Top Family Travel Secrets Revealed by Travel Writers
Did you realize that when you research a family vacation – looking into the right baby travel products to bring, best family travel deals, etc. – you are looking into many of the same things that travel writers look into?
The funny thing is that when you go on your next family vacation you are dealing with the same frustrations and joys as travel writers do: figuring out the most family-friendly hotels, finding the best travel deals, paying baggage fees.
Because travel writers are just like any other traveler, they put together a list of top travel secrets they’ve discovered that they want to share with fellow travelers!
IndependentTraveler.com asked 35 writers and bloggers to share their wisdom from life on the road (in the air, on a boat…) and these are the top pieces of family travel advice they came up with:
- “Always pack zip-lock bags. They are ideal for packing things tighter, separating wet from dry and managing small items like batteries.” — JoAnna Haugen, Kaleidoscopic Wandering
- “Trying to get into a sold-out hotel? Find out when cancellation penalties set in for the date you want to arrive, then call the property on the morning of that day. You can scoop up rooms made available by people who’ve just canceled.” — Wendy Perrin, Perrin Post
- “Question charges like resort fees or valet parking at hotels. Often they will be removed from your bill if you question them at check-out.” — Kathy A. McDonald, Eastside Eye
- “You’ll always get more in-depth information in the guidebook with the narrowest scope. If you’re going to Rome, the Rome book will be better than the Italy book, and that will be better than the Europe book. Consider bringing only one or two travel guides and photocopying pages out of the rest, which you can toss when you move on to the next destination or head home.” — Erica Silverstein, Cruise Critic
- “Saving money on a rental car has to be the most mundane and least thrilling secret I could offer, but there’s nothing dull about saving a dozen to a few hundred dollars every time you travel.” — Ed Hewitt, Traveler’s Ed
- “Divide each person’s belongings amongst all luggages – that way no one is SOL if one bag is lost.” — Corinne McDermott, Have Baby Will Travel
- “Do away with bringing loads of money on European trips and simply pack your debit card. ATM machines are all over the place in major cities and work the same way as they do here in America.” — Andrew Hickey, The Brooklyn Nomad
- “Low-cost airlines aren’t always the cheapest. The ticket price may appear to be a bargain, but take a minute to tally the additional expenses. These include items such as booking fees, check-in baggage fees, advance seat reservation fees, and food and drinks on board.” — Keith Jenkins, Velvet Escape
