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How to Save Money on a Fun, Relaxing, AND Educational Road Trip!

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    Summer’s a popular time for families to travel and spend quality time together. Not only is this a chance to mix education and vacation, but with COVID-19 still being a concern, there’s a real opportunity to turn your summer vacation into a road trip. By traveling in your car, you’re largely avoiding other people and places where transmission of the virus is of a higher risk. Plus, travel as a child is correlated to better educational attainment, and thus a higher earnings ability as an adult!

    There are plenty of ways to cut down on costs and save money on a fun, relaxing, AND educational trip — like with a travel credit card! And what better way to do it than to take a road trip to see more things en route to your destination!

    We’ve created an additional activity book perfect for keeping the entire family entertained on the next road trip.
    You can download our road trip worksheet here.

    Region-by-Region Guide to Educational Spots to Visit

    Everyone says that at a young age, the brain is like a sponge.  So what better way to expand your child’s horizons than by feeding that sponge with knowledge from aquariums, zoos, museums, and more?

    If you’re thinking of a road trip this summer, here are some great places to visit no matter where you are in the US!

    Northeast Region

    Southeast Region


    Education and Fun CAN Coexist. Team Member Joseph LOVED His Trip to the Battleship Missouri Memorial for 4th of July Fireworks

    Midwest Region

    Southwest Region

    Rocky Mountain Region

    Pacific Region

    Ways to Save on Travel Expenses

    Ways to Save on Car Expenses

    Prepare Your Vehicle With Proper Maintenance and Inspections Before the Trip

    A road trip, by definition, can’t happen without a functioning vehicle.  So before you embark on your road trip, you’ll want to make sure your car is in tip top condition!  To minimize the chances of unforeseen breakdowns, it’s a good idea to have a mechanic inspect your vehicle and have them do any maintenance deemed necessary, which might include:

    Maximize Your Use of Gas Points and Other Rewards

    Whether you’ll be driving your own car or renting one, you’ll probably be going through several tanks of gas, so you’ll want to be prepared with one of the best gas credit cards to maximize rewards whenever you fill up at the gas station.

    Some of my personal favorites are the Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card and the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi.

    Utilize Grocery Store Loyalty Programs

    For long road trips, chances are you’ll be stopping by some grocery stores somewhere along the way to restock on supplies and snacks.  Here are some tips to make the most of these stops!

    Ways to Save on Lodging

    Sure, sleeping in the car might be the cheapest option, but it’s not the most comfortable.  Fortunately, there are plenty of affordable options through VRBO, Airbnb, hostels, and hotels!

    Award Stays with Hotels

    If you’re sitting on a pile of hotel points, or if you find a great deal at a nearby hotel, then by all means pull the trigger!  Many award stays have no added room taxes or fees, so it’s a wonderful way to book a room for no cash at all.

    Depending on where you stay, hotels could wind up being quite expensive.  For instance, I’ve seen hotels around the Grand Canyon area go for as much as $300 per night.  Imagine if you were staying for a few nights, that could easily eat up nearly $1,000 of your hard-earned cash.

    VRBOs or Airbnbs

    If hotels aren’t your thing, VRBOs and Airbnbs could be perfect for your home away from home.  You’ll find a LOT more availability for these compared to hotels.  So if you’ll be traveling off the beaten path or can’t find any hotels, these make a great alternative.

    And if you can find a great Airbnb host, you could get amazing insights from a local!  I stayed at an Airbnb last year in Italy, and had great hosts who shared their insights on the best places to eat, sightseeing, and how to get around.  It was almost like having our own personal tour guide!

    Hostels

    The setups of various hostels vary, but in general, you can expect to share some facilities with others, like a kitchen, lounge, and bathroom areas.  There are lots of nice hostels where you can even rent your entire private room, which can be great for families.

    Be sure to do your research though, because not all hostels are created equal.  Hostels typically offer a lot less privacy than an Airbnb or hotel rooms, so if that’s something you care about and you’re not able to find a good enough deal to justify giving up that privacy, you might want to look into VRBOs or Airbnbs instead.

    Bottom Line

    If you’re planning a family trip this summer, know that there are plenty of ways you can save money AND be able to embark on a fun, relaxing, and educational experience. Though COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into many travel plans, the country is recovering and opening many places back up for us to visit.

    There are historical attractions, zoos, museums, aquariums, and more educational sites all throughout the US for all sorts of budgets.  And if you’ll be traveling with kids, going on a road trip is arguably the best way to include some sort of educational component into your vacation because they’ll be able to see a lot more out of the window of a car than out of a window on a plane.

    These trips can be expensive, but you can save quite a bit if you follow these tips:

    Have you gone on a road trip recently?  Let us know what methods you used to save money on your vacation!  And comment with your favorite educational destination.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)