While there is no dearth of exotic and attractive tourist locations waiting to be explored, a number of factors have to be kept in mind before embarking on a vacation. Are you a solo traveller? Or, are you travelling with young friends? Do you have children and the elderly accompanying you? Is it a business trip that you want to double up as a vacation?
All these factors have to be taken into account while sealing your travel package. While a package deal should be affordable, it should also ensure maximum exploration of the destination and comfort in terms of food and stay. However, if you have vulnerable family members like kids and elderly accompanying you, focus more on quality than quantity. Below are certain points shared by Kapil Goswamy, the founder of BigBreaks.com that can help you select the optimum travel package for your upcoming vacation:
SPECIFY YOUR TRAVEL PREFERENCES
While booking through a travel agency, many people tend to ignore the calendar themselves and rely on the agents for even last detail planning. However, it is important to remember that it is your vacation and you need to have a fair idea of the 'Must Do's' on a particular destination, even if an experienced travel agent is planning it for you. A ready-made package to Kerala might contain visits of equal duration to the backwaters, beaches as well as the hill stations.
However, you might be an out-an-out beach person desiring to spend maximum time at the beaches and restricting even avoiding other places. Your preferences therefore have to be specified clearly to the planner. For this to happen, a rough travel itinerary must be chalked out in your mind, complete with locations of preference, budget as well as number of days. It is important to have an outline of your vacation ready before checking out for travel packages, as it would help you to remain focused.
ENROL WITH MULTIPLE TRAVEL SITES
With plenty of players in the market, the customer is often spoiled for choice. However, it helps to conduct a fair comparison and research before sealing a deal. Therefore, it will help you to register with two to three travel agencies and sites from which you can receive a slew of deals, discounts and offers. Different agencies might be providing different packages for a particular destination and you can pick the best one from them.
ALWAYS PREFER TO BOOK ROUND TRIPS
Flight fares are often expensive. The fares also depend upon distance and destination. While you may choose to travel to various places on a single trip, it is advisable to book round trips. You must book your flights in a manner that you depart and arrive at the same airport.
YOU MUST SAY NO TO EXTRA SERVICES
Travel packages often tend to lure by giving you options to select additional services to make your trip more pleasurable and memorable. However, these extra offerings may unnecessarily add on to your budget. Offerings such as airport transfer, shopping assistance and likewise can be avoided if you want to save cash.
POPULAR IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST
While dealing with travel agencies or websites, we tend to believe that the most popular ones are automatically the best service providers. However, it might not always be true. Often, travellers find more lucrative and customised solutions from lesser known service providers who are eager to build a good image and a loyal clientele for themselves.
TRAVEL AGENCY SHOULD BE OPEN 24X7
On vacations, travellers may often need urgent assistance to locate your hotels, revise a booking or initiate any emergency change of plan. Therefore, it is advisable to book with a travel company that offers 24 X 7 assistance.
PLAN YOUR TRIP IN TIME
The old saying 'the early bird gets the worm' is absolutely true when it comes to vacation planning. Flight fares are significantly cheaper if booked more than a month in advance, and so are hotel rates. Online travel companies as well as hotel chains now offer significant discounts and special offers for "Early Bird" bookings. In case of last minute bookings, you are left to select from the available options and also paying a higher price for the services and bookings.
CHECK THE REQUIRED FACILITIES
If you are on a business trip, you must ensure before sealing the deal that all the facilities required for making your visit comfortable and successful are in place. Whether the hotel offers wi-fi, conference rooms suitable for your meetings, facilities such as fax, foreign exchange etc are crucial details which need to be preascertained.