When I was flying to Barcelona, I could save some money, but taking a flight with a 23 hour layover in Stockholm – that is just a day to explore a city in Europe and the travel costs are essentially zero. I have dubbed my method “co-extend” for combine and extend. Here is where you combine two or three activities or locations into one vacation. This is the most economical way to extend not only your vacation dollar, but your vacation time too. Co-extend work particularly well when you live in a destination that is not always conveniently located to your chosen destination, like say Kansas City but any my method is sound if you happen to live anywhere and there is not a hub. Since air tends to be one of the most expensive components of any vacation, and the one thing that you have the least control over the cost, the most limiting options and the wildest swings. For example I can generally fly to Vegas for low 300s to 400, it doesn’t matter a whole lot where I book since the air is controlled by very few players. But there are thousands of hotel rooms, so the current rate for hotel rooms, excluding certain special properties, is 27.14 to over $1,300 a night – –Now that is a big difference!
If we take assume air at 350 for the trip, and our vacation is a week then we are paying $50 per day of vacation for our air. By using the co-extend theory we don’t spend a week of our vacation in Las Vegas, instead we fly out on Thursday night after work (we likely just saved here, because most people fly Friday that makes Thursday the day for a deal), and pick a less expensive hotel since we wouldn’t be staying long at all. Maybe we rent a car and drive to Sedona, or the Grand Canyon. This Co-extended trips works very well for Europe – once you are in Europe rail and flights are relatively cheap to other European destinations.
Now the down side, is time is your limiting factor. If you only have a week, and you want to see Rome, it is unrealistic to add Paris and London and think you are going to have time to see and experience all Rome has to offer, however 3 days in Rome pairs well with a Mediterranean cruise, or a highlights of Italy trip.
Co-extended trips can go awry in the planning phase when you want to add too much – you start thinking that you are going to Australia, so you might as well see New Zealand too. Both countries have so much to do and see, unless you are retired or really have a lot of time, you might be tempted to put so much on your itinerary that you come back tired, exhausted and barely able to remember what you saw.
When visiting cities with amazing museums, art gallerias and cultural attractions or you have an itinerary with back-to-back tours every day, every three to five days try to plan a down day, maybe an upscale hotel that begs to lounge around the pool with a good book, are spend a couple of days relaxing in the countryside. This will give your mind and body the clarity and energy to embark on another round od sightseeing and cultural experiences.
So next time you plan a trip, take a moment and see if it makes sense to add another destination for a relatively small cost. Need help? #YeahWeDoThat It is our specialty in fact, if you need help, guidance or want to see what your options are, we would be honored to work with you.
