Travel Planning 101
Whether you prefer to do-it-yourself when it comes to vacation planning or book through a travel agent, these travel tips will ensure your trip is terrific.
By Janet Peterson
Got a yearning to travel? Maybe you want to leave winter behind and find a sunny and warm spot. Or would you love to take a cruise and enjoy the pampering and relaxation of calm days on the water?
Once you decide your destination and time frame, the next question is who will arrange the travel details. Basically, there are two choices: do-it-yourself travel planning or contacting a travel agent.
Do-It-Yourself Travel Planning
If you are computer savvy and like to pay attention to details, then do-it-yourself travel planning is for you. Comparison shopping and travel arrangements are now all made possible by the Internet. Many travel websites, such as Expedia.com, Kayak.com, Hotwire.com, or Priceline.com, gather comparisons of prices on flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities. Individual airline websites allow booking without an extra fee, whereas making that same reservation over the phone will cost a minimum of $25 per ticket.
If you are willing to invest a chunk of your time in searching the Internet, you can save a considerable amount of money on the major components of traveling, i.e. flights, hotels, or car rentals, as well as in booking day tours, entrance fees to museums, for example, or tickets to a sporting event.
Guidebooks, whether hard copy or digital, offer professional recommendations for countries or specific cities, such as Paris or New York City, and can help immensely in your planning as well as while traveling. Fodors, Frommers, Lonely Planet, and Rick Steve’s series are commonly consulted guidebooks.
Flexibility is a key to saving money. Avoiding travel to popular places at peak times (think Disneyland at Christmas or Mexico during spring break), will yield not only dollars saved but smaller crowds. Also, remember that airfares are lower on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday when business travelers are not generally flying.
Making your own arrangements gives you flexibility in your travel plans. You can explore the back roads of an area, attend a game of your favorite sports team, or visit a village in England where your ancestors lived.
If you want to stay in one area for a more than few days or even a month or more, renting a condo or a home will generally be less expensive than a hotel—and since these residences typically have fully functioning kitchens, you will save money on food by eating one or more meals a day at “home.” You can book vacation rentals through vrbo.com or other similar sites, thus eliminating a middleman booking agent.
Finally, ask others for advice. Travel forums, chat rooms, and blogs, such as travel.com, tripadvisor.com, or travelblog.org, provide you with reviews and recommendations from other travelers. Plus, most have a Q&A section where you can ask about certain destinations, transportation, activities, food, and cautions.
Relax! Travel Agents Can Do It for You
Making all your own arrangements can be time-consuming and sometimes stressful. Long before the Internet and the age of do-it-yourself, travel agencies did the planning work for travelers. For many seniors, the vacation begins even before they leave home when they leave the details to professional planners. Travel agents’ benefits include the following:
Knowledge. A good travel agent can provide valuable information about a location, travel arrangements, accommodations, attractions, social customs, tours, and restaurants.
Fallback. When something goes awry, such as a missed flight or hotel overbooking, a travel agency likely offers 24/7 help to resolve the problem.
Details. The more complex a travel itinerary is, the more details are involved. An experienced travel agent is trained to account for such things as time zone changes, baggage restrictions, connections at airports, transfers or local transportation, and safety guidelines.
Access. A travel agent can find you optimum fares, promotions, and discounted cruises and hotel prices through their professional connections.
Time. Because a travel agent will make the arrangements you request, you will not have to spend your time doing so.
Unlike the old days of travel when agents received commissions for booking airfares, a travel agency now charges usually a minimum fee of $35 to book airline tickets. Some travel agents charge you for the time spent making arrangements. Ask for fee information up front so you can decide whether using a travel agent fits your travel budget.
Before you decide which planning route to take, consider your time constraints, finances, and personality. Some of us prefer to let someone else worry about the details, while others enjoy the learning experience. Whether you choose to try do-it-yourself travel planning or hire a travel agent, enjoy your trip!