How to Save $4500 on Your Next Vacation

Sally Black, founder of Vacationkids.com, knows a thing or two about booking family vacations: she's been making holidays happen for families for thirteen years. Her advice about saving thousands of dollars on your next getaway is simple: Book Ahead. Read her story about two families who wanted to vacation together; one went ahead and booked early, one waited with the false hope that prices might drop closer to departure date...

Unfortunately this was never gonna happen during a peak travel period like spring break, and when the laggard family finally wanted to book the price had gone up, yes, 4500 bucks. Goodbye, vacation.

Sally has another tip: families who find it hard to commit can buy "price protection insurance", so that if you do book far in advance and the price does drop, the insurance will refund the difference. (Cost is about $50 per person, it's up to the traveler to monitor prices, and there's some more fine print.)

Read Sally's blog about How to Save $4500 on Your Next Vacation. Her core advice: plan for your vacation like you plan for a baby, start the project nine months ahead!

Photo © Teresa Plowright.