Travel Tips

Planning Tips

1. Research Country – Research the country of choice. I usually surf the country official tourism website and TripAdvisor for travellers' rating and experience. Google maps are a must as I like to have a visual of the coverage and terrain. Sometimes there are photographs uploaded and for some countries, streetview. Both features proved to be very handy.
   
   
2. Check Airfare – This is an important step to catch the best fare, and not burn a big hole in the pocket. I often wait for promotion as well as check the airline website, and of course websites of price aggregators like Zuji, price breaker, etc. It would be worthwhile to join the airline frequent flyer programme for regular email promotion updates.
   
3. Plan Duration – This depends on the coverage as well as how many days the family could do. Ours usually range from 7 - 10 days as we want to sightsee at a relax pace.
   
4.  Check accommodation – Many of us use Agoda.com and Booking.com. Sometimes it is good checking out other sites like Le Club Accor group which runs a chain of hotels including the Sofitel, Ibis, etc. Some of the promotions could be very attractive, like stay 2 nights and get 1 free.
   
   I am also a fan of booking a holiday home or bungalow especially when we have grandparents or another family with us. One of the websites I use and is quite happy with is ownersdirect.co.uk. This website connects us and the owners who have houses in various countries and turn them into a vacation homes. Why UK website? The terms and business conditions are quite straight forward. No hidden agenda. Trip Advisor has also a vacation rentals site worth looking into it.
   
5.  Decide to drive or hire an local tourguide – My rule of thumb, self-drive is great for developed countries such as USA, UK, Europe and even Eastern Europe. Having said that, I usually start the self-drive after my city visit in these countries as city traffic, parking and unfamiliarity are big mood dampens. For some countries which could be still undiscovered at this point, it is good to hire a local tour guide or book the local tour package. The latter is much cheaper when done in the country.

          So... hope the above, at least some of them, are insightful !