Shocked? Don’t be.
According to a study by Sykes Holiday Cottages in the UK, adults spend 17 hours doing nothing in a seven-day holiday. Specifically, they are traveling between their accommodations and sightseeing, choosing what to do and researching places to eat. And they spend about 15 minutes worrying about work.
This begs the question: How much is your vacation time worth?
It’s hard not to waste your vacation time
That can be a difficult question to answer, even for someone like Mike Golpa, a busy Las Vegas dentist.
“I’ve flown on long flights and stayed for long periods of time,” he says. “When I don’t have time, I’ll pay higher fees, wait less, and make better use of my time. I prefer to go slow and relaxed rather than feeling rushed and hassled.”
All travelers must decide – time or money? Reason: Online travel sites promote deals that waste your travel time and resources. These include flights with long connections or circuit routing involving multiple carriers and hotels located so far from your desired destination that you might as well stay at home.
Travelers also waste their vacation time in the states. Last year, the annual Allianz Vacation Confidence Index concluded that nearly half of working Americans would accept a job with no vacation time in exchange for more money.
And this is a problem. Because as travelers prepare for spring break vacations, they may be wasting more time in transit than they spend at their destination. The best way to prevent wasting time is to start early when you plan your trip. Experts suggest running a few quick calculations before clicking the “Book” button.
How far will you go to save money?
It’s hard to overstate the lengths some travelers will go to to save a few dollars. I’m constantly amazed that people will spend hours online just to save $5 or $10 on a hotel room. Many of these people are educated professionals whose time is worth hundreds of dollars per hour.
A customer of Peter Lombard, chief executive of Globe Guides, a travel company based in Dayton, Ohio, declined a nonstop flight with a stopover to save $34. That unnecessary connection wastes time and increases the risk of delays. But that’s not doing it justice. “I once took a 5 a.m. flight to save $20,” Lombard confesses.
(On the other hand, you don’t want to cut it too close when you’re making a connection.)
It seems as if the discounts tempt travelers. The promise of a deal deactivates the part of the brain that values the benefits of one itinerary over another. And this is not the only challenge.
“The biggest mistake I’ve seen people make is not doing their research about the real cost of travel, both in time and money,” says Paris-based Rahaf Harfoush, a digital anthropologist and author who studies changes in organizational behavior. For example, a friend of hers who was visiting New York decided to stay in the city an extra day to save a few hundred dollars on airfare.
“But she still had to pay $300 for a hotel, which was more than she would have paid if she had left a day early,” she recalls.
Complaints about wasted time are common on my consumer advocacy site. Sadly, we can’t regain lost time. he is way Above our pay grade.
Are travelers too focused on cost?
Andrea Norfolk, founder of Shoreline Destinations, a Maryland-based travel agency specializing in destination weddings, says many travelers focus too much on the cost of the trip.
“I’ve found that most people initially have a dollar figure in mind when starting the vacation planning process,” says Norfolk. “They don’t realize until it’s too late that bargaining leads to bad results.”
Instead, she says, ask yourself: “What kind of experience do I want?”
For example, most travelers prefer to get to their resort by mid-afternoon so that they have the rest of the day to settle in and relax. “They will sacrifice saving some money to spend more on a better flight schedule,” she says. “It’s rare that I have customers who just want the cheapest way to get somewhere.”
On the other hand, Sahara De Vore, founder of Travel Coach network of travel advisors, says that holidays are much more than time available on the ground.
weigh what matters most
rental car lot
“It’s important for everyone to accept the intention of their journey,” she says. “You have to weigh what matters. Determine what matters more to you and your travel goals than having more structure in your time where you can save money.”
That’s when you should set a budget for your trip. You’ll have a better idea of how much time and money you want to spend on travel, and what is more valuable to you. Should you drive or fly? Can you spare time to make one or two connecting flights, or do you need a nonstop flight? Do you need a hotel in the city, or can you find a vacation rental in the suburbs?
This much is clear: your vacation time is more valuable than you think. Don’t let an airline, hotel or online travel agency trick you into devaluing your hard-earned free time. This may benefit the company, but almost never you.
Also read:
Why is the hotel lobby working with the government to ban short-term rentals?
Dressing up won’t bring civility back to air travel. Passengers may be respected.
