Trip planning question poll

[EACarlson]

Had this come up on a different message board and am interested in what the feeling here is. You've decided to take a trip that's going to require a flight and a hotel. In general, removing all specific one off instances, which are you booking first?

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Being from Ireland, an island nation, I have to fly and book hotels for almost every trip I do.
I usually book hotels first, as I find their prices increase faster than flights.

 

[Smugpugmug]

When I went to Japan and for my upcoming trip to London, I booked my flights first but for my Disneyland trip in September I booked the hotel first so I'm not super consistent with doing one or the other first.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

I usually book them at the same time because I do a lot of research among multiple destinations before I pick one so I have everything decided upon in advance, but in those cases where I do book them separately it would be the flight first because the flight is more often a deciding factor in where I choose to go.

Between the availability of the schedule to fit my needs and the price, I sometimes will take the first flight that hits every button knowing that I can almost always find a hotel that fits my budget and near the location I want afterward.

 

[Disnsyncey]

If it's more than a few day trip, the hotel will end up being the higher expense, so I make sure I'm not going at a high hotel price time and then I do the flights....

and ALWAYS refundable/free cancellation up until a reasonable time close to the trip.....flights are harder to retrieve your money after 24 hours after payment....

 

[lovesmurfs]

I book flights first for security, so that I KNOW we're going, particularly if we're going out of the country. Then I book a rental car if needed.

But it does make sense to book hotels first, because prices do increase and they're cancelable.

 

[BrianL]

I usually do everything all at the same time, however I tend to fianlize the flight first then book the hotel.

 

[sam_gordon]

Got to go with "Other". For me "it depends".

Hotels can generally be cancelled with no penalty (at least the reservations we make). So I can make that reservation without danger of losing money.
Airfare fluctuates so much, it's hard to say when that will be booked, but generally after hotel.

 

[Moliphino]

Flights first, then hotels. The flight is the determining factor for dates and location.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

Hotel since its easy to change or cancel without a fee.

 

[BorderTenny]

Had to go with "Other" because trips which involve both hotel and flights are few and far between for me. Usually it's drive to a hotel or fly to stay with family. Most recent trip was actually drive to cruise ship.

 

[soccerdad72]

It depends on the trip. When the destination (not the city, but the resort/activities) is the priority, hotels and other accommodations come first and then flights. If we know what area we want to go to, we'll find the best flights and work backwards from there.

Two examples of the differences:

1. Last summer when we did an African safari, I worked with a travel agent that specializes in trips like this and worked out all the details of where we were going and everything we were doing. Once that was complete, we knew where we needed to fly into and out of as well as the timing. Then we worked on finding the best flights.

2. We did a ski trip to Switzerland this past January. We knew the general timeline we wanted to go, but were flexible, generally speaking, on dates. So we found the cheapest (using miles) flights in and out of the country and then figured out lodging after that.

 

[sam_gordon]

Flights first, then hotels. The flight is the determining factor for dates and location.

I'd love to get to that point.

Most of our trips are driveable. Even going to Disney, I'd prefer to fly, but we can drive (~13 hours). That's another reason to get the hotel first. If we're going on the trip, we need a hotel. How we get there can depend though. I'd much prefer flying, but driving is an option if flight prices aren't reasonable.

Granted, if we were going out west, that changes the equation somewhat, and we'd need both (hotel and flight) to make it "doable".

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Could go either way.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Flights as I adjust my dates for seat sales. If the flight is cheaper on Monday then Tuesday then that's when I book.

 

[Moliphino]

I'd love to get to that point.

Most of our trips are driveable. Even going to Disney, I'd prefer to fly, but we can drive (~13 hours). That's another reason to get the hotel first. If we're going on the trip, we need a hotel. How we get there can depend though. I'd much prefer flying, but driving is an option if flight prices aren't reasonable.

Granted, if we were going out west, that changes the equation somewhat, and we'd need both (hotel and flight) to make it "doable".

When we were doing Disney trips I would book hotels/packages 6+ months out as a "just in case", since they're so easily canceled and you needed them to book dining and FP+ at the best times, and then work out flights once we were sure we were going. It was easy to book a one night stay if the flights worked out better the night before, too.

The past four years has been all Europe trips, so the flights are the biggest expense and it's not uncommon for hotels to be non-refundable (or you pay more for a refundable option). So we nail down the flights first before booking anything else.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

At Disney and everywhere else we go, we book the hotel first. We book the hotel several months to a year before we go, and we always book our flights about two months out because they’re usually cheaper then.

 

[disneychrista]

I am currently only on my second flight/hotel vacation. I booked my hotel in August and my flight in January.

 

[sam_gordon]

Flights as I adjust my dates for seat sales. If the flight is cheaper on Monday then Tuesday then that's when I book.

You can tell the future?

 

[bakerworld]

We always book the room and then the flight. Although this might mean adjusting the room.