Planning your trip online: The savvy traveller's do's and don'ts

There was this famous television series On the Road With Charles Kuralt in which American journalist Charles Kuralt said, “Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.” That was in the late 1960s in the USA. Now in the early 2000s, thanks to the World Wide Web, it is possible to travel across the country, indeed the world, without moving from your seat in front of the computer. But luckily, you can get a better “view” of where you are going than Kuralt did because the web is just packed with information. I recently came across some research (The Well Connected Traveller conducted by TravelPort, a giant in the travel business) that suggests that the average traveller now makes 12 searches and visits 22 websites before actually booking anything. [caption id=“attachment_121574” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A recent research suggests that the average traveller makes 12 searches and visits 22 websites before actually booking anything. Robert S. Donovan via Flickr”]  [/caption] Think of that. Either the average traveller has a lot of time on his hands or he is becoming a lot choosier than he ever was. And the Internet is making it easier for him to be that way. It works for me too (notice what it says at the bottom about travelling or making plans for travel all the time?). It so happens that I am part of the 31 percent of people who use travel websites like TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet while researching their travel ideas online. The one time I used a “boutique travel agency” was a disaster and sent me rushing back to my laptop for life. All this is by way of bringing us to the main theme: how to cannily use such travel websites. TripAdvisor is a personal favourite, the way it has helped me pick hotels and restaurants, and even things to do in places across the world. It has over 10 million reviews by actual users (or so one hopes) and offers options at various price points. It is the closest it comes to word of mouth recommendations on the Internet. After all, you cannot always (in fact, ever) trust descriptions of places on their own websites What about those times — it has happened to all of us — when there are conflicting reviews? Or when your experiences did not match the expectations set by them? These are some lessons I learned while negotiating my way through such review sites, the most important of them being that they average out. Ignore the high praise and the really nasty comments, unless they appear consistently. And I usually stick to the top few recommendations, once I have set my price point. Figure out which parameters are important to you in a hotel or place you are checking out. If there is criticism, see if the issue is one that is important to you (e.g. kid friendliness, cleanliness of the rooms) or trivial — I once read someone’s complaint that the receptionist did not smile at him. Really. If there is a particularly strong or nasty comment, look out for the other reviews by the same person (click on the reviewer’s name) — remember that it is impossible to please everyone and there are some people who are impossible to please any time. See if this issue appears again and again in the other reviews or is it a one-off occurrence? Check the ethnicity of the reviewer – it works for me – Indians, for instance, tend to make a lot of noise about “service” (read, no smile) and can put up with lower room standards but crib loudly when there is no television in the room. And watch out for the false reviews: these ones tend to rave about the place with general superlatives like ‘awesome’ or ‘amazing’ (speaking of which, promise me please, you will never ever use these words in conversation again?). Does the review describe any of the “awesomeness” specifically? Again, check on the reviewer’s past activity – a sudden and isolated positive review is a red flag. If you are not entirely satisfied, compare the review with something else – other review websites, the property’s own website (if it exists), offline word of mouth feedback and so on. For destinations within India, head to holidayiq, which promises “intelligent holiday planning”, a mix of hotels, package deals and recommendations. Though not as prolific as Tripadvisor, this site usually works well, especially for smaller properties like homestays. Another great resource is the India Mike forum, with its varied perspectives from both outsiders (foreign tourists) and locals (domestic tourists). Visiting offbeat Indian destinations, personal experiences with all types of hotels, backpacking agonies, coping with the Delhi belly, travelling on Indian Railways: everything is discussed here. And if your interest is in heritage spots and monuments, try Go Places. There may be some teething troubles but they are very new and still finding their way around. They have very reasonably priced audio/picto guides of popular destinations, which can be downloaded and as a reading bonus, an interesting blog. I also tend to hang around the periphery of forums on such websites as Lonely Planet, Bootsnall and Fodors, particularly when I am planning a trip. And even when not; from information on volunteering abroad to vegetarian restaurants, what’s not to like?  So even if you don’t visit 22 websites, the next time, try exploring options on the Internet and have yourself a good holiday. Note: These are just suggestions based on my experience and I am not associated with any of the websites. Charukesi Ramadurai is a freelance writer and travel blogger from Bangalore. When she is not actually traveling, she is busy planning her next trip. Read more about her at her website_._