Travel Advice/Travel Tips -  Create a comprehensive Itinerary

There are a number of reasons for creating an accurate and up-to-date itinerary.

• You can use it to track your  trip details (airline departure and arrival times, automobile rental information, hotel reservations, etc.).
• In addition, a comprehensive itinerary should include a list of the excursions and points-of-interest that you plan to see along the way.

Make your itinerary a one-stop reference for all of the details you will need to manage your trip. Your  itinerary should include:

• The name, address, phone number, and email address of each service provider (limousines, airlines, other transportation, guides, etc).
•  Include  confirmation numbers, quoted costs and the name of the individual who took your reservations (if you are dealing with individual hotels)

Arrange an itinerary by date and time.

• Add the places that you want to see on the appropriate days, not in a list at the end of the document.
• A carefully laid out itinerary will help eliminate those nasty surprises that could ruin your trip
  • Make sure you include all of your lodging reservations and confirmations, as these will be your only recourse of something goes wrong with your reservation.

If you make your own travel arrangements, the best way to keep track of your evolving itinerary is to create one on your computer.

• A computerized file (use your word processor) gives you the ability to easily add and delete items.
• Be sure to print a couple of copies of your itinerary to take with you.
• In addition, if you use a PDA (a handheld computer), download a copy of your itinerary for searchable reference on the road.

If you use a travel agent to arrange your vacation, ask them if they can email you a copy of the trip details.

• Copy the  details from the email to your itinerary  and paste it into a document using your word processor
• Add notes about attractions that you will see at your destinations in order to create a comprehensive itinerary of your trip.

The ability to print multiple copies of your itinerary will help those at home to contact you, should an emergency arise. Be sure to leave copies with the appropriate people and let them know the conditions that warrant contacting you.

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