Walt Disney World

So, one of my bucket list dreams is going to come true.  I’m going to get to watch Tom battle his bff Mark (do men have bff’s?) at Buzz Lightyear in the Magic Kingdom.

There are two types of vacations that are difficult for me to plan:  (1) International trips with multiple stops; and (2) Disney World vacations. You wouldn’t think Disney would be so difficult, but consider the following:

1)  Are you going to drive or fly?

We’re flying, so all the airfare shopping stuff applies.  Should you travel on Tuesday or Saturday?  Should you book on Tuesday or Wednesday?  Complicated matters further was that we’re using frequent flier miles and companion certificates to lower our airfare costs (which, btw, cannot be used together).   Of course, this limits us to one airline… and so we have to decide whether we absolutely MUST have non-stop or whether we can handle a connection.  Oh… and we’re traveling in December, so because we’re in Minnesota, it’s vital to schedule an early morning flight out of Minneapolis and an extra day for our return.

2)  Are you going to stay on-resort or off-resort?

We’re staying in a Disney Resort.  Generally speaking, you can get much better deals off-property (a few years ago, we rented a two bedroom condo for $79 a night).  However, there are definitely advantages to staying in Disney Resort, including immersion into the Disney experience, guaranteed quality, free parking, and extra Magic-hours at the theme parks.   Convenience is questionable.  When we stayed off site, there was a shuttle to the parks that seemed to get us to and from our condo in about the same amount of time that guide books report.  I’ll let you know how our on-property stay is after the fact.

3)  Are you going to stay at a value, moderate, or deluxe resort, or are you going to rent Disney Vacation Club points?

We’re staying at the Port Orleans–Riverside resort.  A value resort runs about $75-99 a night, while a moderate resort costs about $140-160 a night.  The deluxe resorts were prohibitively expensive for yours truly (I never pay more than $3,000 for a vacation), at $300-500 a night.   For our purposes, a value resort would have been okay.  However, the pictures of the Pop-Century Resort, a value resort, brought to mind memories of spending afternoons at the community pool, shopping mall theaters, and MacDonald’s playrooms.   I’m not sure my 45-year old nerves could take it.  (The other value resorts have similar aesthetics).

According to the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2012, some of the value resorts offer location advantages over their more expensive brother and sister resorts.  For example, Pop Century is close to Epcot, and has its own buses to the theme park (an important consideration). The All-Star Sports Resort is near Animal Kingdom, and is first on the bus route.  Also, the Unofficial Guide suggests that because the value resort rooms have exterior doors, they tend to be quieter than almost any other Disney Resorts.  Of course, the Unofficial Guide also suggests that the lighting in the value resorts is extremely substandard.  Value resorts do not have table-service restaurants, but the food courts are fine for most purposes.

Aesthetics and price were co-equal consideration in my resort choice.

We considered renting Disney Vacation Club points.  Disney operates a time-share (like) club.  People purchase vacation points which they can use for lodging at Disney Resort condo units.  If they can’t use their points for a year, they can rent them.  In our case, vacation points would have been a viable option.  The big advantage would have been that the condo units come with a kitchen which can help with the cost of food while on vacation.  For reasons stated below, it turned out that there was better value in going with a moderate resort.

4)  Which moderate resort are you going to stay at?

Disney has five moderate resorts:  The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort; Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort; Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort; Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter; and Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside.

The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort was a little more expensive than the other resorts.  Additionally, the bus service is somewhat more complicated.  Therefore, although I have always wanted to stay there, it wasn’t a good choice for this trip.

Any of the other four resorts would have worked.  Ultimately, I just chose the one I liked best.  It might have been the hardest choice of my vacation planning.

5)  What kind of park tickets do you want?

If you are going to Disney World, you have to buy tickets to the park. There are a lot of other things going on in the Orlando area (Universal Studios, Sea World,  Wet ‘n Wild, Gatorland, Legoland, and Kennedy Space Center), and it’s about 90 minutes to the Atlantic and gulf coasts. Given unlimited resources, you could probably spend a month or two in the area and not get bored.

But you have seven days.  What are you going to do?  In our case, we’ve decided to focus on Disney, so we purchased seven day tickets.

But that’s just the beginning of the query.  Disney offers numerous options for its tickets:  (1) park-hopper; (2) water park; (3) no-expiration.   Park-hopper is the most purchased option, letting you visit more than one park in a day.  The water park option allows you to visit Disney’s water parks.  The no-expiration option allows you to use the unused portion of your tickets after you leave.

We’re traveling in December, so water parks are not going to be on our agenda (it’s usually warm enough in Orlando to swim, at least for Minnesotans, but… geez…).   You can purchase the no-expiration option at the park if you have unused days, so there is no reason to choose this option before you visit.  The park-hopper option is the most popular option, and it’s a good idea for shorter visits.

For us, none of the options made a lot of sense.  So, we just purchased the seven-day base tickets.

6)  Are you going to rent a car?

We still haven’t decided this one.  Disney offers complimentary transportation to and from the airport via the Magical Express.  There is also a fairly comprehensive internal transportation system using buses, boats and monorails.   But, the system is not perfect, and my sources tell me that driving can be more convenient, especially if you want to travel between resorts.  I’m intending on taking my camera to at least some of the other resorts, and I want to eat in at least one restaurant in another resort.   Additionally, if we decide to spend some time off resort, a car rental will be necessary.  Orlando is fairly spread out making taxi service expensive, and public transportation is minimal.  A car will cost about $150 a week.

I’ll keep you updated.

7)  Do you want to buy a Disney Dining Plan?

There are four Disney Dining Plans.  For our purposes, we considered purchasing a Quick Service Plan and the standard Dining Plan.  The Quick Service Plan gives you two counter service meals and one snack per day.  The regular Dining Plan gives you one table service meal, one counter service meal, and one snack per day.

Normally, neither plan makes financial sense, unless you are committed to eating at a table service restaurant every day, and you don’t mind eating dessert at lunch.   It is convenient.  And it’s nice that you can order any entree off the menu, regardless of cost.  That’s nice.

In our case, Disney is offering a deal:  With a moderate resort reservation, you get a free dining plan (book before October 29, 2011). I priced the vacation with this promotion and without, and it actually does result in a free dining plan!  Yippeeeee!

8)  Where do you want to eat?

Disney World has 139 restaurants, with 74 available for advance reservations.  About half of those require advance reservations far in advance (at least for dinner).  Whether or not you buy Park-Hopper tickets, the logistics of travel within Disney World require advance planning.

9)  What evening activities do you want to attend?

Magic Kingdom’s Wishes fireworks show is not offered nightly.  Epcot’s Illuminations and Disney Studio’s Fantasmic! is offered nightly.   You could spring for tickets to Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba (tickets begin at $73 each).

If you want to see Illuminations at Epcot, you may want reservations for dinner at a restaurant on the World Showcase Lagoon around the time Illuminations begins.  If you want to see Fantasmic!, you may want to get a Fantasmic! Dining Package for preferred seating.  Last time we went to Disney, we skipped this, and we did wait almost 90 minutes for showtime.  It was by far, the longest wait we experienced, and Space Mountain broke down while we were in line.

10)  What rides do you want to go on?

Disney is a nightmare for OCD travel enthusiasts.  There is so much to see, so many opportunities to be stuck in lines, and so many distractions that it lends itself to over-planning.  There are touring plans, mobile phone apps (ride times, park hours, restaurant reservations), and computer programs that will help you design the most efficient Disney experience.

The touring plans tend to go something like this:

“Take bus from resort A to Animal Kingdom at 7:30 a.m. to arrive 45 minutes before park opening.  When park opens, rush to Expedition Everest.  Grab a FASTpass.  Ride Kali River Rapids.  Go back to Expedition Everest and ride.  Grab a second Fast Pass if you like…”

You get the drift.

I have no doubt that these plans are necessary during the busiest times of the year.  We used a touring plan in March 2006, and discovered that we had a LOT of time to just hang out, even though we were only in the parks for three days.

Still, I’ll probably take a couple touring plans with us, and I’ll probably download a few apps.  It never hurts to be prepared.  However, I’m not traveling with friends who will tolerate over planning.  So, it’s likely that I’ll offer my resources and just go with the flow.

That’s right, your travel proceduralist is going to just go with the flow.

In the end, I hired a travel agent (Small World Vacations) to double check my work and book the vacation.  Now, I can focus on where we’re eating, and what we’re going to do while there.

Now, on to dining reservations…

Tuesday Value?

This week’s value deal is from Travelzoo.  The headline reads, “$949 — 10-night Caribbean Cruise on Luxe Ship w/$100 Credit.”  The fine print indicates that the deal is good for select sailings in February, March and April on the Celebrity Equinox in an interior stateroom.   There is no doubt this is a discounted fare.  A quick search of 10-night Caribbean cruises on Cayole did not yield a better deal.

When purchasing a cruise, you must always consider additional costs in determining the total trip costs.   This particular cruise leaves from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and airfare is not included.  Roundtrip airfare will cost approximately $300. Additionally, gratuities are generally pre-paid (and thus, not truly optional). Although most food is included, there are “premium” restaurants which require a cover charge.  Alcohol, soft drinks and specialty coffees are generally extra.   Cruise excursions are extra.  Laundry is extra.  Bingo is extra… you get the idea.

Some less obvious extra costs include airport transfers (how will you get to the ship from the airport?), airport parking, taxes, port fees, and trip insurance.  I’m not a huge fan of travel insurance, normally, but last time Tom and I cruised, he developed an eye infection on our first night.  The trip to the ship’s infirmary was $95, and the prescription eye drops were $35.   Had something more serious happened to him, we would have had to look for a doctor in Mexico.   None of these costs were covered by our health insurance.

Despite all this, cruises are still an amazing deal.   I would anticipate this particular cruise to price out for approximately $1500 per person.  For a 10-night trip, that’s not too bad.  For me, it’s still a little out of reach, primarily because I cannot spend 10 nights away from my business.   Not to mention the fact that Tom gets bored with me when we take longer vacations.  A seven night cruise is just about as long as he can tolerate.

The one problem I have with this listing is the description of Celebrity as a luxe vehicle.  I tend to think of cruises in three categories:  superluxe, refined, and fun.  Superluxe cruise lines include Seabourne or Crystal.  These cruise lines tend to be more Martha’s Vineyard than Wisconsin Dells.  Their prices tend to be more inclusive and they cater to people who have to worry about the alternative minimum tax.   Lately, there have been some really good deals, as the double dip recession has hit the AMT set’s portfolios.  A 10-night Carribean cruise on one of these lines will normally cost closer to $3,000 per person.

The refined lines include Cunard and Azamara, featuring longer voyages.  Cunard is the leader in trans-atlantic voyages, for example.

The rest of the pack includes Celebrity, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Princess, Royal Carribean, Holland America, and Carnival.   There are rabid cruise-line fans out there (if you have any doubt of this, just read the boards at Cruise Critic), but all of these lines offer basically the same offerings for about the same price.

I’ve cruised on both Princess and Carnival, and while Princess sometimes costs more than Carnival, I cannot say that Princess offers a better product.  I am looking forward to trying the other lines in the future.  Similarly, I love Celebrity’s branding.  I have no doubt that I would really enjoy a Celebrity cruise.  This particular cruise is very well priced.  But I cannot say it is a luxe vacation, unless luxe means that I’m going to have a room steward, turn-down service with a mint on the pillow and a towel animal, and you get that kind of luxe treatment on any cruise.

Happy sailings!

Good Airfare Deal

Fly.com is offering Minneapolis to New York City airfare for $74 each way.   I don’t need to do all kinds of mental gymnastics to let y’all know this is a good idea.  Fly.com says it’s an unadvertised fare reduction for travel between now and November.

How about a luxury transatlantic cruise for $1699 per person, air INCLUDED?  This one is an unbelievable deal if you have ever wanted to do a luxury cruise.  This is a 10 night trip, food, transportation, and a balcony cabin (sodas, bottled water and specialty coffee and wine with meals are also included).  This is offered by CruCon Cruise Outlet on Azamara Club Cruises .  I’ve never seen a better luxury cruise deal.  (For those of you in Minneapolis, you’ll have to get to Chicago to take advantage of the free cruise airfare).

Happy Tuesday on Wednesday!

Secrets to Priceline Hotel Bidding

CNN offers a primer on opaque hotel sites, Hotwire and Priceline.  This article was travel proceduralism at its best.  According to the author, a successful Priceline strategy involves:

1. Determine the approximate location you want to stay at your destination and identify the Priceline zone that fits your preference;
2. Research successful bids on travel forums such as BiddingForTravel and Better Bidding;
3. Set a budget, factoring in such issues as parking and wifi access; and
4. Make an initial bid in your zone.  If it is rejected, increase your bid slightly and slowly add zones that do not have hotels in your preferred star rating.  For example, if you want a 4 star property in zone A, slowly add zones that do not have 4 star properties.

It might seem obvious, but you should probably reassess something if you cannot get a successful bid within your budget.  My recommendation would be to drop to the next class of hotel, rather than sacrifice on location.

Priceline is a pre-paid reservation.  Once you have a reservation that’s accepted, it is non-refundable and paid.  If it’s at the one hotel in the area you hate, you are stuck.   You may not get some benefits that a standard reservation gets (it depends on the hotel).

I’ve never done Priceline, but I’d be willing to try it.  I may need to see how low I can go for Thanksgiving vacation.   It’s almost a good excuse to travel.

Group Couponing

Yesterday, I featured a deal for St. Lucia from TravelZoo.  It was an extremely good value, and I have no trouble recommending deals from TravelZoo.   To be sure, I recommend calling the hotel to verify that they would accept the travel voucher before purchasing it from TravelZoo.  You may be able to obtain a price match directly from the hotel during the call.

There are other “Groupon“-style travel sites other than TravelZoo.  One of my favorites is SniqueAway (click here for an invitation to sign up for the service).  It’s a beautiful site with some amazing deals for hotel getaways all over the globe.  If nothing else, it gives you travel eye-candy.   Most of the time, the deals on SniqueAway are better than you can get through online booking engines.  I have note checked them against package rates, however.  Also, most of the deals are for fairly high-end properties.

I also subscribe to Yuupon.  Today, Yuupon featured a deal for 2  nights at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas for $225, with a complimentary bottle of Ciroq Vodka and 2 tickets to the Las Vegas Mob Experience.  Now, the Tropicana is an older hotel on the South end of the Las Vegas strip.  Having stayed all over Las Vegas, I’ve determined that my best vacations have been on the south end, although it’s hard to have a bad time in Las Vegas, if you take it easy on the gambling and alcohol.

For years, Las Vegas cabbies would tell me that the Tropicana was slated for demolition along with the Sands,  Desert Inn, and most recently, the Sahara.  However, somehow, it has survived the cut.  While the hotel does not have quite the same age as the Flamingo or the swank of the Bellagio, the hotel has generally offered value.  I probably wouldn’t have taken advantage of the value pricing a few years ago, as the TripAdvisor reviews suggested that the rooms were a little aged and the property somewhat shabby.  However, the hotel has now undergone a renovation, and the reviews have been really good.  The rooms certainly look to be on a par with those at the MGM Grand next door.

However, I wouldn’t snap up that Yuupon deal right away.  First, a quick check on the Tropicana’s main site, shows a deal for $99 a night with two free show tickets per night.  Thus, you are giving up two show tickets for a bottle of vodka, AND paying $27 more for the vouchers than you would have to pay by booking through the hotel.  Second, there are a significant number of blackout dates in September, most of them on the weekends when most of us are available for a quickie trip to Vegas.   Third, it looks like you can probably get a better deal by booking a package with airfare on one of the major booking engines, depending on how you value your extras.  For example, Travelocity offers a four night trip to Las Vegas from Minneapolis from September 24-28, 2011 for $443 per person double occupancy.  The hotel alone would cost you $450 for four nights using the Yuupon voucher, so your airfare would have to be less than $219 per ticket to break even as compared to Travelocity.  A Kayak search shows the least expensive airfare for those dates as $256.  Your mileage may vary given the market conditions for your airport.

Finally, most of these vouchers exclude taxes and mandatory fees, meaning you will have to pay hotel taxes and resort fees on top of the cost of the voucher.  Yes, you have to pay those taxes and fees if you book directly with the hotel, but if you book a package through a booking engine, the taxes would be included (although sadly, usually the resort fee is extra).

There’s gotta be a better way, right?  Which brings me back to my promise of yesterday.  At the end of yesterday’s post, I stated that despite my endorsement of Travel Zoo’s Anse Chastanet deal, I’d probably choose to stay elsewhere.  The reason for that is two-fold.  First, I think I might get better value staying at Ti Kaye Village or maybe even the Fond Doux Holiday Plantation.  Tom and I downsize well, and our interest in culture, nature and history suggest that we don’t need to be on the beach to enjoy an island.

But more importantly, I just don’t feel comfortable at high end hotels.  I once stayed at the Copley Square Hotel in Boston.  It was a fine hotel.  But I felt like Pretty Woman walking through the lobby.  Honestly?   Less marble and more free breakfast, if you please.

How to pick the right lodging on every trip

Travel Blog Consumer Traveler offers some interesting advice for picking the right hotel for you.   These tips can be summarized as (1) knowing your preferences, interests and travel style; (2) considering not just the quoted price for the hotel room, but also the hidden costs of items such as resort fees, internet access, and parking; and (3) analyzing reviews and recommendations by considering the source and determining overall themes.

Consider my most recent experience shopping for a hotel on Hawaii’s Big Island.    My first step in researching lodging options was to learn enough about my destination to choose a location.  The Island can be divided into eight regions, all of them offering some amazing lodging options.   For this vacation, I knew I wanted to see Volcanoes National Park and the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden which are both most easily located from the Hilo side of the Island, but I also wanted to see the coffee plantations and see Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park and Ahu’ena Heiau.  Perhaps most importantly, I wanted to experience the Ocean.   With that in mind, I focused our lodging search on the Kona coast.

Next, I did a search on Expedia to find package deals for my dates.   I read a few of the hotel descriptions in my price range, and drew up a list of wish list items.  I decided that I only wanted to look at oceanfront properties.   Internet access, a lanai, comfortable beds and reliable air conditioning filled out the rest of my wish list.

Next, I read the Trip Advisor reviews for all the oceanfront hotels in my price range.  Our price range does not permit us to stay at five star hotels, but I wanted a solid value.   When I read Trip Advisor, I generally read the most negative reviews and I skim the reviews that appear to have some substance.  I ignore complaints about staff manners, since I consider it a challenge to make crabby people smile, and it is my hope that I won’t need a lot of customer service during my stay.   Because I have allergies, I pay attention to complaints about moldy smells and smoke.   I crossed off one hotel because several comments mentioned that the onsite restaurants were very expensive and the hotel was not located within reasonable driving distance of restaurants.  Finally, I looked at how the management responded to comments.  While a hotel’s response on Trip Advisor might not fix a valid complaint, it might clarify the situation.  At the very least, it shows the hotel cares about its reputation.

The Trip Advisor research usually crosses off a few properties, but there is always a point in my trip research when I am more confused than ever.  I start wondering if I should look at Bed and Breakfasts (who wouldn’t want to stay here or here?) and vacation rentals.  I do a few web searches and verify pricing.  Sometimes, I find an amazing deal on a vacation rental at this stage that makes me look at the vacation in a whole new light.   This time, however, I couldn’t make the numbers work since the major problem in booking a trip from Minneapolis to Hawaii is the price of airfare.  I needed the economics of package pricing to make this trip work.

So, I went back to the big travel search engines and started to crunch the numbers.    I narrowed the choice down to three:

1)  The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa;

2)  The Sheraton Keauhua Bay Resort & Spa; and

3)  King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel.

This is not a typical list for me.  It is unusual for me to pick a branded resort property, but it is also unusual for me to visit Hawaii.  All three hotels offered comparable rooms and comparable resort properties.  So, the decision was going to be about the details.  I researched resort fees and costs for internet access and parking.   A $100 per night rate is a good deal, but if you have to pay for breakfast, parking, internet access and pay a $25 a night resort fee, you might be better off with a $140 a night hotel.  Both the Marriott and the Sheraton had resort fees.  Both had fees for internet access.  All three charged for parking.   The Kona Beach Hotel offered a free breakfast, although there were definitely mixed reviews about its quality.  Nevertheless, there was no resort fee and internet was complimentary.

Thus, there was an obvious winner and we picked the Kona Beach Hotel.  I will let you know how it turns out, but I have never picked a property I didn’t appreciate when I used this method.

Is this a class action?

Last week, I booked a vacation to Hawaii.  This week, I find out that the airlines are collecting government fees and taxes and not paying them over to the FAA, as Congress permitted the FAA’s taxing authority to expire.  Now, in order to ensure that they are able to keep these fees, they have simply raised fares to include the fees they were collecting.   I will need to look into this further, but if they haven’t paid that part of my ticket reflecting taxes and fees over to the FAA, I should get a refund!

Planning the Perfect Vacation

This week, the  New York Times offers some great tips for vacation planning.  Each of these helpful tips has hidden costs associated with them.  Here are my tips to combat these hidden costs.

1. Relish the anticipation.  In other words, plan early.  Think about the vacation often.  Because apparently, thinking about your vacation is almost as good as being on it.  It will also lead you to buy more things in anticipation for your trip.  You may add an excursion; or you may just buy new clothes.   You will almost certainly buy a guidebook or two.   Consider reading about your destination on the web and challenging yourself to make do with your current wardrobe.

2. Plan shorter vacations.  If you can’t get away for 14 days, go for 5 days.   This is good advice for us time-starved worker-bees.  However, it also means more money in the pockets of airlines, and less opportunities for you to save with longer stays.   It is entirely possible to see Disney World in five days, but is it possible to to see Paris or New York in five days?

3.  Remember to build in relaxation.  I used to build itineraries that ensured that I saw everything, and wasted no time in a hotel.  These vacations were fun, they were educational, and they hurt my feet!   These days, half the reason I go on vacation is to relax.  I’m probably going to pay for a balcony on a cruise ship or consider upgrading to an ocean view room.  I may well consider the hotel’s bedding in my decision.  I’m more likely to schedule an extra day of vacation from work to unpack and unwind, even though it means another day without income.  I have a friend who will upgrade to first class where possible to ensure that she doesn’t arrive at her destination cranky.  The best way to combat these costs is to realize they exist.  Make conscious decisions that reflect your travel style.   With a little research, you may be able to find a cheaper alternative to your relaxation problem.  For example, I’ve heard good reviews of the french door  interior staterooms on Carnival‘s Conquest-class ships.  They offer a french door onto a promenade type deck that is not quite private, but is also not used that often.   During a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, my husband and I stayed at the Hampton Inn near Colonial Williamsburg.  Although the hotel was driving distance from Colonial Williamsburg, we snagged a suite for under $70 a night.  It was an extremely comfortable stay.

4.  Limit technology.   Technology and travel always carry hidden costs.   Your cell phone may not have international coverage.  You may need to pay extra for internet access.  However, you may also not be able to afford to stay away from your voicemail and email.  I recommend planning your contact with the real world in.  Because I run my own business, when I go on vacation, there is no one to handle emergencies.  And emergencies always happen.  My solution is to ask callers to call  a google voice number if they have an issue that cannot wait for me to get home,  leave an out of office message on my email, and under promise connectivity.  I also do my best to tell my clients about my upcoming absence.    Finally, I plan time into my vacation to ensure that I can access my messages–usually sometime on the afternoon of the first workday I’m gone, and every other day after that.

5.  Lose yourself in an activity.   Seemingly contradicting item number 3 on the list, the New York Times suggests that you use  your vacation productively.  In other words, buy an excursion.  Enroll in a class.  Great advice, as long as you have the cash to add that gourmet cooking class onto your trip.  To save cash, you might want to challenge yourself to find free or cheap things to do.  For example, I go on photography walks.  Tom and I go to national parks (which are nearly free, because Tom is a senior).

6.  End on a high note.  In other words, do something big on your trip.  But consider how pressured you might be to do everything big.  And what is big for you?   Tom and I had a trip out east that was highlighted by visits to family.   On our recent trip to Grand Marais, Minnesota, we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant once and hit the Fourth of July fireworks on our last night.  The fireworks were fare more memorable than the meal.  And when we visited my brother in Pasadena, there were far too many big items, but the one I recall the best was getting my big brother’s help in framing the perfect picture of the Rose Bowl.  

Hawaii or bust…

Travel planning is one of those things I do when my desk at work gets too full and the problems threaten to explode my head.   Left to my own devices,  I will surf travel websites for ideas and day dream about being anywhere but here.

Who wouldn’t?

Sometimes, I get great ideas from my friends.  For example, when our friends bought a place in Belize, I began to research ways to get there.  Last summer, I heard about a friend’s vacation to the Big Island, and it reminded me of my personal goal to see all 50 states before I die.

My father was stationed in Hawaii for a brief time before he met my Mother.  He told stories of swimming with Duke Kahanmoku and of the rain storm that hit every afternoon at 5:00 p.m.   He loved Hawaii.  And I think that he believed that if he could make it to Hawaii, he could make it to the other 50 states.   I recall on road trips, we made sure to take a few hours out of our way to get to Rhode Island and Vermont, to cross them off his list.

When he died in 2004, it seemed sad that he was missing Alaska and Oregon, although when you consider that he’d make it to much of Europe, Asia and Russia, and some of the Carribean, 48 states isn’t too bad.

My Mom loved travel as well, although they could not have been different types of travelers.  While my father enjoyed meeting locals and seeing natural sights, Mom liked to go shopping and see amazing architectural sights.  And if there was a baseball team, she wanted to see a game.

I like seeing natural sights and learning about history.  I’m fascinated by the history of tourism.  Why do we go where we go?   I want to understand the significance of a place.  I don’t shop.  I take pictures.  I eat.  I take in the view.   I leave my messy desk behind for the energy of wherever I am.

For our vacation this fall, I realized that I wanted to cross something off the list of big dreams.   My big dream vacation list is pretty big, although I’ve crossed off a few places, such as Paris, London, and the Southern Carribean.  Remaining on the big list is Alaska, Hawaii, Bermuda, Belize, Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Scandinavia and Iceland.   I was thinking that Alaska, Bermuda or Belize might make good fall vacations, and I spent some time pricing cruises.   The prices were not exceptional, and I could not get my non-scientific pleasure formula to work.

About a year ago, I stumbled across a unique fact about myself.  I always want to travel.   I also always set a budget of $2000-$3000 for a trip for the two of us, inclusive.  I never spend more.   Rarely, I can find a vacation for less.  For example, it is entirely possible to book a five night cruise for two people with a balcony stateroom and drive to the cruise port for under $2000.   However, if I find a vacation that will cost less than $2,000 and I cannot commit to it, it’s not where I want to go.

A year ago, I was looking at a trip to Las Vegas.  It was a difficult time in our life, and I wanted to get away.  The average price of hotel and airfare was $600 a person for four nights.  I couldn’t pull the trigger.    I kept looking for a $400 trip.    Las Vegas wasn’t the answer.

So, when I found $800 cruises to Bermuda, and Belize and $600 Alaska cruises, I was a little surprised when I couldn’t commit.  These were places on my big list, after all.  And they were all within budget.   Something wasn’t working.   I kept looking for cheaper ways to go on the same trip.

In the process of looking for travel bargains, I opened up a spam newsletter from TravelZoo, and my eyes stopped on a posting for a vacation to Hawaii.  It was cheap!  Oh my gosh.  I ran over to Expedia and plugged in my vacation dates.  I picked the Big Island, because I wanted to see Volcanoes National Park.  My heart racing, I waited for the results to populate.  When they did, I realized that Hawaii was our fall vacation.

Should I Go by Car?

Generally speaking, the average traveler will find it cheaper to drive than fly for a vacation if the destination is two days’ or less drive and there are at least two travelers.   The formula I use to determine whether I should fly or drive is as follows: If,  Airport Parking or Transportation + Airfare + Car Rental< Cost of Gas + Cost of Hotel + Food, then, we fly.

Consider a vacation for 10 days from Minneapolis to New Orleans for two people.

Flying costs the following:

$120 parking/airport transportation

$600 airfare (I usually see airfare to New Orleans at about $325 per person, but it is possible to pay less)

$200 car rental (you can do without a car rental but if you want to leave the city, you would need to book a tour)

_______

$920

Driving costs:

$334.80 gas (2668 round trip miles, driving a 2006 Suburu Forester, according to Cost To Drive)

$320 hotel (average $80 per night per 8 hours of driving.  New Orleans is almost 20 hours from Minneapolis, and we average four hotel nights)

$100 food (Tom and I are pretty cheap on car trips.  We try to stay at hotels with breakfasts and we make the best of convenience stores)

_______

$754.80

I did not include the opportunity cost involved in losing two extra days of valuable vacation time.  That sometimes makes a difference, especially if you work for yourself or you have very limited vacation time.

As you can see, driving almost always makes sense if it’s a two day car trip and more than one person is traveling and opportunity costs are not included.   When it’s a three day car trip, you may find flying more economical.

For example, Miami is a three (or four) day car trip from Minneapolis (1775 miles or almost 30 hours one way).   The cost of a car trip would be:

$480.08 gas according to Cost To Drive

$480 hotel (six nights at $80 per night)

$150 food

______

$1,110  

Airfare would have to cost approximately $400 per ticket for it to make sense to drive from Minneapolis to Miami on a vacation for two.  Since airfare between the two cities generally fluctuates between $270 and $370, flying is almost always cheaper than driving.  Considering that the opportunity costs of six days of transportation are much likely to be greater than the opportunity cost of four days of transportation, flying becomes even more attractive.

And remember, you cannot drive to Hawaii.