After reading the thread on "trip planning ADD"it got me thinking about trip planning and wondering how far out from departure people generally start: (a) planning their trip and (b) booking accommodation, transport (flights etc), restaurants and tours/guided trips.
I would imagine this is a function of how often people travel, where they're travelling, time of year of trip, who they're travelling with, whether they're someone who loves the planning process, and someone who prefers to have things locked down in advance etc.
For me, I'm a natural-born planner and relish the planning process. On my flight back to Australia after my last European adventure I was already planning the next! I devour travel-related books with glee...
I'm in the process of planning my 2009 trip (Italy, France, Spain, Portugual and Morocco - approx 3 months) and have already commenced with making accommodation bookings... am working backwards on this as the end portion of my trip was easiest to lock in as I will be travelling with Intrepid Travel. The rest of the time I am doing my own thing and looking to rent an apartment in Paris for a week, an apartment in Florence for a week and spend the remainder of the time in Rome, Sicily and Sardinia.
Enough about me... I'd be very interested in hearing about your timeframes for planning and booking...
Cheers Christine
Posts: 158 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 19 November 2006
Christine you are doing the right thing. Plan now for 2009 and depending on the time of the year you should start booking - particularly if you will be in the European holiday season.
A friend of mine has a nice apartment in the Bastille area of Paris, well priced and close to 3 metros. I can also give you a contact for a great apartment in Florence about 300m from the Uffizi.
You are probably too early to get the best airfares. If you go Emirates make sure you get the plane which goes direct to Dubai (not via Singapore) because they use 777 planes on that route with 10 seats across, other airlines 9.
I live in Melbourne so can help withe the Paris/Italy section if you give me a contact.
Posts: 350 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 16 January 2007
For me its all dependent on availability of FF miles. So, after I pick a time of year I wait until 331 days out and call Delta. I tell them, for example, that any time during May I want to travel to Milan and return and I want a peril of at least 2 weeks. They may come back with slightly different routings but as long as its the right country I stay as flexible as possible. I After I know when I'm going, I start with the hotels.
Christine, I first decide when I am going. I try to have the itinerary done 11 months out. At 11 months before the date of travel I start trying to make room reservations (not always possible for apartments etc). I do this because I have missed out on the perfect lodging twice due to waiting too long. Then about 7 months out I start looking for plane tickets. There are usually many good seats still available in the 7 month to 4 month before travel period. Once the plane tickets are purchased, I regular check the flights to make sure nothing has changed and the airline "forgot" to advise me. About a month before departure, I confirm all lodging reservations via email. Regards, Foot Notes
Posts: 158 | Location: West Virginia | Registered: 25 October 2005
Right now I have already started watching airfares and looking for a place to stay for a hoped for Provence trip in July or September 2009. We want to go when it is warm enough to lay by the pool and read all afternoon, but we want to avoid the biggest (not big) crowds. So much will depend on if we have the proper number of FF miles when the time comes, having just used up so many to go to Paris. If we can also find the right gite, that will go a long way to making it happen.
At anyone time, I have 5 to 7 trips that I am planning so that if one does not work out logistics and budget wise we just move it bakc in the roation, not out of the rotation, and move another one forward.
Posts: 306 | Location: Waco, Texas USA | Registered: 31 January 2006
I returned from France last June, and had already booked an apartment in Burgundy for August 2009. We started this year's trip to Italy, last July. In order to get the places that are really nice, or that you have your heart set on, you need to book early. Some places however, won't take the reservations that early. When that has happened, I've always missed out on the rooms I've wanted. We usually book the flights as soon as they are out, to get the best routes. Planning is a great start to any trip.
My wife has a two-week spring break every March, so our dates are prettymuch fixed and known at lest a year in advance. So, like others in this tread, we book our FF tickets at the earliest opportunity. The rest we tend to let slide until a month or three before we go-- rent car, hotels (unless we are going to a hot spot, like Venice, where we will book La Calcina as soon as we know our dates).
never book airline tickets until about 2 months in advance. I paid $864 for my flight to London (departing mid May) 2 weeks ago, that same fare is now $737..arrrgh! I wished I had waited. I had always imagined the earlier you book the better your fare but I guess I was wrong. Well, next time I know
Posts: 143 | Location: Irvine, CA | Registered: 13 February 2008
When we lived in Australia and only went to Europe every couple of years, we would usually start planning at least a year out. We would usually map out the rough itinerary that far ahead - countries and specific areas or towns perhaps.
I especially enjoy the research for apartments, cottages etc which takes time and depending on the time of the year get booked up early. Also having something to look forward to was a big part of it.
Airfares we would book when it looked like being cheapest, car hire etc closer to the time. We would book train travel, if relevant, ahead of time - say within 6 months of going. These trips were usually between 4 & 7 weeks duration, usually involved multiple countries and therefore took some planning. We are also not 'winging it' people!
Now we live in Europe we don't need to plan ahead too much and my work commitments pretty much dictate when we can go and for how long. But we would always have a few things planned - for example we are going to UK for 10 days in July and that had to be planned way ahead as my son is coming from Australia and I need to plan work around it. Other plans are a bit more fluid -but that is the joy of living in Europe.
We plan ahead for a different reason than others are suggesting (or perhaps just aren't mentioning): for saving up money for the trip. For our first family European trip, we started planning and saving in July 2006 for May 2007. That gave us 10 months to save up money. We tightened our budget to pull out vacation savings, and when we returned from the trip, we didn't owe anyone anything. We have until May 2009, so we don't have to sacrifice so much for this trip as we plan another month (in England and Scotland now--that's our new and we say final destination--I'm the one with ADD) in Europe, we have 16 months to save. It's a nice way to stay within our means and really consider what we can afford and want to do.
Posts: 137 | Location: Lilburn, GA | Registered: 29 July 2006
It's been really interesting reading all the different reasons... and I now know that I'm not *too* freaky in planning and booking parts of my vacation a year or more in advance of actual departure.
I do note, however, that no one else has yet placed their 2009 trips on the trip calendar *hint hint*
Cheers Christine
Posts: 158 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 19 November 2006
I've been planning two weeks in Provence in June 2009 for a couple of weeks now - getting ready to book a house for 6 of us. Four of the group are newbies to the slow travel philosophy - sure they think I'm a bit odd to be trying to plan so far ahead - but I know it's the best way to go.
I'll check out a few things when my wife & I are in the south of France (in Drome) this June. I'll drive down from La Begude de Mazenc one day.
I'll book the flights in the fall, the vehicle as soon as possible & the TGV 60 days out. A couple of weeks before we leave I'll make reservations at a couple of restaurants.
I'll likely post the trip on the calendar in the fall.
A couple of months before we go I'll post a notice in the GTG forum - hope to meet more Slow Travellers.
I'll likely read a few more books - first-person accounts & guide books - about the region over the winter - & plan an itinerary for the first few days.
Works for me.
.... and about this time next year, I'll start thinking about where we're going to go in September 2010 - 2 weeks on Corsica is a likely option.
Some of my favorite trips have happened when my original plans fell through completely and I ended up doing something completely different on short notice.
For instance, several years ago I meticulously planned a trip to China, only to be forced to cancel it at the last moment -- and yet I had the vacation time blocked out, so I had to do something with it.
It was already May and I felt it was too late to book anything good in terms of hotels in major tourist destinations, so instead I picked the French Pyrennees, which I figured would have lots of empty hotel space (the skiing season being over, the summer not yet begun).
I flew to a nearby airport, rented a car and used the standard Michelin red guide to drive around with no particular agenda for two weeks, dipping in and out of Spain.
It was beautiful.
I now live in Italia so, except for trips back to the US, I mostly just wait to see what the weather will be like and then book my travel. I just got back from a long weekend in Athens, which I did on the spur of the moment. Got a great rate on a hotel, cheap air fare and scarcely any tourists in Athens. The weather was as good (even better) than predicted and I was seldom disappointed in the food (fresh and tasty!) despite not doing any research.
Of course, it's harder to do this if you are travelling to major tourist spots in high season.
I realize how much I like this thread because it speaks to all of the dreaming that I do.
When this thread started, we were only a month away from our trip to Provence. Like many of our trips, it was spur of the moment (three months at most ahead) and I thought I would never be the type to plan a year ahead.
Now, only a month back home and I am already figuring out how to spend two weeks in the Loire Valley next June! St. Aignan to be specific, thanks to Ken's inspiring blog and frequent posts about his home.
Anyone else out there already dreaming of next year?
I absolutely agree that the further ahead that you can plan a holiday, the better. Not just for the best airfares etc, but really to ensure that you are making the most of your time in any given country/region.
The forward planning allows you to perhaps tie in with various ferias/fiestas which may only happen once a year and it's great to know that you have secured your place way in advance when others are struggling to achieve the dates/events that they want nearer the time.
This way you end up seeing and doing what you want to, rather than taking the leftovers!
Slow Travel Talk 
