Part 1 - The Flights
Everyone has their own favourite method for booking a vacation.
Whether you are heading south to an all-inclusive resort or to spend a week in Las Vegas, there are online booking sites and in-person travel enters that are always willing and able to assist.
What if you are looking at a multi-city getaway? Or even a multi-country or multi-continent vacation?
There are many travel experts out there to assist with your bookings. I have arranged many similar travel plans with agents and on my own and I have developed my own foolproof system.
I am currently finalizing a trip to South Africa. It is a company sponsored trip, but we always like to add on a minimum of 1 week to every overseas adventure to allow ourselves time to explore on our own.
This is Part 1 of a 3-part series - Starting with the flight bookings and ending in restaurant bookings to create a seamless vacation package.
Flying to South Africa requires such a long flight that we have decided to break it up on the way there and on the way home. The trip now includes a few days in Spain en route to Johannesburg and 4 nights in England afterwards.
Since I like to be SUPER-organized with my travel planning, I always start with a blank calendar and a notepad beside me and write out my chosen arrival and departure dates for each city throughout the trip.
My research begins with several online travel companies and airlines that have the ability to quote for multi-destinations and look for the best overall deal. I ensure that the dates and times selected closely match to my calendar outline and take into account the time difference in each city as well, to avoid overlaps wherever possible.
I prefer to use my own calendar software on my laptop so that it will copy itself onto my cellphone so I can take the itinerary with me everywhere and make changes on the go.
Adding in the flight departure and landing times for each leg of the flight - noting the correct time zones - allows me to visually see the entire travel plan at one glance.
Including other details such as the airport terminal information for each airport in the location section of my calendar entry, allows me to have easy access to it while I am away from home.
Some terminals at major international airports have their own location logged into Google and other maps so directions will automatically be attached in the calendar entry.
Once the flights are booked and confirmed, I can then take care of the final details. Booking the flights first while the seats are available at the right price is the priority.
Once I receive the final confirmation by email, I can then make note of the airlines that I have used and make sure that I am signed up for any airline loyalty programs.
When I next log in to view my flight booking online, I add in the loyalty program/points account numbers for each flight, check if early seat selection is available and add any dietary requirements to note for possible meal selections.
It may sound like a lot of detailed work but it makes the travelling smoother when we are ready to fly.
Now that I know exactly where we will be and when, I can now easily research accommodations….
