Vacationkids.com welcomes the opportunities to bring families together.

Our staff often gets asked about "group or family reunion discounts". Our agents spend your family's money like we spend our own money, finding you the best deals and discounts. We like nothing better than to save our families money. Families and groups of friends traveling together can enjoy great savings if they understand how these discounts work.
It is important to understand every hotel and cruise line has specific rules regarding their own group travel policies. Generally speaking, you'll need a minimum of 10 hotel rooms or cruise cabins for the same amount of nights to qualify for discounted rates, upgrades or extra amenities. Because hotel and cruise prices are calculated based on "double adult rate" the translation here is that you MUST have a MINIMUM of at least 20 paying adults before we can start talking about group discounts. Unfortunately, children fares do not count towards the minimum number of passengers. With airline tickets, discounts usually apply when everyone flies the EXACT same itinerary....meaning everyone must depart and arrive from the same airport on the same itinerary. Obviously, the more people in your group, the better the discounts.

The travel business is all about supply and demand so keep this in mind. Chances are you'll get even better rates and ammenities for your group if you travel during low or off season times. The times of year considered to be "off season" vary according to different destination so make sure to ask. Group discounts are basically non-existant during high demand or peak travel times like December holidays and spring break. Also popular hotels really don't need to discount to groups as they are filling their rooms without any problems. New resorts trying to build their business are usually generaous with their group discounts.

Did you know...group leaders often can travel for FREE! Many travel companies offer 1 free person per so many reservations. For example say a cruise line offers one free cabin per every 10 cabins sold...if 10 cabins are sold then Mom can sail for free...if 40 cabins are sold, then Mom and her entire family of four can enjoy a free cruise! (paying only taxes and port charges).
There is a good deal of organizational work involved getting a group together so free travel is a good perk for being the leader of the pack. If the idea of free travel sounds good to you but you think..."Where would I ever find enough people to put together a travel group"...you would be VERY surprised! Here at Vacationkids we works with groups all the time. Soccer moms getting their entire team to take a vacation together, Church groups, bowling leagues, play groups, co workers...usually all it just takes someone to spark the idea, stay focused and keep a fire under everyone.
With family reunions, some families don't feel it's fair that just certain people get to enjoy the benefit from a free reservation. Often with family reunions the "free" booking is discounted and distributed to everyone so that everyone in the group gets an additional discount over and above the group discount.
So whether the group leaders get the free reservation for doing all the leg work or whether it is decided that everyone should enjoy the lowest fare possible is entirely up to your decision. Just let our Vacationkids family travel agents know and they will return the type of quote you desire.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND...It takes a great deal of time and effort on the part of our agents to prepare proper group quotes so we ask for your cooperation and respect. We often chuckle when we hear people say "anyone can be a travel agent" or that we have easy cushy jobs. After becoming quickly overwhelmed or running into unforseen problems with their travel planning they very quickly they realize good travel agents MAKE their jobs look easy when in fact it is a very demanding job. This job becomes even more demanding when catering to the needs of larger groups. As many families and groups require our time and expertise, we ask that you respect our time and that you do a bit of homework first so that we can all work efficiently and effectively...

STEP ONE - SELECT A GROUP LEADER No matter what type of group you have, someone must to step up to be the leader and decision maker. Problems arise when you have too many people adding too many ideas into an already confusing situation. The travel planning process runs smoothly when one person remains the main contact and voice of the group. A good group leader is someone who can make decisions, is detail oriented, has the time to devote to making travel arrangements and is focused. At vacationkids, we've had families and groups that have been very creative and organized but it all came down to having a good group leader that could easily delegate specific tasks throughout the planning stages, preparation, vacation and return trip. STEP TWO - DECIDE ON A DESTINATION AND DATE You may know exactly where everyone wants to go OR perhaps you need some ball park pricing to see what everyone will be able to afford. Read the hotel reviews linked to our homepage. Do some shopping in the "book your own vacation" section of our homepage. These are the same reservation systems that our agents use for individual bookings. Here you can find availability, detailed destination information and pricing. Best way to start would be to type in a request for 2 adults and 2 children for the destination you're thinking about. This will give you some "ball park" idea of what your trip will cost. Experience has taught us that it isn't a good idea to give too many choices to too many people. Too many choices will confuse everyone and cause great frustration. Try a democratic approach by selecting three choices of vacations that will best suit the needs of your group members and vote democratically.

Most people only have one or two weeks vacation per year and with so many wonderful places in the world to visit, deciding on where and when to do is often the hardest part of any group travel planning...

• The Caribbean
  
• Mexico
  
• Hawaii
  
• Tours of Europe
• independent tours or tours with a guide
• Cruises
• Shopping trips
• Adventure Vacations
• City Breaks like New York or Boston

If you can dream it, Vacationkids can help make it a reality for your group!

STEP THREE -GET THE FACTS The accuracy of the quote vacationkids gives to you is only as accurate as the information we receive with your request. Group leaders need to provide vacationkids with the following information...
Where do your want to go?
When is your EXACT dates of travel?
The number of nights you want to stay?
ALSO...
Vacationkids needs a list the LEGAL names of ALL passengers orgainzed according to they way they would prefer to share hotel rooms or cruise cabins including: The number of adults and children per room The EXACT ages of all children at the time of travel and if people will be departing from different airport, this also has to be included.
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANTthat vacationkids also has the LEGAL names of all passengers according to their passports or birth certificates. Simple name changes on airlines and cruise ship like "James" instead of "Jim" can result in change fees costing hundreds of dollars.
Group prices are based on the number of travlers going. Should some members of your group change their personal travel plans, this may effect the pricing of other group members. One example...If two people were sharing one room and one travlers decides not to travel, the existing traveler would then be responsible for paying the additional single traveler rates. Another exampe...if two people are sharing one room and a third person decides to join them, as long as the hotel will allow triple occupancy, the rate of all three people would usually be less.

STEP FOUR -BE COMMITTED Remember when Vacationkids returns our group quote back to our group leaders there is a deadline on this quote. The prices will only be honored for that period of time IF THERE IS STILL AVAILABILITY. Hotels and cruise ships are in the business of selling rooms and cabins just like the airlines need to fill their seats. Remember travel space will still be selling while the members of your group are making their final decisions and getting their deposits ready. NO travel plans will be confirmed until credit card deposits have been applied to the reservations. If space sells out or if prices increase while group members are trying to make up or change their minds then the entire group may not be able to travel. Here at Vacationkids, we're not trying to be pushy sales people but we do want you to understand that group travel does take a great deal of time and effort on everyone's part and their are reasons why travlers need to be ready and good to go with their credit cards when it is time to finalize their reservations.

Hopefully this bit of insight into the workings of group travel and family reunions will help further your understanding and light some creative ideas. At Vacationkids, we've had families and friends get together for a small 3 night group trip and this has since turned into a yearly travel club so that members can enjoy the vacations of their dreams while having fun together. If you'd like to plan a family reunion or start the ball rolling on a free vacation for yourself just let us know!