Planning a trip presents you with a lot of choices. Do you stick to your guns in regards to dates and itineraries, even if it means spending more money to do so? Do you find great offers and jump on them, then try to build the rest of your trip around them? How far should you go? How long should you stay in each place? Each choice you make can go wrong. So to make sure you don’t end up going astray, watch out for the following pitfalls when planning your trip:
– Overbooking. People sometimes make the mistake of overbooking, especially for expensive vacations. It’s fine to want to get your money’s worth, but if you end up too exhausted to enjoy everything you’re seeing, it won’t matter how much you’ve done. Be particularly careful about booking tight travel connections, which can mean you will endure a great deal of stress on the days you move.
– Budgeting too little. Even the most careful budgeting can go awry, particularly if you’re traveling to a place you’re unfamiliar with. Unexpected fees and surcharges can quickly add up, so do your best to anticipate them, and always budget some money every day for unexpected costs.
– Airline mistakes. The process of booking airline tickets is rife with opportunities for disaster. Online calendars can shift from one month to the next unexpectedly, making what you thought was a weeklong trip into a five-week one. Telephone receptionists may misunderstand you and book your flight for January 30 instead of January 13. Some destinations also have confusing names. Consider the difference between London, England, and London, Ontario, or Salvador, Brazil, and San Salvador, El Salvador. Always carefully check and then double-check your dates and destinations when booking plane tickets.
– Snapping up deals you don’t need. The world is full of great travel deals, and you can save a lot of money by taking advantage of them. But if, for instance, you prepay for attractions you later end up deciding not to visit, you will forfeit all your savings and then some. To keep from going overboard, try to decide what you want to do and then search for a deal on it, rather than planning the other way around.