How do you do it? What resources do you use? I find the whole thing of flights, hotels, rental cars, and activity planning quite intimidating. I've never had to do it before.

Roadtrippers but for RV trips. Don’t do enough other travel to warrant detail planning

That would greatly depend on where you want to go



My Smokin' Hot Wife does most of it, she's good at it too

quote:

How do you do it? What resources do you use?

I start with a destination. For example, if I was going to Palm Springs, I'd look for hotels/lodging in that area. AAA works, Google, AARP, etc.

Next would be the air travel. What does my closest airport service? If I have a membership on Southwest, I'd look for accommodations there first. If it doesn't matter, then whatever airline would get me there....

Thirdly, I'd look for any "packages" being offered. AAA sometimes offers hotel and airfare for less that you could get individually. Some hotels offer car rental and reduced room rates.

Evaluate everything and take what is best for you....

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Originally posted by BigSwede:
That would greatly depend on where you want to go

I love the South. I'd like to see the Carolinas. Would rather go there and spend my money over most places. Out of the country maybe eastern coast of Canada. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

If you're flying, start with one of the sites like travelocity or priceline. They'll give you an idea of who flies from you to where you want to go, and show possibly some alternate ideas for which airports to use.

When it comes to actually booking, the airline websites will give you the best prices. Stay away from the discount airlines (e.g. Spirit) unless price is more important than reliability. Delta, United, Southwest, American, and Alaska (in no particular order) would be my choices.

For hotels, again try the sites named above as well as hotels dot com. But then go to the hotel's website to finalize and book.

Bundling car rentals and hotels with flights generally doesn't save money.

As to where exactly to visit or what to do there, just search on something like "what to do in South Carolina" or "Best things to do in Savannah". There will be tons of websites with top-10 lists and reviews.

I’ve done a lot on the fly, no real reservations. This includes landing in Shannon Ireland, Munich & Hawaii with zero reservations.

In all instances it worked out just fine. We did the same in a Jackson Hole, for a Yellowstone visit.

One key is to secure a room by early afternoon, call ahead as needed.

This was before Covid & how we entered a rental car shortage, better now I think. The national parks are in for another banner summer, as many shun places like San Francisco, NYC & similar.

I don't do it any more (age limits my travel), but when I was planning an auto trip I began with using MapPoint or Streets & Trips (both not available now) to map the route to my ultimate destination, then modified it to take in various sights discovered along the path. Also deviations to visit relatives in the region.

The longest such trip I planned took months, included 4 different reunions and visits to 20 relatives and friends. It spanned 85 days and was 11,750 miles travel. I created an Excel spreadsheet to accompany the map to include details about who I was to visit and contact information nd expected dates.

Those mapping tools are no longer supported, unfortunately.

My most recent travels have all been arranged tours. At my age (85) I don't do long solo auto trips any more.

Just to clarify, when I mention going without reservations, I’ve already done research & took notes. That includes talking to people, checking ‘Trip Advisor’, ‘Fodors’, & similar travel planning tools.

So I kinda know where we’re going, just don’t have hotels & firm details with everything.

I use TripIt but that's after I've done my planning and reservations.

I plan out my vacation on paper but rather loosely instead of minute by minute which I used to do but my wife weaned me from that when she complained she wants to enjoy her vacation and not have to be slave to a schedule.

So I map out where the destinations may be. How long we had at each location and the order or sequence. What are our options to do there. Where we might want to eat which I usually target any Drive In, Diners, and Dives locations. Where we'll stay for the night. Then I figure out any hard deadlines like if we had a time to be back home or there's a special date we have to be for some event. Then I work out the dates where everything else fits in.

After that, then I figure out what clothes I need.

Figure out where you're going. Then when you're going. Then how you're getting there. Then where you're staying. Once you get those details reserved and paid for you can figure out what you're going to do at a more leisurely pace. The internet is your friend for comparing flights and hotels. You can look up travel guides for places to see and where to eat. You can find package deals for flights and hotels but doublecheck that they're actually a deal. The ease of the all in one may come with a cost.

I've planned trips months in advance and also waited until just about the last minute to lock things down.

It is not hard. Choose a provider. Don't deviate. Set a price limit.

For example, www.southwestvacations.com. Las Vegas. Trump hotel. $xxxxx for two. Pay the man. Enjoy Vegas.

Expedia has done very well for us. Much simpler than spending time and energy looking at airlines, hotels, cars separately. Much cheaper. It just works. You are not limited to one airline. Just use the provider. Always use the provider for any changes, deviations, requests, etc. Do not go rogue and go direct to the airline.

It's really not hard.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
It is not hard. Choose a provider. Don't deviate. Set a price limit.

For example, www.southwestvacations.com. Las Vegas. Trump hotel. $xxxxx for two. Pay the man. Enjoy Vegas.

Expedia has done very well for us. Much simpler than spending time and energy looking at airlines, hotels, cars separately. Much cheaper. It just works. You are not limited to one airline. Just use the provider. Always use the provider for any changes, deviations, requests, etc. Do not go rogue and go direct to the airline.

It's really not hard.

Gotta disagree. The "provider" has zero interest in solving your travel crisis. At least not right the fuck now while you're standing at the counter and they have no record of your reservation. Or when the airline, especially a discount carrier, changes the flight times and you haven't been notified. We had this happen with Expedia when the now ex-wife booked cheap flights on Frontier. They rebooked us on a flight a day later, so we would lose a whole day of our family vacation. Or when you get to the hotel and they give you a really shitty room because of the cheap deal they had with the websites while holding back better rooms for their own website.

A good travel agent, like a real individual human person working for a local business, is different. Definitely use a good agent for booking a cruise, and for all the associated things like flights to/from the cruise. Flight and hotel pricing can be better when bundled through the cruise line or the agent. The agent can definitely get a better cruise deal than booking direct yourself with the cruise line.

So another good thing to do is join the points club with whichever airline and hotel you book with.

We use American Express for much of our travel booking, and also gain their travel insurance protection using that card. For cruises I use a top notch local agent who knows a lot about cruises and can give good advice. They are going to be available to help if we have problems.

Rental cars can be had cheap sometimes on Priceline. There's a technique of shopping but not booking on there a couple of months ahead of the trip. Then go find the best deal at the actual rental car companies and book a fully refundable reservation that you would be ok having. Then about 2 weeks before your trip Priceline will start sending emails with really good discounts. Sometimes this works well, other times not.

We went to Scotland last month. We had never used a “travel advisor” before, but my wife felt like the trip called for one: flights, hotels, rental car. She found one here in Cheyenne and we were extremely happy with the job she did for us. Every hotel was top notch. My wife’s sister and BIL have also booked a trip with her from their home in California, and had a face-to-face with the advisor when they were here for a visit. If you’re interested in the travel advisor’s contact information, drop me a line. BTW, it seems there’s some distinction between travel advisor and agent, I don’t remember how she explained it. She did a great job for us.

When we drove across the country to visit Yellowstone, Tetons, Badlands, Devil’s Tower, etc., we estimated how far we’d go in a day and researched bed & breakfast inns and made reservations at each. Worked out well as long as you don’t try to travel long distances between stops since you want time for sightseeing along the way. Also stayed in hotels during multi-day stops (like Yellowstone). Just used the Internet and a calculator.

Lots of great ideas listed above.

Larger cities usually have a Visitors Bureau. Most States have a Visitor’s or Travelers or Vacation department and are great sources of Info. Free, just do some internet searching. Lodging deals, attractions, maps,all kinds of things.

Enjoy your vacation.
.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
Just to clarify, when I mention going without reservations, I’ve already done research & took notes. That includes talking to people, checking ‘Trip Advisor’, ‘Fodors’, & similar travel planning tools.

So I kinda know where we’re going, just don’t have hotels & firm details with everything.

Has your research been simply destination fact-finding or, were you figuring out what time of year, high-low season for both airfare & accommodations, areas of accommodations, events, etc...? Sounds like you know where you want to go and when, next step is select two of the three biggest expenses: transportation and accommodation.

For airfare, unless I'm booking using my points via my credit card or, airline miles/points, I almost exclusively use Google Flights. Their search engine is tied directly to the airlines, when you set-up your flight itinerary, and it's time to pay, the link takes you directly to that airlines' website. Should anything change or, not go right, because you've booked directly with the carrier, you'll be taken care of, whereas, if you book through a third-party site like Priceline, Expedia, Bookings.com etc...you usually end up having to deal with that operation and NOT the airline. Keep in mind not all airlines are listed on Google Flights, Southwest for example doesn't participate.

For accommodations, like airline booking, I try to book directly with the business itself. If I know the location or, am comfortable rolling the dice because I'm more interested in the destination than I'll go with a third party site. I have no issues with home sharing like AirBnB or, VRBO, particularly if the stay is 5+ days straight, just watch the various line-item charges like Cleaning Fee's, those can be a deal-breaker. Location is key, closer to the hot attractions or, certain neighborhoods, places are able charge a higher amount. Tourism tax is a major revenue generator for municipalities.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
It is not hard. Choose a provider. Don't deviate. Set a price limit.

For example, www.southwestvacations.com. Las Vegas. Trump hotel. $xxxxx for two. Pay the man. Enjoy Vegas.

Expedia has done very well for us. Much simpler than spending time and energy looking at airlines, hotels, cars separately. Much cheaper. It just works. You are not limited to one airline. Just use the provider. Always use the provider for any changes, deviations, requests, etc. Do not go rogue and go direct to the airline.

It's really not hard.

You can certainly save money and time with bundled vacation packages, HOWEVER, cancellation penalties can be an issue and/or unexpected issues can become pain-points that affect the rest of the itinerary.
All inclusive vacation offers are full of pitfalls and possible issues. Unless you're going through a travel agent who's able to put together everything or, a proven travel package provider like Costco Travel offers to members, I avoid single-purchase travel offers. At any point, should things go wrong, say connecting flight is late and you're bumped from the next flight or, the hotel over-booked, you have to go though that third-party operator who set-up your trip. Best to check reviews, particularly the negative reviews, if there's a consistency to the complaints, then consider if that possibility is worth the savings.

goose5,
Some thought starters

White Sulfer Springs in West Virginia - Stay at The Greenbriar. Take the tour of The Bunker where Congress was planning to ride out a 'hot' Cold War. Bring your Sunday best clothes and parade through the corridors with everyone else wearing their finest after 5:00 pm. (Your MUST wear a suit and tie / dress in the Formal Dining Room for dinner). Caution: bring metric shit-tons of money!

Ashville NC - go to Biltmore, the largest private home in the US. Take the tour(s). 4 Acres of floor space! It is an amazing home constructed circa 1900. There are hotels on the Biltmore grounds.

Charlotte NC - I've never been, but my BiL/Sil have and they say it's very, very nice there.

Savana GA - I've never been, but a work colleague retired to Savana. I hear it's beautiful.

Tennesse - travel the 'Bourbon Trail' and visit the famous distilleries.

VRBO - you can rent an entire house or cottage, wherever...

Personally, and I know its not the South, but the west side of Michigan is a great place to vacation! My family rents a house on Lake Michigan for a week every July and we enjoy the Beach, the water, the sunsets, St. Joseph, MI, Saugatuck, MI and even Holland, MI.

Good luck on your adventure! And please let us know where you decide to go.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark in Michigan:
Stay at The Greenbrier.

It's definitely worth a visit. https://greenbrier.com/

quote:

Originally posted by Mark in Michigan:
Caution: bring metric shit-tons of money!

Very true. My visit there was thanks to a fellow I knew who had... metric shit-tons of money.

There's a nice sporting clays range at the Greenbrier, too. Go shoot, if you get the chance.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark in Michigan:
Good luck on your adventure! And please let us know where you decide to go.

Yes, do that!