How To Plan Your Vacation Online

With the resources that exist today on the Internet, it's easy for anyone to plan their entire vacation online. Whether you're driving somewhere to spend the night or flying on a trip round the world, you can plan your whole trip yourself online.

Transportation is the first step. Do you want to go by air, sea, or land? When you consider this, take into consideration the time it will take you to get to your destination, how much luggage you need to take, and how much it's going to cost you. Sometimes air travel, if the plane has one or more stopovers, takes longer than traveling by car; and sometimes travel by car is more expensive than taking the train.

In the highly competitive world of air travel today, you can often find some very good deals when planning your vacation online, particularly with discount air travel brokers. If you're making last-minute plans in a non-peak season, you may be able to find some phenomenal deals through these brokers on major airlines.

Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz all have similar pricing structures; you may find a slightly better bargain on one, but after you figure in taxes and add-on expenses, they work out to roughly the same prices, the same airlines, and the same time lines.

Southwest does not list with any of the discount air travel brokers, and they often have cheaper rates because they travel short point-to-point hops. If you're planning well in advance, you may be able to find a significantly lower price on Southwest than on any discount air broker; sometimes Southwest runs $39 and $49 one-way Internet specials. Don't forget to get a quote from them before choosing your air travel company.

The laid-back, luxurious way to travel has always been by train -- but don't assume your train travel is going to be luxurious. A train trip from Boston or New York to Miami can also take more than twenty-four hours, longer than a car trip and significantly longer than an air trip. And if you don't plan for it properly, it can be uncomfortable and tiring as well.

If you want to travel by train in the US, be certain to plan well in advance. Ticket prices are cheapest a couple of months before you travel, and you'll hardly ever get a price break close to the day you leave. If you're going to be on the train more than six hours, it's a good idea to take the sleeper car. While seats do lay back on a train, they aren't comfortable, and you will not arrive at your destination rested.

Pricing on a train trip, at least in the US, can also be very high. Be certain you have an idea of how much meals are going to cost you en route. If you're traveling in Europe, a Eurorail pass can save you a great deal of money; European rail is more extensive, more efficient, and considerably more economical than Amtrak.

If you're not in a hurry and want to enjoy the trip there as much as the destination, traveling by train in a sleeper car can be your best choice. In Europe, if you want to see a lot of the countryside and are planning to visit several countries, travel by rail is by far the best choice.

Bus travel is the budget way to go, but that doesn't mean you won't find comfort, at least in the United States. Bus transportation goes everywhere, and you can find regular or charter bus travel to be as comfortable these days as air and rail travel. It does not have the cachet of either of these, though. Greyhound is the dominant bus line for the US, and their prices can be extremely reasonable. The further you need to go, though, the more expensive it gets.

Traveling by bus is a no-frills way to travel. You'll have no more baggage space than you do on a plane, and you will need to bring your own entertainment -- books, personal music, etc. You should also plan to bring at least snackable food with you, as you'll be able to buy limited food only at scheduled stops.

For a family of four or more, travel by car is usually the most economical choice. The great thing about planning a driving vacation online is the amazing flexibility of free online map programs like Yahoo! Maps and Mapquest. Input your start and destination points, and you can get maps, driving directions, even addresses and phone numbers to restaurants, attractions, and hotels along the way.

Look for where rest areas are along your route as well, and be ready to stop to stretch your legs every hour or two. Long distance driving can be tiring and unhealthy; not pausing periodically to get the blood flow moving in your legs can lead to dangerous blood clots.

You can also look up relative gas prices at Gas Buddy; since prices can vary by fifty percent or more in different parts of the country, this can help you avoid sticker shock, and you can plan to fill your tank where it's less expensive.

Cruises and ferries are among the other ways you can get to your destination. In places like Hawaii, you may find that ferries and helicopters are priced very economically so you can enjoy more than one island on your vacation. In Europe, high-speed hovercrafts are an alternate way to cross the Irish Sea and the English Channel, and are an experience in themselves.

Try places online like Hotels Online, Hotels.com, or the travel sites Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz. You can find both reservation services and honest reviews of hotels by consumers at Trip Advisor. Don't select the cheapest hotel; there's always a reason it's cheap, and it's not worth the savings. If you know which hotel you want to stay at, you can often get a better deal by going directly to their web site. And always look for discounts for AAA, military, student, senior, etc.

Another thing you can do is look at the online prices, and then call the hotel you want to stay at directly. They sometimes have "rack rates" that are cheaper than the online rates, and if you tell them what the online deal is, you may be able to get a better deal directly from the hotel.

If you're going to a heavy-tourism area like Kissimmee, Florida, or Williamsburg, Virginia, consider contacting their tourism bureau before planning your trip; usually you can find this quickly by typing in the city name + .com or .gov in your browser. They will often email or postal mail you information on discounts you couldn't find any other way.

And if you're going to a resort like any of the Disney resorts, try their website first. Package deals booked entirely through your resort may cost significantly less than the same deals booked through even discount online travel agencies.

Most of the time, if you're considering a travel package, using a travel agent is your best bet. You will not be able to plan a better or more inexpensive trip on your own. Why? The travel agent has access to special deals and pricing you don't, and he or she is almost certainly aware of special attractions, hotel renovations, and trip problems you won't know about until it's too late.

Because most travel agents prefer meeting their clients face to face, you'll find mostly the usual suspects -- Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz -- to manage putting packages together for you online.

No matter where you're going, always take a cell phone with you. If you're an adventurous traveler, bring your laptop and invest in a good trip planner program; these will give you access, including phone numbers, to up-to-date maps as well as restaurants, hotels, and attractions when you really need them. Especially for a family, take a small cooler of snacks and drinks with you, but don't count on these exclusively for your meals; you'll tire of them quickly.

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