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I’ve driven all over the Dominican Republic with my family and traveled to several countries with my wife. I’ve realized that group trips with family or friends mean less space, a lot more cost, and more planning.

So we put together a list of our top 3 must-do tips to have cheap family vacations. Of course, there are many more, but these are three essential ones. 

Book your flights as early as possible

This is the first and most important. Getting everyone on the same flight schedule makes life easier. So you should book your flights as early as possible to ensure everyone is on the same plane.

Next, it allows you to save. Airlines open flight schedules as early as one year out, depending on the location.

Depending on your desired destination and when you’re traveling, you’ll need to book out as early as 200 days out. As per CheapAir.com, you’ll need to book around 200 days out for the best deals for European trips. For Central America or the Caribbean, the sweet spot is approximately 78 days.

I recommend downloading apps like Sky Scanner or Hopper to keep an eye on the best deals. These apps usually provide handy buy indicators. 

If you’re booking during the holidays, you need to pay extra attention because these prices go up very quickly if you wait too long. Based on a study from Priceline, below are the best times to book for the following holidays. 

• Spring Break: 6 weeks out
• Memorial Day: 7-8 weeks out
• Fourth of July: 6 weeks out
• August Travel: 4-5 weeks out
• Labor Day: 7 weeks out
• Thanksgiving: 2 weeks out
• Christmas: 4 weeks out

Use Airbnb or VRBO to book a Large Villa 

Booking a villa or two is the best way to save on with a large family or group. Here’s why. 

When booking a large villa, you get a lot more space for the dollars you’re spending. Luxury villas carry a high price tag per night, but this cost drops drastically when you break it down per room or bed.  

A perfect example is this one villa in Casa de Campo. It rents for $695 per night. It has three bedrooms and sleeps a total of eight (7) people. Additional amenities for this unit that a family will love include a private pool, a bathroom in each bedroom, multiple living spaces, great wifi, and, best of all, a maid to help keep the villa tidy all day long.

When you break down the cost per person per day, you’re looking at $100 or $200 per night per couple.

If you want to provide a luxury experience for your family, let’s go bigger. Here we have a luxury villa at $2,999 per night in December. And it sleeps 16 people and has eight bedrooms. But the extra amenities are fantastic. You have a pool, jacuzzi, entertainment room, and tons of space to relax and enjoy life under the sun. And again, these villas this size usually come with at least one (1) maid to ensure the living areas are fresh and clean every day. 

Now you’re providing your family with an ultimate luxury experience at a fraction of the cost. This villa has everything you need for 16 adults and kids to sleep and enjoy life like the rich and famous. 

Request a Chef for the Villa

Now, this is a valuable tactic for booking cheap family vacations! When a villa includes a chef, all you have to do is provide a grocery list and funds for the grocery shopping, and they will make up to 3 meals a day for everyone. 

If the villa does not include daily chef services, you can usually ask the host or owner to provide a chef for you and your guest. This cost will usually vary from $75 to $125 per day for up to 3 meals per day. 

You might say an all-inclusive keeps the cost of food for everyone down. Yes, it does, but this strategy is similar in cost. The experience is different, but to some, better. 

Let’s look at the total costs. If you spend $1000 on groceries, that should last you five days. Your cost for a chef will be a maximum cost of $125 per day for a total of $625. The grand total is $1,625 or just $325 per day. 

If the chef is tasked with only making two meals per day per person, you will have two meals per day made by a private chef for the low cost of $20 per day per person. A very good way to make sure we have cheap family vacations. 

I hope these tips help. I know its not many but these are big money savers. When I have a few more, I’ll be sure to share.