Going on a summer holiday

It’s that time of the year when the majority of people will start scouting for options to take advantage of their children’s school holidays and exhaust their pending leave from the previous year as well.

Though the planning for these trips is done well in advance, if you are one of those who is still working out the nitty-gritties, take a look at some of these planning tips.

WHAT IS POPULAR?
Kashmir has been a popular destination historically. But over the years, it had lost its sheen because of apprehensions about terrorism. However, this summer, Kashmir has made a comeback.

“The problems of targeting tourists have come down as tourism is a source of income in many parts of the state,” says Sandeep Srivastava, head, domestic travel, Thomas Cook.

The other preferred destinations include Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Leh and Ladakh, Ooty and Munnar.

Travel companies have come up with aggressively-priced packages for this season. For instance, Thomas Cook is offering a 5-day package at Rs 8,000 per person for Kashmir.

This includes accommodation, meals and sightseeing, but does not include train or flight costs. In Uttaranchal, one can visit the four pilgrimage sites or take a multiple tour of Corbett National Park, Mussoorie and Nainital. The basic package per person for this multiple location tours starts at Rs 13,000 per person, excluding the airfare.

Other areas where aggressively priced packages are available include multiple destination packages for Himachal Pradesh that includes the hill stations, Manali, Shimla, Dharamshala and Dalhousie.

Besides hill stations, another destination that is witnessing rising interest is the Sundarbans in West Bengal that is only accessible through waterways. Only a private cruise operator and government ships take visitors to the forests. “One of lures in this delta is that there is a weather change every three hours,” says a tour operator.

If you looking for adventure, there are difficult Himalayan treks that can be pursued. These treks last for about 11 days and there are a large number of travel packages that are offered by tour operators. These packages start at Rs 14,000 per person.

For the super rich, there are options of travelling to resorts such as Ananda in the Himalayas, where a range of spas and meditation packages are available. These tours are typically for three days and start from Rs 15,000 per person per day.

Other similar luxury areas include Udayvilas, Ram Bagh and Shiv Vilas in Rajasthan and Amanbagh and Brunton Boatyard in Kerala. The packages to these places could go up to Rs 50,000 a night per person.

PLANNING THE VACATION
Okay, enough of luring you to luxurious places, but the business end of it requires you to have the funds and take a call on the different packages on offer. Here’s a “how to do it” guide for the newbies

Budget: For starters, you need to create a budget for travelling. This would imply savings for that cause. “Typically, a tourist should be able to manage his stay within a budget of Rs 2,000 – 3,000 per person per night in a three-star category package. This expense would include meals, local transport and sight seeing,” says an industry expert. As a result, most of the week-long packages start from Rs 13,000 – 15,000.

For you, the important part is to figure out the money you will be able to spend. This would help in choosing the destinations, transportation, and accommodation. Try to control the urge to over spend on your vacation.

Cost optimisation: Now that the budgeting and the destination have been decided, you need to carefully gauge other costs. For instance, though the travel person might want to sell you a hotel room with a view for that little extra, if you are planning to do a lot of sight seeing, there is no need to go for it.

Shop around: Vacation packages are often good because they offer attractive discounts. Also, booking everything separately could lead to a lot of headaches. If you belong to a frequent-flyer programme, vacations are the perfect time to cash-in. Look into how many frequent-flyer miles you've earned and when they expire.

Choose payment method carefully: If you can afford to pay for the entire trip at once, exercise that option. For travellers on a budget, paying in instalments helps to ease the financial burden. Travel companies do offer various financing options to their customers.

For instance, Kuoni India has a finance scheme. Kesari, another tour operator, arranges personal loan with Bank of India. Thomas cook, who were offering financing options, have withdrawn it from this year. Instead, it has a co-branded credit card with ICICI Bank.

The payments made through the cards can be converted into equated monthly instalments (EMIs). Using a credit card is another option, but make sure you can pay it off promptly. Of course, financial planners would always advise that when you do not have the money, there is no need to spend.

When to book: Ideally in order to go through least amount of hassles, you should do all the work well in advance. However, travel operators say that in metros, since most of the family members are unsure of their schedules, they process requests even 10 days in advance.

Source:http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=lmnu6&subLeft=2&autono=319899&tab=r