- So a lot of people have told me
I tend to be a little extra
when it comes to travel planning.
And that's true,
but that's because I like having control over where I go
and how I spend my money.
I'm sure that's important to most of you too.
So, I'm gonna show you all the tools
that you can use to plan to plan your next vacation.
As a professional travel planner for eight months,
and an amateur one for basically,
all of my adult life,
I love travel planning.
Here's where I like to file for budgeting.
A vacation for just yourself
should cost roughly around the same
as what you make in one paycheck.
That way you're neither making or losing money either way.
And you give yourself the option
of either going to a really fancy resort for a weekend
or a backpacking trip on a budget for one week.
But obviously,
everyone's situation's a little different,
especially if you've got family members to account for.
For that budgeting,
you can use a tool on BEFRUGAL.COM
to figure out whether you should drive or fly to a place.
It even factors in costs
like tolls and gas prices for driving
and taxis to and from the airport for flying.
But I'm gonna focus on flights
because a good flight deal
can really feel like they're hard to find.
Have you ever heard of people
who've scored crazy flight deals
from New York to Japan for $300 dollars?
I've been one of those people.
It was amazing.
But it probably helps
to first understand how flight pricing works.
The majority of air fares you see
are targeted to two kinds of travelers.
There are those who will pay any price
because they need to be somewhere a specific time.
That's folks traveling for business,
a family emergency, a wedding.
And then there are the flexible travelers
who are willing to put up with mid-day flights or layovers
to get a better deal.
So in that sample from New York to Tokyo,
the prices might fall into this range.
Now of course,
airlines are incentivized
to make the most money per seat.
So the majority of the fares you will see
likely fall between this middle range in prices.
But, when it's time for an airline
to try to fill its empty seats,
it may just straight up drop prices.
That's where these seats in the lower range
become up for grabs.
Keep in mind
that when an airline drops prices,
it drops services too.
And this is notorious for domestic flights
or ones from low cost carriers.
Cheap flights often come with restrictions,
such as not being able to pick your seat,
bring overhead luggage
or having to fly at inconvenient times.
These budget options are becoming more popular
so that airlines can get their prices
in the top of search.
So read the fine print before you book.
But back to my magical $300 dollar fare.
That was actually a mistake fare,
which happens when a human or technical error
causes a flight to get to literally be sold
at the wrong price.
This is pretty rare
and not all airlines will honor it.
But if you do find one,
wait until you have a confirmed booking
before you start booking places to stay.
Currently, I'm looking to book a flight in early December.
And I'm pretty flexible on where.
Some of my favorite places to find deals are like
the Flight Deal or Scott's Cheap Flights
or AirfareWatchdog.
These are newsletters that track price drops.
I'm looking through here and...
There are active deals like
Copenhagen for $333 dollars.
These are pretty good.
But I'd like something a little cheaper
and a little closer to home.
Now this one from the Flight Deal
is a $178 dollars to Martinique.
It's about a four hour flight.
That seems pretty good.
I might actually consider that one.
One last place I also like to look
is Google Flights.
So it looks like Google Flights and the Flight Deal
are both showing this Martinique flight for 178.
It's through Norwegian Airline
and that's probably coming up
because Norwegian just opened a flight route
between New York and a lot of different places.
So they're probably incentivizing people
to buy tickets to fill their planes
that's why it's so cheap right now.
You can book a flight like this through aggregators
like Orbitz or Expedia and earn points,
but booking directly with an airline
will give you more leverage
if there are travel disruptions or cancellations.
Check with your credit card companies too
if they offer travel protection.
Now,
you've got a place to go
and now it's time to think about a place to stay.
Sites like Homeaway and Airbnb are great options
for people who want more of a local vibe
or places that are unique to them.
If your prefer things like housekeeping or in-room dining,
you might choose a hotel,
in which case Trip Advisor forums
could be a good place to start
to look for places that might suit you.
And if you're really on a budget,
sites like HOSTELWORLD or COUCHSURFING
can be good alternatives
for finding places to stay on the cheap.
Now let's find some things to do.
I like to mix my resources.
So that's TripAdvisor forums
and LonelyPlanet guides.
But also look at some YouTube bloggers
to see what they've done
or even Instagram location tags of different cities.
Now, I'm a huge nerd,
so when it comes time to put together my itinerary,
I like to make Excel sheets in InDesign documents.
Most people don't have that kind of time.
Apps like Google Trips can be a great option for you
to pull all your travel info together,
such as maps, hotel bookings, train tickets,
what have you.
Tip time.
Here are some things you should do
before you go.
Download all the apps you need beforehand.
That's offline maps
so you can navigate without internet.
Ride hailing apps,
money exchange converters,
maybe a dictionary if you're going to a place
where you don't speak the language.
Check with your mobile carriers
to see if they offer international data plans.
Some of them are free.
Some of them are cheap.
So, look through that before you decide
whether you need to buy a Sim card at the airport.
Lastly, set a travel notice for your credit card.
The last thing you want to happen
is to get to a foreign place with no money.
I'm really excited for a trip now.
Um...
But first I need some time off.
Uh, Deeder,
can I have some time off?
(slight chuckle)
Travel is so personal,
so I'm sure I didn't get to all of your favorite tools.
So share them with me in the comments.
Let me know.
Also, if you haven't already,
subscribe to us on YouTube.com/the verge.