Must Visit Travel Websites Before You Book Your Next Vacation

As someone who travels often, my travel companions often rely on me to check my travels before we book our vacations. Recently, one of my friends was shocked to learn how in-depth my dream trip-planning research is. Most travellers visit Tripadvisor to read reviews of their hotels or resorts, but my searches will always include at least one stop to each of the following before I commit to any dream vacation booking. Here is a list of my must-visit travel websites before you book your next vacation.

Trip Advisor and Other Reviews

This has become the norm today when booking a vacation. Checking the reviews of your hotel or resort can give you a great idea of the hotel’s amenities, how happy people who visited it were, any common issues or complaints, and whether it is a good fit for you.

I often read through a few pages of reviews to get a good sense of the average feeling of the resort. How well do travellers rate it? I take the bad and good reviews lightly and pay close attention to the mid-high-range reviews. If the majority of the reviews swing negatively it’s a turn off for me, if the majority are positive then it is a hotel worth considering. (www.tripadvisor.com)

Do a google search as well and look for travel bloggers or writers who have written a review of the hotel, often they are happy to respond to questions about the hotel in their comments and give you suggestions based on their own travel booking experiences.

Government of Canada Travel Advice and Advisories – Travel.gc.ca

This is an important check because your travel health insurance coverage may not cover an area with a high warning or alert for travellers to that country. Mexico and Egypt for example (at the time of this posting) have warnings. While Mexico is for certain areas that tourists may not wander to, it is still important to see where your resort is in relation to the warnings. (Travel.gc.ca)

If you are not Canadian, then check out the travel advisory board of your country (U.S. here, U.K. here). This is usually a quick check to ensure no travel warnings for the country you are considering for your dream vacation.

Public Health Agency of Canada – Publichealth.gc.ca

Similar to Travel Advisories, public health agencies in your country provide you with important health advisories for diseases like malaria, cholera, and dengue fever. Even the most popular vacation spots for Canadians during the winter break may have health advisories, and many will travel there without knowing the details and risks. (Publichealth.gc.ca)

Google Maps

I also love to check out the hotel’s location on Google Maps, especially when travelling to the small Caribbean islands. I will also locate the hotel and see which side of the island it is on. How close to the airport? What else is near the hotel? I may even check out the locations of hotels near the resort and compare their grounds using the satellite view. Another important feature for me is how long the beach is. I love long walks on the beach, so seeing where I can walk is a plus when choosing the right resort. You can explore these things using Google Maps Street and satellite views. (maps.google.com)

Tourism Sites

Many countries and cities offer some great resources online. They are worth a gander for researching some of the excursions you may be interested in taking while on vacation.

Many tourism boards now offer apps you can download to your phone, which is an excellent source of information. They offer online brochures, itineraries, and other useful tools to help you plan your vacation to their country. Some of these apps may require an internet connection to run, so make sure you do not rely on them after you’ve landed with no internet data plan. Download the information you need just in case you’re caught without internet access.

Global Affairs Canada – Registration of Canadians Abroad

Canadians travelling abroad can register their travel plans, which helps the government contact them in an emergency.

Once you have decided where you are travelling and are ready to book your trip, these sites are great resources:

Hotel/Resort main website

Check out events, amenities, maps and schedules at the resort you are staying at. You may also find email or phone numbers to call to book a la carte restaurant reservations or spa services before you arrive. Often the hotel staff are happy to hear from you and will reassure you that they are there to help make your trip fantastic.

SeatGuru.com

If you are like me and like to pick your seats on the plane in advance, then this is a great site for viewing the plane’s seating plan in advance. Which seats are near the bathrooms? Where the wing is on the seating plan? Emergency doors? Seats with extra leg room? This site is a great place to help you pick out the best seats on the plane. (seatguru.com)

Airline Website Baggage Policy Page

Every airline has a baggage policy and many are different from one another. Check for weight restrictions, extra costs, baggage requirements, size restrictions and any information with regards to your allowable baggage on your flight.

Travel Insurance

Many of us has travel credit cards which feature Travel rewards and Travel Insurance but have you read the fine print? Not all activities you may be including in your dream vacation are included regular travel insurance policies.

So that’s my checklist of websites to check out before I book a dream vacation. I hope you all will find them helpful when planning your next trip.