Planning to travel this summer? Our Media and Communications Manager Allison Wallace shares her tips to keep summer travel stress to a minimum: 

With the arrival of summer, many people are starting to look at ways to maximize their holiday time during the best time of the year.

And while Christmas and Spring Break are busier times of the year for travel, the most prolonged busy period unfolds during the summer months of June, July and August.  It’s at this time that Canadians in particular head to Europe or spend their time discovering all that our home and native land has to offer. Whether you’re prepping for a long-haul flight, or packing up the car for a road-trip, here are some tips to keep stress levels down:

PLAN AHEAD

The first rule of thumb to keeping any summer travel stress to a minimum is to plan ahead. This is especially true this year if you’re planning to go to Europe. With London hosting the summer Olympic Games during the last week of July and first week of August, there will be much greater demand to this destination and surrounding areas.  If you want to avoid London all together, consider flying to a different hub such as Frankfurt or Amsterdam as another direct alternative.

AVOID PEAK TRAVEL DAYS

Many people like to take advantage of the summer long weekends to save holidays. As a result, this translates into higher demand and therefore higher prices and less availability. It may be worth the money and less hassle to avoid those weekends completely.

ONLINE CHECK-IN

Most airlines provide online check-in 24 hours in advance of your flight departure so be sure to take advantage of that option if it’s available. It means having your boarding bass, selected seat and going straight to baggage drop-off, avoiding the check-in line altogether.

PACK WISELY

It’s important to know your baggage limits and pack wisely. Many airlines are now charging for 2^nd bags and airlines are always more diligent with weight and size of both checked and carry-on items when flights are full.

GIVE YOURSELF TIME

If you’re flying, consider booking an early morning flight because as the day progresses, there is a greater possibility of delays. If you’re on a connecting flight, make sure you give yourself more time than you think you’ll need especially if you need to change terminals or go through customs. Finally, make sure you don’t have something crucial planned for the first day of your trip. For example, if you’re going on a cruise and it departs on a Sunday, don’t leave Saturday night.

Looking to book a summer getaway? Contact one of our travel consultants at 1-877-967-5302 or find your closest store. Check out our Vacation Deals or talk to one of our consultants about building a custom package that best fits your needs. 

Tags: checking in, London Olympics, online check-in, packing tips, peak travel times, plan ahead, summer travel, summer travel tips, travel planning, travel tips
Categories: Tips and Tricks

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2012 at 11:18 am and is filed under Tips and Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.