The 5 Best Ways to Find Cheap Vacation Accommodations

How To Find Affordable Vacation Rentals And Keep Everybody Safe as a Single Parent

In an effort to spend some time in the socially distant countryside during the COVID pandemic I booked a rustic cabin in Fountain Run, KY. The total cost for our five week stay was $529.86. If you’re looking for a way to safely escape for a few days or a few weeks check out our list below of the best ways to find cheap vacation accommodations and get deals like the one we found in Kentucky.

How to Stay Safe When Traveling as a Single Parent with Kids:

1. Have a safety person. For me that’s my mom. A friend, family member, or sibling will all work. Have someone you trust who will know where you are and what to do if you’re not checking in as expected.
2. Ask your host for a picture of the property/house from the street. This way you know what you’re looking for and can also share it with your safety person. 
3. Only reserve with a host who has multiple 4.5 or higher reviews. And spot check the reviews for any red flags.
4. Read descriptions carefully. Know what is a deal breaker for you. Unfenced pool, close to a busy street, etc. You know what your kids can and can’t handle. 
5. If the location your booking has no reviews, but the host has other listings with 4.5 stars or higher, this is probably a safe bet. And one of the best ways I’ve found to get a good deal on AirBnb. 
6. Stay organized. Keep everything you need in one place whether flying or driving. I always keep a backpack handy with my wallet, passport, toothbrush, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, kindle, snacks, Advil and motion sickness medicine.

Best Ways to Find Cheap Vacation Accommodations: 

1. Private rentals. Hosts will often heavily discount new listings in order to get reviews. Look for listings with no reviews posted by hosts who have other listings with great reviews. This is the only situation where I’ll reserve a place without any reviews. For even greater discounts, try to book a week or month long stay. Sometimes, it’s cheaper to pay for a month than it is two weeks. If you have the ability to work remotely this can be a great option. 
   1. AirBnb 
   2. VRBO
   3. Homeaway
2. Camping. Know your comfort level, what amenities matter to you, and what you have vs. what you’d need to buy. If you don’t have much camping gear, boon-docking on federal land may not be a great idea. 
   1. Camping on public or federal land (aka boon-docking) is free and you can stay up to 14 days.
   2. Private campgrounds can be found on websites such as AirBnb, HipCamp, or by searching online. The quality and amenities vary greatly so make sure to read the fine print.
   3. KOA campgrounds are privately owned campgrounds under the KOA franchise brand. The amenities vary. From my experience, KOA campgrounds are generally very family friendly, close to popular cities and attractions and they offer plenty of perks. If you choose to pay for membership, you can receive 10% off per year on bookings.
   4. City, State, and national parks. The camping and amenities vary from city to city and state to state. You can find reviews of parks and individual camps spots online.
3. A working holiday. If you can get away for a week or more, you can exchange a few hours of work a week for a place to stay and meals. Most places won’t ask for more than 20 – 25 hours per week which leaves you a lot of time to explore. This can also be a great learning opportunity for kids to see how a farm, ranch or other lifestyles function. Make sure to edit filters to “welcomes children,” and depending on your kid’s ages, you’ll want to communicate with your hosts early on about how you’ll do your work with kids around. We have an in-depth article for parents on how to find and secure work exchange opportunities.
4. Hostel. Make sure to check that the hostel is child friendly by looking closely at their rules. Then check the reviews to see what other families have to say. You don’t want to accidentally book a party hostel where guests are up till all hours. Two perks of hostels are that you have the opportunity to socialize with other guests and breakfast is often included. As a single parent traveler, the free breakfast can help you save money and you can enjoy the occasional grown-up conversation with other travelers.
5. Hotel. There are so many websites dedicated to finding deals on hotels. I’m not going to go into it for this post. Below are some of my favorite resources for finding deals on hotels. 
   1. Groupon.
   2. Use credit card points and miles.
   3. Bundle flight and hotel to save.

Group Tours Catering to Single Parents:

As a special mention, guided tours catering to single parents are finally a thing! While this article is focused on the best ways to find cheap vacation accommodations, sometimes the extra cost is worth it when all the planning is done for you.

On the surface, all inclusive tours and adventures may not be as affordable. Depending on how much equipment you’d need to buy for a similar camping trip or the hours you’d need to spend to prepare and plan for a trip yourself this option may make more sense for some families. 

We’ve found the two most popular companies offering single parent group tours to be Oars and Intrepid for single parents.