Kidding Around

Family holidays are great, but vacaying with your kids in tow may burn a hole in your wallet before you even realise it. Here’s how to manage your vacay budget without sacrificing the fun.

- Jasmine Teo

THE TRAVELLER: By day, Kelvin Ang, 42, is a financial planner. By night, he runs parenting blog Cheekiemonkie (www.cheekiemonkie.net) where he regales readers with tales of parenthood, including family vacays. Kelvin and his 41-year-old HR manager wife, Sharon Khoo, usually take the kids — Ashton, 13, Ayden, 12, and Alethea, seven — on long vacations to destinations such as Fiji, Switzerland and Hokkaido during the June and December holidays, and nearby jaunts in Malaysia over long weekends. “It’s definitely not cheap for a family of five, especially with older kids who no longer qualify for air tickets and even buffets at child prices,” explains Kelvin, who was recently on a panel of guest speakers at an Expedia media event. So what’s a parent gotta do to take the kids on vacation without breaking the bank?

1. Set a daily budget.

“Typically, I budget about $200 per day for [daily expenses]. We don't eat at restaurants and try to find cheaper meal options like street food or convenience stores if we are in Taiwan or Japan. For me, my number one consideration when booking travel is always cost. For a trip to Hokkaido, I bought my air tickets through Expedia because their price was lower than if I had booked the tickets directly through the airline’s website. Recently Expedia also launched the Add-On Advantage function, which allows me to add on a hotel booking [at a discount] up to the day of departure, even after locking down my flight.”

2. Plan to book your flights at least two months ahead.