Travel Mistakes Smart People Make

Here are the most common travel mistakes we’ve seen smart people make.

Plan too late:   A month before the holidays is no time to start making travel arrangements. While there may be the chance cancellation (and in some rare cases, great savings), the more common scenario is that you wind up overpaying for accommodations (“Only the penthouse is available”) and taking unpleasant connecting flights (four hours in the Miami airport) or worse, sitting in a back row seat in economy for an 8-hour flight.

Book complicated flights for savings:   Booking that inexpensive flight to and from Rome may at first seem to be a great savings. But how are you going to get to FCO by 7 a.m. if you are staying on the Amalfi Coast? Inevitably, we have to book airport hotels for these do-it-yourself air bookings, bringing the price up and adding the inconvenience of another hotel check-in/check-out.

Waste time shopping for best hotel deal:   We’ve had clients get caught up in trying to find the cheapest price for their room. In the end, they may save $9 a night, but they’ve spent five evenings of their own time doing so.

Go through security motions mindlessly:   That moment of going through security is a vulnerable one. One in which you need to be on high alert at all times. All too often, travelers toss passports, phones and wallets in the security bins. Then they stand on line for the machine, get patted down and the next thing they know—no sign of their loose items.

Take a taxi from the airport:  While it’s cheaper to take a taxi from the airport to your hotel than have a driver meet you, the price one may pay in aggravation is just not worth it (and can more than double the fare). The rip-offs come in all varieties based on the destination — the broken meter, the round-about route that doubles the time and distance, the language barrier resulting in the wrong hotel or the wrong side of town.

Fall for free guides and other street “sales”:   All over Prague, you see young adults (maybe students, maybe not) with signs that say “Free Tours.” Follow along and not only will you learn all sorts of fictional stories about the city, but in the end, feel obligated to give the self-proclaimed, non-licensed “tour guide” 5 or 10 Euros. Not a bad profit for an hour’s walk with 20 people.

Packing Too Many Activities or Countries Into One Trip:  This limits your opportunities. You’ll be too busy to find hidden gems or follow up on tips from locals, and the hassle of so much travel can be stressful. Make sure you give yourself some time to relax and soak up the best of what each destination has to offer.  You do not want the memories of your trip to be just planes, trains, and automobiles.

Thinking they can do it all: Travelers may be able to do a lot of exceptional things themselves. Maybe they’re able to teach their kids the piano or build a treehouse that sleeps four. But the really smart ones are those who have figured out the best way to have things done right and in a timely fashion is to bring in the pros. Nowhere does this apply more than in organizing travel.



Dream Vacations - The Operach Team is a travel agency based in Overland Park, Kansas. We take pride in working with clients across the country who love to travel. We build vacation experiences that will create memories to last a lifetime.  Our team has specialties across a wide range of vacation options; custom Europe itineraries, Alaska, escorted tours, all-inclusive resorts, Disney, Caribbean, Hawaii, South Pacific, cruise holidays, and river cruises.   

We look forward to making your dream vacations come true!!