Planning to travel

The Purpose for your trip is extremely important when you plan. Ask yourself the following questions: Where are you going? What will you do when you get there? Why are you going? Do you know what to expect when you get there? What will the weather be like when I travel and when I get there? What are the customs and cultural climates of my destination? Are there any major events at my destination?

Where you are going is extremely important. The time of the year, and what you are planning when you get there can have a huge impact on cost and time. For Instance a trip to Washington DC. Suppose the purpose for your trip is to view the monuments and enjoy the Washington Mall. It is a good idea to do a bit of research on the DC area and see what is going on for the dates you want to visit. For instance, planning a trip during a presidential inauguration, would mean that the city is a lot more crowded and certain areas will undoubtedly be off limits to the public, not to mention that hotels and car rentals will be scarce and could be quite pricey. Therefore, you may need to adjust your dates or destination.

When you book I recommend shopping. There are several online booking sources that will cover you from doorstep to doorstep. (i.e. Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz etc.) Most airlines, hotels and car rentals tend to push online bookings and will even give good discounts for booking online typically with their own websites. However, if you want a package deal you may find some of the online agencies offer good deals. In any case it is important to be aware of any restrictions associated with your bookings. Typically the less expensive the booking the more restrictive it is likely to be and the less flexible for making changes once you purchase or confirm the booking. Please note, with airlines in particular if you choose to book with a travel agency or online travel agency, the airline itself may be reluctant to make any changes to your booking because you did not book directly through them. Most airlines will adhere to their non refundable ticket policies. If you need to make changes you could face large change fees or need to purchase a whole new ticket altogether.Therefore, it is reccommended you are as set as possible with your travel dates when you confirm your bookings.

When you purchase your bookings it is always best to read the fine print. You can bet that the airline, car rental or hotel will know exactly what it is liable for and what it is not. For instance with airlines, when they say you have purchased a seat … typically the fine print will read that you have purchased a confirmed seat, not seat assignment. In the case of oversales or cancellations the fine print may read that they are responsible for getting you to your destination within twenty four hours of your original booking. I can't stress enough how important it is to know what you have purchased via the “terms and conditions” or “contract of carriage” or “conditions of carriage” which are provided to you at the time of booking. If you aren't sure you have been given the contract information, you can always ask for a copy or check the airlines website which has a section on contract of carriage.

I speak primarily to airline travel, but car rentals and hotels also have similar legal contracts. These are to protect the businesses and buyers alike. It is a contract. As the word contract signifies, it is a legal document. It explains what you have purchased, your rights and what you are entitled to. It is boring reading, but in the event of a problem … it is a tool to help guide you.

Now that you have your bookings, what are you planning to do when you get there? A cruise? Skiing? Hiking? Camping? Business meetings? Seminars?

My biggest single piece of advice when planning anything that has a time specific start (i.e. cruises, business meetings, seminars etc.) plan to arrive a day early, and plan an extra day at the end of your trip. If all goes well then you have just given yourself extra time to get to wherever you are planning to go, BUT if you are traveling during the winter months (or hurricane season or monsoon season) it is possible a freak weather event will happen. Flights cancel, the airport shuts down, or flights are overbooked because it is a peak travel period and you can't leave until the next day. Chances are, because you have given yourself an extra day to start your travel, you will still make your scheduled event. The biggest mistake I see travelers make is scheduling too tightly. The more time you give yourself, the more flexibility you will have when catastrophe strikes. To top it off you will save yourself a lot of stress and anxiety if you are not worried about missing the start of your cruise or event.

In the event of a transportation delay, your hotel and car rental may be flexible as well. As soon as you know you are delayed, it is best to call them so your reservations don't cancel. Let them know the reason for the delay. Also when you book a cruise or other time specific events at the time of booking find out their policies for unforeseen delays. Check with your credit card companies, some offer missed trip provisions, and will help with delayed or damaged luggage that might not be covered by the airline. There are resources out there, but they don't appear at the first sign of trouble. You need to know about them before travel starts.

When you arrive at your destination you should also have the answers to other questions, such as where to locate ground transportation. Where to retrieve your checked luggage. (side note please be aware that IATA governs airline policy and any luggage problems need to be directed to the carrier you arrived on not the carrier you started out on if you flew on multiple carriers.) If your trip is to an international destination or even someplace you have never been to, you need to know local customs and cultural practices. Language could be a difficulty if you are not prepared. For instance what do you do if you travel to Tokyo and do not speak Japanese? What if English is not your first language and you travel to the UK? Do you know how you plan to communicate your needs to the local population? What if you arrived and your luggage did not? Will you understand what you are being told about the delayed arrival of your luggage? Problems that occur can be stressful. They can feel insurmountable when you are trying to resolve them in a language you don't know or don't know well enough to understand what is happening. Perhaps arranging for a bilingual guide to meet you will smooth the way?

The same is true for culture. What do you know about the culture you are visiting? It is arrogant to assume that as a visitor your culture will be accepted or forgiven just because you are a visitor. You need to know the cultural rules of your destination. If you are a westerner traveling to the middle east, it truly behooves you to understand the culture or at least have a working knowledge of what to expect so that you do not blunder and incite the wrath of a local. You may feel that you are a world traveler but you need to be aware that the more remote the area you travel to, even in the age of information technology, the locals may not be that worldly and may take a dim view of visitors who disregard their customs and culture.

In short, when you book and plan your trip, whether it be for business or pleasure, the more research you do before you leave, will have a greater impact on the success or pleasure of your trip. Countless times I have heard angry passengers complain that their entire trip was ruined because of delays, seat assignments or delayed luggage. Many times they themselves don't realize how much control they had in the success or failure of their travel. I don't make excuses for incompetent travel employees, or poor customer service, that is entirely another issue. As a customer however, you do bear some responsibility for the success of your travel and as long as you do your part you can mitigate the possibilities for failure.

In life we must prepare for the unexpected. You have no idea when you wake up each day what unexpected things will come up, but if you review your day you can probably think back to things you didn't plan for but how you handled them and generally you don't miss a step because you planned. It doesn't make sense to plan a major event such as a vacation or important business meeting and not plan for delays, cancellations, weather or other events that can impact travel. The more important the successful outcome, the more planning and research should be done.

In my next post I will discuss the day of departure.