Using the Internet to book your travel plans can be a relaxing adventure before you ever leave your home. In 2007, 49% of all travel in and from the United States was booked online. 2008 may see the trend over the half-way mark. Make the most of your Internet booking by learning about your destination, booking websites, travel reviews and website reviews.
Visiting travel booking review sites can help you choose the perfect website for online package savings unavailable at your travel agent's office. A scroll through hotel, resort and city reviews can give you a traveler's view of your destination. Search engine sites can get you good deals on fares. Before you book your flight and hotel, take some time to surf.
Choose your destination.
Where do you want to go? This has to be the first question. Before making that choice, visit www.CDC.gov/travel/destinat.htm to ensure no medical restrictions or warnings prohibit travel. Some locations are not advisable due to outbreaks of infectious disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) keeps a current list of all countries the United States warns against for health concerns.
If your heart's desire is to visit Spain, visit sites with information on Spain. One of the first places to find information is the national governmental web site. Type your destination country and "government website" into your search engine. Learning the terrain, political climate, weather and current events will help you choose a restful destination. This keeps you from vacationing in the middle of an election stop city or the recent wake of a tornado.
Next, search your country's tourism. Many national tourism websites contain links to city tourism websites. Here you can discover the locals best kept secrets. Theaters, community events and festivals are posted so you can plan your activities.
If you don't have your heart set on a destination, do you have it set on an activity? Your choice of what to do on your vacation may dictate the destination. You simply cannot snow ski on Maui. But if surfing, hiking or kayaking is your bag, searching your hobby and "destinations" will get you reviews on the best locations.
Destination reviews and guides.
Websites with reviews and guides are helpful in making your final destination choice. Many sites offer reviews of popular or novel destinations. Professional review sites, like ConsumerReports.org and Hotels.com, have reviews of destinations, hotels and resorts written by travel industry professionals. While generally unbiased, these reviews may miss some details important to you.
Compare the reviews on a professional site to a social media site's reviews for a more rounded picture. Professional sites are not trying to deceive you, but when they review, many resorts will be on their best behavior. Boo.com, Trip Advisor and Virtual Tourist provide reviews from real travelers which reveal the everyday experiences travelers encounter, warts and all. Overall travel review sites, like the New York Times travel site, give travel reviews of all types of travel from cruises to micro-vacations, trips which last less than 4 days.
Finding a package.
Everyone who watches television has seen a commercial for a travel search website like Expedia, Travelocity or Hotwire. While these sites search databases to find the lowest prices, their trips may end up costing you more. Be certain to investigate these sites with JD Power, Kiplinger or Consumer Search before you use one. Travel Site Critic reviews and offers links to hundreds of travel booking sites on the Internet with the latest packages.
Be sure to compare the rate you get from a travel site with the actual hotel, cruise line or airline. Most all booking sites charge a booking fee, which is not charged by the hotel, cruise line or airline if you book directly. What you save in time on a search site may be costly to your wallet. You can get information about cancellation and change fees from the search sites if you read all of the fine print.
When booking car rental, airfare and hotel together, the discount rate offered by a search site can save you money. Investigate before you book. If you need to change one portion of your booking, you will incur cancellation or change fees which may penalize your overall package price.
For international travel, check the travel site's off-shoot. Many large websites, like Expedia, operate in different countries. You can often find travel within the country listed cheaper on the foreign site. Searching the name of the site and the county nets you the address to the off-shoot site.
Check for inclusive packages. Cruises are the most popular all-inclusive vacations. International cruises may not include port of call expenses and none cover duties on merchandise you buy. Most cruises include meals, entertainment and lodging. Some include off-ship entertainment as well.
Cruise Clues reviews cruise ships and packages and hosts a forum for cruisers to share tips, information and expenses. Frommer's gives excellent, informative reviews of cruise ships, lines and packages. Visiting individual cruise line websites, Disney, Princess or Carnival, gives you current and exclusive information about inclusive packages.
Hobby vacations are becoming more inclusive as they gain popularity. Websites like Adventure Center offer information and booking of inclusive vacations walking or hiking exotic locations worldwide. Golf Link, Travel Golf and PGA Travel offer reviews of courses, inclusive packages and golf tours. Fans love sport packages from Sports Traveler, Sports Travel & Tours and Go Tickets because tickets, travel to and from the game and concierge service are included.
Road trips used to be planned by Dad with a map, which he promptly left at home. The Internet offers sites like Road Trip USA, Road Trip America and RoadTrip.com to plan and book vacations without airfare. Whether you want to drive your car or rent one, planning stops and booking the hotel, meals and entertainment before you leave home leaves more time to actually enjoy your vacation. Most sites allow printing of detailed maps to each stop.
Micro-vacations are the perfect choice for today's busy traveler. Weekend trips were only to places you could drive in less than four hours. Since 1990, the number of travelers who took less than a week from work to travel has doubled. Fewer people can stay away from the job for a week or more. Booking these trips online are nearly necessity.
Most micro-vacations center around specific locations or events. Put on your leisure suit and go to Elvis' Annual Honolulu Tour or break out your lucky socks for a trip to Atlantic City. A trip to see the changing seasons can be a perfect respite. Spas make great micro-vacations. Take a rustic train tour. Destination 360, Vacations Made Easy or Vacation Idea hold great information about weekend getaways.
Scams.
There will always be a snake oil salesman claiming he is a travel agent. Before you book a vacation, check out the current scams with reputable websites, like Consumer Affairs, the Federal Trade Commission and Better Business Bureau.
Why online?
The Internet puts the whole world on your desktop: great information on thousands of destinations, domestic and exotic; great prices on all-inclusive trips to road trips; package savings; and the convenience of your entire vacation planning in the comfort of your home.