by Matt Scheel
Booking vacations online has become extremely popular. In fact,
online travel bookings currently generate more sales than any
other product or service sold on the internet - and the number
of online bookings are expected to almost triple from 1999-2004.
Unfortunately, this boom in online travel booking does not mean
that everybody is saving money, or planning appropriately.
1. Pick out a perfect location
A vacation should "take you away" from your daily routine so you
can forget your problems and hassles. To do this, you need to
find a place that will feed you forward to thinking about what
you are doing on your trip, not what you left behind.
Psychologists call this "sidetracking" your problems, that is,
going to a new environment to get away from reminders of daily
routines and give yourself a fresh start. Look for discount
travel clubs for a great source of destination variety. Many
timeshares often go unfilled and vacation clubs often offer
their members the opportunity to stay at vacant timshares for
very low rates - around $200-$300 total for 7 nights/8 days in
condos or suites that sleep anywhere from 2 to 6 people (the
price is regardless of how many actually stay). Packages like
this are available at great destinations all over the world.
All-inclusive resorts and/or cruises can be a great deal. Often
the price of a travel club membership can be saved in just one
trip. For example, my financee and I will be spending 7 nights
on a cruise ship, 3 nights at an all-inclusive resort, and 7
nights at a timeshare property in Acapulco next fall, then
flying back. A 17 night honeymoon all for under $2500 - thanks
to membership in a travel club (in our case, Club Travelogia,
but there are others).
2. Consider the cost
The last thing a vacation should do is give you more to worry
about! Set aside a budget for your trip and stick to it. You
don't necessarily have to spend a great deal of money to have a
great vacation. Your two biggest expenses will be airfare
(discussed below) and lodging (discussed above).
3. Convenient transportation
Consider how you will get to your destination conveniently at a
resonable price. You might find a very cheap price on airfare,
but it involves multiple layovers for long periods, or traveling
at odd hours. In some cases the savings in money is worth it,
but just as often as not people wish they had paid a little more
for more convenient transportation.
Starting this past fall a new piece of software called
BoardingPass has made finding the lowest airfares a piece of
cake. BoardingPass is free software that guarantees the lowest
fare on the Internet by searching 28 airlines sites, plus
Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, and CheapTickets, simultaneously.
It has already been rated #1 by Forbes, Oprah's Oxygen network
and other media giants. It's free and definitely worth checking
out.
4. Plan activites for your trip
You don't want to make so many plans that you end up
substituting a busy schedule with deadlines at home with one on
your trip. But you should have some idea what you want to do
while you are on vacation. What sites do you want to see? Are
there sporting events you'd like to go to? Try to do things on
your trip that you can't do at home. Along with lodging and
travel discounts, many travel clubs offer extra perks like
discounts at amusement parks, ski resorts, sightseeing tours, or
restaurants.
If you plan to do quite a bit of traveling, joining a travel
club might be a great investment for you. The money you spend on
the club can be saved with benefits, plus you have a better
chance of avoiding the worst waste of all, the time and money
wasted on a bad trip that was poorly planned. Of course, you can
plan great trips without being in any club, just make sure you
address the points mentioned above before you embark on your
journey. You'll be glad you did.
Matt Scheel is a Club Executive at TraveLogia.com. Please feel
free to visit his site for more money saving options by becoming
a free online member of Club TraveLogia and/or downloading a
copy of BoardingPass software absolutely free:
www.sparks.travelogia.com