Nothing Like Planning Ahead For Travelers!!!

In the last year or two, we have been seeing a change in the booking windows.  Back in 2010 and 2011, space to just about any vacation destination was available a month to 6 weeks out.  But now, for most destinations and cruises, we are seeing at least 5-7 months out, and for some cruises, even 12 months is not out of the question.

This is especially so on the foreign and domestic river cruises.  The reason they book so quickly is because there are usually only around 150-190 people on board, just 90 rooms,  so it doesn’t take many phone calls to fill them up.  I know that on the river cruise we took last November, the guests with us were confirmed and paid in full a good year in advance. . .and in doing so saved over $1000 a couple, so that’s better than you can get at a bank!!  And by the way, we do have another great river cruise group itinerary planned for November of 2015.  We begin in Budapest, cruise up the Romantic Danube to Vienna, visit the Austrian town of Melk, all the way through Germany to Nuremberg, seeing 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  Call us today for reservations at some really good group rates.

We had some folks in this week who wanted to take a trip next month to a city back east, and were flabbergasted at the airfare that we quoted to them.  Their response was that they were planning way ahead (3 weeks) and thought they could get a really good fare.  I told them that the fares in the summer are always higher in the first place, and in the second place, any discounted fare the airlines promotes have very limited inventory so they were quoted a price $100-150 more than they would have had they booked the flights back in January.

Another example of booking early. . . .we have a group going with our 20^th group to Alaska this year in July, and a couple came in this week thinking that it would be a good idea to go with us.  Certainly I agreed with them, but our group space had already been sold out since mid-March.  I called the cruise line and sure enough, the cruise/tour was totally sold out.  Here is the reason why.  The land tour we take on the interior of Alaska involves a train segment from Talkeetna to Anchorage, and Princess Cruise Line’s rail cars will only hold 400 guests per train.  Well, the ship will have a total of 2,500 plus guests, so if you’ve made reservations early enough you can be one of those only 400 who get to see some of the most beautiful country in the United States.

The airfares all have discounted fares with 30-day, 21-day, 14-day, or 7-day in advance fares.  For example, theoretically, you could wait until 21 days before you go to make a reservation but that does not mean that a 21-day in advance fare would be available, because they allow a very limited number of seats at that rate.

It all goes back to what my daddy used to say to me. . .”the early bird gets the worm, sonny boy”, and that really is true in making vacation reservations as well as a lot of other things in life.  The experienced agents at The Travel Factory would love to help you manufacture the vacation of your dreams, so be one of those early birds and give us a call at 698-1421 or 800-760-4040.