I spend a lot of time planning and researching travel. There is rarely a time when itineraries are not buzzing through my head; booking emails are not flying across the world; training and packing is not taking place!
In the past 12 months we have travelled in New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Greece, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain and Norway. Coming up for the rest of the year we are travelling to Spain, France, Italy, Wales, Scotland and Sri Lanka. All of this on a regular family budget.
How do we do it? When people express amazement at how much travel the Wandering Kiwi family pack into each year I tell them that the key to being able to afford all this travel is to plan and book everything yourself and in advance. The downside of this is hours and hours spent on the internet, weighing up costs and options to make my travel dreams come true within my budget.
My first step in planning any trip is to consider the flights – often the biggest cost – and this is where researching and booking ahead of time is absolutely key. This is especially true now that we do most of our family travel during the expensive school holiday periods.
Booking tickets as far ahead as possible is the way to secure the best prices. I used to sign up for email alerts from loads of scheduled airlines to find out about their periodic sales but this just clogged up my inbox and proved frustrating as when you went to the airline’s website the flight would no longer be available.
What traveller doesn’t love a good airfare map? I spend a lot of time poring over maps showing routes and prices, figuring out the cheapest options for future trips. Set up an alert service and be notified by email when prices drop. As most frequent travellers know, the airlines tend to increase and decrease prices in phases leading up to a flight date. You can set very flexible alerts and this is especially useful for destinations where you are familiar with the usual prices.
I passionately believe in the benefits of travel and that we are very fortunate to live in an age when it is accessible to so many. I Want That Flight is the sort of technology that makes that possible.
By Natasha von Geldern