Just curious what other people do in terms of planning and booking trips--air, hotel, car rentals, itinerary, etc? I usually like to book a trip 3-4 months in advance, but lately have been booking more last minute. Any advice for how early to book? Has anyone actually found advantages in booking later?

I started researching my trip late last summer. Right after X-mas, I started watching the airfares hoping they would drop. They didn't, so I booked in Feb. Of course, not 2 wks later, Orbitz or was it Expedia has a sale for r/t from San Fran to Lon for $253.00. Can you believe it? I paid 1134.00 pp. Oh well! I even tried to see if I could get in on that, but it sold out so fast.

Once I got my air, I started booking everything else. I am leaving Tues and am still finalizing everything. I am not into waiting till the last minute.

I suppose if you're real flexible w/dates and times, you could find some deals but I'm traveling w/kids and needed things a little more set.

Good Luck!

I've planned 2 trips to Europe in the last 8 years and each time started making arrangements about 6 months in advance. Although I started "planning" the trip at least a year in advance. For me planning is half the fun.

The "ideas" to me could be there for months or even years...I read a lot of guide books and tend to just absorb information. With overseas stuff I like to have airline tickets purchased at least two months ahead (hotels I may do even before that if I have my eye on a place in particular), though I have certainly popped over to London with little more than a week's notice..

I started thinking about my September (2006) trip last October(2005), so 11 months ahead. I didn't book my airfare until January (2006). Followed by my accomodation reservations in late January.

I'm going to Croatia and found that renting apartments/rooms is less expensive then hotels and can be nerve wracking when dealing with apartmetn owners who don't respond to emails! And, I wanted to book early since Croatia is becoming quite the "hot spot" for vacations (Thanks to Matt Lauer tooting Dubrovnik last year!)

So all that was arranged 9 months prior to my trip departure. Just this week I reserved a rental car and now all the planning is done!

Now I'm thinking of my fall 2007 trip and that's more than a year away...yes it is a disease with me...I am a trave-A-holic!

Planning is in the final stages for our October trip to Amsterdam and Bruges. In other words, flights and hotels are booked.

But we planned (if you could call it that!) our April trip to Venice, Bologna, and Verona in 10 days!

Either way works fine for us.

Byrd

I booked my airline ticket 2 weeks ago and I am not leaving until 4/17/2007. I am going to Rome, Florence, Venice & Paris and probably a few day trips along the way. I've booked my rooms for both Paris & Florence. As with others I find such joy in planning and researching my trips.

I start a year in advance because of the need to book upgrades very early on.

Maybe no more than 6 months....but I start hoping and thinking about it earlier.

I like to book airfare and hotels way in advance. I think the earliest I've booked anything was eight months in advance. If it's an event I have to attend, I like to nail down the details ASAP. Like others here, I find the planning half the fun.

This July 4th weekend, we're going to try something new and use a last minute deal website to book a little getaway someplace. This is a totally new approach for me, and I'm very excited about it!

Sunny, I'd love to know how July 4 works out. I recently booked a last-minute getaway and had a fabulous time.

I usually decide the location about a year in advance - or more. Actual planning, research, etc., I usually start about nine months ahead. I'm a little leery about doing the last minute thing, but I'd like to give it a try some day just to shake things up a little bit.

Since I almost never schedule last-minute, I have no personal experience if booking later or earlier has more advantages.

Let's see -- vague planning over a year before (already thinking about northern Italy in Sept 2007, before leaving for my Ireland June 2006 trip -- which was planned starting July 2005).

Airfare is usually within 4-5 months, when a sale hits. The sale you were talking about, namaka, was Travelocity -- I got tix from MIA to LON in June for $488 including tax, then cheap flights to SNN from there. That was in Feb.

Everything else falls in after airfare is secure.

Beth: We have a standing rule...do not discuss our next trip until we're on the plane coming home from current trip...that could be anywhere from 6 months to one year in advance depending on our long range travel plans. I rough out an itinerary and pass it across the aisle to DW..and it's back and forth for a good part of the flight.
I agree with many others...planning is a bloomin' aphrodisiac!

Stu T.

It depends; when I first started travelling, I booked a trip as far as 4 months in advance.

For my upcoming trip to Europe (next week), I booked everything in the middle of last month. The world is such an unpredictable place, what with terrorism, f/x rates, potential flu outbreaks, etc. that I just can't see myself booking a trip a year in advance. But that's just me.

I am annoyingly type A, so I am on the computer 330days before my trip looking for my airfare. We always book apartments so I start at least a year ahead. I reserved our apartments for our May 2006 Venice, Cinque Terre, and Bruges trip in May 2005. I loved planning the trip. Our next adventure will be China in 2008. lynclarke

I am always three trips ahead; case in point I am in the process of planning attending a work conference in Italy (Bologna) in June 2007, a 10-day trip to Northern Spain in July 2007, and a two-week trip to Australia for Dec 2007 (Hubby's request). Also throw in the mix that I travel constantly for work within the US and come the fall I will need to travel with some frequency to Monterrey, Mexico. All of these trips are already on the works. I have folders w/bookmarks in each with the trip title. I book the hotel typically two months ahead; buy the tickets 4 months ahead. Works like a charm.