Planning vacation? Searching for "Packaged Deals"? Got a couple of options lined up and making up your mind for booking, ... just HOLD ON FOR 3 Minutes and go through this carefully and then take a final call, am sure you'll find these 3 minutes worth each of your penny :)
Ok, first let me be very clear that we are not against the concept of the packaged tour in fact that's the most convenient way of traveling if one does not wish to spend time Planning, Budgeting, and Researching. But at the same time, Packaged Tours are not made for catering to individuals' choices so while you may have visualized your End Experience in a particular way at the time of booking, it might turn out differently. I am not saying it would always be bad but we have heard little lesser stories of happy endings or full satisfaction or no complaints. Most of the time the reason for a "Not so very satisfying" experience is not the Tour Operator but it's you (You read it right) because you may be going for something which naturally doesn't go with your personality and that's exactly why I want you to answer these 3 questions before you swipe your card.
Are you or your partners are someone who would like to bound to Strict Routines? Breakfast at 7:30 AM, Tour bus will start sharp at 9 AM, See the place you have 15 min before we start for next destination, etc., etc. Does this sound exciting or irritates you?
Do you prefer to stay way out of the town, away from happening points of your travel destination?
And the most important one, do you like to be given directions or do you prefer exploring?
If your answer to all these questions is "YES", well done you have already find your preferred package and now its time to do the booking. Go ahead and swipe the card.
If you are still reading, I assume your answer was "No" to most of the above questions and that brings us to the second section of this article where we'll understand;
How a little effort on researching & planning can bring you the most satisfying experience without making a hole in your pocket
So the first challenge is to find the right Flight, isn't it? Well, it used to be a challenge if it was 10 years back but nowadays it's a no-brainer. Ok ok, I get it there are 10s,100s, and 1000s of Search Engines where all one should look for finding the right flight?
Many would prefer Google Flight but in my view, Google is always associated with your current location so it would not give you results that may be more optimal for you but not part of its local search engine and that's why I suggest using Search Engines like Travalexa which compare airfares from Thousands of airlines and dozens of travel sites getting better deals. Not only Flights but Travalexa can provide great deals on Hotel Accommodation as well as it provides aggregated information on more than 250,000 hotels in 205 countries working together with more than 10 online reservation systems such as Booking.com, Agoda.com, Hotels.com, and Expedia. This means a lot many options to choose from depending upon which area you want to spend your most of the time and what kind of stay option you are preffering. Sky Scanner is a good option too.
So that takes care of Flight & Hotel Search, apart from comparison from various sites and other booking engines you can also find which are the dates where you may get a better deal.
Next comes the Visa Information, mos of the time I've seen people making rounds to Agents and Tour operators and giving all unnecessary documentation which agents keep asking and not to mention heavy and completely unnecessary service charges. Believe me, this part can save you a lot on your expenses and time especially as now many destinations offer e-visa. I'll write a separate article and discuss in detail "how one can get Visa processing done on their own" (I'll skip for now as it could be a very long discussion)
Next comes the planning for "To Do Things" at the destination and this is the part that brings the most satisfaction because as an Individual only you know what makes you happy, what is that you actually want to do when you are at your preferred destination. Once again you can look find organized material at "Travalexa" for example if you are looking forward to visiting Europe, you can refer to "Magnificient Europe" OR if You are planning for any destination in Asia or even Adventures Africa for that matter. They are adding more and more content almost every week so am sure you'll find it nice to have it all in one place.
However if you don't find your destination listed there then I've one more Suggestion for you to check out this "Virtual Guide", you just need to enter your destination and it will present you with all the available options from Day Tours, to Guided Tour, Various Deals on Entry Ticket to Tourist Attractions you'll find everything here. Just select your preference, make a booking and you are all set.
So what's left now? Well, are you relying on buying Tourist Sim when you enter the destination? What if I tell you that there is a Universal SIM covering most of the tourist destinations in the world? Don't believe me, check this my another Travel Hack - "Stay Connected While Traveling Overseas"
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