Follow These Top 5 Tips When Preparing For Spring Travel

With only roughly a month left of winter, it’s time to shake the dust off your spring traveling boots and get ready to leave the frigid temperatures behind you. When the seasons change, many people pack their bags and hit the road to take a much-needed escape from their daily routines.

Since college kids and families are the largest crowds to take advantage of the March and April spring break season, many hotels, airline tickets, and other traveling commodities are offering discounts left and right. But, of course, there’s always more that you can do to plan ahead to make sure that your trip is as smooth, relaxing, and enjoyable as possible.

So, before you decide on your trip and pack your bags, check out these five tips we’ve collected for you that will make this year’s spring break traveling your easiest and best one yet.

Establish a budget, and stick to it.

Before you start looking to book a hotel, purchase a plane ticket, or even decide where you want to go, you need to establish a budget. Sure, a trip to Hawaii or Jamaica sounds great after freezing in winter weather for several months, but if you’re pinching pennies just to buy a plane ticket there, maybe that trip isn’t in the books for you this year.

The whole point of a vacation is to be relaxed, and if you’re already worried about money months before you’re even on the trip, then you’re going to be defeating the purpose of vacationing.

But even if a trip like that is in your budget, don’t blow all of your annual vacation funds on a spring trip because there’s still summer left to lay on beaches, work on that suntan, and enjoy all that the warm months have to offer. And, when you’re laying out your budget, make sure to give yourself some wiggle room.

You want to be able to purchase gifts and trinkets for yourself and others while you’re gone and enjoy that nice meal out. Remember, vacations are times to splurge, relax, and treat yourself!

Take Advantage of Travel Deals

During peak travel seasons, such as the winter holiday season, summertime, and spring break window, many resorts, hotels, and other travel-based industries will offer serious discounts in hopes of drawing a larger crowd. And a lot of times, just booking your accommodations and travel fare in advance can save you big time. But it all comes down to the effort you put in to find major deals and the time you decide to finalize plans.

For those who want to take advantage of travel deals but aren’t too keen on doing the grunt work behind it, there are plenty of sites out there that are dedicated to helping you find the best deals around for your travels.

Check out Kayak or Travelocity for some of the best deals, price comparison, and even vacation packages where you can book your entire vacation very cheap with just one click.

Travel on less popular days

Of course, there will be certain days that you can request off work or already have off. That will be your designated spring vacation week and a lot of times, when, can’t exactly be helped. But, out of those days, you can decide on which ones you’re going to be traveling.

Many people want to hit the ground running on the weekends as soon as their vacation time kicks in. That often results in longer waits in traffic, frustration, and higher costs in airfare and other travel expenses. It’s the weekend, everyone is going somewhere, and it can really put a jam your relaxation vibes.

But, if you plan to start travel on a Monday or Tuesday, or Wednesday if you can swing it, not only will the traffic be less, but your traveling expenses will be too. You can still get to your destination quickly. Just plan to leave your house early on your day of travel, but instead of running into mountains of traffic, it’ll be smooth sailing. Your nerves and your bank account will thank you for it.

Book Early

This may go without saying, but it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to traveling. Sure, it looks like that flight you want to Cancun won’t fill up, but you’re also two months out and you just never know.

Not to mention, prices for your travels will be doubled, nearly tripled, if you continue to wait it out. The closer you get to your vacation date, the more expensive things will get. It’s all part of supply and demand, so book up early.

Now, this doesn’t just apply to plane tickets. This goes for every single aspect of your trip, particularly if you’re going to be traveling somewhere that’s a popular tourist destination.

Especially a popular spring break destination because you can guarantee that it’s going to be crowded. Make sure you have your plane tickets in order, your hotel booked, and any activities like massages or snorkeling pre-scheduled so you can make sure you get to have the trip you want. Things fill up fast, especially during spring break when time is limited, so get to clicking and book as much of your vacation as you can so you don’t miss out on anything.

Do Your Research

Again, this may be a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised just how many people book a trip to a specific resort or city only to find that what they thought would be a relaxing week away is overrun with high school and college students on spring break. So, take some time to make sure that where you’re going isn’t a coveted student spring break location.

Just remember, even if the location is a heavily populated area during spring break, that doesn’t mean you can’t find secluded areas that aren’t as popular with the younger crowd. Spend the extra ten minutes to scope out where you want to go, and more importantly, where you want to stay when you get there.

Choose your destination and accommodations wisely to ensure that your vacation is peaceful, quiet, and full of all the relaxation and sunshine your winter-worn self desires.