Boomhauer

Scamp, Meow and everyone else.

It's that time of the year that I head on vacation with the fam.

So when you all go on vacation, how do you set it up? Do you just buy a package throught a travel agent?
Package = Air-tickets, Hotel, possibly pickup/drop-off from the airport, possibly rental car.

Or do you just go online, look at a decent hotel and then buy a package through the Hotel?
Or do you buy the tickets yourself, reserve a hotel and once you get to the destination country, you pick tour operators the Hotel recommends?

Last year I went to the Riviera Maya ; sis went online and found a nice hotel. The Hotel handled the air-tickets and transport from Cancun airport . We picked out some excursions from the Tour operators in the Hotel.

DXBtoDOH

I don't do packages though I can see why people do.

I decide on the destination and a general itinerary. Book the flights and the hotels. Then I do what I want to do each day. In a city I just take taxis/metro/bus around and visit the sights on my own. Countryside activities are usually active and I hit the trails and if needed book my own operators in advance. Rent a car if needed, like my road trip around NZ last year.

Occasionally I might sign up on a tour in advance for a day trip somewhere specific, such as to the Great Wall from Beijing, but I did the research and found a tour that took me directly to the wall and back. No faffing around fake jade shops.

I like doing the research on restaurants and activities and sights and plotting my own itinerary. Spending an entire trip following someone with a raised umbrella and wearing colour coded t-shirts? No thanks.

scrubbedexpat141

We generally:

Pick location
Start to research it.
Adjust, to include an extra bit or plan a rough 4days here, 4 days there, 3 days there and home type sketch.
Decide on a single / multiple location.
Book main flights....which means dates are set.
Then buy the lonely planet (if we haven't already) to use along with other web research.
Research best areas in the locations selected.
Research which hotels are in budget in areas.
Book, preferably with free cancellation through booking.com
Book remaining hotels.
Same time research travel between - train / plane etc.
Book travel between, if train / plane.
Research more about activities, come up with lists for each place of things to do / dinners / lunches / must see etc.
Book transport from airport with the hotel, generally do this because I can't be bothered with badly organised transportation after a flight. Note: some places it's worth just reading and seeing what's easiest (BKK was easy just to train in, Singapore the Taxis are well organised etc).
Finally, recap, note it down, be a real detailed planner so I haven't missed everything, print it all.

Bahtatboy

More-or-less identical for me, but recently have used AirBnB extensively (and successfully).

Edit to state locations I've done this:
Budapest
Amsterdam
Central Italy
Sicily
Portugal (although hotel was in a hotel+golf package)
Morocco (several times for the family to come out)
Ireland

Just now looking at Lysefjord...

DXBtoDOH

This is it. End of.

Although AirBnB as Baht suggested is increasingly a viable option over hotels.

OTE=Scamp;12298573]We generally:

Pick location
Start to research it.
Adjust, to include an extra bit or plan a rough 4days here, 4 days there, 3 days there and home type sketch.
Decide on a single / multiple location.
Book main flights....which means dates are set.
Then buy the lonely planet (if we haven't already) to use along with other web research.
Research best areas in the locations selected.
Research which hotels are in budget in areas.
Book, preferably with free cancellation through booking.com
Book remaining hotels.
Same time research travel between - train / plane etc.
Book travel between, if train / plane.
Research more about activities, come up with lists for each place of things to do / dinners / lunches / must see etc.
Book transport from airport with the hotel, generally do this because I can't be bothered with badly organised transportation after a flight. Note: some places it's worth just reading and seeing what's easiest (BKK was easy just to train in, Singapore the Taxis are well organised etc).
Finally, recap, note it down, be a real detailed planner so I haven't missed everything, print it all.[/QUOTE]

Meow

I do mostly this apart from the last bit. I like to have rough plans of what we'll do but then see what we feel like on the day.

Researching a place you haven't been before, using a variety of sources is part of the pleasure of going away, but I like to just wander around places and get a bit of a feel for a place without rushing from one tourist spot to another.

I have an aversion to most organised and structured things in life, or even being told what to do, so having info to hand and doing as we feel like is ideal for us.

jam25mack

Do similar but generally just book flights, accom and a car (if need be) and then make the rest up as I go along.

May go online a few days before I leave to see whats about.

Check the weather on route to the airport.

IKnowNothing

That's me too, book return flights, a few days at the first destination, and take it from there.

TheShed

Same here for me and Mrs She’d. Book flights and first 1/2 nights in a hotel to suss the place out and then just start wandering. Once we booked to Hong Kong and ended up visiting 5 other countries, came back four weeks later.

We occasionally do tours but only in private car with dedicated guide so that we can skip the tacky shops and add things that interest us along the way.

scrubbedexpat141

Oh goodness, I don't mean to sound like a total holiday fun killer.

I like to have lists of things that we want to do / see / go to and then each day we can decide what happens next. Some things need planning/ booking, some don't.

Often this is because we need to make the most of our time in a location - think of HCMC for example...Palace, war museum, tunnels trip, etc. Easily that's two whole days gone.

martinbkk

Sounds exhausting

scrubbedexpat141

Not if you follow up the city with a beach.

jam25mack

Whatever floats your boat innit.

For me I could think of nothing worse than having an itinerary. The fun and adventure and not knowing is what I enjoy.

My old man when he was travelling round SEA (for about 10yrs) used to buy the Lonely Planet just so he knew where not to go. If it was in it he would avoid it.

If you like have a plan and that works for you then all good. Different strokes and all that.

IKnowNothing

Totally agree.

Boomhauer

Ok , any tips on how you prevent yourself from being scammed/ripped off?

I loathe bartering ; absolutely loathe it.