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