Booking your holiday should be a great experience!
For most it has now turned into endless nights on the internet researching destinations, hotels, reviews and prices - then not actually booking anything.
Can you really book your holiday in 10 minutes? Probably not but I hope to give you some tips on how to minimise the time spent doing it and hopefully make it a better experience.
What do you really want?
Before you even start your search there are some really important questions you need to ask yourself. Write down the answers to the questions below. If you are not sure what you are looking for you will not know when you have found it!
• When can you travel? Put the absolute earliest date (even the night before!) and the very latest you can return – could you go straight to work from the airport? For the perfect deal it may be worth it.
• What accommodation do you prefer? What is the minimum star rating you want? And what kind of food basis do you want – self catering, all-inclusive, half board? Remember if you are choosing all-inclusive the star rating of the hotel generally reflects the standard of all of your food and drink for the holiday. It may be worth paying a little more to get a higher star rating.
• What room types are you looking for? When travelling as a family although it may be ideal to have a room with 2 separate bedroom areas this can really increase the cost. Are you prepared to all share one room? Most hotel rooms will only take a maximum of 2 adults and 2 children – it may be worth looking at aparthotels that have 2 or 3 bedroomed apartments but still offer hotel facilities.
• What are your ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’? Make a list of things that you really need eg kid’s clubs, golf course, buffet style restaurants for the kids, air conditioning, waterslides etc; how close to the beach?
• What do you like to do on holiday? Are you planning on just laying by the pool all day and not leaving the hotel? Or do you like lots of excursions? Watersports, lively bars or quiet beaches…
• How much? This is one of the most important questions. Set yourself a maximum budget – hopefully you will find something for less!
Where shall we go?
Do you fancy going back to a previous destination or want to try something new? This is where speaking to your local travel agent can save you a lot of heartache. Given the information above they would be able to recommend destinations for you and more importantly where to avoid! Remember to consider the temperature – Turkey and Egypt tend to be over 40C in July and August. www.weather.com
Holiday Review Websites
These can be very helpful but can also be a minefield of information. Look at the most recent ones as they reflect the current service and staff there. Places can really change from one year to the next and lots of hotels are working really hard to improve their reviews! Also look for people that travelled at the same time of year. A family holidaying in June can have a very different experience from travelling in August (when the hotel is at full capacity!).
www.tripadvisor.com
www.holidays-uncovered.co.uk
Found it? Then book it!
If you have found a holiday that ticks all your boxes and the price is right – book it! So many people keep on searching and searching then go back to the one they found and it has either gone up in price or been sold! Do not miss out!