Hi Mark,
As an ex travel agent I leave all the initial researching to my other half - although give it the once over before we book.
I enjoy looking at all the reviews on this and dare I say other sites
The closer it gets to departure I strat looking at all bits of info that could be of interest.
Thanks again for a great site.
Irene

Me!! Hubby is quite happy to leave everything to me. I love researching holidays, it is time consuming but I look on it as my hobby!

I love doing all the research. Last year I did struggle to find a destination for this year (we always book by end August for the following year) so I started early this year and have now sorted 2008. I need to start on 2009 now.........

Trish

ho..all...my wife is the holiday searcher in this household and once she as found what she wants then spend ages haggerling with the travel agents for the best deal.
she loves doing it and will spend weeks/days/hours until she as the right deal.
regards............john-doe............

Snap Starry.
It's a sort of hobby for me too. I always do in-depth research before I book - as a result we've never been disappointed yet. My other half is quite happy to leave it to me as he's not bothered where we go (Im lucky that I can choose wherever I want to go every year- as long as the budget allows it). I'm hooked on this site and visit at least once everyday.
Once I've got one holiday booked I start my research on the next and usually end up booking around a year in advance. It's become a standing joke in our family - hubby tells everyone " She's got all the holidays booked up to 2010".
I just think it brightens up the boring working days .

lol shirley i am almost as bad

am ready to book next summers hol x 2 for May half term and summer hols

and have chosen the Caribbean cruise we are going on in 2009,just need to find out when the school hols are !

I love researching holidays and reading about others trip reports etc

hubby works long hours , only home one night in the wk and wkends at the moment,and so holidays are our only quality time spent together really

he is happy for me to research & book and he gets to pay for it

We both do the research, although I'm on here 2 or 3 times a day so probably do more than he does. Hubby has just discovered the internet at work after being a technophobe for years, although he never touches it at home.

He scans the newspapers for deals and info and reads any flyers we receive at home. I read all the reviews for anything we might be interested in and I do the booking if it's online or he does it if it's by phone.

We have been going to Las Vegas twice a year for the last 3 years so I surf the internet for the best deals on rooms and flights.

luci

I do all the plannning re which destination to go to/flights and hotels. Once its booked the OH takes over planning what to do when we get there.

I love researching holidays. To me it's part of the fun. I have a destination list of places we'd both like to go. My most recent one has been New York and I really enjoyed doing that one. Before that it was our 3 week dream trip to China - boy did that take some planning!!

I also like spur of the moment too - for instance we have a week off in October and I just plan to look a few weeks beforehand and see what's available, I don't have a destination in mind.

Other than a city break to Krakow we've nothing planned for 2008 yet but in 2009 we are going to San Francsico with a hop to Vegas for a few days mid-trip.

I've also done holidays for my boss, which is great as I get to look in work time!!

Happy Holidays!!

Researching holidays is half the fun. When hubby and I plus another couple decided to visit Australia at the beginning of 2006 we actually took nearly a year of planning. We spent endless nights studying brochures, reviews and any information we could get hold of; all washed down with bottles of wine - Australian of course. Seriously though, when you are going to be away for 6 weeks you need to get it right. We are now beginning to think of a return visit to Oz in 2009 and will be looking out for the brochures as soon as they are out.

Babs135

I do most of the planning and research myself as well. Finding reviews of the accommodation, crossing off potentials, adding new ones. In the end, I tend to draw up a short list and then husband chooses a few to look into and we then make the final decision together.

I love the research part as well and I have found numerous websites that have been a blessing (this one included - thanks for the help in the past ). The promotional codes are then trawled through and I get the best deal possible. This year's holiday price is an absolute corker thanks to a Thomsons promo code from this site :D.

I love it when its all booked and then I can trawl the internet looking for littles snippits of info, the best places to eat and drink, what the beach is like.....the list is endless

I do it all. I think I spend half my year doing it. I am lucky that I only work part-time. The problem now is that all mine and hubbys workmates as well as the family are asking me to find them bargains as they can't believe how much cheaper I can get holidays, usually diy. Having this site lets me check all the reviews etc before booking and also helping other members on here when I can. Its great when I am on holiday and hear what other people have paid makes me so happy that I am where I want to be at a price I love. Hubby always suggest I should do it for a living as we have never had a bad holiday yet. He lets me choose where to go as he says I deserve it more. Nice bloke he is. Karen

Im sad - I research for my friends too.

I always tell people before they book to make sure they check up what kind of reviews the hotels have got.

I used to be that sad that I used to take brochures to bed with me
Kath x

If it's just hubby & me then I do everything. If it's a few of us my sister & I do it. We get every brochure we can. Our choice is slightly restricted as we live in Wales, so only really have a choice of 2 airports, unless we want a 4 hour journey before we start. It takes us weeks to sort out a country. We get there eventually, then we have to start on the resort. The accommodation is usually fairly easy after that. We just need clean accommodation with, and a well stocked bar. a nice big pool with plenty of sunbeds. We've been looking at 08 since before easter and still haven't decided on a country yet I think I might do as hubby suggests - open the brochure and stick a pin in the middle of the page. We had to cancel our holiday to Mexico a few years ago 3 days before going as the flight was too long for hubby(recovering from pneumonia) We went to the Travel Agent to change our holiday, so did no research and landed up with terrible accommodation. It completely put me off waiting till the last minute to book.

The researching is definitely a big part of the enjoyment for me. OH leaves everything to me as he knows how much I love it and my choices haven't let us down yet! I spend ages searching for the right hotel for us (I have a list of destinations I'd like to visit), I like to get the best deal possible as budget is always an issue and then I can't settle till I've booked. And then the research for the next break begins! We're looking at New Zealand for March 2008 so once I'm back from Parga this month I'll have that to look forward to. I see it as a hobby too and help family and friends out - although I think some think I'm a bit mad as I've booked June 2008 already. I visit this site most days too.

I love researching for my holidays,usually i pick a country we want to go to,then i check all the reviews on loads of different sites before i book it.
I spend ages checking all the holiday companies,flights etc.

Once the holiday is booked i then check all the forums and peoples piccies from the resort i am staying at.
Oh and hubby just pays for it
Karlee

'Sir' decides where we are going (always Turkey - usually Bitez) and I do the rest! Fair division of labour he would say.

I absolutely love the research , I have had probably 1000's of hours researching travel, not only on the net but I buy many , many travel books too.
I always keep my eye on holiday reports etc to get my ideas for where to go next, I once stumbled accross a travelogue about Cambodia which was a place I had never contemplated, it was so inspiring that I actually went there and fell in love with it, I don't find brochures very inspiring in these days of internet , I find real life experiences much more inspiring.

Using the premise that two heads are better than one we both do the research and go through many holiday combinations before reaching a decision. Having said that its possible to over research and take too many of the suprises out of the holiday....we've taken the odd gamble with hotels and destinations (e.g. often no or just a few reviews of a hotel we are visiting) but so far no problems.