3rd in the "Are you ready to check-off “Visit my Clan Homelands” on your bucket list?" series

√ Airline tickets taken care!

Now, where are you staying or how will you travel to the places you are visiting?

Let’s start with accommodations first! There are so many websites on the internet to book with as well as to compare prices, so how do you decide which to use without your head spinning around? So just like your airline tickets, you can use of the same sites for hotels or even rental cars. (Hopper.com, Airfarewatchdog.com, Kayak.com, Experida.com) to do comparisons. For the past few years, I have continued to get great prices with AirBnb.com and Booking.com. If you have a group of 4 or more and need 2 rooms, then sometimes looking for a full apartment is better. You also want to take into consideration some of the following items: En suite (private bathroom), lifts (elevators if you can’t handle stairs), wifi, if you hire (rent) a car, parking or are you near rail stations or bus routes if you are not in walking distance to tourist sites and eating places.

Next, getting around. If you are hiring (renting) a car, remember that unless you specifically request an automatic, you will get a manual (stick)! Take into account that you will be driving from the opposite side of the car, opposite side of the road and there are roundabouts everywhere. Use the same sites for rental cars above and remember that sometimes you get discounts booking accommodations and car if using a site like Expedia, etc. Check out VisitScotland (https://www.visitscotland.com/travel/) as this has the top rentals. I used Hertz and reserved thru AAA since I am a Plus member to get a discount. AARP gives discounts as well so use your age to your advantage if needed!

NOTE: When hiring a car-DO NOT pay for the collision as part of the rental as you can have this with Travel Insurance and your credit card has coverage as well. I will blog more about this and requirements for driving (licenses and learning the ropes to drive) in the UK and Ireland in the near future!

Finally for this blog, the next important step after airline tickets and accommodations is Travel Insurance. Accidents happen everywhere and you should always be covered. I never leave home without travel insurance and neither should you. I was introduced to TravelGuard (AIG) years ago thru British Airways and have used them since. I actually cancelled a trip to Canada in 2014 and got all my money back except for the travel insurance fee! You can get a quote and pick the package deal you prefer, I use the Silver Package. You can check out other travel insurance companies as well such as World Nomads. They both give free quotes without any obligation. VERY IMPORTANT – always purchase with a week or two after booking your flight and accommodations, even rental car so you can include in the total price for your quote.

Until next time!

~Gwen
gwenmcn.cmaa@gmail.com

2nd in the "Are you ready to check-off “Visit my Clan Homelands” on your bucket list?" series

Now you that you answered the “when” and “where” for your trip, it’s time to look at your Travel Budget. Let’s start with Airfare for this blog.

Finding the best deals on flights can be wee bit tricky but over the years, I have found that signing up for “price alerts” such as Hopper.com, Airfarewatchdog.com or Scott’s Cheap Flights has helped in keeping the prices down. I don’t always use their site to buy my tickets but I know I can check the airline directly and usually get the same price. You also want to compare prices so use search engines as well like Kayak.com, Google Flights or Skyscanner.com.

So how far in advance should one buy their tickets. The average for Europe flights which include the UK and Ireland is approximately 120 days. I have bought tickets in October for the following year’s April trip and bought in May for October trip both with great prices. All because of the price alerts I received. They say practice makes perfect which is not necessarily always true but by spending some time looking at flights, you’ll know what the average prices are during the year. This helps you spot those good deals.

If you have the opportunity to use any unused sky miles or avios points, use them! If not, sometimes signing up for a specific credit card will get you miles quickly to use for your flight as well. There are tons of credit cards that give you miles for purchases but my favorite that I have used for the past 8 years is Capital One Venture card. It has the best all-around deals I have found for travel and points.
Time to start researching prices! My next blog will cover the accommodations, travel insurance and actual transportation methods once in the UK for your Travel Budget items.

More from me in 2 weeks!

~Gwen
gwenmcn.cmaa@gmail.com

1st in the "Are you ready to check-off “Visit my Clan Homelands” on your bucket list?" series

Hi! I’m Gwen McNeill – I have traveled to the Scotland/UK and Ireland since I became a member of CMAA and experienced my first Clan Gathering on Barra in 2006. I now go every year to year and a half for my holidays to our homelands and still haven’t been everywhere! Join me as I share useful travel tips so you can start planning your travel adventure! You can also contact me directly at any time for assistance at gwenmcn.cmaa@gmail.com Let’s get started with the 3 basics questions first.

Where you wish to go in the UK or Ireland? This sets a goal to work towards. Will you be visiting multiple cities and/or Isles such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Isle of Barra? Map it out, literally pull out a map or use Google Maps and see where you wish to visit. This will allow you to pace yourself to determine how to answer the next question below.

What is the length of your holiday? Remember to take into account that the main travel time across the “Big Pond” will be included your days. If you have decided on multiple cities and/or islands, how long will you want to stay in each location? Transportation (trains and buses or driving yourself) between each location will also have a bearing on the length of you stay. Each venue of transportation can have a different travel time. Or do you wish to combine your personal time with a tour group during your visit?

When do you want to go? Think about the time of year you plan to travel. What will the weather be like? (UK overall is known for having 4 seasons in one day, even during the summer pending where you are) When is low versus high tourist season? High tourist season usually has higher costs for flights and accommodations.

Stay tune as next blog will cover the Travel Budget portion of your trip. In the future, I will also cover areas such as Customs/Passports, Luggage/Clothing, Currency/Credit cards, and many more topics.