Research > the flying duo

Now that you have finalized a destination and have a fair idea about its climate and the weather at the time of your visit, you can proceed further into your planning. Research of the place is the ultimate tip that will make you a pro traveler. It is hectic and time taking at first, which is why travelers prefer to approach the travel agencies to do this on their behalf. Trust us, you can save half the amount by doing this research part yourself. Even if you are busy and hardly find any time, you can plan your own trip and save a lot of money.

This article is specially focused on making you a pro as a traveler. We are providing some tips for doing accurate research and make the perfect plan. As you take more and more trips, you have all the tricks in your bag and it becomes easier and faster to research a place. If you are a spontaneous traveler, you can skip this part. But, if you are a meticulous planner (like us) , you sure need a little bit of research before you reach the place. This part here is what makes the difference between a beginner and an advanced traveler.

Flights:

Use incognito mode when searching for flights, this ensures that the prices do not jump on mere searching.
Use Kayak/Skyscanner/Google flights to book your tickets. These are aggregating platforms that fetch and list out the price of flights offered at various platforms. You will most definitely find the cheapest deal here.
Google flights also has a price trend graph to suggest the range in which the current cost of flights fall.
When searching look for monthly prices instead of a particular date if your travel dates are not finalized.
Look for the cheapest months and cross check with the weather before booking.
Keep a 2-3 months’ window between booking and travel date. This allows you to get the cheapest rates for that month.
Budget flights or the cheapest flights may not have check in luggage. They may have multiple/long layovers. Check the flight rules before making bookings.
You may have an idea about the luggage you would be carrying by now. Book all tickets without check in luggage and buy one check-in luggage as an add on to save cost as well as be able to carry check in luggage.
Booking through the cheapest offers, we have had bad experiences with Go Air on two occasions. They rescheduled our itinerary to longer duration flights when we had booked direct flights of short duration. They do this so late that you have no option but to choose that awful reschedule or pay much higher prices for rebooking. We feel they do this purposely and hence avoid Go Air at all costs. Since, they always cite “operational issues” as the reason of cancellation of original flight, even the DGCA charter does not help. So, be careful of the airlines you are booking with through these websites.

Accommodation:

Identify your preferences for staying by researching the stay options available.
Search for the locality that best suits your preferences.
Check the average rates of the stay options in that area.
Try to find balance between rates and preferences. Sometimes, a homestay can be more affordable to hostels.
Read the reviews of the hotel on google or any travel app before booking. Analyze the pattern of reviews to assess its suitability to your needs.
Compare on multiple apps to get the best rates. You may check directly with the hotel as well. In our research, we have found that Agoda offers best rates compared to all other apps. It also has special offers on different days.
Keep a window of at least 2 months in booking and stay date to get best rates.

Currency/Visa (only for international trips):

Read the Visa rules of the country very carefully. If it requires eVisa, visa on arrival or no visa at all.
Always apply for the visa through the official website of the country only. They do not charge anything over and above the Visa fees.
Carry all the documents as specified in the travel guidelines of the country.
Learn about the currency exchange rates and keep an eye on the fluctuations.
Do not get currency exchanged at the airports. The rates are the worst at the airports.
Get your currency exchanged from an authorized forex dealer only.
If you are a frequent traveller, get some USD when the rates are attractive. USD is accepted everywhere. You can get it exchanged into local currency easily.
Keep an international debit/credit card for emergency.
Buy a good coverage travel insurance for any health emergency.

Places of interest:

Check the places of interest, things to do and explore in the destination city like famous monuments, buildings, places, tours or activities. This is the ultimate reason for travelling.
Check the timings, duration taken to cover them and the entry fees if any. This will help you plan your daily itinerary and the number of days required in each city.
Research about them in detail. Compare tour costs at different websites and reviews.
Choose the ones that appeal to you and leave the ones that are not very interesting. It saves time, money and energy.
It is not mandatory to cover everything at once. Keep your holiday easy. Do not make it hectic.
Read the reviews of the place to get an idea of what it offers.

Local transportation:

Research and identify the best mode of transportation for sightseeing.
Check out the public transport options if any. Check options for intercity travel or for sightseeing.
Compare multiple websites for the estimated cost of mode of transportation.
Contact several operators to get an idea of costs and decide upon pre booking or booking after arrival.
Do check the time taken to reach the airport from your place of stay.
Always choose the most convenient way of getting around as per your preferences.

Food:

Explore about the local cuisine.
Learn about the most popular food items of the place. Look at the pictures to get some idea.
See if the preparation appeal to your taste buds or not.
Research about the options you have in terms of food availability and its cost.
If nothing seems fit for you, look for some Indian restaurants nearby your place of stay.
Try to include breakfast in your hotel bookings.
You may also plan to carry instant noodles if you think food is going to be an issue at your destination. It also helps save money. We practice this in some of our trips outside India.

Cost of living:

Get an idea of the cost of living of the place by exploring average costs of food and transportation.
Research about the price of tickets to famous places or average costs of tours. Where to go and which places to avoid.
This will help you set a realistic budget for yourself and will also help you avoid scams.
You may be more aware of the cash that you will need to carry with yourself.
You will be able to estimate your daily expenses based on the cost of living of the place and hence you can decide the number of days you would spend at the place in your budget.
If the place is getting out of your budget skip it this time and select another option from your shortlist.

Markets:

Little research about the local markets of the destination is important in many aspects.
We always buy some souvenirs at least to gift our friends and family back home after returning from a trip.
Some places have amazing markets which attracts us into shopping.
You get to know the exact place from where to buy the popular items indigenous to the place.
Tourist places have costly markets in general. So learning about the markets helps you get things at fair price.
Sometimes, having an idea about the market helps in emergency situations also.
Knowledge about the popular marts helps you buy much needed genuine things like water or medicines at fair prices.
We shop a lot on our trips. Hence, we book accommodations near the market areas. Sometimes it is costlier than average but that suits us. You may always decide your choices. Staying near the market has helped us at a number of occasions, for example: severe food poisoning, sudden fever, injuries etc.

Languages:

English is the most widely understood language but may not be accepted everywhere.
Always research about the languages spoken at the destination.
Learn a few popular and most needed terms like hello, thank you, excuse me, some terms related to food, directions etc. in the local language to help you if you are travelling on your own.
Use google translate extensively. It is a life saver in countries where people are not English speaking.
Seek help from your hotel reception if things are getting difficult. They often understand English better than housekeeping staff.
Speaking in local terms helps you bargain better and sometimes get sympathy discount!

Scams:

Research about the popular scams of the place as every tourist place has some or the other scam running.
After all the research about a place you will get a fair idea about how things work there and you will not have unpleasant surprises.
Being scammed leaves a scar on our experience of the place and we can never really look back with happiness.
Do not get carried away by cheap or attractive offers only to save money. It might cost you much more than some extra hundreds.
Always confirm with several vendors, operators or tours before buying from one. Do not believe everything that is being shown to you unless you are totally convinced of its genuineness.
Keep your family or any close one updated on your whereabouts.
Always have emergency contact details of police, ambulance, embassy (if travelling outside India) and your hotel.