You searched for hours finding the best deal on hotel and airline tickets and you finally booked that vacation. But don’t forget what you are going to spend once you get to your destination. An often overlooked trip expense that can add up quickly is what you eat (and drink) when you get there. Hip Travel Mama has partnered with Restaurant.com, the nation’s largest dining deals site, to share tips to help you manage the elusive dining out budget for spring break travel. According to Restaurant.com, more than half (55%) of travelers dine out at least two meals per day on vacation. I know our family of four can average $300 a day if we are not careful.
So let’s look at this simple calculation:
$300/day (assuming 3 full meals a day for 4 + snacks+ fruity drinks) * 7 days on vacation = $2,100
Now are you listening?
Every Well Traveled Family needs Hip Tips for saving money on that elusive food budget on vacation so here are two of my favorite ways to save on dining out on vacation:
Book Hotels with Resort Credits and Home Rentals with Kitchens – Hotels that offer daily resort credits, free breakfast and other “extras” allow families to enjoy great food on property, while saving money. An easy way to save money is to rent a condo or rental property with a kitchen to eat and home and splurge on just a few meals dining out on vacation.
Eat Like a Local – Get the scoop on where the locals eat. Eating local offers the opportunity to experience the local food flavors while traveling and also helps to support small businesses and save money at the same time. Eating at a local hangout is often much less expensive than restaurants that cater to tourists.
Want more tips for saving money on your spring break or summer travel budget? Contact Hip Travel Mama, or head on over to Restaurant.com’s Dish Blog to learn how to spend less on food when you travel.
WE WANT TO KNOW: How much do you typically spend daily on food on vacation? What are your tips for saving money? Let us know in the comments or share how you save money on food while traveling on our post on Facebook!
Disclosure: Hip Travel Mama was compensated by Restaurant.com as part of the company’s spring break travel campaign. As always, the opinions expressed here are my own.