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Have you been wondering when is the best time to book a family vacation these days? Well, I can tell you that the short answer is as soon as possible. Today I plan to share some travel trends, some interesting things that I have personally witnessed, and how I would recommend you approach your 2023 family travel goals!
Planning family travel is quite different than booking trips for a solo traveler or even a couples trip. For the latter, it’s much easier to find airfare deals for 1-2 people and almost every type of hotel room can accommodate 2, while families have to seek out double queen rooms or suites when traveling. So, while I actually am finding some great deals out there for me to travel the world by myself, which would be a little tricky with two kids at home, this blog post is going to focus entirely on family travel using my family of 4 as a data point.
Travel Trends Post Pandemic
As I am writing this post in November of 2022, I think it’s necessary to point out that travel is not only “back to normal” but has returned with a vengeance. Multiple factors are coming into play here! And it seems that a possible looming recession is NOT one of them with people spending more than ever on travel!
Why is this?
With opportunities to travel being either non-existent or very difficult in both 2020 and 2021, it has left people with a desire to travel more than ever before. As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder! In addition to this impulse to travel, many actually find themselves with more money in their travel budget left over from canceled trips and the inability to travel, leading to record crowds being recorded in numerous popular destinations this Fall and no end in sight. Everyone is itching to book flights!
What Was Family Travel like in 2022?
But now, let’s talk about this year. 2022 has been a wild ride, to say the least! During the first half of the year, many American families were still hesitant to travel (especially internationally) mostly due to travel restrictions and the hassle that came with navigating them. I can tell you that nothing was more stressful than scheduling appointments at a random CVS in Tallahassee for a nasal swab on the way to Cape Canaveral for our Bahamas cruise, only to find out the next day that they lost my sample. Thank goodness a kind pharmacist in St. Augustine came to my aid and got us squared away less than 24 hours before our cruise was set to depart.
I know that my experience wasn’t anything unique and fear of situations like mine meant that for much of 2022, there was still an opportunity to find sweet spots and discounts for family travel. It was pretty easy to book a last-minute trip and I know that my wheels were constantly churning as I planned (mostly fictitious) trip after trip for my family. We were limited by the school and sports schedules and it made me wish (for just a minute) that we homeschooled the kids still!
But the travel industry has changed dramatically in the last couple of months and some clear trends are surfacing, showing us what to expect when planning our family vacations in 2023. I have personally encountered numerous obstacles and higher than-ever prices when trying to plan trips over school holidays, so much so that we are heading to Europe next week because, quite frankly, it was cheaper than anywhere else I was looking (mostly the Caribbean and Mexico). And we have even opted out of the tropical vacation we hoped to take at the end of the year, and instead are taking advantage of some great deals to see family in the midwest and save money!
So, for the remainder of the year, we are going to both Greece and St. Louis / Dallas, and if you would have asked me a few months ago what our travel plans were for Thanksgiving and Christmas, neither would have been on my radar. Yet, here we are planning for both!
What Will Family Travel like in 2023?
With only 6 weeks left of 2022, I am going to focus on family travel in 2023 and I am certain that the trends have encountered recently when trying to book travel for my family will be even more evident next year! So, you are going to need to plan ahead and/or be flexible.
Here are some predictions that I have for family travel in 2023:
- School holidays and summer vacation will book up VERY early in advance in any and all popular resort-like destinations.
- We will see record prices on both airfare and accommodations in the Caribbean and Mexico
- Flights to Europe may be more affordable than domestic flights.
- The deals will exist in smaller markets within the USA.
- Shoulder seasons will remain almost as busy as peak travel seasons.
- More families will be taking big bucket list trips than ever before.
- There will be an increase in Travel Advisor / Travel Agent usage as people both navigate planning these big trips and run into high demand in popular markets.
And while I just pulled those off the top of my head, research shows that I am on the right track. In a recent survey conducted by the Family Travel Association (in which I am part of the media committee) and the NYU School of Professional Studies, a few things really stood out to me!
The study shows that travel demand is very strong with 85% of parents saying they are very likely to travel with their children in the next 12 months. The study also indicated that the willingness to use a travel advisor for family travel is 52%, a significant increase over reported behavior from 2021 when 17% used a travel agent. I also found it interesting that the parent surveyed indicated that their priorities for family travel include: to have children discover new places and new experiences, to bond and grow closer as a family, and to relax and unwind. In addition to the desire to travel with a family, the survey clearly shows that people roughly 50% of people also plan to spend more. Of the 1002 parents who took part in the survey, 53% of respondents plan to spend more on domestic travel in the next year and 49% expect to spend more on international travel.
Ready to Book a Family Vacation for 2023?
My thoughts and the research study aside, you are probably here because you want to travel with your family in 2023 and want to know what to expect! In the following sections, I am going to give you my recommendations based on 3 district destinations — Mexico & The Caribbean, Domestic, and International. I hope you find this information helpful and I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. So, please leave me a comment on this blog post!
When is the Best Time to Book a Family Vacation in 2023? [MEXICO & THE CARRIBEAN]
I choose to talk about family travel in Mexico and The Caribbean first because that is where I personally see the most demand, which isn’t very fun because they are also my favorite places to visit! People want to travel to both because they are warm-weather tropical destinations, are often pretty easy to get to, and truly feel like a vacation. For many Americans, this is the big trip that they have been waiting to take!
If you would like to visit these tropical destinations, I would book your trip as soon as possible. Specifically, if you don’t have Spring Break booked, it may be too late and you should definitely be confirming summer plans right now. When researching for our Spring Break, I am already seeing much higher prices than I am accustomed to seeing and am having a very hard time finding somewhere with both reasonable airfare and accommodations. I have found some flights that looked promising, only to see that a mid-level all-inclusive resort was upwards of $7500 for the week.
So, the sweet spots here will be few and far between and I can confidently say that there will be no last-minute discounts to places in the Caribbean and Mexico. You may still have some luck finding cruises, which I think are a great option for families, so make sure to check those as well!
You may even want to start pricing out sample trips for your 2023 Fall Break and 2023 Winter Break just to get an idea of what is out there. I think my motto here is going to be the early bird gets the worm! And unfortunately for me, I overslept!
When is the Best Time to Book a Family Vacation in 2023? [DOMESTIC]
Domestic travel is going to be interesting in 2023! I think that many families are “road-tripped out” and trying to plan trips to further destinations that require flights.
What does this mean for you? There are probably some great holes to fill in destinations within driving distance from you. And oftentimes, if your kids are as busy as mine, a 3-4 day trip is all that you can squeeze in. So, look into cities near you, lesser-known beach destinations like Jekyll Island, and similar places. If you have teenagers, consider something active and outdoors. We still talk about how much we loved our white water rafting trip to Wildwater Ltd! And keep your eye out for hidden gems – like swimming with the manatees in Crystal River, Florida or a duck boat tour of Austin, Texas.
I also think that any airfare deals will be here in domestic travel but for places that aren’t traditional “vacation spots”. For example, we couldn’t find anywhere warm to visit during winter break that was remotely close to what I wanted to pay. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate luxury travel, but what I was seeing during my searches were inconvenient flights and mediocre accommodations at top of the market prices.
For this reason, we decided to switch gears and head from Panama City Beach, FL to St. Louis, MO on 12/24 for $125 each and spend time with Matt’s family. Then we will head from St. Louis, MO to Dallas, TX on 12/28 for under $200 each and spend a few days with my sister’s family before heading back to Panama City Beach on 12/31 for $141 each. All of our flights are nonstop via Southwest Airlines so luggage is included. Abby flies free with my Southwest Airlines Companion Pass making the entire trip cost us only $1350 in airfare total. For a family of 4, that is a great deal and while we will miss the sunshine down in the Caribbean, we get to spend holidays with our families!
The good news is that I booked these flights less than 6 weeks out and have been seeing plenty of great deals to destinations like Austin, Nashville, Washington DC, and such. Maybe it’s not the bucket list trip that you envisioned, but you are going to find that you just have to be flexible in 2023. It’s going to be a plan big trips early or forever hold your peace situation, so just make the most out of the time that your family can travel together.
Overall, popular destinations will book up somewhat in advance, but keep your eyes peeled and your mind open for under-the-radar destinations and last-minute domestic flight deals. You may also find that destinations (like the Florida beaches and 30A) that saw huge demand over the last two years by people avoiding air travel, may actually be more affordable in 2023 than in years past!
When is the Best Time to Book a Family Vacation in 2023? [INTERNATIONAL]
This is going to come as the biggest surprise to you! International travel, specifically to Europe during slightly off-peak seasons, will be the sweet spot for 2023 family travel.
If you want to travel internationally during Summer 2023 or any school break, book that now and take what you can get. Chances are, it’s going to be a decent price, but even if it’s not, you will want to lock in airfare now. However, if you have a little flexibility, which is a perk of having kids under 5 years of age and not yet tied to a school calendar, spend some time digging around! Subscribe to sites like Scotts Cheap Flights or Thrifty Traveler Premium and have deals delivered to your inbox almost daily! I personally subscribe to both and you wouldn’t believe the deals they put out. Have any of you been around long enough (13+ years) to remember when I used to be a deal blogger before it was even a thing?
I want to share a quick personal story here that ends with us going to Greece, for the first time, with OUR KIDS!
About a month ago, I sat down to plan the perfect Thanksgiving Break trip. For years, this has been one of my favorite weeks to travel and I have planned some amazing (and very inexpensive) trips including cruises, all-inclusive in Mexico, a Florida Keys road trip, Palm Springs for over a week, and of course 30A! But I was coming up dry. I had paper after paper strewn on my desk with notes of possible flights, most with multiple stopovers and to places, I didn’t love. I sent Matt an email with 4 options including a Norwegian Cruise to the tune of 6k for the four of us. And that was the best option. I just couldn’t spend that much being that I get free cruise offers in the mail every single day because I like to gamble, and not because of my award-winning travel writing. Ha!
I just didn’t feel amazing about any of the options and Matt didn’t even respond. I think I lost him at this part on the third option: Fly southwest Monday 11/21 to Sunday 11/28 into Ft Lauderdale on points + companions pass. So, free. Then fly Silver Airways to Key West Tuesday- Saturday for $1200. Leaving us with a night near the airport in FLL on Monday and Friday. Stay at the Crowne Plaza Key West for 159,000 points which will include free breakfast. Cheaper but has lots of logistics/room for error and travel days, but can see two cities. OR rent a car from Fort Lauderdale and drive to Key West and back. Will have to pay for parking.
Can you blame him? Anyway, I sat back down with Google flights and searched Atlanta to ANYWHERE on November 20, 2022. I scrolled over to Europe and found a one-way flight to Athens for under $500. After a little more digging I had a round-trip flight in my cart for all 4 of us to fly to Athens Greece for $3600. That is right at $900 for each of us round trip. So, when he got home, I said, “OR we can go to Greece for the same price” and that piqued his interest! Accommodations were surprisingly inexpensive partially due to it being winter, but with average highs in the mid-60s and lows in the mid-50s, it was not cold enough to deter us from going.
So, that’s how we ended up planning a last-minute trip to Greece! I will share more about the trip and our accommodations — wait until I show you the cave house that we booked for less than we paid for our 3-night accommodations on Jekyll Island in September.
In fact, now that Europe is on my radar, I have found so many great flight deals for the first part of 2023. Basically from now until late May, there are so many great flight deals to Europe! Once Memorial Day hits though, it is peak travel season, so as I mentioned above, don’t wait for summer deals. And if you are planning ahead, I am already seeing flight deal alerts starting again in early September so consider planning for Fall 2023 now as well!
The Best Time to Book a Family Vacation [SUMMARY]
Overall, book as early as possible for peak school break weeks and tropical destinations. If you are trying to plan a last-minute family trip, look at domestic cities for the best prices. Also, keep Europe on your radar because it is not as unattainable as it may have once seemed. Again, our flights and all accommodations for 9 nights in Greece cost less than that 5-night Norwegian cruise out of New Orleans would have!
If you would like to follow along with us to Greece, make sure to follow us on Instagram! We always post everything in our stories and I can’t wait to share more about this trip!
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You made an interesting point when you mentioned that it could be a good idea to look at domestic cities if you are wanting to plan a last-minute vacation. I would think that it would be a good idea to look at areas that are out of the way and in the countryside. I would think that you could find some affordable deals on vacation accommodation if you go to a location that is off the beaten path.