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Summer -- it will be here before you know it. So it is time to kick your vacation planning into high gear, especially if there are kids in the equation. That's because you have to find a locale that offers not just what you want but what your children will find fun and interesting, too.
On top of that, it has to be affordable. That can be tough when you're buying multiple plane tickets, staying in hotels, dining out and shelling out cash left and right for kids' souvenirs and rounds of minigolf.
Don't despair. It's actually a great time to find a good travel deal.
"Every place has specials now," says Teresa Plowright, the About.com guide for Travel With Kids. "For bargain hunting, it's never been better."
These 10 tips will help you snag those deals and plan an affordable vacation:
1. Use the Web to find the best bargains in air travel and the cheapest rates for car rentals, hotel rooms and vacation packages, whether you travel in the U.S. or internationally. Also check sites that specialize in family travel. Travel With Kids lists promotions each month, as well as deals at major resorts, and has loads of vacation ideas and tips.
2. Visit off-the-beaten-path destinations. You can save up to 70% -- and avoid the crowds -- by picking a vacation spot that isn't a tourist Mecca. Check out these five spots where your dollar will stretch further.
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3. Do Disney on the cheap. OK, so maybe you really want to travel to a major tourist destination, perhaps even one of the most popular family-vacation spots: Disney World. But you'll have to pay a pretty penny to spend your holiday with Mickey Mouse, right? Not necessarily. Walt Disney World has four value resorts, with rooms starting at $82 a night and packages from $1,600 for a family of four that include lodging for six nights and theme-park tickets. You can use the free bus system to get to the theme park. Or for real budget accommodations, consider camping for $41 a night at the resort's campground. For more Disney discounts and deals, check out Mousesavers.com.
- MSN Travel: The lowdown on visiting Disneyland
4. Travel after peak season. This might not be an option if you have school-age children. But families with infants and toddlers can take advantage of discounted rates by traveling in the fall. If you want to head south of the border, off-season comes conveniently during the summer. Caribbean and Mexican resorts and hotels are much cheaper from April or May through the fall, Plowright says. And some have kids-stay-free promotions for children under certain ages during this time.
5. Be flexible. You can save money by letting the available deals on flights and lodging determine where and when you'll go rather than picking a location and time frame, then trying to find affordable flights and lodging there. For example, Airfarewatchdog.com lets you see the best airfares departing from your city, and you can sign up for e-mail notifications for deals from the airport nearest you.
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Farecast.com, which predicts whether fares on 2,000 domestic routes, will go up or down, has a flexible-search option that lets you see a range of prices for flying on different dates and from different airports. Enter your itinerary, and the site will say whether you should buy your ticket now -- or if a better fare is probably on the way.
For international flights, try ITA Software's flexible search (click "Looking for fares," log in as a guest, then do a monthlong search). If you're really flexible, you can find deals for last-minute travel (as late as three hours before departure) at Site59.com.
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