I’ve been thinking alot lately about travel and how/why people travel. Here are 5 things I am looking for as I plan a trip…
1. Good, clear info available on the internet. I’m not booking through a magazine, and really these days, I wouldn’t use a travel agent. I want the info, and I want to be able to arrange my whole stay on the internet. I don’t want to have to call someone, or wait for an email to see if there is an opening.
2. Easy to use website! I hate when a website has good information, but it is designed so poorly that it takes forever to get what you want because you are always having to scroll down, click back- and then it says something about postdated data…- pull up 13 windows just to be able to see everything you need. If you are going to pay money to do a site, at least put the time into it to make it easy to use! This one is my soap box.
3. Pictures, pictures, pictures. Now, in planning a trip, I want to see where I am going and where I am staying. A place could have a great price and location, but if the info on the internet only shows me a shot of the pool and the outside of the hotel, it makes me nervous. I want to see the room I am sleeping in. I want to see a picture of the bathroom. The more pictures the better.
4. Customer Reviews. It is the hot thing these days, and I love it. I love being able to see if a place is clean, or to read about how they made accommodations for a late arriving guest, or how the breakfast buffet is awesome. Without the customer reviews things just feel like a shot in the dark, but with them, even if they get some bad marks, I just feel like I know what I am getting a lot more.
5. The Bottom Line Price. I hate when one price is posted, and in between the screen where you enter your info and the price page, there are about 15 different kind of taxes added. This is especially bad on airline websites. It is so frustrating when you begin buying and first, they show you just the price one-way, and then its a different price for the back half of the trip, and then they throw on airport taxes, luggage taxes, seat taxes, blah, blah, blah. I am sure there are logical reasons for all of it, but it still is frustrating. So any time I see something with an upfront- this is all you are going to pay price- it makes me happy.
What about you? I would love to hear your thoughts on what is important to you. How are you planning your travel these days? Any great sites your loving for travel? Any you are hating? Let me know…
