Traveling for Memorial Day Weekend? 4 Ways to Save

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You don’t have to bust your budget to get away for Memorial Day weekend. Read on for some tips to save. 

There’s a reason so many people often to travel over Memorial Day weekend. For one thing, the holiday weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and that alone tends to put people in a vacation mindset. And also, it’s natural to want to take advantage of the built-in day off from work.

AAA expects 42.3 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more to a destination this Memorial Day weekend. That’s a 7% uptick from 2022. Air travel is also expected to increase for the upcoming holiday weekend by 11% from a year prior, with 3.4 million people expected to board a flight.

You may be eager to go somewhere fun this Memorial Day weekend. But if you’re worried about the cost involved, here are a few ways to save.

1. Be flexible with your dates

If you’re looking to fly out to a destination on Friday afternoon and return Monday night, you might end up with a pretty large credit card tab. If you’re able to be flexible — say, because you work remotely or are self-employed — then flying out on Thursday and returning home on Tuesday could make for a less expensive flight.

That said, your lodging costs might increase by virtue of having to stay an extra night or two, so you’ll need to run the numbers to see what makes sense. But if you’re visiting family or friends and aren’t paying for lodging, this is an option worth exploring.

2. Pack lightly

If you book your Memorial Day weekend flight using a travel rewards credit card, you may be entitled to a free checked bag. But if not, then you may want to cram your belongings into a carry-on to avoid the added fee.

On Delta, for example, it costs $30 to check a bag on a domestic flight. And to be clear, that’s $30 each way. So packing carefully might help you save $60, which is money you can keep in the bank or use for something like entertainment at your destination.

3. Skip the hotel

Staying at a hotel might mean having a housekeeper come in daily to make up your room. But it’s worth looking into private rentals from sites like VRBO and Airbnb and seeing if you can lower your lodging costs that way. You might also get access to a full-sized kitchen if you book a private rental, which could allow you to easily prepare your own meals and save money on food.

4. Find some tripmates to drive with

If you’re driving to your destination this Memorial Day weekend, you might end up spending quite a bit of money to fill up your car. So it may be worth it to reach out to friends and see if anyone wants to join you on your trip. You can not only save money on gas, but have people to split the driving with. And it especially helps to travel with others if you don’t own a vehicle and have to pay to rent one for the weekend, because you can share that cost, too.

The last thing you want to do is end up with credit card debt on the heels of Memorial Day weekend. If you employ these tips, you can lower your costs while still enjoying a fun and relaxing getaway.

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