After my graduation in June 2011, I am planning on taking a trip. How can I begin preparing for a trip ahead of time? –Submitted by Rose
Great question and kudos to you for thinking about how you are going to celebrate an important milestone in your life. Not only will you be able to save up money but you can also sometimes secure discounts for reserving and paying for a trip in advance.
Some considerations:
-Are you planning to travel immediately after graduation or are you going to wait until later in the summer? The June to August timeframe is quite busy for popular destinations like Europe. If you want to avoid the crowds, take a look at the Southern Hemisphere where you can find mild weather and low prices. Some ideas include South America, Australia, and New Zealand. Set on a European holiday? Consider waiting until after Labor Day to head to Europe. The prices will drop dramatically and the crowds with subside.
-Would you like to do an organized tour or independent travel? For organized tours, you probably won’t see the 2010-2011 brochures until this fall. If you are looking at a brochure from this season, do know that tours are often tweaked based on customer feedback so you may notice changes when the new catalogue comes out. For independent travel, you have a lot more flexibility. Some hotels will accept your bookings now but you’re probably better off waiting until the year mark hits officially.
-You may notice that an error comes up if you try to book a flight for too far out. Want to know why? Most airlines only allow bookings 333 days before travel. And yes, if you opt for a round trip ticket, you will have to wait until 333 days from your return travel day to ticket. Some airlines, especially when using frequent flyer miles, will let you call to book the first leg and place it on hold until the time thresholds have passed for the return leg.
So, what’s a girl to do?
- Start looking at destinations and get a general idea of what you’d like to do and see so you can ensure it makes it to the final itinerary. It never hurts to start doing some web research but I would hold off on buying a book until the trip gets closer so you get the most recent edition.
- Save money! You have a lot of time to save, which is great! Consider setting up a special travel account and encourage friends and family to contribute to that account instead of other gifts at birthdays or other holidays. Cha-ching…your travel budget will grow exponentially! If a Contiki Holidays trip is looking interesting, you can even set up a registry for your trip and people can pay Contiki directly on your behalf.
- If you have firm dates, mark the 333 day more on your calendar or put a reminder in your phone. Airlines often have a small supply of the deeply discounted seats which are first come, first serve. If you want to use frequent flyer miles, you will have the best luck of using them if you book early.
- Lastly, does your dream destination have a language requirement? You have plenty of time to take a class. Planning to do something that involves lots of physical exertion like climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro? Create a fitness plan now so you’ll be in tip-top shape.
Answered by DIWYY co-founder, Kristina Wegscheider. Ask your travel question by emailing her at [email protected].
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