Author Topic: Trip Planning - Generic  (Read 1768 times)

Offline RJ898

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: May 2011
  • Posts: 668
  • Total likes: 7
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: Asleep at my desk.
Trip Planning - Generic
« on: July 10, 2012, 12:56:31 PM »
When you decide to take a trip, what are the steps you take?

Do you book flights or hotels first?
Do you ever take car rental prices into account or just hope PL will do the job?
If you have to take food with you, how long before do you prep?
Do you map out your entire trip before you go or play it by ear?

Any other hints or tips...
Part of the vast right wing conspiracy.

Offline DrDanny

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Feb 2012
  • Posts: 1170
  • Total likes: 2
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Detroit/NewYork/PalmBeach
Re: Trip Planning - Generic
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2012, 01:41:57 PM »
There's different kinds of trips
 I've gone on 2 week road trips without having a destination just deciding in the morning where I'm going but if you want to take your trip of a lifetime to Tahiti or Bora Bora or even Paris your gonna have to plan in advance for food and stuffs so its hard to answer a question so general

Offline bem684

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Aug 2010
  • Posts: 670
  • Total likes: 4
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Trip Planning - Generic
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2012, 01:00:30 PM »
I'm a big fan of road trips.  Soon after I got married in 2008 I drove from Monsey, NY to several points in Maine, New Brunswick (Canada), Halifax Nova Scotia, around Cape Breton NS, onward to Prince Edward Island and back to Monsey in about 2 weeks (yes, I drove to an island.... there's an 8 mile long bridge to New Brunswick and a ferry to Nova Scotia).  My tripmeter hit 3,000 miles as I crossed the Tappan Zee bridge on my way home. 

We booked our hotels for the first week before we left, but once we got to Halifax (where we stayed for Shabbos) we winged every day from then on.  We just had travel guides and AAA books in the car and while I drove each morning my wife would call 5 or 10 hotels near where we wanted to stop for the night and get the cheapest deal she could over the phone.  Some places cost as little as $39-$59 a night (in July/August) and we got a little local flavor by meeting all these small inn owners.  We had no miles or points at the time :)

We packed 6 frozen chines meals from a local Monsey restaurant (Gan Chai... BDH, you are missed) courtesy of our friend the manager (somebody ordered the food and cancelled after it was already made).  We brought a large cooler and a crock pot and so we had chinese food every night for the first week.  The rest of the food was mostly brought with us - deli, peanut butter, and other sandwich type foods.  We bought a little bit along the way also, though we didnt know much about Canadian hechshers so we were very careful to stick to what we knew. 

The most important thing to do before a road trip, in my opinion, is have a trusted mechanic check out every inch of your car and TELL HIM YOU'RE GOING ON A ROAD TRIP so he realizes how much strain you will be putting on the vehicle.  I went so far as to buy a liter of oil somewhere in Canada to top off my Corolla mid-trip (I don't recall if it was really needed or not but I know I did it). 

Offline dhalpern1

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2011
  • Posts: 609
  • Total likes: 0
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: NYC
  • Programs: Hilton Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Platinum, Fairmont Premier, Priority Club Platinum Elite
Re: Trip Planning - Generic
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2012, 01:52:25 PM »
When you decide to take a trip, what are the steps you take?

Do you book flights or hotels first?
Do you ever take car rental prices into account or just hope PL will do the job?
If you have to take food with you, how long before do you prep?
Do you map out your entire trip before you go or play it by ear?

Any other hints or tips...

I book flights first because hotels are usually cancellable and fully refundable while you only have 24 hours (maybe a couple more hours if you are lucky) to cancel the flight without penalty. Plus its much easier to find a hotel than a flight (at least i find it this way)
For cars thats one of the last things since PL works best closest to the trip.
I feel like you have to at least map out some of the stuff you need to do or know the night before what you are doing so that you dont lose any days due to making decisions.