I just recently came across a really interesting article about how much different travel is now that we have smartphones. Some of the points made in the article about what people do differently now that they have these gadgets include:

• No more paper tickets. These days, people get their flight confirmation emailed to them. They can access this email from their smartphones. In fact, in many places, you can use a barcode on the email to check in to your flight and pass through security so that you don’t need to print anything else out at all.
• Stay up to date on flight delays and changes. You can use the mobile web to check in on this information. You can also sometimes have airlines send those changes to you via text message.
• No more carrying maps around with you at your new destination. Why carry around a map when your phone’s GPS will provide turn-by-turn directions for you?
• Stop asking for recommendations. You no longer have to ask locals for recommendations on the best restaurants or stores to shop in. Just sign on to your phone and check the reviews on sites like Yelp.

I can definitely see how some of these things are really good changes for travelers. I think GPS is a great feature especially for families that are trying to get around with impatient kids. However, I don’t think that we should go overboard with stuff like this. I’d still rather get recommendations about local places from the people who I run into on my travels. And I’d prefer to do my research into hotel deals before I go on a trip rather than relying on location-based deals to pop up on my phone. I think it’s just a matter of balance.

Do you use phone apps or the mobile web to assist you in your travel? Have your travel experiences changed a lot in recent years as a result?

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There are many tips out there about how to save money on hotels. These tips are varied in how applicable they might be to you. If you happen to be someone with a family who really enjoys family travel then you’ll want to look specifically for ways to save money on hotels when you’ve got the whole brood with you.

Here are five tips for saving money on hotels when you bring the kids along:

1. Look for “kids stay free” deals. One of the best hotel deals that you’ll frequently see offered is that kids can stay free. Often this also means that they can eat for free as well. Pay attention to the details of the deal to make sure that you’ll be saving money.
2. Stay in a place that has complimentary breakfast. Yes, you’ll all get breakfast for free, of course. However, if you’re smart then you can also get the kids snacks and lunch out of the deal. Choose an economy hotel that has a full breakfast and take muffins, cereal, juice boxes and other extras to go. You’ll save money on meals out during the day while you’re trekking around.
3. Choose hotels that have entertainment for kids. If there is a lot for your kids to do at the hotel then you won’t need to pay to take them out for entertainment as much. Of course, you’ll still enjoy your trip but you can also just spend some time in the hotel’s pool or bowling alley and spend less money.
4. Find a hotel that offers affordable daycare. There might be a few fancy things that you want to do with your spouse during your vacation. Sure, you could take the kids along to a nice restaurant, a Cirque du Soleil show or some other event but you’d be spending a lot of money for the extra bodies. If your hotel has a childcare service that’s safe and affordable then you can enjoy an adults-only part of your trip for less.
5. Stay at hotels that advertise being kid-friendly. The best thing about these hotels is that local businesses often network with them. You can get deals and discounts on kids’ activities in the area when you’re staying at one of these places. Ask about this when making reservations.

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• Great deals. I want to use a website that will offer the best hotel deals and best airfare.
• Ease-of-use. I definitely want to make sure that any website that I use is going to be one that is really user-friendly. No glitches; no tough-to-read text, etc.
• Lots of information and reviews. I don’t just want to know about the latest hotel specials; I want to know about what makes each hotel special!
• Personality. I’d like to see the personality shine through the site as I’m reading it. This makes it easy to get a feel for whether or not a recommended deal would be right for me.
• Variety. A website that offers the same deals over and over again is boring. A website that offers new stuff all of the time is going to keep me interested.

It doesn’t matter to me whether a travel website is an independent site or one that’s produced by a chain company. What matters to me is the content and the quality of that content. I want to check out travel websites that are going to really be useful to me. Let’s face it; we all have a limited amount of time that we’re able to spend online. I don’t want to waste mine on travel websites that aren’t the best websites.

One of the websites that I’m really excited about right now is the Choice Hotels website. This website was already a good website by the above standards. However it’s recently undergone a site redesign that makes it even more appealing to me as a reader. Features of the new site include:

• New advanced search bar. They’ve made it a lot easier to search for good hotel deals close to the destinations that you want to visit.
• Rate comparison tool. I love that they’ve made it possible to easily compare the costs and features of different rooms that are available. You can easily look at photos of the room as well as package deals that might make it cheaper.
• Look for deals within certain interests. A cool new feature lets you look for the best deals in certain categories such as romantic vacations. That makes for easy planning!

What do you think?

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One of the things that I always do at the end of the year is to figure out what I didn’t get done that year. I decide if I still want to get it done in the year to come or if I am ready to let it go. This is a month-long process that relates to all sorts of different goals and areas of my life.

One of the areas of my life that I look at, of course, is travel. I always have some travel goals in mind at the beginning of the year. I have been busy figuring out what I want my 2010 travel to-do list to look like. Here’s what’s on the list so far:

• Take my kids out of the country. They still haven’t traveled out of the country and I think it’s about time that they did. I’m going to start looking at inexpensive flights and hotel deals for various international destinations so that we can take a trip together somewhere this year. My dream destination for the family is Buenos Aires but we’ll see what happens.
• Go meet a new friend somewhere new. I have made a lot of online friends this year. I’d like to go visit one this year. I’d prefer to go to a place that I’ve never been before.
• Do more “traveling” in my own town. I think it’s important for people to realize that they don’t have to travel somewhere else to visit historic landmarks and interesting attractions. I want to do more of this in-city and in-state travel this year.
• Re-assess my travel budget. I think that we’ve got a good travel budget for 2010 but my husband and I need to sit down and discuss it to make sure that we’re on the same page. I think it’s good to do this at least once per year.
• Learn more about budget travel to share on this blog. This blog has become really important to me in the past month or so. I’m going to really commit to making travel writing a bigger part of my life and sharing it here on this blog.

Do you have 2010 budget travel goals?

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Benefits of Planning Trips in Advance

The main thing that I love about planning trips in advance is that it makes the whole thing less stressful for me. However there are a lot of financial benefits to doing this as well. These benefits include:

• You have time to do comparison shopping. You can take all of the time that you need to compare hotel deals and look for cheap flights. When you’re planning a trip last minute you often don’t have the time required to do that so you don’t get the best deal.
• Buying far in advance usually means that you get a lower price than if you buy at the last minute. This is not always true but it seems to be the general rule from what I can tell.
• You can cash in on rewards and free miles if you have them. Some credit cards offer great rewards but it takes time to redeem them. Advance travel planning helps you to cash in on them to keep costs down.
• There is time leftover to research free activities in the area. Once the trip has been planned then you have free time to learn about the free and cheap activities that will be going on at the destination while you’re there. This really helps to save money.
• Part of your budget is already spent. The money is already gone because you’ve paid in advance. Staggering out the trip payment this way (pay for travel now and activities when I’m there) helps me with budgeting.

Drawbacks of Advance Trip Planning

I will admit that I occasionally run into trouble when it comes to planning trips too far in advance. Sometimes it even costs me money. Problems include:

• Having to cancel the trip. If something comes up and you need to cancel then you lose your money. Of course you can buy trip insurance to guard against this but that’s an extra expense. It’s a lot less likely that you’ll encounter this problem if you’re planning a last minute trip.
• Missing out on last minute deals. Like I said, most trips cost less if you plan them in adance but it’s possible to find really great last minute deals and I never get to take advantage of them since I always plan my trips in advance.

Okay well I can only think of those two drawbacks which I guess is why I still like to plan in advance. What about you? Do you think it’s financially smarter to plan trips in advance or to do them at the last minute?

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