4 Steps To Great Vacations
by Matt Scheel

Booking vacations online has become extremely popular. In fact, online travel bookings currently generate more sales than any other product or service sold on the internet - and the number of online bookings are expected to almost triple from 1999-2004. Unfortunately, this boom in online travel booking does not mean that everybody is saving money, or planning appropriately.

1. Pick out a perfect location

A vacation should "take you away" from your daily routine so you can forget your problems and hassles. To do this, you need to find a place that will feed you forward to thinking about what you are doing on your trip, not what you left behind. Psychologists call this "sidetracking" your problems, that is, going to a new environment to get away from reminders of daily routines and give yourself a fresh start. Look for discount travel clubs for a great source of destination variety. Many timeshares often go unfilled and vacation clubs often offer their members the opportunity to stay at vacant timshares for very low rates - around $200-$300 total for 7 nights/8 days in condos or suites that sleep anywhere from 2 to 6 people (the price is regardless of how many actually stay). Packages like this are available at great destinations all over the world. All-inclusive resorts and/or cruises can be a great deal. Often the price of a travel club membership can be saved in just one trip. For example, my financee and I will be spending 7 nights on a cruise ship, 3 nights at an all-inclusive resort, and 7 nights at a timeshare property in Acapulco next fall, then flying back. A 17 night honeymoon all for under $2500 - thanks to membership in a travel club (in our case, Club Travelogia, but there are others).

2. Consider the cost

The last thing a vacation should do is give you more to worry about! Set aside a budget for your trip and stick to it. You don't necessarily have to spend a great deal of money to have a great vacation. Your two biggest expenses will be airfare (discussed below) and lodging (discussed above).

3. Convenient transportation

Consider how you will get to your destination conveniently at a resonable price. You might find a very cheap price on airfare, but it involves multiple layovers for long periods, or traveling at odd hours. In some cases the savings in money is worth it, but just as often as not people wish they had paid a little more for more convenient transportation.

Starting this past fall a new piece of software called BoardingPass has made finding the lowest airfares a piece of cake. BoardingPass is free software that guarantees the lowest fare on the Internet by searching 28 airlines sites, plus Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, and CheapTickets, simultaneously. It has already been rated #1 by Forbes, Oprah's Oxygen network and other media giants. It's free and definitely worth checking out.

4. Plan activites for your trip

You don't want to make so many plans that you end up substituting a busy schedule with deadlines at home with one on your trip. But you should have some idea what you want to do while you are on vacation. What sites do you want to see? Are there sporting events you'd like to go to? Try to do things on your trip that you can't do at home. Along with lodging and travel discounts, many travel clubs offer extra perks like discounts at amusement parks, ski resorts, sightseeing tours, or restaurants.

If you plan to do quite a bit of traveling, joining a travel club might be a great investment for you. The money you spend on the club can be saved with benefits, plus you have a better chance of avoiding the worst waste of all, the time and money wasted on a bad trip that was poorly planned. Of course, you can plan great trips without being in any club, just make sure you address the points mentioned above before you embark on your journey. You'll be glad you did.

~January 2004

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Matt Scheel is a Club Executive at TraveLogia.com. Please feel free to visit his site for more money saving options by becoming a free online member of Club TraveLogia and/or downloading a copy of BoardingPass software absolutely free: www.sparks.travelogia.com
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