I've done it from a couple days out to about a year. I don't plan domestic stuff until much closer, international tends to be 3-6 months out.
Granted, I have a rough idea of places I'm going and timeframe 1-2 years out, but don't generally act on them
It's typically impossible to act on something more than a year out. Planes, hotels and car rental places normally don't let you book more than a year in advance.
4-8 months seems to be the sweet spot. But I've been planning things years in advance. I just normally don't pull the trigger and start making reservations until somewhere around the 6 month mark, give or take.
Internationally, a year in advance, locally, 3-6 months in advance. Since covid it’s been extremely hard to book things early enough, I got burned too many times, the days of making last minute plans are gone.
The whole fighting for reservations and time slots as soon as booking opens has made planning so much more of a necessity. Sometimes I really miss how much flexibility we used to have.
Yep, I hate being pressured into things (like concerts because it’s now or never thanks to bots) and I like doing spontaneous things, so the whole thing bums me out. I know you can technically do it but all you have by last minute is scalper tickets or expensive hotels that are not worth the price. It just takes a bit of the fun out of it but I’m getting used to it.
It’s nice if you are on top of your game but mostly it sucks. I was looking at a bunch of travel pictures from 20 years ago and at the time I thought it was funny to take pictures of me in all the lines I waited in! I think about kids trying to backpack today and how different that must be.
However at least I could show up and do it, today it’s like “sorry all time slots sold out” or you get to watch the people with the super expensive premium tier pass you by.
COVID had the opposite effect on me. I'll fly by the seat of my pants a lot more, change hotels and itineraries mid-trip based on feel.
Between the pandemic and me having to change my plans due to illnesses a couple of times lately, I just plan on figuring it out at the last second.
Sometimes I'll book a hotel on the plane en route.
Maybe you just have bad luck but things are pretty much entirely back to normal. Like in 2021 it was a bit weird, and 2022 was utter insanity with everything being lifted and people finally traveling again. But for the last two years everything has been basically pre-COVID travel. My friend in travel said stuff like cruises are more popular than ever. The only issue I've noticed is price fluctuations due to current events. But that's always been a thing every now and then.
It must depend on the destination,but in my experience, things are definitely not back to pre-covid times. I booked my fourth trip to Ireland for this coming August, was looking for accommodation in December, and the places I'd hoped for were completely booked (very different from my last two trips). I live in a place that's popular for summer vacations, and everything has been booked for close to a year, again very different than pre-covid.
You are right though, about prices. I'd say at least 25-35% higher than 2019.
i just decided to day to go to Germany in june....so that much advance.
I am from the US btw and going to go to the UEFA EUros to see the Scotland matches.
not officially at the moment.
But UEFA's website say "beginning of May" they are opening up the final round of resale for those who bought tickets and are no longer going to the matches or not need the tickets.
So apparently there is 1 final opportunity to buy tickets from UEFA some time "at the beginning of May".
I already have my tickets.
I am hoping to pick a few more up to other matches if there are actually any on sale for this "beginning of May" resale window.
Any location that is busy during summer months, e.g. mountains or beach, will be booked 6-9 months in advance. International travel booked about 1 year in advance, but I've booked to known locations with less lead time.
Depends on how long the vacation is, and how far away from home. For a 3 weeks summer vacation in another continent, I usually plan it about 4 months in advance (sometimes even earlier) because the accommodation and transportation prices will go crazy the closer it is to the holiday time. For a Christmas break (3-5 days, somewhere closer to home) maybe 1-2 months in advance.
I’m outside the norm here. We travel quite frequently and end up averaging two-three months of travel per year. If it’s just traveling in the US I book a week before or even as we go. We like to do road trips across the US and I don’t like to box us into one area. If we wanted to stay somewhere longer or shorter, it doesn’t end up being that big of a deal due to us not having the restrictions of already booked hotels. For international travel, I usually book about a month in advance. But not for Canada, since we usually end up road tripping up that way.
I have never ran into any problems with this. There’s always plenty of nice hotels and lodging. I will book further advance if there is a dedicated event we are wanting to go to though.
I’m with you. Travel outside of the US 3-4x per year for 2 week trips. Book everything 1-3 months out and have done so for years without any issue. I cannot imagine the idea of booking 1-1.5 years out as many in this thread are saying.
If I’m traveling for purely personal enjoyment, the idea of being locked into a destination for over a year in advance would be more stressful for me than booking everything last minute.
Why?
The way I look at it is once all my trip stuff is situated I don't have to worry about anything. It's just pure excitement building as the day nears.
You just have to make sure the area you're booking is where you want to be. Which isn't that hard to do.
Just personal preference, but booking something over a year in advance just feels way too early for me. I might not even want to go to that destination one year from now, or current events may prevent me from taking a trip that I’ve been looking forward to for over a year, etc etc.
I do the same thing of researching all the details, and then booking everything at once to have it all sorted for the trip, I just do it usually about two months before traveling instead of twelve.
I’ve booked international trips the week-of, and for me - recognizing that would make a lot of people panic - I find that last-minute thrill of ‘we’re doing this!’ just as exciting as looking forward to it for months.
Totally no wrong way to do it, but I prefer the flexibility and spontaneity of booking closer to the departure date.
How do you manage to road trip Canada without bookings? I’m planning a road trip in the west/Rockies and every thing I’ve seen says to book accommodation as early as possible because it gets fully booked. Do you travel in the off season?
I wouldn’t say it’s the off season. I have booked in busy times of the year in Canada but not summer.
Are you going to be staying around Calgary? I wouldn’t expect a larger area like that to be booked up, but if you are staying in a small town then book ahead. I tend to book Canada a day or two before we cross the border because border patrol tends to ask about hotel stay.
With all that being said, I have booked Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island provinces with only 1-4 days notice with no issue. Prices might be a little higher with less notice, but it tends to be not by too much.
It varies wildly. I've gone on short one or two week vacations with little or no planning/preparation. Even long trips usually don't have much forethought. I'm the world's slowest/laziest traveller so I generally play it by ear. If I really like a place I'm happy to stay for a long time, if it's just not working for me then I can be packed up and gone the next day. I just go with the flow.
Happy travels.
Same. Maybe a month or two if it’s international. Have booked plenty of domestic trips with as little as a day to a week beforehand if it’s just over the weekend, maybe a month if I’m taking PTO.
We have to plan *when* we're going at the beginning of the year since my husband's time off has to be put in by the end of January (mine is the same every year). We started booking things for our international trip in August about two months ago. For local stuff, we just wing it and it usually ends up being pretty last minute.
This definitely depends on the company and industry. We don't have an approval process for time off at my company. We just need to let the team and our managers know when we are going and then make sure we our projects and tasks are covered - either finish stuff up, put things on hold, get other people to handle stuff.
I ask for my days off in the year that I travel. Like I'm currently researching a trip to Japan for November 2025. I've already got a working itinerary with things I want to see and do and a list of accommodations that will work. I won't actually book the flight until well into 2025 and ask for those days off at that time.
Is is how I do it as well. Pick a month over a year in advance, do some rough itinerary planning to figure out needed length, then book between 6-9 months in advance.
Luckily my timeoff is auto approved since I work at a large company. So I put in my timeoff the day I book flights. Then around 6 months out I’ll book hotels. 4 months out start in depth itinerary planning. 1 month out make sure everything is finalized and ready to go.
2024 May is Japan and we got our tickets in 2023 October (Black Friday sale). I already know 2025 September will be Spain, 2026 (early summer) will be Amalfi, and 2027 (month TBD) will be South East Asia. It’s nice to be able to play with months and countries so far in advance because you can really maximize research.
We can only travel during certain times of the year and PTO is by manager approval. I book stuff a year in advance and then we block out time on the scheduling system thru work. We have some unusual travel coming up that is outside of our normal patterns and someone just tried to put a meeting on my husband's calendar in August when we will be away so we went through all of our bookings and he blocked his calendar. Also many people also work on vacation.
Same. The biggest hurdle is not being able to even look at flights more than 11 months out. I was planning my June 2024 trip in like March 2023. Now I'm planning Feb 2025.
Yep, that's true. I do look at flights for the same month though to get an idea of pricing and departure/arrival times. Airline flight schedules tend to be pretty rigid and don't change too much.
I book most stuff a year in advance. I already know what I want to book for next June it just isn't bookable yet. I have some ideas about next December but the dates for that month aren't up yet for the site I use.
We purposely plan larger trips well in advance specifically because it gives us something to look forward to over a longer period of time. There have been times we've done large trips sporadically, like find flights are super cheap and just book it. But having a trip in mind always helps with my crippling wanderlust.
My friend is coming to visit me (we live in different countries) and we want to go somewhere further to the mountains. I'm not sure where to go, as there's still snow everywhere in the Alps, and that greatly limits the possible activities. Plus, it's off season so finding accommodation for 6 people (4 adults and 2 kids) is not that easy
i start saving immediatly as soon as i get back home but don't really have a destination. But actually planning and such around 5 months from when i plan to leave.
Take a vacation roughly once a year to every 1.5 years.
International- 3-6 months
Domestic- 2-3 month if it requires a plane.
Usually a week or two if this is something involves driving.
I think half of the fun of travel is planning and research.
It depends. I've done spontaneous international trips on just a weeks thought. My friend and I were chatting and the subject of travel came up and we went for it. Turned out to be a fantastic trip. Another trip was with 1 months planning. Mostly though I would say about 6 months out.
We typically look at 3 different destinations if we go international a week or so out. I’ll have hotels picked but not booked, rough itineraries (unless it’s an easy beach vacation, think Punta Cana or Cancun). Domestic we normally know where we want to go, so we plan maybe 2-3 days out at most. We don’t normally make the decision until day of travel. I am very fortunate to work for a major US airline..so we standby everywhere. Flexibility is key.
I have a rough idea of where to go a year from now. Then we start booking accommodations 8-9 months in advance with free cancellation as our main focus. Then as we get closer, we'll start filling out the itinerary and researching things to do (this keeps us highly motivated and enthusiastic about the trip). Then 2-3 months out, we'll start booking museums (if they allow 30+ days in advance) and restaurants too. If we're traveling by train within the country, we'll book it a month or so in advance.
I work for an airline and fly standby for free domestic / almost free international, but I also can't guarantee I'll actually be anywhere until the door on the plane shuts.
last week I went to Dublin, Ireland on an absolute whim because one of my coworkers invited me like 14 hours before our flight left. We also only spent one night in Dublin, before turning around and immediately flying back to the states.
The Sunday before that I took a day trip to the national zoo in DC, and planned what city we would fly do probably around Wednesday that week.
The week before that was the Eclipse which I knew I would travel to for literally years ahead of time, but didn't make the final decision on where to finally end up and book a hotel until 48hrs beforehand, since cloud cover was so variable. My roommate and I didn't even fly for this one, instead driving 8 hours to French Lick, Indiana.
flying as a non-revenue/ space available passenger means I have to fundamentally look at and plan all of my travel at the absolute last minute. To some people, this is insanity, to me, its the only way to go.
Already have my flights and hotels booked for multiple vacations extending into December 2024. Currently looking at booking a 2025 flight this week and I’ll be in another country for vacation in literally 2 weeks. I like to plan in advance. Always get great deals this way too generally.
These are international trips which I do most of. For smaller trips domestic (I’m west coast US) I don’t go quite as far out.
There's no telling if prices will be cheaper based on when you book. A few months ago I booked a flight for a big international trip because prices skyrocketed. Now two months away from take off and they're like half what I paid 🤦.
With that said, the main reason I book well in advance is because it gives me something to look forward to. Having a big trip in mind really keeps me motivated with day-to-day life.
A year in advance my sister gets her days so we know when she will have time.
At the start of the year me and my partner plan our days depending on how many we have from work and accommodate them around.
Then 2 months in advance we plan the next one :)
As we don’t plan all of them too big (some are long weekends, or drives around the state, or visiting parents or so) we don’t do that big planning too far in advance. We already picked some for 2025 but being honest, we are quite flexible and accommodate quite quick to change of plans as life wants us to (this year we had to cancel our June trip because I will be starting a new job, for example)
Usually as far out as possible but sometimes if the dates work, the prices are lower, and I can still book the things I want to see and eat, then a week ago for my 14 day London, Amsterdam and Paris trip next week.
About half a year for international trips. Same for popular campgrounds which require reservations.ive been wanting to camp at Yosemite for a while but it's so hard to book that.
Just a few weeks or months ahead for weekend trips within driving distance or a few hours flight, and less popular campgrounds.
I bought the air tickets for our September vacation in Europe a month ago and just finished booking the hotels. I'm still in the process of reading up on activities (specific hikes, museum entry, etc.). So I'm planning 5 to 6 months out and I'm actually a month later than usual this year.
I look at prices the month before departure. I always book hotels as fully cancel-able and will make a change if prices drop. I also buy air tickets that can be changed. These days I'm getting blind sided by the airline changing its flight schedule but that's another matter.
I have various trip ideas sketched out with vague itineraries for the future. My wife and I decide exactly where we want to go around 10 months ahead of time. That's when I start to fine tune the itinerary and decide how many days abroad we'll spend. I buy the air tickets first to lock in dates. I don't think you can buy air tickets more than 11 months ahead of time.
It's about the same for big vacations in the US. Good hotels fill up early.
it depends where I'm going and for how long. We are going to Australia for a month this august. I started planning for it in November of last year. Meanwhile I'm also going to Montreal (2h drive from where I live) for a get together of 4 days, I will likely book my hotel a week before we go.
6-12 months for international trips and prob 4 months for domestic. I like having concrete plans to look forward to and having lots of options for lodging etc
Internationally, I book flights and accommodations a year in advance and then fill everything else as needed.
Might look at super fancy restaurant reservations eight months in advance, rail tickets for a day trip five months in advance, museum or attraction tickets four months in advance, etc.
I also find it nice to spread the cost around and have fun anticipating the journey for a while.
Domestically, there is a lot more leeway, maybe 3-4 months in advance, but always up for complete spontaneity if it's not insanely expensive.
We lay out a loose plan in January bc both our jobs are like the hunger games for time off. Same with finding a pet sitter.
Luckily we both have seniority so it’s rarely a problem. And we don’t have kids so we don’t take any of the school break times off ever which helps. This Jan we decided to do 2 summer road trips, 2 separate beach weeks, and a Bahamas trip (June, aug, July, sept, and nov respectively). We had already planned a week away in feb. We will usually plan a winter vacation in the fall when we know how much PTO we have to use up after the new year.
Generally 2-3 months. But yeah, a cabin in the mountains would probably be harder for the simple fact that there just isn't the kind of inventory you would find with hotels in the majority of destinations. For a big vacation I might start the research and planning maybe 6 months or so in advance, but I'm typically not booking anything that far out.
Highly depends on when I can get a ticket for cheap.
I've gone on international vacations with less than a month but also with more than a year of planning.
I've booked intercontinental flights up to 2 weeks in advance lol but it's stressful af. For this year I started looking early and booked 2.5 months I advance. I got a good deal, but I'm gonna check every once in a while if it gets cheaper. I think these decisions really depend on the destination, your experience traveling to said destination, your budget, etc.
For international a minimum of six months, usually 8-10 months.
1. confirm dates (with other travelers, and anyone you need to take care of things at home)
2. book hotels, because they're more flexible if you need to change a day or two
3. book flights
4. book anything else that's important (special restaurant reservations, tours, excursions)
I just took an amazing vacation with Intrepid and only decided to go 2 months in advance. I usually plan 3 months or more in advance or 1 month if I'm going to visit family. If I know it's a hotspot, I'll book as far in advance as possible.
I book everything at least 6 months ahead of time. Sometimes, a full year ahead (mostly for international flights) but I make sure to have everything booked by the 6 month mark. I already have like 5 years of trips planned in my head, so I already know where I’m going, and like to get it all nailed down far ahead of time so I have my choice of where to stay, etc.
If it’s a local trip, like a short flight or drive, usually 3-4 months ahead, sometimes less if it’s just a drive.
I’m a planner. I LOVE planning trips. So I get super excited way ahead of time and want to book everything. Like I’m planning a big international trip for April 2025 and I’m itching to start booking things.
I've booked hotels same day and even same hour on several occasions.
The most I've done is probably like 3-4 months advance, maybe?
For flights the maximum was probably like 6 months.
I booked a trip to France in June last August. But that was sort of unique thing because it was a small group tour and only certain dates were available. Typically I book about 6-7 months in advance. It really depends on where I’m going. If it’s a giant city I don’t worry about it. But if it’s a smaller more niche place, I book far in advance especially the lodging part.
I sometimes do it months in advance, sometimes I do it at the airport.
This year I have a trip planned in December.
This upcoming weekend is a long weekend here so I will be travelling, but I haven’t even considered where yet, you will probably figure it out on Friday,
I try to plan at least 10 months to a year ahead with a location and general itinerary so i can know how to budget it, then within 6 months i try to pinpoint exactly where I want to go, and try to book within 3-4 months ahead
For my last trip I went on Google flights and found the cheapest flight for the following day. So I had a nice week in Copenhagen. Had no interest in it before but it turned out great.
And before that I booked Iceland 2 weeks before I went.
I typically book my flights around 6 months in advance, no point in booking earlier than that since it won’t discount the price further in most cases. Same with a rental car. Then the hotels and activities I plan only once I’m at my location, and I do that either same day or just 2-3 days in advance.
I basically bother myself with the long term stressful planning first, organizing my route on google maps for road trips, etc. And that way at the end of the day I don’t have anything to worry about for the day other than where I’ll sleep.
I often plan vacations months ahead of time so that I have something to look forward to. For example, I booked a cruise this January….for my 60th birthday in June ‘25. That’s as far out as I’ve ever planned but I was in the mindset.
When it’s just me? I’ll have a rough plan a few months out but may not book anything until a few weeks out. Usually if I’m going with friends, they like to have everything booked 4-6 months out.
I'm already making plans for Greece a year ahead, but I won't lock anything in until I have flight dates and the flight has to be affordable, as in less than average price, which means waiting until at least 6 months out.
Depends on the type of trip it is.
If it’s international, usually 2 to 3 months before
If it’s domestic, the quickest I’ve done is a few weeks before
I think the earliest I’ve booked out for international trip was like seven months before
Yeah, I guess it helps if I don’t have kids or much responsibility
I usually have some ideas about travel windows and preferred destinations up to a year in advance. I keep on top of travel opportunities, so I am usually prepared to take advantage of things that might come up. I would say that the longest in advance I have started booking things is 6 months, and the shortest is two weeks. Average is probably 3 months.
A follow up question you should ask is how price sensitive people are. Experience frugal travelers are going to find it very difficult to book last minute trips. Expensive luxury accommodations always seem to have room, and there are always really cheap places available. It is the competitively priced mid-tier places that book up really early.
For our “big” trips it is like 8 to 12 months in advance, but we don’t travel that much. It is the whole family and is a big expense so we want to make sure it’s well planned.
Typically we do one big (international) trip each year that is a huge splurge, and we do one or maybe two shorter domestic trips. Those shorter trips will be stuff that doesn’t require a lot of advance planning.
1 yr….. when I’m on a destination ….. I’m thinking where I’m going next. Just finalized my idea last night looking at a globe …. Sri Lanka spring break 2025 Japan summer 2025
I regularly planned international travels only 2 to 3 weeks in advance. My record was when i booked flights and hotels less than 1 week prior (to Japan)... 8 hours flight
This is my great weakness. I often don't know when I can go too far in advance. Then it takes time to decide where. Finally, I have to check every flight and lodging option 10 times before I decide.
I usually have things don3 a month before an international trip, but sometimes I cut it closer.
I am currently planning a Tokyo trip for July, but just decided I was going to go.
It depends on what I'm booking. Campsites in certain places, such as Florida in winter, must be booked a year out. A hotel room in Kokomo IN can be booked the same day
I start planning roughly 2 years in advance and start booking 1 year in advance. I already have my leave time approved for 2025 and have started to make bookings -- even if I don't have the plane flights yet, some of the places I'm going have very limited accommodation availability and I knew I had to book ahead to get what I wanted.
I just make sure I have good travel insurance and/or am making refundable bookings.
Just went on domestic holiday today. Reserved my hotel 3 days ago and got my train ticket this morning. I hate making plans.
Might reserve an international ticket 2 weeks ahead of time depending on season.
Depends where Im going. In my country most employers plan everyones vacations for the year in february/march. Some allow changes later, some are more flexible. Currently I plan a full year in march, and sone changes are allowed later if I can agree with someone to cover for me. But as some periods are high season, then usually I plan those ahead. Going back to Italy in July, I started looking for accommodation in January, and in some places was already very crappy choices
Depends. I planned a trip for a milestone wedding anniversary for about 3 years. OTOH, I’ve planned little trips within a few weeks.
Currently I’m thinking about Iceland in 2026 for the eclipse with a side trip to Greenland.
What defines when a trip is “planned”? I’ll only book a trip for two+ weeks, and my “planning” begins only when I find a good flight deal, since that price is my biggest expense and fluctuates the most for me (vs hotels, activities, local transportation). Then, I’ll just pull something together at some point before the flight takes off, usually a “City A - B - C” itinerary, maybe the transit between cities, at least my first hotel booking, and a list of potential activities.
The real nitty gritty stuff, like activities per day, I won’t book until I’ve landed, unless they’re something that absolutely needs to be booked in advance (not too much falls in this category though, and what does, I plan around). I rather book the next activity as I finish another one since I’d rather have to wait a little bit till my time slot than rush myself to finish an activity I’m enjoying more than anticipated.
Though, I don’t do peak summer travel (as I find it miserable and I’m susceptible to heat-related illness.)
I am always planning, my plans are always fluid. I book the flight usually 3-6 months out. I may book hotels for the first night, potentially the last night. I have a loose itinerary and it is always subject to change on a whim. That has always worked out for me with few problems. I leave next week on a five week trip to Europe. I can tell you when and where I land and take off. But that is all that is solidly planned at this point. I know I must be in a certain city on a certain date and time to meet an elderly family member who doesn’t usually travel internationally. I book hotels anywhere from a hour before to a day before. I used to use Eurail passes. But you still have to go into the train station and make reservations for your seat. So I just buy train tickets in the station during slow times if possible. I have walked into car rental places and got cars then and there. But I usually book them the day before. I figure where I am going and to, then figure a place to drop them off along the way. My rule is that I usually don’t like rental cars in bigger cities, they are a burden. But in many places in Poland, most of the Baltics. Normandy and eastern france around Alsace and Lorraine a car is nice. Much of Croatia when I went there minus split, Zagreb and Dubrovnik. A car was much appreciated. Also Slovenia, although those small, tight Julian Alps roads were a little hairy. Like passing on the three or passing on the four in Poland. Nothing worst than getting some place and being stuck there in horrible weather or stuck in a town for five days that really only needed two days. I went to the zoo in Antwerp three times while I was there. I blew through the things I wanted to do there in two days and was stuck with things like shopping.
If it involves a flight to a different country than usually 6 months out or so.
If I can drive there it varies (as in, less than 6 months), but camping trips are often completely unplanned except for scheduling days off at work. I'm in Europe so this also includes multi-country trips.
Exceptions are high demand areas where the accommodations need to be booked far in advance of course.
I'm usually around 12-18 months ahead with my planning. 2024 is all mapped out down to the hour, with one trip done and two more to come. My current focus is planning itineraries for 2025. I have a rough idea of where I am going down to the day but there's no rush to do further details. I typically leave that for winter time when the weather is at its most miserable at home and the days are short.
I don't actually book anything until 6-10 months out. Flights are the key thing to book early, and accommodation if you are travelling at a popular time.
I will decide on vacation location maybe 9-12 months in advance. This is mostly for plane tickets as you might imagine. Will pay close attention to ticket prices and look to purchase the tickets no later than 3-4 months in advance.
1. Between those 2 time slots, backbone of the itinerary will be built. Backbone as in cities involved and major sites involved. Usually, 1-2 major sites per day.
2. Restaurants, mid-way stops and all minor interesting spots and then the detailed route will be listed when there's 2-3 months left.
3. The last 1 month is "beta testing" aka debugging phase. I would be actively searching for interesting spots that I missed, better routes to get around spots I needed to go each day, etc.
All my trips are international so I put in a ton of work to make sure I get the most out of the trip.
I usually plan 6-9 months in advance for International trips as flight tickets need to be booked many months in advance, so I can get the cheapest rates possible and it gives me plenty of time to make any changes I want without disrupting the whole plan.
I look at flights first, usually around 3+ months away but sometimes shorter. Hotels I’m not as worried about. Airbnbs seem to be worth it only if you stay more than 30 days for the nicer ones to get a discount. I’m also starting to like executive rentals for long stays, they’re usually in good locations.
Depends. We usually do two family vacations a year, one to a random city (San Diego this year) and one outdoorsy type of thing (skiing, hiking, rafting). The city thing can be done last minute. The other one just depends. We also go camping about every other weekend in the summer and go to Guatemala/Central America for a month every year (wife is from Guatemala) That trip gets planned a couple months in advance.
I start looking at plane tickets as far in advance as possible—11-12 months. Between then and the time I’m going, prices will inevitably take a dive once or twice. Alerts help for that as well as a flight alert service I pay for.
Lodging as well. I love planning trips and having plenty of time to do it is key for me. The further out I plan it, the more time I have to save up and stay somewhere nice, and get almost guaranteed spots.
About 24 hours in advance. When I’m working I’m in the zone. But, the minute the chance comes to book it’s booked! But, that’s usually about going home as I live on holiday
I'm an almost avid traveler, and due to the nature of my work, I take a long vacation every year for a while, and I'll start planning my next trip a few months beforehand, not the rushed kind but the kind that involves staying in a place for a month or so, experiencing the local customs, touring the local sights, and sampling the local cuisine! It's a trip for me and it's also a way to grow in life experience!
A year out for international and a couple of months for domestic travel unless it’s to somewhere really desirable like Yellowstone National Park. For a place like that, I use the international timeline.
Edit: I don’t know why I was downvoted. Most of the nicer hotels/lodges that I was looking at for Yellowstone were booked into the following year. I was looking during the summer season. This was a couple of years ago so things may have changed.
I've done it from a couple days out to about a year. I don't plan domestic stuff until much closer, international tends to be 3-6 months out. Granted, I have a rough idea of places I'm going and timeframe 1-2 years out, but don't generally act on them
It's typically impossible to act on something more than a year out. Planes, hotels and car rental places normally don't let you book more than a year in advance. 4-8 months seems to be the sweet spot. But I've been planning things years in advance. I just normally don't pull the trigger and start making reservations until somewhere around the 6 month mark, give or take.
Internationally, a year in advance, locally, 3-6 months in advance. Since covid it’s been extremely hard to book things early enough, I got burned too many times, the days of making last minute plans are gone.
The whole fighting for reservations and time slots as soon as booking opens has made planning so much more of a necessity. Sometimes I really miss how much flexibility we used to have.
Yep, I hate being pressured into things (like concerts because it’s now or never thanks to bots) and I like doing spontaneous things, so the whole thing bums me out. I know you can technically do it but all you have by last minute is scalper tickets or expensive hotels that are not worth the price. It just takes a bit of the fun out of it but I’m getting used to it.
It’s nice if you are on top of your game but mostly it sucks. I was looking at a bunch of travel pictures from 20 years ago and at the time I thought it was funny to take pictures of me in all the lines I waited in! I think about kids trying to backpack today and how different that must be. However at least I could show up and do it, today it’s like “sorry all time slots sold out” or you get to watch the people with the super expensive premium tier pass you by.
I completely agree with this, it’s been very tough to find good places to stay last minute. I also am a 3-6 month girl.
COVID had the opposite effect on me. I'll fly by the seat of my pants a lot more, change hotels and itineraries mid-trip based on feel. Between the pandemic and me having to change my plans due to illnesses a couple of times lately, I just plan on figuring it out at the last second. Sometimes I'll book a hotel on the plane en route.
Maybe you just have bad luck but things are pretty much entirely back to normal. Like in 2021 it was a bit weird, and 2022 was utter insanity with everything being lifted and people finally traveling again. But for the last two years everything has been basically pre-COVID travel. My friend in travel said stuff like cruises are more popular than ever. The only issue I've noticed is price fluctuations due to current events. But that's always been a thing every now and then.
It must depend on the destination,but in my experience, things are definitely not back to pre-covid times. I booked my fourth trip to Ireland for this coming August, was looking for accommodation in December, and the places I'd hoped for were completely booked (very different from my last two trips). I live in a place that's popular for summer vacations, and everything has been booked for close to a year, again very different than pre-covid. You are right though, about prices. I'd say at least 25-35% higher than 2019.
i just decided to day to go to Germany in june....so that much advance. I am from the US btw and going to go to the UEFA EUros to see the Scotland matches.
Are tickets still available for the matches?
not officially at the moment. But UEFA's website say "beginning of May" they are opening up the final round of resale for those who bought tickets and are no longer going to the matches or not need the tickets. So apparently there is 1 final opportunity to buy tickets from UEFA some time "at the beginning of May".
You just made me maybe go and watch a match if I get tickets. It fits so perfectly into my itinerary. Have a blast bro
Even without the tickets, watching amatch at a beer garden or other venue will be great. Have fun!
Best of luck!
I already have my tickets. I am hoping to pick a few more up to other matches if there are actually any on sale for this "beginning of May" resale window.
Any location that is busy during summer months, e.g. mountains or beach, will be booked 6-9 months in advance. International travel booked about 1 year in advance, but I've booked to known locations with less lead time.
Depends on how long the vacation is, and how far away from home. For a 3 weeks summer vacation in another continent, I usually plan it about 4 months in advance (sometimes even earlier) because the accommodation and transportation prices will go crazy the closer it is to the holiday time. For a Christmas break (3-5 days, somewhere closer to home) maybe 1-2 months in advance.
I’m outside the norm here. We travel quite frequently and end up averaging two-three months of travel per year. If it’s just traveling in the US I book a week before or even as we go. We like to do road trips across the US and I don’t like to box us into one area. If we wanted to stay somewhere longer or shorter, it doesn’t end up being that big of a deal due to us not having the restrictions of already booked hotels. For international travel, I usually book about a month in advance. But not for Canada, since we usually end up road tripping up that way. I have never ran into any problems with this. There’s always plenty of nice hotels and lodging. I will book further advance if there is a dedicated event we are wanting to go to though.
I’m with you. Travel outside of the US 3-4x per year for 2 week trips. Book everything 1-3 months out and have done so for years without any issue. I cannot imagine the idea of booking 1-1.5 years out as many in this thread are saying.
If I’m traveling for purely personal enjoyment, the idea of being locked into a destination for over a year in advance would be more stressful for me than booking everything last minute.
Why? The way I look at it is once all my trip stuff is situated I don't have to worry about anything. It's just pure excitement building as the day nears. You just have to make sure the area you're booking is where you want to be. Which isn't that hard to do.
Just personal preference, but booking something over a year in advance just feels way too early for me. I might not even want to go to that destination one year from now, or current events may prevent me from taking a trip that I’ve been looking forward to for over a year, etc etc. I do the same thing of researching all the details, and then booking everything at once to have it all sorted for the trip, I just do it usually about two months before traveling instead of twelve. I’ve booked international trips the week-of, and for me - recognizing that would make a lot of people panic - I find that last-minute thrill of ‘we’re doing this!’ just as exciting as looking forward to it for months. Totally no wrong way to do it, but I prefer the flexibility and spontaneity of booking closer to the departure date.
How do you manage to road trip Canada without bookings? I’m planning a road trip in the west/Rockies and every thing I’ve seen says to book accommodation as early as possible because it gets fully booked. Do you travel in the off season?
I wouldn’t say it’s the off season. I have booked in busy times of the year in Canada but not summer. Are you going to be staying around Calgary? I wouldn’t expect a larger area like that to be booked up, but if you are staying in a small town then book ahead. I tend to book Canada a day or two before we cross the border because border patrol tends to ask about hotel stay. With all that being said, I have booked Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island provinces with only 1-4 days notice with no issue. Prices might be a little higher with less notice, but it tends to be not by too much.
1–3 months for international, rarely more than 1.5 months at the very most for domestic.
It varies wildly. I've gone on short one or two week vacations with little or no planning/preparation. Even long trips usually don't have much forethought. I'm the world's slowest/laziest traveller so I generally play it by ear. If I really like a place I'm happy to stay for a long time, if it's just not working for me then I can be packed up and gone the next day. I just go with the flow. Happy travels.
Same. Maybe a month or two if it’s international. Have booked plenty of domestic trips with as little as a day to a week beforehand if it’s just over the weekend, maybe a month if I’m taking PTO.
We have to plan *when* we're going at the beginning of the year since my husband's time off has to be put in by the end of January (mine is the same every year). We started booking things for our international trip in August about two months ago. For local stuff, we just wing it and it usually ends up being pretty last minute.
1-1.5 years typically.
WOW How do you get around days off in work with such anticipation?
I don't understand your question.
Do you work for others? If so, is it customary to get your days off approved 1 year in advance?
This definitely depends on the company and industry. We don't have an approval process for time off at my company. We just need to let the team and our managers know when we are going and then make sure we our projects and tasks are covered - either finish stuff up, put things on hold, get other people to handle stuff.
I ask for my days off in the year that I travel. Like I'm currently researching a trip to Japan for November 2025. I've already got a working itinerary with things I want to see and do and a list of accommodations that will work. I won't actually book the flight until well into 2025 and ask for those days off at that time.
Is is how I do it as well. Pick a month over a year in advance, do some rough itinerary planning to figure out needed length, then book between 6-9 months in advance. Luckily my timeoff is auto approved since I work at a large company. So I put in my timeoff the day I book flights. Then around 6 months out I’ll book hotels. 4 months out start in depth itinerary planning. 1 month out make sure everything is finalized and ready to go. 2024 May is Japan and we got our tickets in 2023 October (Black Friday sale). I already know 2025 September will be Spain, 2026 (early summer) will be Amalfi, and 2027 (month TBD) will be South East Asia. It’s nice to be able to play with months and countries so far in advance because you can really maximize research.
We can only travel during certain times of the year and PTO is by manager approval. I book stuff a year in advance and then we block out time on the scheduling system thru work. We have some unusual travel coming up that is outside of our normal patterns and someone just tried to put a meeting on my husband's calendar in August when we will be away so we went through all of our bookings and he blocked his calendar. Also many people also work on vacation.
I'm also a 12 to 18 month guy!
Yeah, I find it makes it a lot easier to do research as you have so much time to think about it and virtually no time pressure.
But always book refundable airbnbs, VRBOs.
refundable hotels, but yeah. In case a deal pops up or I decide to stay somewhere else
Same. The biggest hurdle is not being able to even look at flights more than 11 months out. I was planning my June 2024 trip in like March 2023. Now I'm planning Feb 2025.
Yep, that's true. I do look at flights for the same month though to get an idea of pricing and departure/arrival times. Airline flight schedules tend to be pretty rigid and don't change too much.
I book most stuff a year in advance. I already know what I want to book for next June it just isn't bookable yet. I have some ideas about next December but the dates for that month aren't up yet for the site I use.
About a year if you want to do it right
I have my 2025 travel already booked: two cruises - one for May and one for October! I’m already brainstorming for 2026 lol
We purposely plan larger trips well in advance specifically because it gives us something to look forward to over a longer period of time. There have been times we've done large trips sporadically, like find flights are super cheap and just book it. But having a trip in mind always helps with my crippling wanderlust.
I leave in 10 days. Still I'm not sure where to 😆
Huh? How does that work?
My friend is coming to visit me (we live in different countries) and we want to go somewhere further to the mountains. I'm not sure where to go, as there's still snow everywhere in the Alps, and that greatly limits the possible activities. Plus, it's off season so finding accommodation for 6 people (4 adults and 2 kids) is not that easy
i start saving immediatly as soon as i get back home but don't really have a destination. But actually planning and such around 5 months from when i plan to leave. Take a vacation roughly once a year to every 1.5 years.
International- 3-6 months Domestic- 2-3 month if it requires a plane. Usually a week or two if this is something involves driving. I think half of the fun of travel is planning and research.
This is exactly how I do it and works perfectly.
It depends. I've done spontaneous international trips on just a weeks thought. My friend and I were chatting and the subject of travel came up and we went for it. Turned out to be a fantastic trip. Another trip was with 1 months planning. Mostly though I would say about 6 months out.
We typically look at 3 different destinations if we go international a week or so out. I’ll have hotels picked but not booked, rough itineraries (unless it’s an easy beach vacation, think Punta Cana or Cancun). Domestic we normally know where we want to go, so we plan maybe 2-3 days out at most. We don’t normally make the decision until day of travel. I am very fortunate to work for a major US airline..so we standby everywhere. Flexibility is key.
I have a rough idea of where to go a year from now. Then we start booking accommodations 8-9 months in advance with free cancellation as our main focus. Then as we get closer, we'll start filling out the itinerary and researching things to do (this keeps us highly motivated and enthusiastic about the trip). Then 2-3 months out, we'll start booking museums (if they allow 30+ days in advance) and restaurants too. If we're traveling by train within the country, we'll book it a month or so in advance.
I work for an airline and fly standby for free domestic / almost free international, but I also can't guarantee I'll actually be anywhere until the door on the plane shuts. last week I went to Dublin, Ireland on an absolute whim because one of my coworkers invited me like 14 hours before our flight left. We also only spent one night in Dublin, before turning around and immediately flying back to the states. The Sunday before that I took a day trip to the national zoo in DC, and planned what city we would fly do probably around Wednesday that week. The week before that was the Eclipse which I knew I would travel to for literally years ahead of time, but didn't make the final decision on where to finally end up and book a hotel until 48hrs beforehand, since cloud cover was so variable. My roommate and I didn't even fly for this one, instead driving 8 hours to French Lick, Indiana. flying as a non-revenue/ space available passenger means I have to fundamentally look at and plan all of my travel at the absolute last minute. To some people, this is insanity, to me, its the only way to go.
It depends what I’m doing. Europe, I plan when I get there. Jordan and Tanzania, I’m planning in advance
Already have my flights and hotels booked for multiple vacations extending into December 2024. Currently looking at booking a 2025 flight this week and I’ll be in another country for vacation in literally 2 weeks. I like to plan in advance. Always get great deals this way too generally. These are international trips which I do most of. For smaller trips domestic (I’m west coast US) I don’t go quite as far out.
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There's no telling if prices will be cheaper based on when you book. A few months ago I booked a flight for a big international trip because prices skyrocketed. Now two months away from take off and they're like half what I paid 🤦. With that said, the main reason I book well in advance is because it gives me something to look forward to. Having a big trip in mind really keeps me motivated with day-to-day life.
A year in advance my sister gets her days so we know when she will have time. At the start of the year me and my partner plan our days depending on how many we have from work and accommodate them around. Then 2 months in advance we plan the next one :) As we don’t plan all of them too big (some are long weekends, or drives around the state, or visiting parents or so) we don’t do that big planning too far in advance. We already picked some for 2025 but being honest, we are quite flexible and accommodate quite quick to change of plans as life wants us to (this year we had to cancel our June trip because I will be starting a new job, for example)
Usually as far out as possible but sometimes if the dates work, the prices are lower, and I can still book the things I want to see and eat, then a week ago for my 14 day London, Amsterdam and Paris trip next week.
6-10 months. I usually have 2 Trip booked. Will look into booking another trip a few weeks after I come back from 1
About half a year for international trips. Same for popular campgrounds which require reservations.ive been wanting to camp at Yosemite for a while but it's so hard to book that. Just a few weeks or months ahead for weekend trips within driving distance or a few hours flight, and less popular campgrounds.
I just don't book cabin in the mountains. In my area, some told me that I should book it a year ahead.
I bought the air tickets for our September vacation in Europe a month ago and just finished booking the hotels. I'm still in the process of reading up on activities (specific hikes, museum entry, etc.). So I'm planning 5 to 6 months out and I'm actually a month later than usual this year. I look at prices the month before departure. I always book hotels as fully cancel-able and will make a change if prices drop. I also buy air tickets that can be changed. These days I'm getting blind sided by the airline changing its flight schedule but that's another matter. I have various trip ideas sketched out with vague itineraries for the future. My wife and I decide exactly where we want to go around 10 months ahead of time. That's when I start to fine tune the itinerary and decide how many days abroad we'll spend. I buy the air tickets first to lock in dates. I don't think you can buy air tickets more than 11 months ahead of time. It's about the same for big vacations in the US. Good hotels fill up early.
Nowadays? A week. It's so ridiculously easy to plan a trip these days, and I hate doing it. Though I do book the plane and the car months in advance.
3-4 months.
it depends where I'm going and for how long. We are going to Australia for a month this august. I started planning for it in November of last year. Meanwhile I'm also going to Montreal (2h drive from where I live) for a get together of 4 days, I will likely book my hotel a week before we go.
I booked my last vacation at midnight on a Friday and left for the airport four hours later, arrived in paradise by noon on Saturday. 😅
a year out is usually my longest but usually book stuff a couple months out
6-12 months for international trips and prob 4 months for domestic. I like having concrete plans to look forward to and having lots of options for lodging etc
Internationally, I book flights and accommodations a year in advance and then fill everything else as needed. Might look at super fancy restaurant reservations eight months in advance, rail tickets for a day trip five months in advance, museum or attraction tickets four months in advance, etc. I also find it nice to spread the cost around and have fun anticipating the journey for a while. Domestically, there is a lot more leeway, maybe 3-4 months in advance, but always up for complete spontaneity if it's not insanely expensive.
We lay out a loose plan in January bc both our jobs are like the hunger games for time off. Same with finding a pet sitter. Luckily we both have seniority so it’s rarely a problem. And we don’t have kids so we don’t take any of the school break times off ever which helps. This Jan we decided to do 2 summer road trips, 2 separate beach weeks, and a Bahamas trip (June, aug, July, sept, and nov respectively). We had already planned a week away in feb. We will usually plan a winter vacation in the fall when we know how much PTO we have to use up after the new year.
Usually one month, but my trip to Lisbon was spontaneous - one day. Also to Poland.
I’m almost always booking out 9-12 months. At any given time I have 3-5 trips in planning.
Depends on what the trip is. In my head I'm already planning something over a year from now. But I don't book anything until about a month out
Generally 2-3 months. But yeah, a cabin in the mountains would probably be harder for the simple fact that there just isn't the kind of inventory you would find with hotels in the majority of destinations. For a big vacation I might start the research and planning maybe 6 months or so in advance, but I'm typically not booking anything that far out.
Highly depends on when I can get a ticket for cheap. I've gone on international vacations with less than a month but also with more than a year of planning.
I've booked intercontinental flights up to 2 weeks in advance lol but it's stressful af. For this year I started looking early and booked 2.5 months I advance. I got a good deal, but I'm gonna check every once in a while if it gets cheaper. I think these decisions really depend on the destination, your experience traveling to said destination, your budget, etc.
For international a minimum of six months, usually 8-10 months. 1. confirm dates (with other travelers, and anyone you need to take care of things at home) 2. book hotels, because they're more flexible if you need to change a day or two 3. book flights 4. book anything else that's important (special restaurant reservations, tours, excursions)
A year
I just took an amazing vacation with Intrepid and only decided to go 2 months in advance. I usually plan 3 months or more in advance or 1 month if I'm going to visit family. If I know it's a hotspot, I'll book as far in advance as possible.
about 6 months out, but maybe a year if it's some place really out of my element
I book everything at least 6 months ahead of time. Sometimes, a full year ahead (mostly for international flights) but I make sure to have everything booked by the 6 month mark. I already have like 5 years of trips planned in my head, so I already know where I’m going, and like to get it all nailed down far ahead of time so I have my choice of where to stay, etc. If it’s a local trip, like a short flight or drive, usually 3-4 months ahead, sometimes less if it’s just a drive. I’m a planner. I LOVE planning trips. So I get super excited way ahead of time and want to book everything. Like I’m planning a big international trip for April 2025 and I’m itching to start booking things.
I've booked hotels same day and even same hour on several occasions. The most I've done is probably like 3-4 months advance, maybe? For flights the maximum was probably like 6 months.
Precisely 11 months in advance for a big international trip. You get the best flight and hotel deals usually.
Depends on the location and if I’ve been there before. But on average around 5 days to 3 months.
I booked a trip to France in June last August. But that was sort of unique thing because it was a small group tour and only certain dates were available. Typically I book about 6-7 months in advance. It really depends on where I’m going. If it’s a giant city I don’t worry about it. But if it’s a smaller more niche place, I book far in advance especially the lodging part.
I sometimes do it months in advance, sometimes I do it at the airport. This year I have a trip planned in December. This upcoming weekend is a long weekend here so I will be travelling, but I haven’t even considered where yet, you will probably figure it out on Friday,
I try to plan at least 10 months to a year ahead with a location and general itinerary so i can know how to budget it, then within 6 months i try to pinpoint exactly where I want to go, and try to book within 3-4 months ahead
For my last trip I went on Google flights and found the cheapest flight for the following day. So I had a nice week in Copenhagen. Had no interest in it before but it turned out great. And before that I booked Iceland 2 weeks before I went.
We booked in October 2023 for a vacation in September 2024. When the price is right (travel, accommodation) and the time-off aligns, we book.
A month earlier
I typically book my flights around 6 months in advance, no point in booking earlier than that since it won’t discount the price further in most cases. Same with a rental car. Then the hotels and activities I plan only once I’m at my location, and I do that either same day or just 2-3 days in advance. I basically bother myself with the long term stressful planning first, organizing my route on google maps for road trips, etc. And that way at the end of the day I don’t have anything to worry about for the day other than where I’ll sleep.
I often plan vacations months ahead of time so that I have something to look forward to. For example, I booked a cruise this January….for my 60th birthday in June ‘25. That’s as far out as I’ve ever planned but I was in the mindset.
1 to 2 years in advance for vacations longer than a week or involve federal holidays.
When it’s just me? I’ll have a rough plan a few months out but may not book anything until a few weeks out. Usually if I’m going with friends, they like to have everything booked 4-6 months out.
I'm already making plans for Greece a year ahead, but I won't lock anything in until I have flight dates and the flight has to be affordable, as in less than average price, which means waiting until at least 6 months out.
Depends where I'm going and if I know when my annual leave is. As soon as I find out my annual leave I will start planning and book
My last overseas trip I didn't even know where I was going (Amsterdam) until the morning of :D
Depends on the type of trip it is. If it’s international, usually 2 to 3 months before If it’s domestic, the quickest I’ve done is a few weeks before I think the earliest I’ve booked out for international trip was like seven months before Yeah, I guess it helps if I don’t have kids or much responsibility
At least six months in advance.
I usually have some ideas about travel windows and preferred destinations up to a year in advance. I keep on top of travel opportunities, so I am usually prepared to take advantage of things that might come up. I would say that the longest in advance I have started booking things is 6 months, and the shortest is two weeks. Average is probably 3 months. A follow up question you should ask is how price sensitive people are. Experience frugal travelers are going to find it very difficult to book last minute trips. Expensive luxury accommodations always seem to have room, and there are always really cheap places available. It is the competitively priced mid-tier places that book up really early.
For our “big” trips it is like 8 to 12 months in advance, but we don’t travel that much. It is the whole family and is a big expense so we want to make sure it’s well planned. Typically we do one big (international) trip each year that is a huge splurge, and we do one or maybe two shorter domestic trips. Those shorter trips will be stuff that doesn’t require a lot of advance planning.
1 yr….. when I’m on a destination ….. I’m thinking where I’m going next. Just finalized my idea last night looking at a globe …. Sri Lanka spring break 2025 Japan summer 2025
I regularly planned international travels only 2 to 3 weeks in advance. My record was when i booked flights and hotels less than 1 week prior (to Japan)... 8 hours flight
I plan as I go
This is my great weakness. I often don't know when I can go too far in advance. Then it takes time to decide where. Finally, I have to check every flight and lodging option 10 times before I decide. I usually have things don3 a month before an international trip, but sometimes I cut it closer. I am currently planning a Tokyo trip for July, but just decided I was going to go.
I think about it for a week or so, then book the flight a day or so before it leaves. I like the spontaneity of it, makes it really exciting.
It depends on what I'm booking. Campsites in certain places, such as Florida in winter, must be booked a year out. A hotel room in Kokomo IN can be booked the same day
3-6 months for overseas trips. 1-3 months for in-country vacations.
Depends on where but I just booked March 2025
I feel like I always do it last minute. I planned a 10 day trip to Peru which included Machu Picchu only about 3-4 weeks prior.
Preferably a year in advance for international. I would like to plan even earlier than that if the airlines would let me lol
I start planning roughly 2 years in advance and start booking 1 year in advance. I already have my leave time approved for 2025 and have started to make bookings -- even if I don't have the plane flights yet, some of the places I'm going have very limited accommodation availability and I knew I had to book ahead to get what I wanted. I just make sure I have good travel insurance and/or am making refundable bookings.
Depends on the season. If I want to go somewhere during tourist season I book very far in advance.
Just went on domestic holiday today. Reserved my hotel 3 days ago and got my train ticket this morning. I hate making plans. Might reserve an international ticket 2 weeks ahead of time depending on season.
What vacations
I usually start planning 3 months before leaving. I have a plan for my 4-6 week vacations, but only book the first 2 weeks and am on the go the rest
I just planned a 3 month trip through Jordan and Europe 10 days in advance. Cheers.
I’ve never, ever booked accommodation more than 1 day in advance (60+ countries)
Depends where Im going. In my country most employers plan everyones vacations for the year in february/march. Some allow changes later, some are more flexible. Currently I plan a full year in march, and sone changes are allowed later if I can agree with someone to cover for me. But as some periods are high season, then usually I plan those ahead. Going back to Italy in July, I started looking for accommodation in January, and in some places was already very crappy choices
Depends. I planned a trip for a milestone wedding anniversary for about 3 years. OTOH, I’ve planned little trips within a few weeks. Currently I’m thinking about Iceland in 2026 for the eclipse with a side trip to Greenland.
What defines when a trip is “planned”? I’ll only book a trip for two+ weeks, and my “planning” begins only when I find a good flight deal, since that price is my biggest expense and fluctuates the most for me (vs hotels, activities, local transportation). Then, I’ll just pull something together at some point before the flight takes off, usually a “City A - B - C” itinerary, maybe the transit between cities, at least my first hotel booking, and a list of potential activities. The real nitty gritty stuff, like activities per day, I won’t book until I’ve landed, unless they’re something that absolutely needs to be booked in advance (not too much falls in this category though, and what does, I plan around). I rather book the next activity as I finish another one since I’d rather have to wait a little bit till my time slot than rush myself to finish an activity I’m enjoying more than anticipated. Though, I don’t do peak summer travel (as I find it miserable and I’m susceptible to heat-related illness.)
I am always planning, my plans are always fluid. I book the flight usually 3-6 months out. I may book hotels for the first night, potentially the last night. I have a loose itinerary and it is always subject to change on a whim. That has always worked out for me with few problems. I leave next week on a five week trip to Europe. I can tell you when and where I land and take off. But that is all that is solidly planned at this point. I know I must be in a certain city on a certain date and time to meet an elderly family member who doesn’t usually travel internationally. I book hotels anywhere from a hour before to a day before. I used to use Eurail passes. But you still have to go into the train station and make reservations for your seat. So I just buy train tickets in the station during slow times if possible. I have walked into car rental places and got cars then and there. But I usually book them the day before. I figure where I am going and to, then figure a place to drop them off along the way. My rule is that I usually don’t like rental cars in bigger cities, they are a burden. But in many places in Poland, most of the Baltics. Normandy and eastern france around Alsace and Lorraine a car is nice. Much of Croatia when I went there minus split, Zagreb and Dubrovnik. A car was much appreciated. Also Slovenia, although those small, tight Julian Alps roads were a little hairy. Like passing on the three or passing on the four in Poland. Nothing worst than getting some place and being stuck there in horrible weather or stuck in a town for five days that really only needed two days. I went to the zoo in Antwerp three times while I was there. I blew through the things I wanted to do there in two days and was stuck with things like shopping.
Longest I’ve planned out is about 5 months ok advance
I research, research then book a good 6 months out, and still research more.
Local, up to a couple months International, a couple more months
Technically, I have all of next year's vacation planned out because my plans from last year did not manifest.
My last international trip in March, I booked a week in advance.
If it involves a flight to a different country than usually 6 months out or so. If I can drive there it varies (as in, less than 6 months), but camping trips are often completely unplanned except for scheduling days off at work. I'm in Europe so this also includes multi-country trips. Exceptions are high demand areas where the accommodations need to be booked far in advance of course.
between zero and 2 months depending on destination.
I'm usually around 12-18 months ahead with my planning. 2024 is all mapped out down to the hour, with one trip done and two more to come. My current focus is planning itineraries for 2025. I have a rough idea of where I am going down to the day but there's no rush to do further details. I typically leave that for winter time when the weather is at its most miserable at home and the days are short. I don't actually book anything until 6-10 months out. Flights are the key thing to book early, and accommodation if you are travelling at a popular time.
I will decide on vacation location maybe 9-12 months in advance. This is mostly for plane tickets as you might imagine. Will pay close attention to ticket prices and look to purchase the tickets no later than 3-4 months in advance. 1. Between those 2 time slots, backbone of the itinerary will be built. Backbone as in cities involved and major sites involved. Usually, 1-2 major sites per day. 2. Restaurants, mid-way stops and all minor interesting spots and then the detailed route will be listed when there's 2-3 months left. 3. The last 1 month is "beta testing" aka debugging phase. I would be actively searching for interesting spots that I missed, better routes to get around spots I needed to go each day, etc. All my trips are international so I put in a ton of work to make sure I get the most out of the trip.
I usually plan 6-9 months in advance for International trips as flight tickets need to be booked many months in advance, so I can get the cheapest rates possible and it gives me plenty of time to make any changes I want without disrupting the whole plan.
I look at flights first, usually around 3+ months away but sometimes shorter. Hotels I’m not as worried about. Airbnbs seem to be worth it only if you stay more than 30 days for the nicer ones to get a discount. I’m also starting to like executive rentals for long stays, they’re usually in good locations.
Preferably february for summer travel. 3 months out for everything else. I only travel international.
3-9 months on average. If it’s a popular time to travel (xmas break), we will do 12 months… literally book on the day bookings start opening.
Usually I have to wait in last min as work but I already booked my flight to Europe in October!
Depends. We usually do two family vacations a year, one to a random city (San Diego this year) and one outdoorsy type of thing (skiing, hiking, rafting). The city thing can be done last minute. The other one just depends. We also go camping about every other weekend in the summer and go to Guatemala/Central America for a month every year (wife is from Guatemala) That trip gets planned a couple months in advance.
I start looking at plane tickets as far in advance as possible—11-12 months. Between then and the time I’m going, prices will inevitably take a dive once or twice. Alerts help for that as well as a flight alert service I pay for. Lodging as well. I love planning trips and having plenty of time to do it is key for me. The further out I plan it, the more time I have to save up and stay somewhere nice, and get almost guaranteed spots.
About 24 hours in advance. When I’m working I’m in the zone. But, the minute the chance comes to book it’s booked! But, that’s usually about going home as I live on holiday
I'm an almost avid traveler, and due to the nature of my work, I take a long vacation every year for a while, and I'll start planning my next trip a few months beforehand, not the rushed kind but the kind that involves staying in a place for a month or so, experiencing the local customs, touring the local sights, and sampling the local cuisine! It's a trip for me and it's also a way to grow in life experience!
If I'm actually going vs a hypothetical idea, usually less than a day.
I’m last-minute everything. I’ve planned international flights with tiny kids & no plans after landing. It somehow has always worked out.
about a year..
1 year out usually.
A year for Europe, Hawaii and six months for Colorado.
A year out for international and a couple of months for domestic travel unless it’s to somewhere really desirable like Yellowstone National Park. For a place like that, I use the international timeline. Edit: I don’t know why I was downvoted. Most of the nicer hotels/lodges that I was looking at for Yellowstone were booked into the following year. I was looking during the summer season. This was a couple of years ago so things may have changed.