How do you book your flights and hotels?

Do you book your hotel around your flight dates or do you book your flight based on your hotel dates?

 

I book hotel based on what dates I get for flights.

For a trip to Las Vegas I usually have a date range, like I might have December 1st through 15th where I can go... so I will look for one way flights down from the 1st through the 10th and make a note of all the prices, then do the same for a one way flight home from December 5th through 15th. Then I look for what works out good with flight prices down that give us a 5-7 night trip and then call the hotel and book whatever dates our trip ends up being.

 

If there are specific dates we want or need to be there, then when wins and we make everything else fit. If we have some flexibility on time, where is first. We have a range of hotels we'll select, but within that price will be the determinant.

 

I actually do both. I have set dates each year that I go (Spring and Fall) and then I usually go a few more times when I get offers I like or just feel like getting away for the weekend. I really don't like booking my flight until I know I have a hotel booked. Not sure why since the hotel usually doesn't have any cost behind it and it wouldn't destroy me if I did have to book somewhere but just psychological I guess.

Actually, I make sure I can get the time off of work first

 

Being retired, I can go whenever the urge strikes, but usually coordinate dates with Ms. Gecko who's still working. Planning around her job and travels can sometimes be difficult, and it gets much more complicated when trying to match room offers and airfares. The most challenging part, however, is just trying to decide when to go and how long to stay.

BCMike: We also like to reserve rooms before buying air, as flight changes (at least on Delta) are prohibitively expensive. Once air is booked the dates are set in stone, though we sometimes play "musical hotels" if better offers show up. That seldom happens, however, since we usually book only three or four weeks in advance. (The Halloween trip was a notable exception with air purchased in March. A $400 ticket voucher was going to expire the next day. Fortunately, room offers showed up in the following months to accommodate all nights.)

 

We book depending on the work schedules of our traveling companions. We are retired and can go anytime.

 

Totally agree with you there. I usually fly Delta as well but I'm a little less loyal than I used to be. United seems to be at least $100 cheaper sometimes but they seem delay/cancel flights more often than Delta.

 

step 1. call Host get room or deal on room
step 2. book Southwest

rinse; repeat every 6 weeks

 

I book flights first, then hotel room(s).

2015 dates are locked in. I pretty much go the same months each year (February, June and September/October). I just pick a particular week of each month and let the planning madness begin!

 

I'm as loyal to the airlines as they are to me – meaning next to zero. Atlanta, however, is Delta's hometown and biggest hub. In fact, there are so many Delta gates and daily flights they might as well change the name from Hartsfield to Deltaville! Delta has the most nonstop flights to/from Vegas by far; and since we're both Medallion members with loads of flyer miles (Ms. Gecko's Platinum going on Diamond, Million Mile Club, and Sky Club Member), we're pretty much "loyal" by default. (I'm not above flying AirTran/Southwest, however, when going solo if it's a better deal.)

 

Usually for a pleasure trip I'll set up the hotel first, depending on offers and such. I'll usually bring up both Southwest and Travelocity while I'm doing it mainly to be sure the flights will not be outrageous. Flight is usually done after the hotel is booked. I'll circle back to all flight options. Sometimes (not very much lately) Southwest is cheapest. For the other majors, sometimes Travelocity beats the airline sites and sometimes booking directly is cheaper. Lately, Travelocity has been lowest with USAir from OMA to LAS. Almost never is the Untied site cheaper than Travelocity for the same flight. Frontier it seems like about 50/50.

 

if there is a good deal on hotels, i go ahead and book it since they have pretty lenient cancellation policies. but i tend to cancel and book hotels about 3 times while waiting for my trip. i only book the flights when i know the dates of travel for sure. i rarely fly southwest, so cancelling or changing a flight is too expensive.

 

I usually have a general idea of when I want to go which is usually when friends will be there or a special occasion. Then I book air first because it fluctuates wildly from the east coast and I am flexible around my dates.

I will say that once I book the air I am a bit unsettled until I get the hotels nailed down, kind of like now when I have booked flights for March but it's too early to book Main Street & the Palazzo which are my preferred haunts.

 

Book flights first, then book the room.

 

I gnerally won't even go unless I have enough points on SWA and a comped room through CET. Back when Platinum got resort fees waved, I was only in for $30 ($25 Early Bird plus what used to be $5 Sept. 11 airline fee), and two $6 trains to the airport. Add in cab rides to center strip and I was doing the entire thing for around $80 grand sum total. With resort fees and the inevitable eUpgrade that I always fall for like a moron, I wind up closer to $200.

 

I do a little of both. Since I get comped rooms, I look for a time period that I get more free-play. But I usually get free-play every month. Sometimes I get some added benefits during certain weekends. Then, I plan the arrival and departure date when I get a good deal on a flight. Sometimes I have to wait until Southwest has their special deals. If I drive (about once a year out of six or so that I take during that period), then it doesn't really matter when I arrive or depart as long as it's not a holiday weekend. I try to avoid those weekends. What helps is that I work a 9/80 where I get every other Friday off. Then I usually take off the Thursday before my off-Friday and come back on Monday.

 

I usually book air first and then worry about hotels. In fact, I usually decide to go when I find a good fare and then plan the rest out. Other times, I think of going and if I find a good fare that will cinch it.

 

First call is the my host at Cosmo then book my flight on points

My company spends about 350K a month on our Visa card so the points for flights are endless.

First class all the time

 

Call host to get an idea of what dates I can get comped then book flights around those dates. I like to visit Vegas during the weekdays so room availability isn't an issue (most of the time). When it comes to booking my trips, Vegas is the complete opposite since I usually book my hotels around my flight dates due to a big difference in price.

I hate using my miles/points on domestic flights unless I'm traveling during the holidays and tickets are going for $1K+. Like others, I'm pretty loyal to my airline and hotel programs so I stick with Alaska Air for flights between SEA-LAS.

 

Flight dates are around hotel dates.