When planning a vacation, cost obviously plays a huge role. And it can be helpful to know what the total cost of a trip will be. Of course, there might be some surprises along the way. Perhaps you’ll discover an amazing doughnut shop next to your hotel. Or you may run into unexpected car troubles. But we all would love to know the general amount a vacation will actually cost and if it will fall within your budget.
The biggest mistake we all tend to make is that we only look at the big costs we book ahead of time. We were guilty of this too when we first started traveling! We only focused on costs like airfare, hotels and/or rental cars. But depending on your trip, it’s easy to overlook expenses like food, gas, parking and tolls. We explain more below…
FLYING
If you’re flying, will you be parking at the airport or at another lot? Or will you be paying for a ride? Be sure to factor these into your budget! Parking for an extended time can really add up. If you’re ridesharing, don’t forget that typically an airport surcharge is adding to your fare. Also, if you’re planning on eating at the airport, be ready to anticipate some higher prices. But more on dining later…
DRIVING
If you’re driving on your vacation, don’t forget to factor in gas and tolls! On one of our first big road trips, we totally forgot about tolls. And we found out the hard way that some states charge a lot! We ended up paying about $80 in tolls on that trip, and that was with our I-PASS/E-ZPass rates. Be sure to look at the toll situations for the states you will be driving through and if there are any transponder discounts. We recommend using Tollsmart to help estimate your tolls and Cost 2 Drive or the AAA Gas Cost Calculator to estimate gas costs. When in doubt, just budget a little higher than your estimates. Better to be pleasantly surprised at some savings rather than paying more than you anticipated.
Also, if you’re staying at a hotel, don’t forget to factor in potential parking costs. While some hotels have self-park options, others may only have an expensive valet option. Be sure to check if your hotel has parking fees, but also compare against other hotels. Maybe you’ve narrowed it down to 2 hotel choices but one has parking fees. Even with parking fees, would that hotel be cheaper? Or does one hotel have resort fees? Free breakfast? Factor in all the different fees and amenities, and you may find that the hotel with parking fees could end up being the cheaper option. Usually not, but sometimes. Don’t miss out on staying at a nicer hotel because you didn’t consider all the costs and didn’t realize it is either around the same price or cheaper.
TRANSPORTATION
If you’re not driving or renting a car, don’t forget to factor in any transportation costs at your destination, such as public transport or ridesharing. Taking an Uber or Lyft, while convenient, can really add up. Sometimes, a rental car may be cheaper overall, even with gas or parking costs. Of course, if the convenience of not having to drive is important for a particular trip, then just be sure you’re ok with those expenses. Again, it’s all about paying for what you value and cutting costs on things that aren’t as important to you.
If you’re planning on ridesharing during your vacation, use a fare estimator to get a general idea of costs. Be strategic with your hotel location too. Say you’re spending a long weekend in a major city and planning to use Lyft to get around. You may be able to get a cheaper hotel further away from the attractions you want to visit, but your ridesharing fares will increase. Do some rough calculations, and you may find that overall, it could be cheaper to stay in a more expensive hotel that is closer to the places you want to visit.
ATTRACTIONS
When going to somewhere like Disney World, it’s easy to remember to include admission tickets in our total vacation cost. But on other trips, you may stop at a museum, go up an observation tower or take a boat tour. Be sure to look up ticket prices for the attractions you plan to visit. Many times, you can get a discount by buying online in advance! In other cases, a season or annual pass may be more cost-effective.
If you’re planning on visiting several U.S. National Parks in a 12 month period, consider getting an America the Beautiful annual pass. This will get your family into over 2,000 federal recreation sites across the country. Some sites don’t have an entrance fee, but many of the popular destinations do, and those fees add up quick! Check the entrance fees on each website of the national parks you plan to visit, and see if an annual pass will help you save some money. Also, if you have a 4th grader in your family, you can get an annual pass for free! Consider asking your 4th grader which national park they want to visit the most and go on a birthday trip to remember.
DINING
Every family has their own style of dining. We tend to enjoy unique local eats (or what some may call “hole-in-the-walls”), brewpubs and our favorite chain restaurants. We know that at the places we typically dine at, we spend less than $10 per person on the low end and around $20 per person on the high end. This helps us budget food while on vacation.
We are also fans of hotels that offer free breakfast. Some loyalty programs give you free breakfast based on your status, like Gold and Diamond for Hilton Honors. That way, we don’t have to worry about budgeting in breakfast meals. You know what type of restaurants you tend to eat at, so use that as a general guideline to estimate your dining costs. And again, we always lean towards the higher end to be safe. If you also know which restaurants you may want to eat at, check out the menu for an idea of pricing.
SOUVENIRS
There’s nothing wrong with getting souvenirs! We’re just not huge souvenir people. At most, we usually try to get a shot glass or bottle opener to add to our collection. If it’s a big trip, we may get some small gifts to share with family, friends and colleagues. But typically, we do not really budget for souvenirs. However, if you are someone who loves getting a t-shirt or a coffee mug from places you visit, or if you like treating your kids to an item in a museum gift shop, be sure to factor that into your budget.
ONE LAST TIP
Looking for some extra room in your trip budget? The number one way we’ve spent less than originally expected is to rebook refundable hotel rates if a cheaper price becomes available. Since we’re Hilton Honors loyalists, we almost always book the Honors Semi-Flex option. While this may not always be the cheapest rate available at the time, it lets you cancel up to a few days before the stay.
The cheapest rates tend not to be refundable, so you are generally stuck with that price. Hotel rates can fluctuate several times between your booking and your stay. So take a few minutes a couple times a week to see if any hotels you’ve booked have dropped in price for your dates. We’ve saved hundreds of dollars using this method. We’ve also done this for Southwest flights since they don’t have change fees and any overage we originally paid is transferred into credit for future flights.
Hopefully that helps you remember some forgotten costs when budgeting a trip and give you a more accurate picture of how much you’re likely to spend when traveling. What tools do you like to use when planning a vacation? Let us know in the comments below, and click here for more travel tips.