My 5 Easy Steps To Plan a Trip and Select a Travel Destination [On a Budget]

I learned early on that traveling where (and when!) everyone else wants to go gives me very little value for my travel dollars. Once I abandoned my intended destinations and let the best available options surface, I found more affordable and interesting journeys.

Planning a trip without a predetermined destination opens up endless possibilities, and I never know where in the world I’ll end up. The process of booking a trip when you have no idea where you want to go may seem daunting, but let me assure you that it can be done in 5 easy steps.

Here is my process for booking a trip without a destination in mind.

1. Select Your Preferred Dates

Selecting the dates for my trip is the first and easiest step.

For example, I’d like to go somewhere over Labor Day weekend. I am flexible on the exact dates, but that’s the general timeframe for my intended trip. Once I’ve decided on the date parameters, I’m ready to search for destinations.

2. Find a Destination

At this point, I’ve determined when I’ll be traveling, just not where I’ll be traveling. Finding a viable destination is my next step. Ideally, I’ll try searching for 2 to 3 destination options for my desired dates, as not all of my choices may work out.

Google Flights

Although several sites allow you to search for airfare without a preset destination, Google Flights is my favorite. Kayak, Skyscanner, and Airfare Watchdog are a few alternatives.

I head to the Google Flights website to begin my search. I type in my preferred departure airport(s) and travel dates, leaving the destination box blank. This opens up the possibility of going anywhere I might find a good deal.

Once I click Explore, a map populates with major airports worldwide and airfare prices for the requested dates.

What happens next is the reason I spend too many hours searching for the next great flight deal.

The map shows flight possibilities worldwide, and I can zoom in on any area I want to explore further. For example, Alaska may have some additional fares for which I’d be interested. Since I’m looking at a weekend trip, I may consider Mexico or Canada.

I’d also like to fly in business class, so I changed my search from economy to business class and zoomed in on Northeast Canada for starters.

There are a few destinations that look interesting: Montreal, Quebec City, and Halifax. I haven’t been to Halifax, and the fare for business class on a holiday weekend is intriguing.

Although I just wanted to travel for a few days, Google Flights tells me the airfare is much lower if I adjust my dates by a day or 2.

I like that Google Flights shows me the fares by date, allows me to set a limit on price, and searches by airline or airline alliance. I can also limit the number of stops, set time perimeters, select specific connecting airports, and more.

After reviewing flight prices and itineraries, I decided on Halifax, Nova Scotia, as my first destination.

I’ll repeat the previous process to search for 1 or 2 additional potential destinations, perhaps Alaska and Mexico, and take notes of the results. I then continue to the next planning step of researching lodging and ground transportation.

3. Find Lodging and Transportation

A great airfare means nothing if affordable lodging is unavailable or ground transportation adds too much to the overall price of the trip. If I find a flight with a good fare and schedule, I quickly price out the remaining elements of the trip to determine the overall viability.

During this step, I am not booking a hotel or arranging transportation, but I am determining if affordable lodging and transportation are available. I can accomplish this by doing 2 quick searches.

I Google “hotels in Halifax, Nova Scotia” and check the Google hotel map. It looks like there are plenty of options for my weekend trip.

I then visit Rome2Rio.com for transportation information. While the taxi service looks pricey, the bus doesn’t take much longer, and I’ll save quite a bit. Later I’ll check if Uber or Lyft may be another option. For now, I know I can get to my hotel affordably.

Now that I’ve researched my hotel and transportation options, I’ll look at things to do in and around the city.

4. Research Sights and Experiences

I’d like to know if there are interesting things to do at my chosen destination, so I glance at Viator.com for the top things to do in Halifax.

I may not book anything via Viator, but I can quickly determine the options for activities at my destination. Peggy’s Cove and the boat tour look interesting.

If I decide to book an excursion via Viator, I’ll be sure to triple-stack my rewards earnings. Spoiler alert: I can earn Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, and Viator Rewards on the same booking!

I could also just Google “things to do in Halifax, Nova Scotia” and find a viable list of options.

5. Book the Flight and Hotel

I’ve found a good flight, lodging possibilities, transport to my hotel, and interesting things to do when I arrive at my destination. Typically, I would go through this process with 2 or 3 different destinations until 1 fits.

This time, I may have gotten lucky on the first try. Now it’s time to get serious and book the trip.

Booking the Flight

My final step is booking the trip, starting with the flight. Because the flight is less than $600, I’ve narrowed my options to the following:

• Use Chase Travel and book for a total fare of $546 or 36,380 Ultimate Rewards points
• Book with American Express Membership Rewards points using The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express for the 35% points rebate (54,600 points less a 35% rebate which equals 35,490 net points)
• Use 55,000 American AAdvantage miles for the round-trip flight

I could also transfer Ultimate Rewards or Membership Rewards points to airline partners, but my business class flights showed 33,000 to 38,000 miles each way with Aeroplan or 55,000 with Delta.

Since I prefer earning miles and Loyalty Points toward American AAdvantage elite status, I’ll book the flight via American Express for a net 35,490 Membership Rewards points.

Hot Tip:

Point.me, Roame.travel, and Seats.aero are some tools that can help search for award flights.

Booking the Hotel

Next is booking the hotel. I start by taking inventory of my hotel rewards currency resources.

• 1 free night certificate earned on my IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
• 1 free night certificate earned on my Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
• 3 free night certificates earned on my Marriott Bonvoy-branded cards
• IHG One Rewards points
• Marriott Bonvoy points
• Hilton Honors points
• Marriott and Hilton gift cards
• Up to $150 Delta Stays hotel credit from my Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card
• Up to $600 Amex Fine Hotels and Resort credit (up to $300 semi-annually) from the Platinum Card^® from American Express
• Choice Privileges points from transferred ThankYou Points earned on my Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
• American Express Membership Rewards points
• Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to World of Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio

Since I’m close to Marriott Bonvoy Titanium elite status, I’ll search for a Marriott-branded hotel first. When I previously searched for Halifax hotels via Google (above), I saw that the Westin was $183 a night. On the Marriott Bonvoy website, I can book it for 139,000 points for 5 nights.

Since we value Marriott Bonvoy points at about 0.7 cents each, that’s $973 worth of points. The cash rate on the Marriott website, including taxes and fees, is $895 for 5 nights ($179 per night). That may be more points or cash than I want to spend.

I’ve decided to shorten my stay to 3 nights and use some of my Marriott gift cards toward the price of the Westin. The gift cards were heavily discounted due to taking advantage of Amex Offers when purchasing.

I could have also used several hotel award-searching sites, including AwardTool, Awayz, StayWithPoints, and MaxMyPoint, which may help me find hotels with award-night availability.

That’s it. I’ll book the eligible flight with Membership Rewards points for a 35% rebate, and for the hotel, I’ll use my discounted Marriott gift cards to offset the $537 price for 3 nights.

Finally, as I book each portion of my trip, I forward the reservations to my trip organizer app. I use Tripcase, but I know travelers who are happy with Tripit. I’m excited to explore a new city without spending a fortune.

Final Thoughts

Booking a trip without a predetermined destination can be thrilling. I enjoy the possibility I could be traveling to the other side of the world or discovering a new destination closer to home, like Halifax, Nova Scotia.

While I’ve expanded on how I book such a trip, the process can happen quickly. By “quickly” I mean as short as a couple of hours or as long as I decide to dedicate to the process. I may need to research several destinations before I find the perfect fit.

My recent discoveries (and bookings) using this process include the Faroe Islands, Tromso, Norway, and Almeria, Spain.

By dismissing predetermined destinations when I want to get away, I find my travel dollars and reward currencies go further, I explore places I never considered, and I consistently enjoy new experiences.