planning a vacation, how to?

[cptschlongenheimer]

Because of varying reasons over the years, I've never had both the time and money to be able to take my family on vacation. Well, I've been busting my ass for several years to try and get in the position where I could, and this is finally going to be the year! Problem is, I've realized I have absolutely no clue how to actually plan a vacation. Until now, all of them consisted of tiling bathrooms or motor swaps in cars... that kind of stuff.

I've poked around on a few travel deal sites but frankly, that's an exercise in confusion.

So, my questions are:
Is it worthwhile to use an agency? (do they routinely find the best values?)
If so, any recommendations?
If not, what is the most reliable way to find the best value in hotel/airfare?
Is there anything besides travel/logding/meals/activities that I must pay attention to ahead of time?
Any particular destinations/activities that you or your families recommend?

Bang for the buck, aka "value", is my paramount concern, since this will probably be the only family vacation my oldest son gets to go on before he's on his own.

As always, thank you fine folks in advance.

[Ricky]

If you are looking for good vacation packages, check travelzoo.com. You will find a ton of stuff there, and it's all legit.

And use kayak.com, as it searches most other sites for fares on flights and hotels and stuff.

[WolFeYeZ]

Its good to make a reservation for renting a car as often it is cheaper that way. You can find online coupons for this as well. That's about all I really saw missing.

PS: I hate being 21 and renting a car -.- cost me $20 a day extra for the one vacation I happened to pull off without the rents knowing :P

[Sean]

No need for an agent IMO.

Where do you want to go? Are you open? A couple of places in mind?

Once you figure out where you want to go, start hitting airline websites. Kayak/travelocity/cheaptickets are a good start. Also search frontier and southwest, they don't always come up on the airline search engines. You can also go to specific airlines themselves and see if they have any deals (american/delta). One last thing I do is look at the actual airports website and see who flies in and out of both airports I want to go to. Sometimes there are noname airlines that I can jump on and get a cheap flight ex: JetBlue

Search for hotels. read reviews of the hotels on different websites. If you learn how to use/manipulate Priceline you can get some solid deals.

[Zach929rr]

How many are you taking?

[Matrix]

[QUOTE=Sean;587754]No need for an agent IMO.

QUOTE]

I disagree. I travel a lot for business but when I am planning a family vacation I still rely on a travel agent to help me weed through the noise. The way I see it, my time is important and the small fee I pay for an expert opinion and the peice of mind of worth it. A prime example is an expert will know how to help you get between the airport and the hotel via the most cost effective way.

I use Debby @http://www.worldtraveltoday.com/vacation.html


Secondly, if you travel at all for business then become a miles whore. I just booked a trip to Vancouver for four nights and flights for two and it cost me $10 in processing fees.

[cptschlongenheimer]

I guess details are in order...
2 adults, 2 teen boys
Destination: beach. Somewhere that's warm fall/winter time frame...
Or maybe a cruise?
I'd like to stay under $3k is that too unrealistic?

[CaptGoodvibes]

We plan our vacations ourselves. Travel agents don't have any reason to give you the best deal if you don't do a lot of business travel through them.

I like Mexico for value vacations and Hawaii and Mexico(Baja - Pacific side) for surfing vacations. Plenty of other good beaches out there but nothing beats an all-inclusive Mexico resort for saving money on food and booze. Lots of deals if you scour the web with this in mind.

[cptschlongenheimer]

need passports for Mexico these days right?

[Sean]

You can also check out Apple or Funjet Vacations for some deals on flight/all-inclusive hotel to Cancun/Playa del Carmen/Cozumel. Cancun might be a nice option for you?

need passports for Mexico these days right?

Yes

[Ricky]

need passports for Mexico these days right?

Yes, for sure.

Cancun (not actually cancun, but the riviera maya resorts) would probably get you a vacation for 4 for about $3k... Especially all-inclusive resorts. Just went there about a month ago, and tickets were $500 each. That's $2k for you, and I think it's easy enough to find a hotel for 3-4 nights for a grand.

[Sully]

need passports for Mexico these days right?

Correct. If you don't have them, go get them NOW. I believe it takes approximately 4-6 weeks to receive, unless you pay extra for the RUSH service which is about 2-3 weeks (on top of the passport fee).

http://www.travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html


+1 for Apple Vacations and Playa del Carmen!

[Zach929rr]

^ What Sully said. However, I will say that in November me and my womanz went to get our passports for a Mexico trip in January. We had them about 4 weeks later in the middle of December. If you go to your local court house (Jeffco for me -> Taj Mahal) the clerk you speak to when you apply for your passports will give you a good idea of whether or not you should rush process based on a deadline.

And if you go to Mexico, remember you can't bring back ANYTHING made in Cuba, including some really nice cigars you got really cheap

[CaptGoodvibes]

The last time I needed a passport renewal, it was 10 days with the rush service. YMMV.

[grim]

Didnt see it mentioned but if your comfortable with boats you can do a cruise they always stop on islands with beaches and theres alot to do on the ship i went on one in 2002 it was pretty fun!

[WolFeYeZ]

Didnt see it mentioned but if your comfortable with boats you can do a cruise they always stop on islands with beaches and theres alot to do on the ship i went on one in 2002 it was pretty fun!

I also went on one back in 02 when I was 13-14, so maybe around the age of the OP's kids. I had a blast and it was very memorable and a great vacation. You get to see multiple locations so it keeps things lively plus the boats always have a shit ton to do on them.