General Travel Tips

Book Early

I’ve found across the board that booking early can really be beneficial. When it comes to booking a hotel this can ensure you get the ideal hotel and the room type you want. You can also lock in low rates when you book during a low-booking time frame. Doing research in advance can help you pin point a great hotel location, making it easier to get around and be closer to points of interest, transportation, restaurants, etc.

Booking flights early gives you optimal choice when it comes to seat selection. Whether you have to have an aisle seat or a window, booking early will help you get the seat of your choice. It also gives you better options on getting direct flights (as they often book first), and more desirable flight times. If flying super early or late at night are not appealing, book flights as early as possible.

Look For Breakfast Included

This might sound silly, but we’ve had a hard time finding breakfast in some of the places we’ve visited. Depending on how early it is, day of the week or whether it’s a holiday, you can run into some issues. Once while traveling in Munich, we were up at 7am wanting to get breakfast before we hit the road. We could not find anything open within five blocks of our hotel that opened before 8:30. When I start looking for hotels, I always run an initial search of those that include breakfast. Make sure you compare rates to see how much difference in price there is between the room with and without breakfast. If it’s an additional $50, you’ll want to keep looking.

Breakfast can be really pricey, we’ve found that lots of breakfasts across Europe can easily run you 20 Euro or more, and beverages are by the glass (no free refills), so they can really add up. Another benefit to having breakfast included is how easy it makes starting your day. First you don’t have to find a place to go, then you also avoid walking or driving somewhere, and finally, you don’t have to bring anything with you (backpack, camera, etc.). We love being able to head back to our room for a quick bathroom break before we head out for the day.

Pay Close Attention to Flight Times

This is something I overlooked on my first couple international flights. I was more interested in price than I was with time. If you’re taking a long flight (8hrs+), really look closely at the departure and arrival times. This can really impact the first day of your vacation. After experiencing a couple miserable travel days, I learned to look at departure and arrival times more closely.

When booking an overseas flight, I try to find a departure time that is well into the evening, this eases the transition of being able to sleep on the flight. I particularly like flights that leave 7pm or later. That way I get on the flight, maybe eat dinner and watch a movie then go to sleep for hopefully the remainder of the flight. This helps to prevent exhaustion when you land at your destination. You also need to look at your arrival time at your final destination. It’s great if you can work it so you land late afternoon or early evening. Again, this kind of timing is really beneficial when it comes to sleep. In a lot of instances, you can land, make your way to your hotel, have some dinner and then go to bed. Arriving in the morning or early afternoon can wreak havoc on your sleep schedule, do you try to stay up all day or take a nap that might prevent you from being able to sleep that night?

Of course, sometimes there is nothing you can do about flight times. You may find that there is only one flight offered on the day you want/need to travel, so it is completely out of your hands. When this is the case, I try to get myself acclimated with the time change as quickly as I can, that means staying up all day when you first arrive. This can be really, really hard but I’ve found it pays off in the long run if you can go to bed at a normal time for you new location.

Another thing you want to note is layovers. When I first started traveling on a regular basis, I was lured in by lower prices on flights that had layovers. Make sure you check to see how long the layover is. I once had a six hour layover in Amsterdam and I felt like I was losing my mind by the time I boarded my next flight. You might save some money, but remember your time is worth money. Tacking on a three or four hour layover really makes for a long day of travel.

Early Bird/Rewards Programs

Within the United States, we always fly on Southwest Airlines. If you travel a lot, it  might be a good idea to look into a specific airline and their rewards system. We got a credit card that earns Southwest rewards many years ago and we’ve been using it ever since. It made sense for us. We’re using a credit card anyway, so we might as well earn rewards while doing so.

Specifically with Southwest, we always book one of us an Early Bird Check-In reservation. This guarantees the person will be automatically checked in 36 hours before the flight (instead of 24) which translates into a  better boarding number and seat selection. You’re allowed to save one seat when you board, so this works out perfectly for us. This service costs $15 but to us its been absolutely worth it. Nowadays people are really pushing the limits when it comes to carry-on baggage. We even had to check our carry-on bag once on an international flight because there was no overhead baggage room left when we boarded.

Doing the Early Bird Check-In has guaranteed that we have plenty of room to stow our carry-on luggage because we board early. Whatever airline you prefer, check out their different boarding options and rewards programs. There are so many options and it can really give you peace of mind and flexibility that you might otherwise not have.

More to come