R. Craig Collins > Web Page Design > Portfolio > How To: Travel

How to Travel like the Collins © R. Craig Collins, 2005/6

I typically start with Expedia and Travelocity, looking at air+hotel fares for a lot of cities on our short list. I will check Orbitz, but usually they aren't as competitive. Go-Today also has neat packages, but often has blackouts during Christmas when we travel, and only does double rooms. We of course now need a quad.

I'll try this for about two weeks, to try and get a sense of the high and low tides, as far as price goes, and we choose a city. Immediately I will buy a Rick Steves (for European travel) and a DK Eyewitness book, and a popup city map. Start finding what I want to visit, and see what is over rated.

The next week, when I expect prices to be lowest, I check one more time. I look at the flights and rule out the ones with too many stops. Then jump on the airline site, to see if they have package deals to the same place. Usually they can't beat Expedia and Travelocity when hotel prices get factored in, but it is worth a check.

Then I go to Trip Advisor to look up real traveler reviews of the hotels that are being offered (Expedia and Travelocity also have this, but I like a disinterested party involved, too :) I look at all the reviews, not
just the average. Some people have way to high expectations. If I see the same good or same bad, then it is easy to choose (for me, the best hotel means breakfast, en suite bathroom, and is close to metro or tram stops. Not too far from the city center, and NOT a US chain if I am over seas. I want local flavor. Plus, as I won't spend too much time there, if it is clean, with the amenities I mentioned earlier, it is a contender.)

Then, when I decide on a flight and hotel combo that is the best, then I book. Don't wait. Small hotels go out of availability, and seats together aren't available the closer you get to the trip.

Both Travelocity and Expedia will then offer to sell you tours, parking transfers, etc. You can add those later. If they offer a 'city pass', I research price and get the lower, as it usually pays for itself with
admissions, discounts, and often transit passes. That means, compare the tour site with the city pass web site for price. If the city doesn't offer a pass, per say, I then go the mass transit web site for the city, and order either 3 day or one-week passes. (Usually the week is a great deal, but sometimes the three day will suffice, when we take tours into account. Both are much easier, and often cheaper, than individual rides. And much easier if you have it in hand when you arrive.

I then compare tours at the Expedia or Travelocity sight with Viator, and then compare those to the local Gray Line tours web site. They are usually comparable, so I pick the dates that work best for us, and shop price. All the sites usually have the same destinations, but often they have different operating days... so I make a table of prices and dates. I build a calendar and test drive things until I can squeeze in as
many things that the tour books recommend. Normally we do a overview tour the first full day, then normally take one out of town tour. If we got three day transit passes instead of the weekly, I factor day long tours
before or after the period we can use mass transit. Museums are often closed on Monday, so that is a good tour day, etc. If they are all close in price and availability, I take Gray Lines first, Viator second. I have been known to buy train tickets and do it ourselves, but often the tour is comparable, and I don't have to worry about getting around the other town if I am on a tour bus. I also leave one day completely free, so we can go back to things we saw, or things we didn't get enough of earlier.

Finally, I search for airport transfers. Viator and Gray Line have them, but normally they are high. Just browse the web, or email the hotel to see if they offer or recommend transfers. Look for ones that you pay the driver, so you don't get your credit card charged and no driver shows up. Yes, you can take the bus or the train in London, say, but normally you get a good price if you do a round trip transfer, and getting delivered to the airport with no lugging or jumping from bus to train... well, after the exciting but
exhausting trip, it is now more than worth it to me to pay for that hotel pick up.