Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

Where have you gone during the breaks (and which breaks would help me out!). Also how far in advance do you book these trips? We are taking kids out for one big trip so need to stick w the schedule for feb or spring break. Thanks!!

Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

We love to cruise! We currently have an Xmas/New Years cruise booked and a February break cruise. We only started with the school break vacations 2 years ago (I have a second grader). It is very different traveling school breaks- I used to just pick random weeks for Disney etc when he was in pre school.
The flights are much higher on breaks which you need to account for and budget for. We like cruising on breaks because the ship only hold x amount of people so it doesn't feel overcrowded if it is a full ship. Whereas somewhere like Disney could be insanely mobbed!
We plan at least a year in advance. Try to save some money on booking early for the best rates so we can save for when the insane airline prices come out.
My advice is to book early if possible and choose a place that won't be overcrowded just because it's Spring Break! Another note, southern schools do not get Presidents Week off. It's definitely a northern school thing. February break is my favorite to travel on! Warm sun on winter skin!!!

Message edited 8/6/2016 6:35:34 AM.

Re: Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

We're going to Cali over Feb. break. We'll be visiting my best friend--she lives in Coto de Caza so they're only about 30 miles from Disneyland so we might do that while we're there. (We're going to Disney World in less than 2 weeks so not sure if we'll want to do Disney again in a few months--all depends on how my 2 y/o daughter likes it the first time, lol). There's a lot to do in Orange County so I'm excited! I love SoCal.

Message edited 8/6/2016 7:10:54 PM.

Re: Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

I personally try to do driving trips over school breaks. Otherwise the airfare is ridiculous. I find the airfare is usually double, if not more, then during non school breaks. The rental cars are sometimes triple what I usually pay. I did get lucky this past spring break and hit a one day Spirit Airlines sale and brought my boys to Myrtle Beach. I was flexible though and went Sunday to Friday to get a good deal.

Re: Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

We travel during school breaks mostly. You just need to get used to paying a premium since so many people want to travel at the same time. We have gotten used to the pricing. You can no longer search for cheapest flights during a flexible time frame. You can only fly out during certain set dates that are usually the most expensive of the year. Hotels often have minimum number of nights and cost double or even triple.

We try to do the random long weekends that are not holiday weekends.

Re: Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

I'm a teacher and we have two school aged kids so we go during school breaks.

We've done Disney in February a couple of times. Hotel prices were actually not terrible but I think that's because of high supply - there are just so many hotels down there.

Flights were another matter. If you book early you have a chance because there are always a handful of lower priced seats. One year we had our act together and were literally ready to press the button when Jetblue released their flights for that time. We did okay on airfare that way. It was mid end of July when we booked for the following Feb break.

Unfortunately prices are already out for February and I believe April as well.

Another year we planned a little later for Feb so we flew into Jacksonville. It was literally less than half the price as into Orlando and we saved about 1k. We were going to rent a car anyway so this made sense for us. It was only about 2.5 hours from our hotel which was right near Disney. I recommend this all the time to people.

DH really did not want to do Disneyworld again this year for Feb break and I am sad because the window to book pretty much closed and I could not convince him. (Even Jax is pricey now, or was the last time I looked.) A big to him.

I have never been for Easter break but I have heard nightmare stories about crowds. I believe they always end up doing some type of closure (limiting entry into the park to people who are staying on property or have a dining reservation.)

We have also done little trips (Mystic, Hershey) but you were asking about bigger ones.

Have fun planning!

Message edited 8/10/2016 10:39:11 AM.

Re: Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

Re: Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

Posted by JennP

I'm a teacher and we have two school aged kids so we go during school breaks.

We've done Disney in February a couple of times. Hotel prices were actually not terrible but I think that's because of high supply - there are just so many hotels down there.

Flights were another matter. If you book early you have a chance because there are always a handful of lower priced seats. One year we had our act together and were literally ready to press the button when Jetblue released their flights for that time. We did okay on airfare that way. It was mid end of July when we booked for the following Feb break.

Unfortunately prices are already out for February and I believe April as well.

Another year we planned a little later for Feb so we flew into Jacksonville. It was literally less than half the price as into Orlando and we saved about 1k. We were going to rent a car anyway so this made sense for us. It was only about 2.5 hours from our hotel which was right near Disney. I recommend this all the time to people.

DH really did not want to do Disneyworld again this year for Feb break and I am sad because the window to book pretty much closed and I could not convince him. (Even Jax is pricey now, or was the last time I looked.) A big to him.

I have never been for Easter break but I have heard nightmare stories about crowds. I believe they always end up doing some type of closure (limiting entry into the park to people who are staying on property or have a dining reservation.)

We have also done little trips (Mystic, Hershey) but you were asking about bigger ones.

Have fun planning!

Re: Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

We were supposed to do Bahamas last year for spring break and got a decent deal for the time of year.

Spring break isn't the same all across the country (like Thanksgiving is) and the Feb break isn't in all areas (I'm in Rockland County and my kids only get 2 days off that week) so crowds aren't always peak at these times. The airfare out of NY though is high since it's a prime time to travel.

Re: Those who travel on school breaks, some questions

I went to Naples Florida during Passover break this year and it wasn't crazy expensive or crowded. That said, I doubt most of the country gets Passover break.