With so many online resources it is easy to plan the perfect vacation. Or is it? The plethora of options for searching and booking flights, hotels and rental cars can make the whole process overwhelming. Most of us love going on vacation, but many don’t like to plan it themselves because it’s time consuming. To make life easier, I’ll share a few simple tips for quickly and easily planning your dream vacation. Sometimes quick and easy doesn’t mean finding the best deal, so I’ll also provide a few tips for obtaining the lowest price you can. There’s nothing worse than buyer’s remorse. If you still don’t want to do the work, contact me, and I’ll do the search for you and provide recommendations for you to book.
Table of Contents
Flights
When searching for flights, it’s important to consider both price and timing- when it leaves and duration of travel. It’s best to conduct your search 60-90 days before you travel. This timing typically provides the best available flights at the best prices. Tuesday is the best day of the week to perform your search. This is when airlines typically drop their prices. Tuesday is also often the best travel day if you want to keep your price lower.
The simplest way to search for flights on multiple airlines all at once is to use Google Flights. Once again, Google comes to the rescue with a powerful tool that aggregates flight data from all the major airlines into one site. Simply enter your home airport, destination and dates of travel. Google will then display the best departing flights. Click on the flight to select your return flight. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Continue” to be routed to the airline’s website to book your flight.
If you’re flexible with location and want to search for flights in a particular price range, Google offers a handy tool. At the top of the mobile site or the left hand side of the desktop site, click the “Explore” icon. Input only your departing location. You can then input specific dates of travel or flexible dates, i.e. a one week vacation in March. Google will then provide a list of flights to popular locations, typically listing the least expensive first.
To further narrow your search, use the filter buttons just below the date fields. There are filters for such things as airline, interest and duration. Unless you have a very specific interest, I recommend not using too many filters so you’ll see as many options as possible.
One piece of advice to keep in mind when using Google Flights is that many of the cheapest flights are with low cost carriers like Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant. These carriers often charge extra for carry-on bags and seat selection. Don’t be too quick to jump at their seemingly dirt cheap flights. You might be better off with one of the major carriers like American or Delta.
For those booking multiple tickets, if you want to spend a little extra time with your search, there is one extra step that could save you a significant amount of money. A trick the airlines like to keep to themselves is that ticket prices can fluctuate based upon the number of tickets you’re buying at once. To beat them at their own game, perform your initial flight search for one traveler. Once you’ve decided which flight to book, re-perform the search on the airline’s website using the number of tickets you need. If, for example, the per ticket price of buying four tickets is higher than buying one, then purchase each of the four tickets separately. You can then call the airline and ask them to link the tickets into one itinerary.
Hotels and Vacation Homes
As with flight options, there are a plethora of ways to go about booking hotels and vacation homes. Your best bet for tackling this project quickly and easily is to use an aggregator like Expedia. Expedia typically offers some of the lowest prices you can find. The site provides a list of hotels, resorts and inns for your destination. It also conveniently displays homes and condos available for rent. These are often VRBO properties, but since Expedia owns VRBO, the homes are listed alongside the hotels so you have one stop shopping. If you’re only interested in seeing a particular type of property, use the filters to choose whether you want to see hotels or homes.
Many properties prefer if you book directly with them instead of Expedia. If you happen to be a rewards member of one of the larger hotel chains, like Marriott or Hilton, you might be able to find a cheaper price by booking directly at the hotel. If you’re so inclined, that would involve only a minimal amount of extra time to search the hotel’s site directly.
Rental Cars
The easiest way to find the best deal on a rental car is to use an aggregator called AutoSlash. The site is very straightforward and simple to use. Unlike many sites, after you input where you’re going and when, the service will email you a list of the best deals it finds. The best part about AutoSlash is that if you book a rental car from their list of choices, the site continually tracks the price of your rental and alerts you if the price decreases. If a price decreases, simply cancel the existing reservation and rebook at the lower price.
Price tracking is the best feature of AutoSlash since rental car prices are constantly fluctuating. Unlike flights and hotels, the prices typically go down the closer you get to your vacation. That’s why it’s important to secure an advance reservation and monitor the price a week or less before you travel.
Vacation Packages
The ultimate in ease of travel planning is to use one booking site, like Expedia or airline sites, to book a hotel, flight and car rental package. If ease and simplicity is the most important factor to you when it comes to vacation planning, then a package might be your best option. The problem I see with packages is that you can often find better prices when booking each travel component separately. If you prefer to book a vacation package, there are a few things to keep in mind.
The first is that you will be more limited in lodging choices. Vacation packages typically include the larger, most popular hotels and resorts. If you prefer inns, boutique hotels or homes, you’ll have a harder time finding a package. As for flights, vacation packages typically provide good flight options, but you often need to pay a little extra to get a non-stop flight or one at your preferred time of day.
It’s certainly worth exploring vacation packages, though I recommend them for last minute travel or if you’re booking a few months in advance of travel. Those are the times you can typically score the best deals. That being said, it is best to check prices individually before committing.
A great vacation starts with smart vacation planning. With the tips I provided, you should be able to easily plan your next great adventure. If you have any questions about the process, feel free to get in touch with me.
