i really think if your budget is constrained enough that the additional plane ticket for the kid threatens your financial situation you probably should not take the trip at all. if you can't afford trip+1, the truth is, you can't afford trip.

@lymanstoneky You appear to have three kids? Plane tickets for a family of five is 150 percent more expensive than plane tickets for a childless couple. Plus sharing a hotel room with multiple kids is not very fun. To get a comparable experience you need an Airbnb or similar.

It is pretty expensive to travel by air with multiple kids. Some options: travel by minivan and rent a house with the whole family. Have special trips with individual children. For example, when your oldest turns 12, do that big hotel/airplane trip, and leave the other kids home with a spouse. Each successive child turning 12 will also do a big vacation. You don’t have to not travel at all with a big family, but you do have to be strategic.

@binarybits @lymanstoneky Yeah I think it's not crazy to say that a weekend trip (for a wedding for example) where flights are $300 a person can be financially doable and responsible for 2 tickets ($600) but not for 4-5 people ($1,200-$1,500) including other costs.

@binarybits @lymanstoneky Trips don’t require plane tickets.