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10 tips for a fun family vacation

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7. Honor your elders. Older folks like the chance to be kids, too, so why not see if Grandmom or Grandpop wants to tag along, or even foot part of the bill. It is a fantastic opportunity for children to connect with an older generation and learn a little about times gone by. Reality check: This year’s college freshmen do not recall a U.S. president before Bill Clinton.

8. Expect the unexpected. I wish I could say that every vacation goes off without a hitch. But the truth is that very few do. The plane is late, someone left the oven on, your room is not ready, someone gets ill, the rental car gets a flat tire, the guy sitting next to you really smells. To help with the rough patches, bring along some activity packs for everyone (adults can be just as whiny and miserable as kids, if not more so). Also, if you are investing a lot of money in your vacation and don’t want to lose it all, protect it with travel insurance.

9. Reap your reward. If you are traveling with your kids, you might as well seek out reward programs that fit your family’s lifestyle. No sense in accumulating points to buy business class airfare when what you want are free sodas, a souvenir T-shirt and a chance to meet Cinderella. For example, Disney has a flexible rewards credit card, the Disney Rewards Visa Card from Chase, which provides interest-free financing when you book your Disney vacation or cruise with the card, as well as all kinds of benefits to families planning a Disney vacation. You can earn rewards on everyday spending that are good toward theme park tickets, hotel stays, Disney DVDs, merchandise and other special discounts and perks that you can use while on your vacation. If you have kids and a Disney vacation is on the horizon, this is the credit card for you. (For more information, go here.)

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10. Get a passport. It will be required for any foreign travel. Besides, it is the ultimate identification and it is valid for 10 years (five years for kids under 16). Do it now. Download the paperwork here. Not gonna say any more. Rant over.

So, there you have it. Now go to work, plan out that perfect family vacation and call your travel professional. And, oh yeah, tell the kids!

If you are interested in reading some of my past family travel tales, take a look at these columns: Rome with the Kids, Traveling with the Grandparents, A Single Dad’s Trip Survival Guide and Cruising with the Kids.

John Frenaye is the president of JVE Group, Inc., a diversified company based in Annapolis, Md. With nearly ten years as a senior executive in the retail travel industry and a background in business management, he writes about the travel industry as an insider with an outsider's perspective. E-mail him or visit his Web site . Want to sound off about one of his columns? Try visiting Frenaye's forum.


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