galelstorm

OK, maybe I'm just so excited I'm beside myself-true. It's my (our) first trip to Italy- Venezia, Umbria, Roma, Positano, Sicilia. If the airlines don't have dates one year out, and you can't explore rates on, for example, farecompare.com, how does one in turn reserve lodging in the places they are hoping to stay? Will proprietors take a guesstimate on dates of stay? I'm dying to send out e mails to try and reserve things now. Help please!

sandi_travelnut

Deeeeep Breath.....

You are a little too far out to reserve right now, IMO. I think you could probably in just a couple of months, as soon as the calendars are updated. You can send emails to the places you wish to stay and see if they will take your information BUT if the dates are still estimates why would you want to?

StCirq

I think you are indeed overexcited.

Obviously, it's risky to book accommodations (even if you could - and there are plenty of hotels and B&Bs that won't take reservations that far in advance)before you know you've actually got a seat on a flight. So....you don't.

galelstorm

sandi_travelnut-OK deep breathing exercises...I'll try. You are totally correct in "why would I want to" send e mails now when I can't solidify anything. I see that Luftansa has opened up flights through March '09 so it's probably safe to assume that six months is the key putting me sometme in April before I can book airfare and lodging. Would that be accurate? Thanks for your efforts to calm my excitement and your most logical response.
StCirq-My excitement is pretty darn obvious, huh? I definitely do not want to make any mistakes with ANY of my reservations for this trip so I will wait...impatiently perhaps...dreaming and planning all the way! Thank you!

ira

Hi G,

I often start my planning more than a year in advance.

I check rates for May if I'm going in Sept or VV.

ira

PS,

You won;t be able to make reservations for 2009 until after Jan 1, mostly.

galelstorm

Ira - I'm glad I'm not too far out of the ballpark so to speak. It is very exciting to research and see the many places to stay, tour, eat, etc. And of course this website had me hooked long ago. So after Jan. 1, huh? I thought I'd probably have to endure a bit more time before I could see flight availability. Thanks!

TRSW

gale,

I really do understand your excitement. I remember my first trip to Italy and how after I booked the plane tickets I thought the trip would never get here.

But until you do start booking things, use the wealth of information others here can provide you. Ask questions, use the search function. And, IMHO, you can get a ton of useful info from reading various trip reports. A lot have restaurant, tour, hotel and more recommendations.

Tom

november_moon

We are getting ready to book tickets for our 2nd trip to Europe - using frequent flyer miles for a trip next September, so we can't quite reserve our spots yet - but boy am I itching to do so!!!

I completely understand the excitement. Our first trip we used miles as well and booked 11 months in advance. I don't think I made any hotel reservations until about 6 months out though. In the mean time I researched like crazy.

One thing that I do to pass the time before a trip and not drive myself (and my husband) insane is to read books about my destination - not just travel books, but history books, fiction set in the area I will be visiting, memoirs, biographies, etc. I put together a list and then start reading. I find it a wonderful way to prepare for a trip that is so many months away because it gets me in the frame of mind for the trip, I learn a bunch about the area, and it almost makes me think the trip is coming too quickly because I never get through the reading list before the trip - LOL.

sandi_travelnut

Don't get me wrong, I start doing my research a year or more in advance..there's nothing wrong with that!! It's making reservations so far in advance, when dates are solid and you have no seats on the plane yet. You should nail down your flight first, since that's the one thing that'll blow the deal out of the water; not being able to get there at all!

RufusTFirefly

I you can find a place you like that will take reservations this far in advance, and they have a decent cancellation policy, there's no reason not to make a reservation now. As long as you don't mind making changes and/or cancellations later if need be.

galelstorm

TRSW - I wholeheartedly agree with you with regard to this website. I'm addicted and there are so many wonderful trip reports with great information to glean. And I love reading about the food in ekscrunchy's reports.
November Moon - We too hope to utilize points for one of our tickets. I have read a lot here and in a couple of travel books I have but to read about the history is a fabulous idea. I love history and this will open up another avenue to keep my brain occupied. I will research and compile my list this weekend! Thank you so much.
sandi_travelnut - I definitely did not take you wrong. It's just so hard to wait. I feel like an excited puppy waiting to go for a passegiata! I want to plan this trip with the utmost care so everything goes smoothly. AND I know to be flexible enough to roll with the punches, come what may.
RufusT - I would prefer making one absolutely solid reservation for each area we plan to stay in. Having to change everything would make me a bit less secure I think. Thank you for your input!