How far in advance do you plan?

[sgj99]

my husband laughs at me because i plan our trips way in advance. but some places you have to (we can only go on school holidays because i'm a teacher) and besides, it gives me something to look forward to. we're already booked for roatan in july and curacao in november. thinking about a return trip to bonaire in march '09 and turks&caicos liveaboard summer '09.

my question is this: how far in advance to you plan your trips?

 

[Digger54]

I work by appointment and have things booked 4-6 months in advance so I MUST plan well ahead.

Just booked a Fiji trip yesterday. The trip is the first week of November. That's about as close as I can cut it.

 

[TSandM]

Well, so far, we have our travel planned (and much of it booked) through December. The big trip for this fall, a cruise on the Paul Gauguin and diving in Tahiti, was set up over a year ago. The cave diving class I took in May was planned for two years and booked about six months in advance.

 

[robint]

anywhere from 3-10 months in advance is typical for us. It all depends where we are going. Yes, it gives us something to look forward to....

Currently we are planning a 2-dayer to Calif in Aug, so that one is only 2 months away! We just haven't been able to book yet due to work/school schedules. :11: I really don't like cutting it that close but the boats out in Calif don't usually fill up too far in advance.
Our next dive trip is probably not until 2009, and we already have decided on a location, just not booked yet.

 

[Trixxie]

Big trips - Roatan, Bonaire about 1 year in advance. Working on a Trip to Fiji for March 2009, but not sure if I have enough time to get that together.

Local stuff anywhere from a month to 6 months.

I like to plan well in advance, know where I am staying and all that. I can't do like some folks and "just get a room when I get there".

Rarely are there times when I am not counting down to my next whatever.

 

[deco_martini]

I fly mostly on reward tickets. Hence, I need to plan a long time in advance since the its hard to get reward fares <6 months from an international departure flight.

 

[JBRES1]

I plan my trips about 12 months in advance, I do so for a few reasons.
I stay in Marriott timeshares, so I need to be quick to get the good trades.
I try to use miles and points for air fare, so that is 331 days in advance.
I travel with school age kids, so our vacations are during holiday weeks and summer vacation.
Jim breslin

 

[DeputyDan]

Have booked a July 2009 liveaboard.

You are cool - you husband is the nutty one!!!!!

 

[scubamickey]

Same here. We always fly on miles and to get a good deal on first class tickets I need to book us as far out as possible. Our trip in 2 weeks was booked back in October and as a result I ended up using a lot more miles for the first class ticket than I would have if I'd booked in September.

The portion of the trip from Miami to St. Marten I also booked back in October and about a month later it started to rise. That ticket now is worth more than $200 more. It pays to watch fares and book when they are low which is generally far in advance--for popular destinations anyway.

I'm already creating a short list for the 2009 summer trip. Cozumel gets booked in August for January and that generally is enough time.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Check this thread.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...948-how-far-advance-do-you-plan-big-trip.html

I thought about this when booking Roatan for October of this year and the week before we are goin was full already.

Great question though.