Vacation.com: Using the Internet to Plan Your Vacation

For many of us, the word "vacation" conjures up positive images: tropical breezes, warm sand, a rusty old jeep. Okay, if you're lucky, not the jeep. Most of us spend the better part of a year looking forward to that one week of rest and relaxation. Careful planning can make or break that week.

Last spring, my husband and I won two round trip airline tickets anywhere in the U.S. We chose Maui, basically because it was the farthest we could go without actually leaving the country, fantastic golf courses notwithstanding. We booked a flight through TWA's website. That task was so painless, we decided we could handle the other details without an agent as well, and began researching vacation rentals. We corresponded with people who lived on the west "tourist" side of the island, as well as those with places on the east side, the section of the island that we later found out was accurately dubbed "the rainforest."

It's In The Way That You Use It

There are a plethora of web sites out there to help the average person plan a trip down to the smallest detail. Every airline, most tour companies, hotels and chains all offer interactive sites that allow for booking everything from a flight to a dinner reservation. Sights such as www.travelocity.com and www.expedia.com are well known and often used in planning all types of vacations, but beware. Nancy Powers, travel agent for Aldine Travel, warns, "The hotel and air booking sites are not ones that I would use other than to find which real site to go to." She adds that agencies should be members of ASTA and any agent you work with should be a CTC (certified travel counselor) to provide assurance of adherence to ethical practices.
The Internet can be a valuable tool, though, if you know where to look. Tourist offices, visitors' bureaus, individual hotels and government sites are a safe bet. Planning a trip on your own requires a good amount of research. Especially when you are traveling somewhere unfamiliar.

Sweat The Small Stuff

Five years ago, Phyllis Fredericksen, 60, began pursuing her lifelong dream of overseas travel. Her first destination was London, for which she used the services of a travel agent. "I'd never been overseas before," she explains. She later realized the details the agent handled were things that she could have done herself. So the following year, before jet setting off to Northern England, she logged on to www.britair.com. It was on this trip that she learned how important the small details are. Such as whether or not the hotel has an elevator. Fredericksen arrived at the hotel with a gargantuan-sized suitcase faced with a climb of five flights of stairs to her room. "I had heard that some of the hotels didn't have elevators," she remembers, "I just never thought to ask."

Now, before booking trips, she does her research, checking websites such as www.ricksteves.com and reading journals like Fodor's. Another web site she has found useful is www.journeywoman.com, which allows you to ask questions from the serious to the mundane. "The great thing about this site," Fredericksen explains, "is that you get an answer from someone who's qualified." Meaning someone who either lives in the country you are interested in, or has traveled there extensively. Before her annual trip last summer, Fredericksen logged on and asked what type of clothing would be appropriate for Italy in July. A few days later a woman living in Florence responded, telling her lightweight clothes are best because of the heat, and that basic colors like black are always in fashion there.

It may sound easy to plan a trip without an agent's help, but keep in mind that there are some products, such as Apple Vacations and many cruise lines that will only take bookings from an agent. And according to Powers, "Some of the best buys out there are only available through an agent."

Powers has been a travel agent since 1974, and a CTC since 1983. She has seen her share of vacation woes. "There is the story of the clients who booked the great deal on the Bahamas cruise, only to find out they had actually bought a ferry to the Bahamas and four nights at the 'no-tell motel'," Powers remembers, "These kind of people usually come back much more loyal than before."

"Our Rugged Island Jeep Was Missing Two Hubcaps And The Roof."

On that fateful trip to Maui, my husband and I didn't want to drive around the island in a mid-sized sedan. We wanted to blend with the locals. So we logged on and found a web site boasting rugged, island jeeps. When we arrived, we watched as the other passengers were greeted at the Hertz and Dollar counters and handed their keys. And we watched as each of them loaded their luggage and drove off. We waited thirty minutes more for our ride to pick us up. And when Jimmy Buffet did finally arrive, he drove us to a junkyard where we signed papers in a mostly burned down garage while Cujo wheezed in the corner. "He barely made it out," his owner proudly explained. Buffet handed me the keys and threw my husband a roll of paper towels. We were mildly curious, until he grabbed a hose and proceeded to "clean" out our vehicle. Our rugged island jeep was missing two hubcaps and the roof. The point is, do your research.

Have Kids, Will Travel

We chose to get away without the kids, but if you are brave enough to bring along the rug-rats, research is essential. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources for families. Web sites such as www.travelwithkids.com offers sections such as Family Travel Deals, Guide Pick Vacations and Resort Reviews, as well as a state-by-state guide. And of course, www.disneygo.com is always popular. Last, but certainly not least, is the task of keeping the backseat quiet. Shari Carder, a mother of three children, ages 10, 7 and 5, is very fond of the book Kids Travel: Backseat Survival Guide, by Klutz Press Editors, "It's a sanity-saver," she admits.

If you do decide to make the arrangements yourself, know where you're going and everything about your destination that you can find out. On Maui we decided to spend the first four nights at a condo on the beach, and the remainder or our week at a "cliff-side cottage" on the east side of the island. On the fourth day, we drove our rugged jeep, sans roof, in a torrential downpour down winding dirt roads slick with rain, to our destination. It was just as the owner had described: cozy, peaceful, and banked with windows that offered a fantastic view. What we weren't told, though, was that we were ten miles from the nearest convenience store and in the middle of the rainforest.

Making The Best Of It

Some problems can be avoided with careful research and planning. Others, like the weather, can't. We had tee times almost every day, but none was more coveted than our day at Kapalua, a golf fanatic's dream course. The rain started as we teed off on number four. We played nine holes that day in the pouring rain. We were soaked to the skin, but some things are worth the trip, even if they don't work out as planned.