5 top tricks to save on your Florida holiday

Regular readers will now that I’m all about saving money. I try to save money on everything we do, whether it’s food shopping, days out, or big expenses such as a family holiday. That’s why I’m so thrilled to be able to share this post! Written by Mel from Mel’s Money Saving and Bargains, here are some FANTASTIC ways you can save on your Florida holiday!

Many families reach the point where they start looking at holidays to Florida, and dream about the day when they can afford to take their children for the holiday of a lifetime. While it is an expensive trip and it can seem like you will never be able to afford it, you may be able to cut some corners and make it a lot cheaper than you would think. I have now been to Florida twice and whilst the first time was when we did all the major theme parks and went all out, the second time I was determined that we would save and still make lots of amazing memories. Florida is one of those places that you can have a good time wherever you go, and it doesn’t necessarily have to revolve around Disney. There are so many other things to do such as visit the amazing beaches, airboat rides, old town Kissimmee and visit the national parks. They are nowhere near as expensive as visiting all the theme parks at once and give you some extra time to relax. Booking a holiday to Florida sometimes doesn’t work out any more expensive than your annual holiday to Spain or Greece.

Here I give you 5 top tricks to save on your Florida holiday.

1.Look for a good deal

I know this sounds simple enough and something that we always do, but don’t think that if you price up all the flights and accommodation separate that you will be getting the best deal. Sometimes travel agents can beat the price and throw in extra’s such as tickets or little perks too. Finding a company online and booking it as a package works well too, especially if they have an online discount code. Lots of companies do this now, especially if you are flying long haul, and it can be hundreds of pounds off your holiday.

2.Use cashback sites and discount codes

As I mentioned many sites do discount codes for booking. When we went to Florida, I found that the prices had crashed in in April for a holiday at the end of May. They were half the price and the company were also offering a £150 discount for booking long haul, even on half price holidays. I also used a cashback site to book through and as it turned out I was able to apply the discount and qualify for nearly £40 Cash back on the holiday. Using cashback is a big bonus and although they don’t pay out for a couple of months, you can expect to get that money at some point or spend it to cover your airport parking. Using this combination gives us a huge chunk on just booking the holiday and has by now saved you thousands if you manage to get a half price holiday too.

3.Buy holiday clothing in the sales

If you have booked a while before or are lucky enough to be able to catch the big summer sales, then try and get all your holiday clothing and it will save you a small fortune. We all want to have lovely new holiday clothing and buying it all just before we go away all adds up and makes you feel like it is just one huge expense. I bought our entire kids wardrobes for holiday, barring shoes, the year before in the sales and got some beautiful items at half the price, just buy them in a bigger size.

4.Keep an eye on the exchange rates

Keep an informed eye on the exchange rates and it can make quite a difference in the amount of spending money you get to take along. If you are planning to take one thousand pounds for example and the exchange rate is 1.26 then you will get £1260 spending money. If the exchange rate goes up to 1.31 then you will get £1310 spending money, a difference of £50, which can be another treat or meal for when you are there. This is just extra money, just for keeping an eye on the currency exchange and buying when it’s a good price.

5.Hire a car

I know that the idea of driving in Florida sounds daunting, but it is actually really easy as the roads are so straightforward. When hiring a car, you can book separately to your travel company and find some good deals that come with a full tank of petrol too. You can pick them up straight from the airport, so you don’t pay for a transfer and can fully explore what Florida has to offer. Save extra money by booking through a cashback site, as we managed to get nearly £20 cashback on ours. We also download google maps for Orlando before we go, so that we don’t need a sat nav or have to use any data while we are out and about. This can be a life saver on journeys and guiding us to local attractions and restaurants.

Hopefully this has been a big help towards affording that dream holiday to Florida, I know that using these methods has saved me thousands personally, and it could save you just as much too.

For more tips on saving money on your family holiday, have a read of this really useful post from The Mamma Fairy.