Holiday Travel Tips
Finally getting the time out to travel has to be one of the most exhilarating and exciting moments to plan for. While a select few find it quite easy to get all their things sorted out beforehand for the perfect trip, not everyone has this ‘rare’ gift. The hassle of booking tickets, packing an appropriate amount of luggage, planning your daily itinerary for an eventful vacation and the likes, could end up being a real thorn in the flesh. There’s also the fact that practically everyone seems to be traveling during the holiday season, making it a bit more hectic than usual and increasing the pressure of getting the right flight, on the right day without totally tanking out. As much as it may seem impossible to avoid the hassle that comes with traveling, we have come up with a couple of tips and tricks you’ll surely benefit from. With the help from some experts as well as avid, experienced and seasoned travelers, we present to you the cheat sheet for traveling without getting frazzled.
1. Booking The Right Flight Ticket
Getting a juicy deal is highly dependent on how early or late you book a ticket. Waiting until the last minute is never a good idea, all the good seats would have been taken and you’ll probably be stuck with pricey fares that won’t change anytime soon. Booking at least seven weeks before the intended date of travel could save you 12% on an average flight; of course, this depends on where you are flying to. However, even when you do plan to book a ticket on time, there’s the question of what airline to use, the best fare prices, deals and of course the juicy benefits of flying with ‘more generous airlines’. Flight aggregation sites like Skyscanner provide an array of relatively cheaper fares, starting from the lowest to the highest prices. This will avail you the option of still flying with a preferred airline since the prices would probably be reduced.
Other vital airline/fare tips that should help during holiday travels are;
- Fly on Tuesday or Wednesday: for some almost obvious reason, prices tend to plummet during these days of the week. It’s not a certainty, but it wouldn’t hurt to test out this theory on a trusted flight aggregation site or agency.
- Check for flights that leave at unsociable hours: it may not be convenient to wait up for an early morning flight or wake up early to meet a 4:am check-in time, but hey, It does save you some extra $$
- Search for flights on the incognito tab: you may already know this but we’ll say it again because a lot of people make the same mistake over and over. When searching for the best deals online, most websites store browsing information via cookies. Regular checking could make the prices rise since you’ve searched for such flights before.
2. Book An Airbnb Beforehand
This best applies if you’re traveling as a group, instead of crowding up in a hotel or paying more for rooms, look for a villa, apartment or an Airbnb. This would equally be an advantage if you’d want to prepare home-cooked meals as opposed to eating out or ordering constantly.
3. Pack Light
One of the biggest advantages of traveling to another state or country is the benefit of shopping. Except you’re packing extra Christmas gifts and souvenirs for family or friends, it’s best to keep all the extra clothes shoes and towels behind. If possible, pack a light suitcase with only the necessary outfits, personal accessories, walking shoes, and toiletries. This would make traveling less of a hassle; while the other ‘novices’ are rolling around hefty baggage, you’d simply be chilling and finally feeling the thrill of traveling light and right.
Let’s not forget that after a week or two of shopping, you’d probably still need to pack all those new outfits back with you. Imagine the cluster and total mess of having to take on an extra big box of clothes, nah, that’s not you anymore. There are videos on Youtube that could help when packing a box, they show hacks for fitting in those extra items and clothes that seem like they’d mess up the zippers if you try any harder.
4. Keep All Travel Itinerary In One Place
You know that moment when an airline staff is asking for a particular document, and you keep checking from bag to bag, trying to guess where it is? Yeah, let’s hope that ended with your last trip. It’s best to keep all travel documents, confirmation numbers, trip itinerary and more in one place, preferably a suitable side pocket on the hand luggage or travel backpack that would make it a lot easier to access important documents meant for the trip.
Going to a new town? Don’t go alone; technology has made it so easy to locate fave spots and tourist attractions just by clicking a few links and pressing a few buttons. CityMapper is a great app that helps people get around an unfamiliar city whether on foot when taking the bus or even using a cab. This way, you’ll feel safer in your own skin going around a new area with at least a fair idea of what’s around the corner.
Carry A Plug Adapter Around
When traveling international, it’s best to travel like a boss. It’s common knowledge that different countries have varying power outlets that vary from what you’d find in the U.S. Stay on top of your game by traveling with an international plug adapter that would suitably charge your devices, power that hairdryer and any other electrical appliances. There are color-coded adapters that make life even easier. The colors represent a different country or region, so even when on transit or at your final destination, it would still be very easy to identify which side of the plug would fit into the sockets in that country.
Don’t just read through, be sure to use the relative holiday travel trips on your next trip this season or next, trust us when we say, the difference will be much appreciated.
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