Ultimate Guide to Trip Planning Be your own travel agent, save hundreds - and enjoy the best possible trip! 10 June, 2015
Ultimate Guide to Trip Planning 2 Executive summary Planning an exciting holiday? If you find the planning process daunting, you may be tempted to run to the nearest travel agent and let them do all the work. But using a travel agent has its disadvantages most importantly, you will end up paying more! Travel agents don t work for free; most make money by charging you booking fees, or selling you whatever earns them the most commission. And while the packages sold by travel agents may require less thought and preparation, you will lose control over your holiday and end up taking the same routine trip as every other tourist. There are numerous advantages to planning your own travel. Apart from the significant cost-saving, you will be able to travel at exactly the pace you want and see exactly what you want to see. Researching destinations also serves as excellent preparation before your trip. For many travellers, the planning stage is half of the fun! This Guide will show you everything you need to know about just that. How do you decide where to go? Should you buy a Eurail pass? How do you find the cheapest hotel? What s the easiest way to keep track of your itinerary and budget? In addition to teaching you everything you ll need to know about planning your own trip, this Guide offers a range of time and money-saving tips. For example, did you know that it is possible in one part of the world to travel by bus to another country for as little as 35 cents? Or that you might be able to find accommodation for no cost at all? It s even possible to call home, take a walking tour and have your itinerary effortlessly collated for you, entirely for free! Whatever your travel style, this Guide will give you some handy tips to help you to be your own travel agent and save a lot of money along the way!
Ultimate Guide to Trip Planning 3 Contents Executive summary... 2 Introduction... 5 Organised tours vs DIY travel... 6 Pre-planning vs flying by the seat of your pants... 7 10 Essential Steps to Planning a Trip... 9 Step 1: Decide when, and for how long you want to travel... 10 Step 2: Decide where you want to go... 11 Putting it into practice... 12 Step 3: Book the long-distance flights... 14 Returning to our example... 15 Step 4: Plan your internal travel... 17 Plane... 17 South American Airpass... 17 Train... 18 Train ticket pricing... 19 Eurail passes... 20 Overnight trains... 21 Seat 61... 21 Bus... 23 Hire car... 23 Boat... 24 Ride-sharing... 24 Adding on destinations... 24 Returning to our example... 25 Step 5: Research and book accommodation... 28 Finding the best rate... 28 Checking reviews... 28 Hostels... 29 Airbnb... 29
Ultimate Guide to Trip Planning 4 Couchsurfing... 30 House-sitting... 30 Qantas Hotels Price Promise... 30 Step 6: Keeping track of your itinerary... 32 Spreadsheets... 32 TripIt... 33 WorldMate, TripCase and Trip38... 34 Step 7: Sort out travel insurance, visas and immunisations... 35 Travel insurance... 35 Passports and visas... 36 Travel health... 37 Register with Smart Traveller... 37 Step 8: Plan your budget and travel finances... 38 Keeping on budget... 38 Travel money... 38 Saving money while traveling... 39 Step 9: Research destinations and plan activities... 41 Plan airport transfers... 41 Learning the local language... 41 Step 10: You're ready to embark on an exciting adventure!... 43 Packing... 43 What to do if things go wrong while you re overseas... 43
Ultimate Guide to Trip Planning 5 Introduction Imagine that you are planning a dream trip to Europe. You re probably already thinking about all the wonderful sights you want to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, the canals of Amsterdam or perhaps the Berlin Wall. Not to mention all that wonderful food! In this Guide we will look at everything you need to know to make that trip a reality, without needing to enlist the help of a travel agent! We will focus on Europe as a destination, however the Guide will also offer a lot of general advice, and tips specific to many different parts of the world. So whether you re travelling to Spain or South Africa, this Guide should help you to prepare. Before you know it, you ll be ready for take-off!