer for the first one. On 6/15/12, the rest of the questions were added and the first question is STILL not corrected. I enjoy free points/miles, but there is no QA/QC, and it has all of a sudden lost all consistency that it held all this year.

Good morning fellow Audience Rewards fans! Today we have another round of the Best Buy Audience Rewards questions to earn you free points.

Now, without further ado, we proudly present the trivia questions.

  • Some of the parables in Godspell are from the Gospel of Matthew, and a few are from which other gospel? Luke
  • Answer not yet visible.

  • The Phantom of the Opera was based on a book originally published in what language? French
  • Which of the following is NOT the name of one of Sophie’s possible fathers in Mamma Mia!? Frank
  • True or False? Rent previewed exactly 100 years after Puccini’s La Boheme premiered. True
  • In what year was Porgy and Bess first performed? 1935
  • True or False? Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys’ director) is still the artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse. False

For all things Audience Rewards, including all the latest free points and miles from the Points Play trivia questions, see our Audience Rewards page.

Save Money, Travel More!

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