Family travel gets very expensive very quickly, but there are ways you can take a family trip on a budget. To travel on a budget with a family, choose a budget-friendly location, actually make a budget to plan out expenses, and compare prices for lodging and transportation to get the best deal. You should also look for ways to cut down on costs, such as traveling during the off season, using coupons, and cooking your own meals.
A family trip can be very expensive, with the price of a week-long vacation for a family of four costing $8,000 to $9,000. However, the exact price you pay can vary based on factors such as your destination, how you will get there, the accommodations you choose, and more. The size of your travel budget will also play a role. Read on to see how to plan family travel on a budget.
10 Budget Family Travel Tips for 2026
1. Make a Budget for Your Trip
A budget allows you to lay out exactly how you will use the money you have set aside for a family vacation to pay for all the expenses on the trip. In the budget, you will list out your trip-related expenses, such as transportation, lodging, food, and activities, and decide how much money to allocate to each expense. As you plan your vacation, use the budget as a guideline to make sure you are not spending more than what you allocated for each expense.
2. Choose a Budget-Friendly Location
Some places are cheaper to visit than others. The cost of flights, hotels, restaurants, and activities for some locations could price them out of your budget. If you’re looking for some relatively inexpensive places to travel within the U.S., Orlando, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. top WalletHub’s list of the best summer travel destinations.
3. Shop Around to Get the Best Deal
By comparing prices for different companies, you can find the cheapest rates for things like flights and hotels. You can go to each individual company’s website to see their rates or use one of the many websites that let you compare rates for hotels, flights, and rental cars in one place. You also want to compare things like whether it is more cost-effective to drive to your location instead of flying or whether getting an apartment rental instead of multiple hotel rooms is cheaper.
4. Avoid the Busy Travel Season
If you travel during peak travel season, expect to pay more for flights and hotel rooms due to high demand. Different travel destinations may have their peak travel season at different times in the year, so you should do some research on the location you choose to visit. For example, peak travel times in the United States are during the summer and winter months, while Japan has its peak travel season during the spring and fall months.
5. Use Coupons
Websites such as Groupon, RetailMeNot, and Honey offer coupons and promo codes for things like flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities. You can use some, like Groupon and RetailMeNot, without setting up an account. With Honey, on the other hand, you will have to download the browser extension to get access to the coupons and promo codes.
6. Cook Your Own Meals
It can cost $96 per day, per person to dine out in the United States, according to BudgetYourTrip.com. You can reduce how much you spend on food if you decide to cook one or two of your meals a day. Making your own meals is easier if you stay at a vacation rental with a kitchen. If you are staying at a hotel, you can look for one that offers free breakfast.
7. Use a Travel Rewards Credit Card
The best travel rewards credit cards can get you free flights and hotel stays. Travel rewards credit cards offer cash back, points, or miles that you can redeem for many different types of travel purchases, reducing what you have to pay out-of-pocket for your family vacation.
If there is a particular airline or hotel you like to use, you may want to consider getting a co-branded travel credit card that is affiliated with that company. If not, there are plenty of general-purpose credit cards with great travel rewards.
8. Pick a Cheap Day of the Week to Fly
The average price of a domestic flight in the U.S. is $384, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. However, the cost of a plane ticket can be lower if you choose to fly on a less busy travel day. According to the travel-booking site Hopper, if you choose to fly mid-week, you can save $90 on a domestic flight and $140 on an international flight. Experian says the cheapest days to fly are Tuesday and Wednesday.
9. Look for Low-Cost Activities
Tickets for activities like concerts, sightseeing tours, and amusement parks can get expensive, especially if you are purchasing them for multiple people. To make the money you have allocated to the entertainment category of your family vacation budget stretch further, you can look for free or low-cost activities, such as hiking at a state park, doing your own self-guided tour of your travel destination, or going to a community festival. You can also see if the hotel you are staying at has things like a game room or a pool that can help keep your family entertained.
10. Download a Budget App
A budget app, like the WalletHub app, can help you keep track of your spending during your trip. For example, WalletHub lets you sync all your financial accounts, so you can see your transactions in one place. You can also share your account with up to five other people, so everyone going on the trip can be aware of the budget. In addition, WalletHub lets you set alerts to notify you if you are approaching your spending limit for a category.
How Much to Budget for a Family Vacation
You should budget 5% to 10% of your household income for a family vacation, according to most financial experts. For instance, if your household has a combined income of $80,000, you could budget around $4,000 to $8,000 for a family vacation.
The exact amount that you should spend depends on factors such as where you’re vacationing and how many people are going. For example, the vacation budget for a family of two will probably be much smaller than the budget for a family of four. The table below will give you more insight into how much to budget based on average vacation costs by family size.
Average Vacation Cost by Family Size
| Family Size | Cost Per Day | Cost Per Week |
| Family of 2 | $648 | $4,536 |
| Family of 3 | $972 | $6,804 |
| Family of 4 | $1,296 | $9,072 |
*Source: BudgetYourTrip.com
Learn more about how much to budget for vacation.
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