Deciding Where to Go
Choosing Where to Go
There are a few things that go into the thought process of where I go when picking out trips. The biggest factors are price, the availability of my time off, who is likely to go with me and what they want to do, and my general interest in the spot being considered. Each of them play into choosing destinations and getting tickets.
Friends and Traveling In a Group
The biggest factor for me is typically whether or not this is going to be a group trip or not. At times, I see a good deal and jump on it and then ask people I know if they want to go. Other times, I have made plans with others for a trip and we are trying to make it as cost efficient as possible.
If I’m going with friends, we generally start with a time period to go and start monitoring prices. When going to Penzance, my friends and I picked a time period centered around going for Thanksgiving. In that trip, I largely tagged along on their trip and helped with figuring out buying tickets.
When going to Japan, we picked a two month range and decided on a two week trip. After that, it was a matter of watching ticket prices and jumping on them when we were comfortable. We were able to get inexpensive tickets all around the same time out of Minnesota, Texas, and California. For that trip, I used airline miles on United.
Price Factors
The most important thing for picking out a spot for me is the price. I try not to pick places that are too expensive and am apt to pick something cheaper that I am interested in rather than something pricey I have at the top of my desire list to get to. To me, banking airline miles and using them is more favorable for the bucket list places rather than paying a premium.
An example of this is considering going somewhere for half a week. To me, getting to go to Colombia round trip for under $300 is more appealing to me than going to Buenos Aires for $800 despite Argentina being higher on my list of places I want to go to. It’s a longer flight to Buenos Aires and a big price difference.
Paid Time Off
I get three weeks of paid time off. It usually means taking trips for a single week or for a week and a half. I try to schedule going places around holidays, but prices play a big part in whether or not I can make that happen. Trips within the states tend to have inflated prices around Memorial Day, Labor Day, and July 4th; all holidays that I get off and try to work around.
Thanksgiving is an automatic two day holiday for me. A lot of people will travel that time to see family in within the country, so scheduling a trip out of the country during that time period is always a big priority for me. I generally start watching prices six months out and land on something that looks good.
If I can book around holidays, I do. I generally will try to book a Friday night to Sunday of the following week for week long trips. Or a midweek fly out after work where I can come back on a Sunday or the next Monday, if I am taking a shorter trip. The shorter trips, I try to find somewhere to go that isn’t too far of a flight from Austin. Mexico, Central America, or somewhere in the States are perfect for this shorter type of trip. Europe or South America are better for me for the week long trips.