Don't Give Up on Holiday Group Travel

Before you decide to throw in the towel and wait for the travel surge to die down to avoid the realities of booked flights, low availability, and increased crowds, take a look at the planning tips below. Using these tips, you can make your group trip run smoothly during the end-of-year rush and provide your travelers with an unforgettable holiday experience. 

Designate A Group Leader and Group Travel Platform

Designating a group leader is quintessential for any group trip to run smoothly, especially for holiday group travel plans. All in all, picking a group leader means you are choosing one point of contact that everyone from the group can receive or deliver information to and they handle the logistical planning on behalf of everyone else. In addition, choosing a group travel platform such as GroupTools will make the group leader's job much easier. 

Doing these means there is much less room for scheduling errors, planning mishaps, and confusion for the group as a whole. This is not to say you cannot make plans together; group planning like this is wonderful for keeping everyone on the same page and included. Your group travel platform will provide an organized system for this collaborative planning. But when it comes to pulling the trigger on making those plans a reality, leaving it to a group leader is fundamental for making it go as seamlessly as possible. 

Plan Ahead

Although this point might seem obvious, it can help you and your group travel crew have an ideal group travel experience during the holiday season. In short, flights, hotels, and even tour groups/events can fill up fast during the holidays with extended families in town. So, securing your spots in advance is ideal to have a fulfilling itinerary. If you wait until the last minute, you will find it harder to find a seat for everyone. Therefore, 'in advance' group travel planning is highly recommended during this time and in other peak seasons. 

Decide on Package Deals or Independent Booking 

A cool thing about holiday group travel is that there are generally many different deals, discounts, and packages that you can opt for to save money in the long run. However, though holiday package deals certainly can reduce group travel planning stress, they are not nearly as flexible as booking everything on your own. Holiday packages usually include resorts or weekend trips, so if you want to visit several different destinations for a week or longer, you might prefer to book independently. Ultimately, determining which booking style will most benefit your group will make your group planning process go much smoother.

Consider Skipping Hotel Accommodations 

While some group trips may benefit from hotel accommodations, if you're traveling with a group of family and friends over the holidays consider renting a vacation home rather than hotel rooms. You can find a wide variety of options based on where you are going, and you can also filter your search to ensure the property you choose can accommodate your group size. In a nutshell, having a quality hotel with 5+ rooms free could be a challenge to find, whereas finding a single vacation rental property bypasses that concern. In addition, going this route (as long as everyone is okay with living in a shared space) can be a great way to bring your group closer together and keep the cost low. Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeToGo are all great options for sourcing homes for your holiday group travel.

Holiday Group Travel Made Easy 

Holiday group travel can either be one of the best group trip experiences you can have or (if not planned properly) the worst. Because it is far too easy to fall into that 'worst' trap, keep these group travel planning tips in mind as you plan your holiday trip with your group. Furthermore, keep everyone connected and informed by being fully transparent throughout the process to ensure everyone is on the same page about what to expect. After all, doing just that alone helps solve half the planning battle already. 

A group trip is all about sharing once-in-a-lifetime experiences with others and the holidays are all about connecting and spending time with loved ones. GroupTools is here to help make your planning process safe and stress-free. We'll help you arrange your holiday group travel so you can enjoy your trip more by spending less time sorting out the details. Visit GroupTools to learn more or jump right into your planning today.