When we arrived at the car rental agency to pick up the car, and while the attendant brought the car around, I was handed the final bill. I looked at it, and turned to Harold and said, "This can't be right. This wasn't what it said online when we booked it."
I asked the agent to run the bill again, and the same number came up. It was hundreds more than what we were originally quoted. Turns out, California, which is in bad economic shape, has added a 29% tax to rental cars.
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I pulled out of the lot, fuming that we hadn't been told this in advance. Luckily for us, we could afford the difference. But what if it had been a family with limited means? It would have ruined their entire vacation.
"Vacations are like houses--their budget can grow much larger than you anticipated," explains Manisha Thakor, a personal finance expert who advises women making between $25,000 and $125,000 and is the author of Get Financially Naked. Thakor has some useful advice about how to plan a summer vacation without breaking the bank. Given how surprised I was by my own ballooning budget, I decided to take some notes so that I wouldn't be caught short next time.
First, says Thakor, set limits on your spending and be very open with your family about what you can and can't afford. "For parents this is a wonderful opportunity to teach your children how to stick to a budget. Let your kids know, 'We can't afford that' or 'Here's how much money we have, so let's decide together on how to split it up,'" suggests Thakor.
Once you've come up with a firm budget, you'll need to do a bit of sleuthing to avoid the kinds of hidden fees we got hit with at Enterprise. "States are really hurting now, and to make up for lost revenue, they're adding fees onto all kinds of things," she explains. Thakor recommends calling hotels and rental car companies and asking them to break down the bill, including taxes and fees, before you book.
It's also worth noting that some rental companies like Hertz and Budget are offering a 10% discount if you pay in full when you book your car. One caveat: You can't make changes to your reservation such as upgrading the car or extending or shortening the rental period.
There are ways to trim fat on your restaurant bills. Forgo bottled water and stick to plain old tap water. And when the server rattles off the list of the day's specials, make sure to ask what they cost. Instead of ordering one entrŠ¹e per person--which are usually ridiculously and unhealthily huge--split one with your spouse or another family member. And if you all can't decide on what to share, order appetizers instead. Appetizers are the right size, portion-wise, and your wallet and your hips will thank you.Vacations are the perfect time to escape the demands of the everyday world, but if you miss a bill payment, your creditors don't care if you're in the office or on the beach. Thakor recommends that consumers take advantage of online banking, and not only for vacations. "Think of it as a control tower. You can track and manage all of your e-bills from one location," she says.
Whether or not you're on vacation, you can set up automatic payments for bills such as your mortgage, utilities and car payments so you'll never have to worry about losing or forgetting to pay a bill and incurring frustrating late fees that can really add up.
Finally, remember that you don't have to take your summer vacation at the height of the season. Instead, stay home and book your travel for the off-season.
Harold and I did that with our California road trip (we went in April), and we stayed in lovely hotels that we wouldn't have been able to afford in the high season.
Our room at the Hotel Pacific in Monterey--which had an in-room fireplace, a dining area and a balcony--was less than $100 a night. In July that same room goes for $229 a night. And there was an unexpected bonus: The hotel was pretty empty, so we got the outdoor Jacuzzi to ourselves.
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