My family and I received 4 flight vouchers from TranAir in February and will expire one year from the date issued. We'd like to do a family vacation over New Year's since the kids are off from school. We do not travel very often, our last trip was to the Everglades, Florida. We have two children 5 and 8. We enjoy outdoor and environmental aspects of travel and hope to get out of the Wisconsin cold winter for a week. Do you have any suggestions on a destination? Would you recommend pulling the kids from school for a week to avoid heavy travel traffic? (I'm not even sure one can use free flight vouchers over a holiday!) My husband threw out the idea of the Florida Keys...I thought maybe San Fransico but not sure the kids are old enough to enjoy it. Any ideas or suggestions to get us to a starting point are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!

Phoenix, Az - if they fly there. Fun hiking, wild west ghost towns, warm in February, good food . . .

I'm assuming you mean AirTran?

Over New Year's your only fairly guaranteed warm spots are very southern Florida or out west. What about San Diego? That is a lovely place to visit.

The other thing you can do is fly to Ft. Lauderdale and catch another flight to the Caribbean or a cruise. If you don't go at New Year's, you can find some cheap flights on Spirit out of Ft. Lauderdale. They have those $9 deals, but I think they are tough to get.

Yeah I meant AirTran...I guess that's a clue how little we travel... thanks for the correction and the suggestions.

Just making sure you weren't referencing some odd airline that only flies to Saskatoon and Boise.

I would think that TranAir would fly between Provincetown and San Francisco.

Ooohhh...

Now I'm imagining the flight attendants.

How about southern California? Some time at the beach, Disneyland, etc.

I agree with Suze and it may be less expensive then Florida.

San Francisco can be cold during the winter. Rainy and cold.
There is something that is very popular with the people who live in California. That is the elephang seals. You do have to make reservations in advance.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523

There is always LA and Disneyland, Universal Studios and Knotts Berry Farm.

http://www.nps.gov/sagu/ The Saguaro National Park might be interesting. And if the weather was good you could drive to the Grand Canyon.

I second mp's suggestion of Phoenix.

I would do San Diego/ SoCal or a cruise to Caribbean out of Florida. Cruises are fabulous for kids that age. They have so many entertaining kids programs and that allows you to relax and enjoy your vacations as well.

A good start would be to read the fine print on your vouchers to see if there are blackout dates, or to call AirTran and ask. You might have to call 6 times and talk to 6 different people before you get a straight answer....but why plan a holiday trip if your voucher isn't valid over the holidays?

Again I'll pitch southern California, either Los Angeles or San Diego. Besides all the city things, there are beautiful beaches, and many state and national parks you could visit with a rental car.

Another idea is to fly to San Diego or LA and take a week long cruise to Mexico. They have activities for children all day. The cruises are not expensive and they run specials.

My sister and her entire family went for one week - cost was about $600 per person. If you are interested, I can find out which cruise line it was.

There are some listed on travelocity.

sunny71, We have had 6 round trip vouchers on Air Tran over the last 2 years. We got ours in February both years and unless things have changed with them, as long as you book the flight before the voucher expires you can book the flight anytime after the expiration date. It has been just fabulous! Before the increase in fares, with the vouchers we were allowed one free change on each ticket.

We are using one of ours this year to go to San Juan, Puerto Rico, can't wait.

Can you use the vouchers on their partner airline Frontier? If so, possible destinations (mostly from Denver) include Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Cozumel and San Jose, Costa Rica.

You cannot use the vouchers on Frontier.

my vote to san diego. the world reknown zoo & seaworld should thrill both your young ones. beach, great shopping and restaurants..sounds like an all-out winner in my book.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. This info is exactly what I was hoping for. I think we're leaning toward San Diego or a cruise. mp, when you suggested Phoenix, my husband thought we should make a visit to his brother in Sierra Vista....Oh brother!!
bratsandbeer, if you are able to get the name of the cruise your sister took I will welcome the recommendation from her. Juldie, thanks for the vote of confidence using the vouchers, I made a call to confirm there are not black out dates. Grateful to everyone who took the time to repsond to my request, lots of good ideas!