When it comes to planning vacations, it can feel downright impossible to find time to start the planning process. The pace of life is incredibly busy, and at times it’s challenging to keep up with daily tasks without throwing vacation planning into the mix. As a travel advisor, I always encourage my clients to aim for beginning the vacation planning process in January for vacations for the upcoming year. For larger vacations such as an Alaskan cruise, European adventure, or Hawaiian holiday, it can be advantageous to start the process eighteen months to two years in advance. Planning early has a vast number of benefits and I’m excited to dive into the top five reasons I recommend early planning.

Cost Savings, Deals, and Promotions

The early birds get the worm when it comes to planning vacations. Promotions are often available in limited numbers, and prices only tend to increase as availability lessens. The caveat to this is when a special promotion becomes available.

As an advisor, I keep my eye out for new discounts and promotions that I can apply to my clients' vacations. If a promotion becomes available that lowers your vacation price, I can go ahead and make arrangements to apply the promotion. Having all the other details nailed down allows us to work through applying the promotion more quickly. This increases the likelihood that you’ll save some additional money.

Availability

For vacations involving decisions about room location, dining reservations, excursions and more, early booking offers the widest selection. This is especially crucial for families of five, those interested in a specific stateroom type on a cruise, and those interested in selecting the prime swim up room offerings at an all-inclusive. In each of these scenarios, availability is limited, and early selection and planning ensures peace of mind.

For adventures like an Alaskan cruise, early booking offers the opportunity for the best views later. Often, a certain section or side of the ship offers premium views and availability quickly dissipates. As your travel advisor, I am happy to assist you with stateroom selection based on preferences, views and other factors that may influence your decision.

Furthermore, while excursions and dining reservations are often selected later in the planning process, early booking offers time to think, research, ask questions and be intentional and deliberate with the selection process. Once in a lifetime experiences like dogsledding on a glacier or dining in Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World® Resort often require strategizing to book. This is something I love helping my clients with to ensure they have the most incredible experiences.

Budgeting

One of the best things about early vacation planning is that it allows the cost to be spread out over a longer period of time. This reduces stress by decreasing the monthly payment amount due to the increased amount of time. You may also find that increasing the amount of time to budget allows you to upgrade your stay, or plan for something that wasn’t attainable with a shorter planning window. Six months of additional planning could be the difference between a moderate versus deluxe Disney resort, an ocean view versus balcony stateroom, an extra park day, or some other upgrade you have your sights set on. If budgeting is important to you, I highly recommend starting the planning process as soon as possible.

For certain destinations, the additional planning time allows you to purchase vacation necessities on clearance at the end of the season. Pricier items like rain or cold weather gear, along with certain types of shoes are often sold on clearance at the end of the season, allowing you to purchase those necessities at a discounted price. While this may take a bit of additional planning, I am always happy to help my clients with this process so they know exactly what they need to be looking for on the clearance rack.

Planning for work

For working adults, advance planning provides distinct advantages. Being able to appropriately plan leave to allocate for vacations offers peace of mind. Taking half days or vacationing during office closures can help you maximize paid time off while leaving some hours for margin. As a travel advisor, I thoroughly enjoy helping my clients with creative leave hacks that maximize time off.

While many workplaces only allow employees to request time off so far in advance, this can sometimes be navigated by mentioning that a specific trip has been planned. Often, these rules are put in place to maintain equality. I always suggest that my clients consult work, consider busy seasons, and practice courtesy when opting for leave around a holiday. Selecting less popular holidays, or planning to only utilize holiday leave every other year helps maintain positive morale in the workplace.

For those with a lot of work-related responsibilities, early planning allows expectations and boundaries to be set. Colleagues can be advised of your absence well in advance and work can be appropriately delegated to compensate for the absence. While this doesn’t solve all issues, it can mitigate some and can allow you to more fully enjoy your vacation without interruption. This may also allow you to more appropriately plan and prioritize tasks both before and after vacation.

Margin, Intentionality, and Decreased Stress

Planning farther in advance creates margin that can lead to a reduction in stress and allow for more time and intentionality in decision making. When you aren’t rushed in decision making, you can take time to consider what matters most. Once you’ve determined your personal priorities and goals, we can work together and I can make suggestions that specifically suit your priorities and goals.

Often, the decisions required for a complex trip like Walt Disney World Resort, or a cruise can quickly become overwhelming. However, when more time is available, you can review menus, read reviews on excursions and weigh the factors of each choice and how it interacts with the other choices you’re making.

Something to look forward to

Did you know that research indicates that having something fun to look forward to is good for your mental health? It’s true! Think about a time you’ve looked forward to something fun- a good movie, a concert with friends, or a fun experience with your kids. When you plan your trip further in advance, you enjoy the benefits of anticipation for a longer time.

As you can see, there are quite a few tremendous benefits to planning in advance for your vacation! I love helping my clients create a timeline so together we can plan their vacation in a fun way that allows them to relax and anticipate while I hammer out all the details. Wondering if now is the time to start planning your next vacation? Send us an email and we’ll provide our suggestions on the perfect timeline for your specific adventure.