Having been in the travel business for many years, I have a pretty good
acumen for trip planning as well as understanding the psyche of the traveler. The best advice I can give to a prospective traveler would be - Make sure you plan your vacation as far in advance as possible. This tip is especially true if you are planning to travel during the Christmas Holidays or during the peak travel months to a popular vacation destination.

If you’re planning an extended vacation to Europe, Asia (or any other destination) for more than 2 weeks, you can probably “wing it” for most of your trip. Just make sure you’ve covered the basics – R/T airfare from your destination, accommodations for the first 2 nights and the last night of your trip – the rest can be impromptu.

If you’re planning a 1-2 week stay, I suggest that the itinerary be planned well in advance and hotels booked for the duration of the trip – there is simply not enough time to improvise or travel spontaneously. Unlike most Europeans, Americans cannot have an extended vacation - they are usually limited to 7-14 days.

Let’s face, it everybody (and their mother) would like to travel out over the Christmas Holidays, Dec. 20-27 or Dec 26–Jan 2/3 (the first Sunday after New Years) - these are real prime time dates, and there is extremely limited availability for affordable airline seats or hotel rooms. It is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Many people have come to me a month or so before departure, expecting me to make arrangements for those dates only to be severely disappointed when I tell them there is nothing available, or airline seats are only available at outrageously high fares. They shake their head in bewilderment. My suggestion is - Book for the Christmas Holidays no later than early July or 6 months in advance.

For travel during the peak summer months of July / August as well as January/February to the Caribbean, Mexico or to other popular resort destinations, you should book at least 2 months in advance in order to avoid major disappointment

How about me? I took take care of all my arrangements for my upcoming trip to Southeast Asia, November 18-December 30 over 2 months ago!

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Tags: Vacation planning

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 11:01 am and is filed under Commentary, Commentary, Costa Rica, Thailand, nature, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.