5 Common Family Travel Mistakes You Can Avoid
5 Common Family Travel Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
When you are taking trips with the family, you must ensure that you have used all the tips available to avoid needless family travel mistakes. You want your family to have a lovely time when they are on these cherished trips, so you need to know for a fact that you have avoided major problems that many people face. When you invest in a nice trip with the family, you deserve to have a little peace of mind. Each step in the process allows you to save your money and avoid heartaches on your trip. Plan ahead and void these common family travel mistakes.
#1 Booking Hotels Too Close To Departure
You cannot wait too long to book your hotel because hotels know that as rooms book up, you will be desperate to get the room that you want and you will end up paying more. As you do your research be aware that some hotels charge a resort fee that may not be included in the initial quote, so be careful to check the total amount quoted before confirming the reservation. Booking at the last minute will not allow you to get the same specials that would have been available earlier. Family Travel that is most successful, is well organized and affordable. You cannot do that however, unless you have been setting up the trip and doing your research well in advance, Determine the locations that will be most convenient for your stay and lock up your reservation early.
#2 Not Checking Your Phone Coverage
Some people will travel overseas without getting a phone plan that will cover them, and other people will not check the coverage in the area where they are going. You need to make sure that you have come up with a plan where you can use a cell phone on the road or getting a sat phone for your overseas travels. When you have used the right phone plan or updated your plan, you can keep in touch with family, post online, or reach help in an emergency. Check with your cell phone carrier to see if they offer plans for the area you will be traveling to. If they don’t, do research on where you can pick up a sim card or disposable phone in the country you will be traveling to. Be sure you have coverage for both voice and data if you plan to check and send email.
#3 Carrying Only Cash
You need cash, credit cards, and traveler’s cheques (or cards) that you can spend in different locations during your trip. Most people who would like to get a little bit of cash can do so at their home bank or at the airport when they arrive. But you may not need a great deal of cash because you can use debit cards in more places than ever before. All you need to do is make sure that you have invested the time in figuring out what fees you may incur and how you will call these card companies if you need help. Most card companies promote their “800” number, but you will need a direct line if you are calling outside of the country. You need to do the same with the cheques because you need to know where you can get replacements if necessary. It’s also a good idea for you and your spouse or companion to travel with different cards so if one person gets pick pocketed, you’ll still have an active card available.
#4 Not Buying Attraction Tickets
You should get attraction tickets long in advance of the trip so that you do not need to worry about getting them on your day of visit. Tickets to popular attractions like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Tower of London, Empire State Building etc. can now be ordered online well in advance of your visit so you won’t be stuck in long lines when you get there or worse, disappointed because they are sold out. Plus, you can start planning exactly what major attractions you want to include in your trip before you get there.
#5 Not Making A Full Itinerary
You need to have a full itinerary as part of your trip. When you have a full map for the trip and times of the things that you will do, you can save time and money. Just follow the schedule to make the trip more fun and avoid pitfalls. Don’t forget to plan a choice of indoor and outdoor activities in case you hit a bit of bad weather. And don’t forget to include the kid’s opinion in your travel planning. They will be more interested if they are involved in selecting the attractions you will be seeing. If you have several children, you might make them the ‘boss’ of one day and help them decide what the family will do on that day. This will empower them to become terrific travel planners early in their lives and you might be surprised at the imaginative suggestions they offer.
