flywithlivBooking a trip, especially outside of your continent, can be quite tricky. You want to go during the good seasons so weather is great, but that also means prices are higher there are less accommodation options available and so on. It’s frustrating, stressful and can sometimes make you question whether all of the stress is worth it. Believe me, it is!!!
What to book first:
If you are going with people, first thing you need to do is make sure you know who you’re going with – and I don’t mean if they are your relatives, friends. You need to know what these people expect from your trip – do they want to sleep in hostels? Airbnb’s? Hotels? Do they have time limits of when they can go? Is there anything they are picky about? In the end, you will not be able to please everybody…. And that’s okay.
Usually on a big trip, there are 1-3 main people planning it who have great input and are really helpful. If not, then who are you travelling with ?! (Jokes).
Anyways, if it’s just you planning it, no worries, you get to call the shots on flights, places of stay, etc, so even better!
The first thing you want to figure out is how much time you have, and how flexible is your schedule.
The more flexible the better because flight prices can vary MAJORLY over even a weeks time.
If it’s possible to fly out on a Monday? Do it.
Booking flights
I go on Skyscanner, put my starting city and destination city, and plug in my desired dates of travel. You will see what comes up. The very first thing you want to look at is whether these flights get you directly to your destination, or do they have a layover/stopover in another country. The goal is to get a direct flight for the cheapest price.
If there is a direct flight, that’s great. If it’s relatively alright in price, you’re golden. You can skip through the dates and see how the flight prices compare on each day as well.
If your time is flexible, then im going to get you to do an extra step. Especially, If you are finding that the flight prices are abnormally high or if there is no direct flight on your desired dates. What you’re going to do is click on dates, and choose “specific month.” When you press enter, you will see the flight prices everyday for that month. And if you are doing a round trip you can see flight prices in the month for the way there and the way back, so you can be flexible with when you leave too.
Accommodations
These depend on the person and what they value from their place of stay – do you want to be close to the city centre? Do you want to be within walking distance from the beach? Would you rather sacrifice proximity for a beautiful accommodation instead?
I always say that realistically, I will only be sleeping at my accommodation. So I prefer to stay central in a less fancy place, than have a beautiful hotel room.
This also depends on what type of holiday you are having – is it a honeymoon? a birthday trip? Then maybe you want to stay somewhere nicer.
Are you with a family – will you be cooking meals together and need more room to stay in? Maybe you will be renting a car – then staying somewhere further and bigger is better for you.
Usually, the farther to stay from the city centre, the cheaper prices get, and accommodations get much more beautiful and fancy.
The con of this is you are farther away from the main attractions and you will have to figure out how to get places.
The closer you are to the city, the smaller and uglier accommodations become. However, you are near to all the attractions, usually only a walk away. If you are planning on being out all day and coming home late, then maybe this would be the best option for you!
Booking.com
- the more you book with them the better the rewards get
- Can contain great cheap finds but also beautiful fancy hotels
- Many places are cancellable and fully refundable within a month if your stay
- Will charge you later on
Airbnb
- can also contain great finds
- Look out for the service fee
- Most places charge right away and are not refundable
