Stretching vacation dollars on family travel

That's a tough problem that's achingly close to being an easy one -- maybe "eight is enough" on the old TV show, but eight is just one or two too many for ordinary pbuttenger cars and therir derivatives.

One man's opinions, worth what you paid if your connect time is cheap:

* Ixnay on the minivan. Even if a few minivans can theoretically seat 8, that doesn't mean 5 normal-sized adults and 3 fidgety kids will be happy in there for a couple thousand miles.

Also, all aspects of performance (including gas mileage) would be down because of the relatively heavy load. Without asking embarrbutting personal questions in the name of decimal places, let's just do some finite-napkin modeling and say you've got a thousand pounds of people and 500 pounds of luggage. Whoops, there goes the difference between the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and the curb weight of even the largest and most capable minivans. What does that mean? It means that even if you're okay, you're close to the margins and can't expect the vehicle to accelerate, brake, retain its composure in emergency maneuvers, smooth its way over bad pavement, or stretch a gallon of gas quite the way it would under a more normal burden. If you choose a minivan, drive accordingly.

Also, that third seat would probably occupy much of the luggage space, which might have the advantage of compelling everyone to travel light but could also force you into spoiling the aerodynamics with a roof-rack module.

* The biggest SUVs are marginally better in all these regards, but still, eight people is a lot, especially if five are adults. Last summer, we did alright with six of us and a weeks' baggage and some birthday presents in a Chevy Yukon for 300 miles each way, but I'm glad that we had only six rather than eight, and at that, two of 'em were medium-sized kids.

* While a full-size van would get several mpg less, you'll be more comfortable and much further within the vehicle's limits than with a minivan, and probably better off in the room and comfort department than with most SUVs. And the "MOM! He's LOOKING at me" behaviors will be several feet further away from the driver.

Just make sure it legally and comfortably seats eight -- might want to eyeball this rather than just look as a spec sheet. What starts as a nominal nine-pbuttenger van sometimes gets one or both of its benches replaced with captain's chairs in the conversion process, increasing comfort but knocking the pbuttenger capacity down to 6 or 7.

You can rent a 12- or even 15-pbuttenger van, but be careful not to push its handling capabilities too hard.

* An upside to renting two sedans instead of one big vehicle is more mobility at your destination, if that's an issue -- that way you don't leave everybody stranded if one person wants to make a side trip or run an errand.

* Finally, it might be worth looking into RV rental, though I suspect that both cost (this is a busy time of year) and pbuttenger-count limitations (limited to the number of seatbelts, which is often less than 8 even for a big Clbutt A) might rule that out.

Best of luck, --Joe

PS. I suggest getting all likely drivers authorized by the rental company for all vehicles at the outset. Having to interrupt your destination activities and troop down to the local outpost of the rental company to add a driver is kind of a pain -- BTDT.