Planning a Last Minute Trip to Gatlinburg
Spontaneous decisions to travel are good for the soul. Making a decision to get up and leave at the last minute, without much planning can lead to a very relaxing and rewarding vacation getaway. While planned trips are also gratifying, it is possible that the build up, the waiting and the anticipation surrounding a planned trip can lead to disappointments along the way. Maybe the picture of the hotel room that you’ve had pinned up in your cubicle will end up being misleading. Or, maybe your discount rental car ends up being a real lemon. Last minute trips don’t leave that much time for thinking and can be full of fun surprises! So, let’s go to Gatlinburg… NOW!While the actual decision to take a last minute trip to Gatlinburg may have been rushed and not so well thought out, that doesn’t mean that your planning should be as well. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, your last minute decision to visit Gatlinburg can still turn into a calming, stress-free getaway.
Last Minute Trip to Gatlinburg -- Get the Right Flight
Perhaps the reason that you’ve decided to take this last minute trip to Gatlinburg was the email that popped into your inbox with information about last minute or weekend deals on airline tickets. If so, you’re one step ahead of the rest of us! Thanks to the proliferation of travel deal sites, you can sign up to receive notifications of last minute deals to places like Gatlinburg and where to find cheap flights to Gatlinburg, TN.
If you don’t have airline tickets yet, start surfing! A number of sites out there offer last minute flight information. Since this was a last minute idea in the first place, you are probably able to be rather flexible when it comes to planning your itinerary. This will definitely help when it comes to not only getting on a plane, but also getting a decent fare. Keep in mind that last minute planning is not always rewarded, and that means that you might end up paying twice what you would have paid for an airline ticket two weeks ago. Nobody said that last minute is always the cheapest way to go, though it can be.
Getting on the telephone and speaking with an airline sales representative or a travel agent can also prove to be effective. Often, an airline representative has more up-to-date information than is available on the Internet, so the chance of he or she being able to see all of your flight options at once is much better. Plus, sweet-talking a real, live person is guaranteed to be much more effective than trying to do the same through a keyboard with a server somewhere in India.
Counting Some Last Minute Sheep
When it comes to finding a last minute hotel or cabin in Gatlinburg, the Internet can again prove to be helpful. But computers are, well… computers, so it might not be possible to find out about last minute deals quickly enough. So, calling around to various Gatlinburg hotels before you leave is highly recommended. Don’t sit around waiting for that email response that might never come.
Or, if you are comfortable traveling to Gatlinburg, TN without a hotel reservation, and then zipping around town to try to find the best last minute deal once you arrive, you might just happen across a bargain. Obviously, this should not be attempted on busy or holiday weekends, or else you might just end up sleeping in the rental car.
When you go into the lobby of a hotel to see about a room, try not to seem panicked or desperate. When they tell you the rate, ask them if they can come down any for last minute guests. Even if they say that they can’t or are not allowed to, let the clerk know that you’ll swing by again later and see if anything has changed. Even if the best they can do is knock ten dollars off of the price when you return later, both parties win -- you get a slight discount and a good night sleep, and the hotel has once less vacant room for the night. This approach generally works best with privately owned hotels or cabins. More often than not, hotels that are a part of a chain have set rates that cannot easily be reduced. But it never hurts to ask, so don’t be afraid!
The Key to Planning a Last Minute Gatlinburg Trip -- Just Enjoy!
Again, one of the best things about a last minute trip to Gatlinburg is the spontaneity of it all -- with nothing really planned, you can feel free to explore as you feel inclined and enjoy the attractions that interest you, when and if they interest you. It’s a safe assumption that at least one of the many exciting attractions, scrumptious Gatlinburg restaurants and outdoor activities that this town has to offer will be open and available for your enjoyment.
