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John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints |
We would not advise pre-booking your entire itinerary before travelling, since your travel plans may change. Similarly, we don't recommend purchasing any accommodation, in the form of vouchers or otherwise, before travelling. Not only is purchasing beforehand less flexible, it's also more expensive. Budget chain motels and many independent motels are much less expensive than the chains which are offered in holiday brochures. The only exception to this advice might be for package holidays to Orlando, staying in the same place for the duration of the trip.
It's quite a good idea to book motels a day or two ahead as you go, especially if you will be visiting popular destinations during school holidays or plan to arrive late in the day. You can use the toll-free 800 numbers provided by all the main motel chains. You can either leave it so your reservation expires automatically if you don't show up by a certain time, or you can choose to guarantee your reservation with your credit card; in this case you have to pay even if you don't show up because your room is held for you all night, but you can cancel by ringing the same 800 number before a certain time.
There tends to be considerably more pressure on accommodation on Friday and Saturday nights, and throughout the school holidays, so pre-booking then is a good idea unless you will be arriving early and so have plenty of time to look around.
Lodging in and close to most of the well known National Parks tends to fill up during the summer, especially at weekends and particularly over the holiday weekends (Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labour Day) and so advance reservations are highly advisable during these periods. Lodging can usually be obtained further away from the parks even at peak times.
If you will be arriving late in an area which you are not familiar with then it's a good idea to pre-book your first night's accommodation.
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Most recently modified 22-Feb-04