Does your family dream about taking a magical vacation together, but paying for the vacation feels impossible? You’re not alone! A topic that has come up repeatedly among families who are booking with me is, “Can I make payments on a vacation booking?” I’m happy to say that the answer is almost always, “Yes!” In this post, I’ll share some tips for paying for your family vacation package, highlighting how to make payments on a vacation booking.

Start By Making a Deposit

The first step to securing your reservation at the resort of your choice will usually be to pay a deposit. For a Disney vacation package, that deposit is usually $200 USD per booking. For a Universal Orlando Resort vacation package, the deposit is typically $50 USD per guest, plus Cancel for Any Reason coverage, if you also choose to purchase that (which I highly recommend).

The deposit for all-inclusive vacations booked for Canadian travellers is usually around $250 CDN per person, but that amount can vary if there’s a promotional offer, or if your vacation is sooner rather than later.

For a Disney Cruise Line vacation, the deposit is 20% of the cruise fare, not including port taxes & fees.

As you can see, there are a lot of different scenarios, and your vacation booking terms and conditions will be explained to you at the time your reservations are made.

Continue to Make Payments on a Vacation Booking

After your deposit is made, you can make payments toward your vacation booking at whatever pace you like. There are a number of different ways to go about this:

1. Treat it like a monthly household bill--Many families like to treat their vacation payments like they would treat any other household bill. They take the remaining balance owing, divide that amount by the number of months remaining until the final payment is due, and pay that amount every month toward their booking. By the time the due date comes, the vacation is paid for.
2. Regular payments–Other families prefer to regularly make payments on a vacation on their pay day or other regular date. They set the pace and amount.
3. Irregular payments–Some of the families I plan with like to make payments from time to time, but not on a regular basis. They will get in touch with me when they’ve saved up a little bit of money to put toward their vacation, and let me know the amount they’d like to pay.
4. Take advantage of favourable exchange rates–Many Canadian families like to keep an eye on the American exchange rate, and apply a payment when the rate is favourable. They use a tool such as the Bloomberg Currency Exchange, and create a Watchlist to inform them of the rate.
5. Payment tools–Some suppliers allow travellers to use an automatic payment system such as Uplift. However, these usually involve the use of fees or interest, so I do not recommend these tools.

Family Vacation Packages with Payment Plans

Family vacations to Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort (indeed, any of the Disney destinations), Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood can all be paid for over time with multiple payments toward the balance owing.

All Inclusive Vacations Payment Plans

All-inclusive vacations may also be paid for over time, without additional fees or interest after the deposit has been paid.

Words of Caution

Once the supplier has your money, the only way it’s coming back to you is for you to cancel your vacation. Depending on the company your vacation is booked with, there may be administrative fees or cancellation penalties. There will always be a date beyond which your vacation is fully non-refundable, so it’s really important for you to understand the terms and conditions of your booking. And, of course, in addition to understanding what happens when you cancel your vacation, it’s really important to explore the options for trip interruption coverage as well as emergency medical coverage for your vacation.

Whatever method you decide to use, we can work together to make your vacation come together! Of course, “life happens”, and we can be flexible when you need to take a break or shift your spending in a different direction.

Ready to start planning? Reach out to tell me what type of vacation you have in mind!