Summer is starting to make its presence felt in the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in thousands of travel plans being dreamed up and made. We take a look at these Top Ten 2013 summer trends and how they will affect your plans, jazz up your holiday and improve your trip.
10. Airport Security
Getting on a jet-plane and flying off is made dramatically less exciting by having to do the airport security dance. If you’ve ever travelled by plane, you’ll know it. The coat-off, unlace/unbuckle shoe, whip-off-belt jiggle, which is then followed by the shuffle through and scramble to put it all back on. If you’re really lucky, you’ll set the detector off and have to add the full body feel up to the routine. However, now there is a way to escape having to even take you laptop out of its bag: join the TSA precheck club and frustrating security checks will become a thing of the past.
9. Luxury Contiki, without the price tag
Luxury and cheap and two very contrasting adjectives, but they go hand in hand when it comes to booking a luxury Contiki holiday this summer. Various Contiki tour operators, such as Abercrombie and Kent, have broadened their offering of activities and lodgings, so as to attract a wider range of travellers. This means you can taste the high-life, without forking out large sums of money. Just be aware that some tour operators will increase the size of the groups to lower the costs. For some, this just means more people to socialise with, but for other is can be a crowded nightmare. Make sure you check the max group capacity before you book if this is a concern.
8. Smartphone = Smart Traveller
Carrying fiddly bits of paper in the form of boarding passes and tickets is fast becoming a thing of the past. Especially with apps such as Passbook which is not free and ready to download, but comes standard with ios6. Passbook allows you to store your tickets for everything; from your boarding pass to your travel insurance to hotel bookings.
7. Online booking
Gone are the days when you needed someone else to book your flights and plan your trip. Online booking has been around for ages, but more and more people are relying on this method to not only get where they are going, but also ensure they get the best possible prices while doing so. And booking sites are encouraging this. There are a variety of accommodation and flight sites, such as Expedia.com and Travelocity.com, which allow travellers to find the best deals possible. These sites are not just promoting the cheap and nasty, but actual world-class airlines and hotels. You can also book your own travel insurance and rentals online, and usually for much less than what the travel agent is offering you.
6. House Swap
Accommodation can often take up a large portion of your holiday budget, and for some, staying in hotels even detracts from their holiday. So what to do? Well, just as Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet did in The Holiday, you can try a house swap. It’s simple. You register on one of many house swap sites such as Lovehomeswap.com or homeswapper.co.uk, get vetted and then get choosing. You can find houses to swap locally and internationally, depending on your location. Just remember, while you may be living in a a wonderful new home for a week or two, a stranger will be living in yours.
5. Lying on the beach
According to Orbitz.com, three quarters of the US population is heading to the beach this summer, and Europe seems set to follow suit. The question is; which beach is everyone heading to? The Travel Channel seems to think its Australia’s Gold Coast. Famous for its perfect surf conditions, golden sands and warm water, the Gold Coast offers a variety of beaches for you to see, and be seen at. The most popular is Kirra Beach – so popular you’ll have to get there super-early to snag a spot, but you’ll only want to leave just after sunset.
Long-layovers and lengthy cramped flights can make travelling absolutely miserable, and unless you have cash to spare for an airport hotel, the best thing you can do is hope you’ll find a quiet corner in which you can doze. Or at least that’s what you had to do. Not anymore, at least not in Abu Dhabi’s International Airport. An introduction of sleeping pods will give you the full private-bed experience for as little as eight British Pounds an hour. Giving you the chance you need to shake off that jet lag and arrive at your destination refreshed and ready to start your vacation. 4. Sailing the Seven Seas
Cruising has always been popular, and why shouldn't it be? You get the full ride when stepping onto a cruise ship – comfortable to luxury accommodation, five-star dining, and world class entertainment. So why has there been a sudden burst of increased interest? Well it’s not really the actual cruise ships that are attracting all the attention, but rather where they are sailing to. The Western world has been thoroughly saturated with cruise ships, so now they are moving East. This means the chance to taste new cultures and explore different cities is easier than ever before. Liners cruising to the far end of the world include P&O, Crystal Cruises, and HollandAmerica.
3. Pop-up hotels
Festivals, retreats and random fields this summer are going to be able to offer you so much more in terms of accommodation. Pop-up hotels, in simple terms, are various forms of accommodation that can be set up practically anywhere and offer a full luxury hotel service. This idea has become very popular at festivals events around the UK. Glamping, which is luxury camping, has been taken to a whole new level at these events, and you know don’t only get the hotel-like surroundings but also the service that goes along with it. Or you can opt to stay in stacked hotel like the ones offered by snoozebox.com. You’ll have four solid walls, a full hotel service and a truly unique experience as no pop-up hotel is ever the same.
2. Self - Tours
Group tours can be great, you don’t have to organise anything, or consult chunky guidebooks to know what exactly it is you’re gazing at in awe. The problem is, they cost dollar and are limited to certain attractions. Enter the new almost-hands-free self-tour. Depending on the city you’re in, you can download a guide that uses geo-locators to pick up where you are and what attractions are surrounding you, playing audio information as you approach them. The best thing about these guides is that once they’re downloaded onto your smart phone they no longer need to use data and works completely off-line. Download our Hummba City Guides today on Google Play and at the Apple app store.
1. Sleeping Pods
Long-layovers and lengthy cramped flights can make travelling absolutely miserable, and unless you have cash to spare for an airport hotel, the best thing you can do is hope you’ll find a quiet corner in which you can doze. Or at least that’s what you had to do. Not anymore, at least not in Abu Dhabi’s International Airport. An introduction of sleeping pods will give you the full private-bed experience for as little as eight British Pounds an hour. Giving you the chance you need to shake off that jet lag and arrive at your destination refreshed and ready to start your vacation.
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