Family Travel Unpacked: Make the Most of Travel With Kids

Maximize credit card travel benefits and perks with this quick guide to rental car status, Global Entry credits, and hidden airline benefits. Learn how to audit your credit cards to uncover hundreds in travel savings before your next family vacation. In this Quick Tip Tuesday episode, Melissa shares how to maximize credit card travel benefits most families overlook. Discover how to unlock rental c...

Learn how to travel for free with your family using points and miles! Get the details on travel hacking for beginners from busy mom Melissa, who's addicted to family travel on points. Dreaming of taking your family to Hawaii, Europe, or Costa Rica without breaking the bank? In this episode of Family Travel Unpacked, host Melissa breaks down exactly how to use credit card points and miles to c...

Best travel gifts for teens: our teen gift guide with ideas they'll actually use! From experience gifts to luggage and tech essentials. Struggling with holiday shopping for your teen traveler? In this quick episode, I share my teen gift guide featuring the best travel gifts for teens and tweens – vetted by my own 14 and 11-year-old! From experience-based gifts that create lasting memories to...

Planning your perfect Costa Rica family vacation? Learn essential tips, itinerary ideas & how to pivot when travel goes wrong! Join Melissa from Family Travel Unpacked for a complete guide to Costa Rica with kids—from cloud forests and coffee farms to zip-lining adventures and beach resorts. After an unexpected flight diversion forced a complete itinerary change, this family of four discovered...

Microvacations and weekend getaways don't have to be complicated! Learn how to plan the perfect 2-3 day family trip that actually refreshes you. Melissa shares her proven formula for stress-free microvacations: finding affordable non-stop flights, choosing hotels with breakfast included, and picking compact destinations where you can maximize fun without the exhaustion of over-planning. Episo...

Get family travel planning tips from a mom who books 10-12 months ahead! Learn how to choose destinations based on your family's schedule, using points & miles, weather, flight routes and more. Family Travel Unpacked host Melissa shares her "Where to Go When" spreadsheet system, real examples from Costa Rica and Italy, and how to balance everyone's needs with you travel wit...

Discover how to book award travel with kids by checking next year's school calendar NOW. Learn why planning 10-12 months ahead unlocks the best points and miles redemptions for family trips. Host Melissa shares the one strategy that changed her family travel game: using next year's school district calendar to book award flights and hotels before availability disappears. Perfect for famil...

Travel with kids doesn't have to wait. Join host Melissa as she shares how her family travels MORE now than before having children—from Hawaii at 3 months old to a 2-year family gap year backpacking the world. In this debut episode of Family Travel Unpacked, Melissa introduces her 8-year journey running The Family Voyage and reveals the surprising truth: family travel became intentional, freq...