Want to travel? Start planning now

There are lots of bargains at the various shopping festivals. PHOTO | BD GRAPHIC 

By DOREEN WAINAINAH

In Summary

• To get the best deals and enjoy your trip without worries, it’s best to book early and pay for flight and board.
• If you are planning to travel this year, these tips should come in handy.

As the new year commences, this is time to get your travel plans for the year in order to avoid
surprises and flight and accommodation disappointment when you are ready to travel later in the year.

Whatever your destination and purpose - be it a holiday with family or friends, catching an international food festival, shopping festival or catching the Las Vegas or Dubai Rugby festivals in the US and Dubai respectively or even aiming for the Formula One experience in Abu Dhabi or the Olympics which this year will be held in Rio de Jenairo in Brazil, it is paramount to get your dates and plans running from the word go - the time to start planning, making your bookings and paying is now.

The cost of travel, especially international travel, can be prohibitive if left to the last minute when it comes to the perfect getaway, or maybe you just want take advantage of the best deals available to see the world or enjoy the finer things in life.

To get the best out of travel, and to have a great time where money is not always a problem, you need to start planning for it at the beginning of the year. This is the only way to get the best deals on the market.

Whether you will be staying with friends or in paid accommodation, start looking around now and pay before you arrive at the destination.

As you do this, also look at how you will move from place to place. If you need to hire a car, make that part of your booking so that you are not a pest with friends who may accommodate you.

Some of the Kenyans who fly to Las Vegas for the Rugby fest have been known to leave a bad name behind as they arrive without prior plans about accommodation and transport from whichever city they may have landed in and also to the various venues within Vegas.

Since quite a number of Kenyans go from this event from here and from the different states, the best option would be to get together as a group and get shared accommodation and transport to cut costs.

Justyna Sniezek, head of social media at Jovago, gives tips on how to get the best deals from hotels.

Subscribe to newsletters

Newsletters are usually the best ways of finding great deals as they are used by travel companies to distribute breaking news to their customers. Subscribing to a mailing list is a fantastic way not to miss anything worth your attention - great deals, promotional codes or travel tips.

Travel with a plus one

Travelling with somebody is much cheaper than travelling alone. Normally, hotel rates for a twin or double room are just a little more expensive than single rooms.

That means if you divide it by two, the price per person will be lower than paying for a single room. Most hotels in the US will charge per room having stipulated how many people can stay in a room. Take advantage of numbers and get a good deal in a good hotel.

Use hotel booking websites