Disney Land for Cheap: Part 2 (Flying/Driving)

The thought of either flying or driving to California makes most people decide NOT to do the trip.  Honestly, I don't blame them.  Traveling with kids is one of the most stressful, horrifying, annoying things you can do...UNLESS you know how to do them right! :)
Driving
I am totally not a fan of driving.  This is how my parents took us every year.  I remember getting car sick and having ALOT of bloody noses.  Here are a couple of tips for those driving with kids:
1. Make sure you plan where you are going to stop.  Try finding a McDonald's with a play place and plan on staying for at least an hour to let your kids fill up on greasy fast food and get their wiggles out.
2. Leave early in the morning.  Wake up your kids five minutes before you leave and hand them breakfast in a baggie.  They can wake up and eat breakfast while driving, which cuts some time off!  If they are used to watching morning cartoons, wait about thirty to forty minutes and then start a movie.  That is a good two hours of driving right there!
3. Activites!  Kids need LOTS of different activities.  Try buying them new toys, crayons, books and other items they have never seen or done for the trip specifically.  This will keep them occupied longer.  IPADS and IPODs are AMAZING in the car! Make sure to pack the chargers.  They have adapters that you can plug into your cigarette lighter so that you have a plug in the car.  I have even heard of people printing off maps of Disneyland and California Adventure so the kids could circle which rides they wanted to go on the most so they could plan the days around those rides.
4. Stay in Vegas.  Who doesn't LOVE Las Vegas?  Stay in a cheap hotel there for a night and make your vacation a little longer.  They do have lots of activities and good places to eat.
5. Research!  When you are taking a long road trip it is good to research where the rest stops, eating joints and Wal-marts are.  Then you know if you have time to make it to the next one without someone peeing on the side of the road or starving to death.


Flying
This is where it gets tricky!  Let's start by talking about HOW I got round trip flights for $7.50 each.  I totally believe in credit cards.  I believe they are good IF you are controlled on spending and KNOW how to use them.  My husband and I always look into credit cards and if they have a good program worth the rewards.  Those rewards will PAY for your trip if you know how to use them correctly.  My way is with a Southwest Chase Credit Card.  A couple times out of the year they will offer 50,000 bonus points if you sign up for their card, are approved and spend so much money on it in the first three months.  My husband and I see this as something we would get normally.  There is usually a $99.00 yearly fee or if you are lucky, you can find the one with the $69.00 per year fee.  Once you get your credit card you put EVERYTHING on it and I mean EVERYTHING!  Groceries, bills, walmart expenditures....etc.  Here is the tricky part.  You have to spend it like it was a DEBIT card.  Once you put something on your credit card, you deduct it from your checking account like the money was taken out right then.  That way you keep track of your spending and when you have to pay for the credit card, you have the money and already planned on it being gone.  You must be VERY careful with this.  I pay my credit card balance in FULL every two weeks when my husband gets paid.  I pay it with money that is not from that paycheck he just got, but the paycheck from the time before.  I take the money out like it is a DEBIT.  This way I don't pay any late fees and I rack up the points to use for flights and other things.  If you have questions about this process, please comment and I will answer them.  After you spend the $3,000 on the credit card and pay it off, you will get your 50,000 points.  Next is the waiting game.  You know when you are flying out and back.  Check those dates every Tuesday and Wednesday nights for how many points they cost.  These are when flights are the cheapest.  Never book on a weekend.  They will always be higher.  If you can get them for under 6,000 points per way, you should book them.  I always get the NON STOP FLIGHTS.  Especially if you have kids! That is so important to know if you have stops or anything.  The NON STOP flights take about an hour and a half.  Very short.  Kids under two do NOT need a ticket.  They can sit on your lap.  So if you have a family of four and it is 12,000 points per person, then you use about 48,000 points to fly round trip to Los Angeles.  Everyone does have to pay $7.50 per person for the 9/11 tax.  That is it.  I have done this several times with Southwest and have enjoyed them every time.  Please remember that if you are not responsible with credit cards, this is NOT a good way for you.  Credit cards should always be used like a debit card and NEVER like a loan.  It takes a lot of planning and discipline to use a credit card.  For the credit card application, visit www.chase.com and look for the southwest chase credit card.  DON"T get it unless they are offering the 50,000 points.  They always do it eventually.  Wait for that opportunity. 


My next post will be about surviving the airport and airplane with kids.


Brianne