Tutto Italia - Tips for going on holiday

Claire Hastie from Tutto Italia is an independent travel agent, specialising in all things Italian. Here, with summer now very much upon us, she gives us tips on what to do when going on holiday.

If you want to tour around Italy and see a few places, you can’t really get that in a brochure. Going to an independent travel agent allows you to create a tailor-made multi-centre holiday. The last booking I made incorporated four different places in Italy and included train tickets, opera and car hire - I organised everything for him.

Another client wanted to go to Verona for a week, predominantly to see the opera. But I thought about her holiday and her needs and suggested four nights in Verona and three in Lake Garda. She loved it.

Being an independent travel agent gives me a choice of whom I work with. It is an unbiased, unique service. It is not always the case that it costs more to go to an independent travel advisor, as using a specialist operator means I can often get three-night holidays, and combine a few.

I can go straight to an operator for flights, often getting charter flights cheaper than you would in a standard package holiday, and I can link with hotels to create a package to suit my clients’ needs.

Not only that, but I have excellent local knowledge of all the areas and have a lot of information immediately to hand. It is good to go to an independent travel agent if you need specialist advice. It can take a long time to search yourself and booking without local knowledge can be challenging. I can speak to a hotel operator to get information.

And I offer a personal service, so if someone has just got back from a specific area or hotel I can get an honest opinion of what they said. If you look at Trip Advisor, you don’t know that person and you don’t know if they have similar expectations to yourself.

I am selling a lot of accommodation again and again, so I am building up a relationship with the hotel operator and can send in special requests via email etc, so you can be sure of a holiday that suits what you want from it.

I always find that booking in advance is better nowadays, than late deals. There is often a low deposit and a better choice of room type. For example, a balcony room with lake views is snapped up very quickly. Booking as early as possible gives more choice, you can book now for 2015. Low cost airlines are bringing out flights earlier, and often offer free child places in advance.

For long-haul flights, I always suggest checking in three hours in advance, as queues at security can take a long time. It is important to be organised and know what to expect. They are going to ask you to take off your belt, shoes and jewellery. They are going to ask for your toiletries to be in a clear plastic bag.

Keep all your travel documents together, so you know where you are and can access them easily. You can take a handbag and a wheelie case on the plane as hand luggage now.

I also like to pre-book seats, and encourage my clients to do the same. You can often do it up to 24 hours ahead of your flight at no cost, and it will ensure you can get a window seat or an aisle seat, and can sit with your travelling companion.

Once on the flight, my last tip is that you turn your watch to the time it is in the country to which you are travelling. That will help with the length of the flight, and with jet lag, as you should try to sleep when your watch tells you to.