How to DIY overseas trip?

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 23:24:57 GMT

starlight1968sg — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 23:24:57 GMT

Secure the air tickets first.

Then have an idea where to go in that country and start sourcing for the hotels nearest to the train station.
I will go for hotels w/o accepting my cc details or come with penalty for changing or cancelling my booking.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:51:54 GMT

verykiasu2010 — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:51:54 GMT

for those hotel chains that provide lowest internet fare guarantee, I book direct on the hotel’s website.

whether is airline or hotel, direct booking gives you more control and direct dealing with the hotel for changes if needed, less hassles

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:46:11 GMT

SAHD — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:46:11 GMT

Jennifer:

Hubby told me to use wotif.com and not direct hotel booking, says it is cheaper at Wotif. I dun understand how it can be cheaper. Any catch?

We need 2 rooms. If via Wotif, can specify need interconnecting rooms? Many thanks in advance.

Another awesome website is wego.com. It will compare a few travel sites and pull out the best rates for you.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:44:46 GMT

SAHD — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:44:46 GMT

verykiasu2010:
can also try booking.com

just made some booking there a while ago ....

Booking.com is excellent. You don't need to make payment upfront. Best of all you can make cancellation up to the last week without peanlty if you change mind.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:07:48 GMT

starlight1968sg — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:07:48 GMT

I hardly travel in a package or guided tour. I strongly prefer DIY my tour.

2 things confirmed for DIY tour:
(1) You will have to spend a lot of time & effort reading up places you want to visit and map out all the bits and pieces ie hotel accommodation, transport etc.

(2) It is YOUR tour and not a one size fits all tour. It caters your needs and preferences. It is all YOURs.

:lol:

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:53:09 GMT

Pen88n — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:53:09 GMT

3Boys:
GuzHo:
If you are traveling as an adults only group then DIY trips would be fine. But if you are traveling with small children, elderly persons or people with health conditions then it would be better to travel with a pre-planned/pre-confirmed travel arrangement. This would help you to save time, money & efforts.

I actually disagree on this. Pretty much sworn off package tours since I took my first one many moons ago.

But then, I'm just a sucker for planning DIY holidays, its a plenty enjoyable activity in its own right.

Once you have done DIY holiday, you would really rethink about group tour, or even if you go on group tour, you would want to add a few more days for DIY too. At least this is the case for me.

DIY allows for much more flexibility in time, places to visit, activities and how you plan itinerary. Group tour is \"rushing' from one place to the next, and bulk of time spent on travelling.

Usually, for DIY, you tend to spend more time in one location and allow you to explore more of the location. Even with my young kids, we took bus, subway, cabs, train, ferry, cable cars, etc. to visit places and they enjoyed it much more. We visited places where group tours will not cover, and places we chanced upon on the way. We eat whatever popular food we can find or sometimes had to make do with simple meals when the place does not offer good food.

If you are the sort who wants to see \"everything\" in \"as many locations as possible\" within a \"fixed\" period, maybe DIY with young kids is not suitable for you. For us, holiday must be relaxing and more \"follow the heart\" on that day, so DIY suits us.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:50:19 GMT

3Boys — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:50:19 GMT

Jennifer:
Pen88n:
Another item you might want to look at is which website to use for hotel booking. ..Other possibilities is booking directly thru' the hotel's own website - can be cheaper too.

Hubby told me to use wotif.com and not direct hotel booking, says it is cheaper at Wotif. I dun understand how it can be cheaper. Any catch?

We need 2 rooms. If via Wotif, can specify need interconnecting rooms? Many thanks in advance.

Not sure about Wotif, but booking.com has been great. No prepayment, generous cancellation windows, useful user reviews and lotsa pics. Its my preferred hotel booking portal right now, especially for the B&Bs and smaller properties that you may find in European locales. If you are looking for largish rooms for 4+ folk with kitchenette etc., for me this does much better than expedia or hotels.com

My advice, don't get hung up on the large chains, these days when I travel for leisure with family, I almost never use Hilton/Hyatt/Intercontinental type hotels anymore, even though I've run up lotsa points on those programs. The boutique hotel/B&B experience is far superior, in my view, and often better value as you can more easily get a large room for family.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:40:12 GMT

3Boys — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:40:12 GMT

GuzHo:
If you are traveling as an adults only group then DIY trips would be fine. But if you are traveling with small children, elderly persons or people with health conditions then it would be better to travel with a pre-planned/pre-confirmed travel arrangement. This would help you to save time, money & efforts.

I actually disagree on this. Pretty much sworn off package tours since I took my first one many moons ago.

But then, I'm just a sucker for planning DIY holidays, its a plenty enjoyable activity in its own right.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Sat, 06 Nov 2010 10:02:49 GMT

Jennifer — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 10:02:49 GMT

Many thanks for all the great advices.

Just confirmed air tickets and hotel stay this afternoon. Next to apply VISAs.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:06:13 GMT

atutor2001 — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:06:13 GMT

verykiasu2010:

I think quite boring there .... unless you got friends there and join their Christmas / new year parties.

Suggestions for you :

1. visit HM The Queen, join her at Buckingham or whichever castle she happens to be in ....

2. post-Christmas sales.....shop till you drop...

3. pop over to Paris

Thank you. Besides suggestion 2, I really don't know what to do.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:18:47 GMT

Jennifer — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:18:47 GMT

Thinking of going Sydney n stay near Darling Harbour (serviced by monorail, trains, buses, not self drive). Many reviews were streets noisy, night club noise etc. During hotel booking, can specify want rooms on high floor? :?

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:14:13 GMT

verykiasu2010 — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:14:13 GMT

can also try booking.com

just made some booking there a while ago …

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:12:38 GMT

Pen88n — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:12:38 GMT

Jennifer:
Pen88n:
Another item you might want to look at is which website to use for hotel booking. ..Other possibilities is booking directly thru' the hotel's own website - can be cheaper too.

Hubby told me to use wotif.com and not direct hotel booking, says it is cheaper at Wotif. I dun understand how it can be cheaper. Any catch?

We need 2 rooms. If via Wotif, can specify need interconnecting rooms? Many thanks in advance.

I've not done thru' Wotif, so can't b advise if cheaper. Most website allows for specifying additional requirements - eg. non-smoking / interconnecting / additional cot, etc. Suggest you check opinions from Trip advisor, decide on hotel, check out Wotif's rate, do an online google based on hotel name (add a \"book\" or \"rate\" in the search) and see if you can get cheaper rate from other websites (be it hotel's own website / others). Hope this helps.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:09:00 GMT

verykiasu2010 — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:09:00 GMT

php:
GuzHo:
If you are traveling as an adults only group then DIY trips would be fine. But if you are traveling with small children, elderly persons or people with health conditions then it would be better to travel with a pre-planned/pre-confirmed travel arrangement. This would help you to save time, money & efforts.

yes, very true....unless you really know that place very well....if not, it may spoilt your holiday...

travelling with young kids on package tour can be very jialat also, imagine, refuse to co-operate in the morning when have to get up early to catch the coach, want to sleep early, don't want to join the shopping trip....etc

with young kids and old people, i prefer self-drive, there are many travel websites that give suggested itin as well as what to do, where to see and eat, where the sleep etc, and do it at your own pace.....very enjoyable...but got to pay a bit more

i think your DIY means last minute then look for hotel type...like after dinner then start hunting for hotel lah ....

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:03:06 GMT

verykiasu2010 — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:03:06 GMT

atutor2001:
Need help. Any suggestion on how to spend from Christmas to New Year in London.

I think quite boring there .... unless you got friends there and join their Christmas / new year parties.

Suggestions for you :

1. visit HM The Queen, join her at Buckingham or whichever castle she happens to be in ....

2. post-Christmas sales.....shop till you drop...

3. pop over to Paris

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:59:40 GMT

atutor2001 — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:59:40 GMT

Need help. Any suggestion on how to spend from Christmas to New Year in London.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:57:41 GMT

verykiasu2010 — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:57:41 GMT

php:

this happens anywhere, anytime... can't help especially during peak period...one thing for sure, you will pay for what you get...
i remembered many years back when my little girl girl was young, i booked through online requesting for a king-size bed room. upon check in, hotel told me that they had only 2 single-bed room. but in the end, the hotel upgraded me to a presidential suite room without any extra payment....still had a dedicated dining room on the same room and facilities to use... so shiok...

to avoid this happen, check in early to reduce the risk...

if they can't give you what you booked, the standard practice is to upgrade you for free

EVERY time if you checked in late, chances are you get an upgrade

This is how they work : they have a fixed inventory of rooms every day. The lousiest get allocated to customers first if they did not make specific request for room type.

The best rooms are kept to the last :- for the walk in customers who will be charged the rack rate without discount; and also for frequent stayer guests.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:42:47 GMT

verykiasu2010 — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:42:47 GMT

if you have a frequent-stayer program with the hotels it will be good

these days many hotel chains offer their lowest price guarantee to match any lowest price you can find from the internet / agent for their hotel's room/type..... so mostly likely direct booking gets you the best rate (hotel earns more without having to pay comm to agents)

as a frequent stayer, chances of up grade is high

once i made an advanced payment for a hotel but the trip got cancelled...emailed the hotel for the refund, and they agreed even though as per booking agreement they are entitled to the full payment without refund - the gave me face for holding the highest tier of the hotel's frequent stayer program la......and every time i stay sure got upgrade too......ssshhhhhh.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:35:35 GMT

Jennifer — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:35:35 GMT

GuzHo:
If you are traveling as an adults only group then DIY trips would be fine. But if you are traveling with small children, elderly persons or people with health conditions then it would be better to travel with a pre-planned/pre-confirmed travel arrangement. This would help you to save time, money & efforts.

Agreed.

Thinking of doing DIY since the children not keen on similar activites due to age gap. Also hubby cant be away for too many days. Just a short trip like 4 to 5 days (inclusive of flying).

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:34:10 GMT

php — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:34:10 GMT

GuzHo:
If you are traveling as an adults only group then DIY trips would be fine. But if you are traveling with small children, elderly persons or people with health conditions then it would be better to travel with a pre-planned/pre-confirmed travel arrangement. This would help you to save time, money & efforts.

yes, very true....unless you really know that place very well....if not, it may spoilt your holiday...

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:30:46 GMT

GuzHo — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:30:46 GMT

If you are traveling as an adults only group then DIY trips would be fine. But if you are traveling with small children, elderly persons or people with health conditions then it would be better to travel with a pre-planned/pre-confirmed travel arrangement. This would help you to save time, money & efforts.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:30:16 GMT

php — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:30:16 GMT

Jennifer:
php:
[quote=\"Jennifer\"]
This one I dun understand. Saw this term \"prepayment\" in some hotel websites. Can explain in simpler terms? Many thanks in advance.
it meant advance payment. the hotel will charge you upon confirmation of your booking. in some hotels, they only charge initially for the 1st night and the remaining upon checkout. some even charge you when checkout. if you are very confirmed with your travel plan, then prepayment will be cheaper if they offer you this option.

OIC. Any measures I shld take to safeguard my pyt?

I was reading some visitors' reviews at some hotels and found that mixup in rooms allocation is quite common. If paid upfront, can hv recourse if given wrong room? Many thanks in advance.[/quote]this happens anywhere, anytime... can't help especially during peak period...one thing for sure, you will pay for what you get...
i remembered many years back when my little girl girl was young, i booked through online requesting for a king-size bed room. upon check in, hotel told me that they had only 2 single-bed room. but in the end, the hotel upgraded me to a presidential suite room without any extra payment....still had a dedicated dining room on the same room and facilities to use... so shiok...

to avoid this happen, check in early to reduce the risk...

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:17:49 GMT

Jennifer — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:17:49 GMT

php:
Jennifer:
[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]and if got hotel offers by prepayment, convert hotel bookings to prepaid and save money etc

This one I dun understand. Saw this term \"prepayment\" in some hotel websites. Can explain in simpler terms? Many thanks in advance.

it meant advance payment. the hotel will charge you upon confirmation of your booking. in some hotels, they only charge initially for the 1st night and the remaining upon checkout. some even charge you when checkout. if you are very confirmed with your travel plan, then prepayment will be cheaper if they offer you this option.[/quote]OIC. Any measures I shld take to safeguard my pyt?

I was reading some visitors' reviews at some hotels and found that mixup in rooms allocation is quite common. If paid upfront, can hv recourse if given wrong room? Many thanks in advance.

Reply to How to DIY overseas trip? on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:05:22 GMT

php — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:05:22 GMT

Jennifer:
verykiasu2010:
and if got hotel offers by prepayment, convert hotel bookings to prepaid and save money etc

This one I dun understand. Saw this term \"prepayment\" in some hotel websites. Can explain in simpler terms? Many thanks in advance.