We are very aware that family holidays can be expensive especially when you start adding up all of the extras such as meals out, drinks, souvenirs and entertainment and start paying for three/four/five/six people or even more. Have a look also at our Saving Money section.

There are lots of fantastic special offers and deals for families on the market such as free child places and you should investigate these early in the year as they do go quickly. Check the small print and what you are paying for. You should also look into hidden or additional charges, whether travel insurance is included, what the cancellation policy is and how far in advance you need to book.

Booking your family holiday online is a great way to get a good bargain and in some cases companies discount the price of exactly the same holiday by as much as 5%. For example Italy specialists Citalia one of the leaders in the upmarket package market for Italy have a 5% discount for online bookings. Sunway offer €30 off and Panorama also a offer 5% discount with online bookings. 

If you are looking for some good value last minute deals have a look at the special offers and deals on European and worldwide holidays with lastminute.com who feature holiday to lots of hot destinations including Egypt, Turkey, the Canaries, the USA and Canada or the Caribbean or for an exotic adventure, head to the Far East, Oman or Africa. They even seem to feature last second deals although they may be a little too short notice for most families.

Late availability is often also highly discounted particularly for accommodation or if for example there is a slow year in a particular sector. This year we expect that there will be good bargains to be had in the five star hotels in Ireland due to the fall off in the interest from the USA. In this section we highlight a few special offers and if you get good value or are impressed with an offer you get please do share the news in our forum.

We have a section on saving money as well if you are interested. Happy family holiday shopping. 

You will find lots of family friendly travel tips and advice in our research and advice section to help you book the right family holiday. Check out also the experiences of other parents and travellers in our parents forum and add your own experiences as we are a great believer in real parent's experiences as the best measure of whether somewhere will suit you for your family holiday. 

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