Vacation as Gift - Need Ideas!

[Newbcruiser1]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm hoping you might be able to help me come up with some ideas. I'd love to start a "trip fund" for my parents to use on an upcoming trip, which I'll put money into for the next few birthdays, mothers day, fathers day, etc. I want them to be able to put the money towards a vacation of their choice whenever they choose to use it, whether it be in a few months or even next year. I can't make a huge contribution for each event, but just "something" to help out for them to put towards their next dream vacation.

 

My only problem is, how do I do this?! I thought about travel agency gift cards but I don't want them to be forced into using a specific agency or airline or anything. I don't want to give them cash because I want to make sure it gets added up and actually put towards a trip...

 

So how would YOU do it?! Start a bank account and put money in for each special occasion until they decide to "cash it out" and book something? Give cash and hope it's used how I want it to be? Is there something else I'm not thinking of?! I know all of you frequent travellers must have some great ideas, so please let me know what they are!

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[Roadtripster]

Been there done that! With parents and kids.

 

With parents sooooooooo hard to purchase anything for, I think this is a great idea.

 

For them (and me), I bought a "bank" that you can't open unless you break it. It was handmade. I could place money in it anytime I wanted to and they could too if they wanted. Others ended up placing change in it too while they were walking by it. We play cards alot and decided that who ever the winner is, their winnings would go in the "trip bank". You know those penny card games do add up. LOL

 

Other ideas could be a real bank account that you open up in your name and theirs and then when they want to cash it out, they can. That way, you can deposit anytime you want.

[Newbcruiser1]

Oooooh I love the idea of the "piggy-bank" type of thing! That's great! Then I'd have an actual item to give my mom (whose birthday is next week) and it will give my parents the chance to contribute to it as well when they choose to! It seems more tangible than a bank account (which is what I was originally thinking about).

[Iluvmypuggle]

That's a great idea to give your parents trip $$ for all the yearly gifts. One thing to think about is if they're going to be keeping so much cash in the house all the time, maybe you could purchase a small fire-safe box (if they don't have one already) and wrap that up as a safe-keeper for the trip $. I know that's preparing for the worse-case scenario, but better safe than sorry.

[Newbcruiser1]

One thing to think about is if they're going to be keeping so much cash in the house all the time, maybe you could purchase a small fire-safe box (if they don't have one already) and wrap that up as a safe-keeper for the trip $

 

Wow - that's a good point as well. The idea to open a bank account is actually growing on me now.

 

Perhaps I could do a combination - a bank account for large amounts, and a cute jar for small contributions (like my parents' change), and when the jar fills up, add it to the bank account, while continuing to make deposits for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. What do you think?

[Roadtripster]

That would work as long as the piggy bank can open without breaking it.

 

You could also open an account in your name and put the real money in it, and when you want to give money as a gift to your parents, make up a cute cetificate with the amount on it and then keep that in the piggy bank. Then when it comes time to deposit in the real bank, you can keep track and see the total that is suppose to be in the real bank.

[Newbcruiser1]

That's a great idea! Thank you! :)