eurotravler

How do you handle your trip planning when planning a trip 9 - 12 months in advance. Make lodging reservations first and then book you airline tickets or first purchase your airline ticket and then book your lodging?

gottatravel_europe

ummmm wouldn't it make more sense to get your tickets first so you would know if you were even going to be in the country at the time of your lodging reservation?

ira

Hi trav,

This far in advance you can make hotel reservations, which you can always cancel if you find a better place, while looking for cheap air fares.

rex

Indeed, it can be a chicken and egg matter for certain kinds of indecision/uncertainty.

The price of your airfare is likely to be the single most expensive ONE item - - which coud vary as much as 100% (i.e., x to 2x), but your lodging will be your largest COLLECTIVE item (often 2x to 4x). Thus, if it is about splurging for one particular place, especially for an extended stay, it may indeed boil down to how the whole budget and timetable wil come together.

And the item too many novices overlook is INTRA-Europe transportation cost(s).

I think you have to tackle it from both directions, with a clear idea on how set, or how flexible you are on dates, budgets and expectations.

Generally speaking where are you thinking to go, and when? and from where?

All these things enter into how to approach planning many months in advance.

Best wishes,

Rex

Statia

I typically book airfare first, then lodging.

Wednesday

Book first what is easiest and cheapest to change or cancel with no fee. I would think that would be hotel in most cases.

elberko

By the time good airfares show up, the better budget hotels are booked, so I do hotels first (make sure of cancellation policies first).

Working on a rough itinerary, I book my hotels, giving myself an extra day at the beginning or end to allow for adjustments after I buy plane tickets.

As soon as I buy the plane tickets, I contact hotels with my adjustments. Never had a problem doing it this way.

MFNYC

I also do airfare first. I periodically check the airfare of different possible itineraries. WHen I see a good airfare I grab it (usually start looking around 6-8 mo. in advance), then do hotels. Carefully check cancellation policies at hotels though, just to make sure you can cancel if something better comes along. I found some great fares in the fall ($394 for multi leg journey nyc-madrid-london-nyc, all nonstop), last time I checked it was nearly 4x that for the same dates!

elaine

I do hotels first, being sure of their cancellation policies.
Then when I lock in my airfare, I make sure the hotel dates are still exactly what I need--may have to adjust by a day or two in order to get a better airfare.

But there's no hard and fast rule. If I'm planning a budget trip and know that many of the best economical hotels book a year in advance, I may let that drive my decision-making. On the other hand, as rex points out, airfare is the single-biggest nut to crack. If I get a good deal on that, I can always search diligently to find an acceptable hotel.

I just got back from a 4-day visit to London. My decisions on dates and budget were driven by a low air fare.
After that, I trolled around for an inexpensive hotel, and found several that had openings, but then again, it's winter time.

RufusTFirefly

I normally do lodgings first, if they have a reasonable cancellation policy. They are generally easier to change if need be.

Judy

Usually we have certain hotels in mind when planning a trip. I'll book these first, again checking cancellation policies, and search for airline bargains closer to the date. We are not that particular regarding flights and can be satisfied with anything that gets us where we want to go. Lodging's more important to us so we concentrate on that first.

ncgrrl

First, I get the vaction time approved at work. Then I look at what the going airfare is, then I book hotel, specialty tickets, and when the airfare drops, I book that.

capo

Very good question. For all my vactions -- Europe, Mexico, and domestic -- I've always purchased my airline ticket first, and then worked on finding good-value accomdations. The only way I'd consider doing it in the reverse fashion would be if there was a hotel I just <i>had</i> to stay in but, so far, that's never been the case.

Underhill

I just finished planning our trip to France next September. My method is to first sit down with a good map or maps and plot the route. Then, using the red and green Michelin guides I began planning the itinerary. Next came the hotels, which I booked in October and November. Finally came the airfare for the transatlantic flight, as I kept hoping--it was futile--that the amount would drop. Today I bought air tickets for the Nice to Paris portion of the trip, and in mid-June I will buy the TGV component, as you can't do so more than 3 months in advance.

This is pretty much the way I've approached each trip, as I like to hae everything worked out well in advance.

Scarlett

Airlines. We go for the flight times we prefer, that much in advance, we are able to be more picky about times and all.
We usually have a few ideas for lodging and book those a little later..although one time, we booked everything in February for an October trip.

Thyra

I always book air first, that gives me an enormous amount of flexibility for departure dates. A fair can be 500.00 more expensive within any given 7 day period.

Furthermore, often hotels won't quote 6-12 months in advance IF that is into a new year, as most hotels plan to raise their rates in January. Typically I book the airfare as soon as I see a decent price... often months in advance. Then I spend a few months researching where I want to go in-between and what sights I am interested, then between 2.5 months and a few weeks I start booking the hotels.

kaudrey

You guys are all so industrious. I've never planned a trip that far in advance! Maybe it's because I usually travel offseason...

I am going to Spain next month. I bought my airfare in early December and started booking hotels after that, reserving the last one right before X-mas.

I am tentatively going to New Mexico in August, but I won't even think about booking anything for that until the spring!

Karen

nanb

You have already gotten so many answers, but I think alot of it depends on what is important to you.

for all 3 past trips, and now with the 4th this spring, I have always booked a place first, then done tickets later.

On our first trip we wanted an apartment in rome that had 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths,plus I really wanted a terrace.
as they are not that easy to come by, when it was available was the first thing I dealt with.
and I found that a year , for this specific apartment was NOT too soon to book!

If you have your heart set on a specific location-villa-apt. etc, booking first, then airline tickets is the way to go.

If I could just wing it, I would probably do the airfare first, grabbing a bargin.
But, with school aged children, I need to plan around specific times.

whcih ever way you go, have fun planning,
I think I have become addicted to that part as much as I have the actual traveling

JonJon

I always book the airfare first which means, to me, that I am GOING and then I decide where I am going to stay. I tend to be much more flexible about accommodations than the dates of departure and return. Admittedly, there have been times when subsequent to booking the air the prices have fallen but I figure that is just one of those chances you take.

Dave_

I always start with the flights. I can sometimes be flexible about the dates I travel and a few days can make all the difference for airfare.

I often use open-jaw flights so once I have these booked, I start researching how long I want to spend in the different places, what areas I want to stay and only then does the hotel search really begin.

But I am never too concerned what particular hotel I stay at in any given place so if my first choice happened to be booked up I wouldn't mind.

It's funny but I'd never thought if doing it the other way round.