Love to do it? Hate to plan it?

Travelling with friends and family? A new survey conducted by the world's leading travel search engine reveals that nearly 50 percent of Americans are stressed out when travel planning for friends and family, with the U.S. ranking second among the most stressed out of all the countries polled.

Enter KAYAK Trip Huddle, a new tool to help take the pain out of planning group travel. KAYAK looked at some of the top pain points for planning trips – choosing accommodations, selecting a destination and coordinating travel schedules, which collectively stress out 57% of Americans – and created a tool to address each and every one of them. 

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How to book for group travel

AIRPORT PARKING AND HOTELS (APH) has created a guide comparing airline policies for group travel bookings. 

The research compares 19 airlines operating in the UK, including British Airways, easyJet, and Ryanair, and compares the minimum number of passengers required for a group booking, payment terms, booking conditions, and changing and cancelling tickets.

To qualify for a group booking, the minimum number of passengers required to travel together ranges from seven passengers with Aer Lingus to 20 with Ryanair. Travellers should keep in mind that their preferred cabin will affect the number of passengers required for a group booking. Among four of the airlines researched, including Air Canada, the standard 10 person minimum group booking is reduced to six when passengers opt to fly business class. At the other end of the spectrum, groups exceeding 60 people are not permitted to travel on the same flight with easyJet.

When looking at the terms for payment, the full sum is required at time of booking when travelling with five of the airlines researched, including Virgin Atlantic, Aer Lingus and easyJet. Of the 15 airlines that do not require a full payment at time of booking, 10 ask for a deposit at the time of booking, which ranges from £25 per person with Monarch to £100 with Qantas.

For larger groups, it can sometimes be difficult to provide information on each passenger in advance. Two of the airlines researched – Emirates and Virgin Atlantic – demand all travellers' names at the time of booking. But 18 of the airlines compared ask for passenger names to be provided at a later date, and this timeframe varies from at least 60 days ahead of departure with Air France to 72 hours with SWISS Air.

For those who are travelling en masse and want to sit together, six of the 19 airlines researched state that group seating will be reserved where availability permits. To add a personalized touch to a special trip, Emirates offers customized menus and headrests with a group's image of choice, providing they are confirmed at least 15 working days prior to travel. Likewise, for an extra-special occasion, exclusivity or larger group bookings, Qantas offers the option of chartering an entire aircraft. 

The research is available in the Know Before You Go section of the APH website at www.aph.com/group-travel

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Five stars in Devon

WEST COUNTRY rental agency Helpful Holidays has added a five-star house to its portfolio.

Lower Widdicombe Farm, Beesands, South Devon has seven bedrooms, six bath or shower rooms, a games room, and a terrace views towards the sea over South Hams farmland.

The pet-friendly house is two miles in either direction from two quiet seaside fishing villages. One of them is Beesands, where it’s claimed that Keith Richards' family had their holidays in the 1950s, and where Richards and Mick Jagger gave their very first public performance in the The Cricket Inn.

Prices from £1,800 (£129 per person) to £3,600 (£258 per person) per week. 

www.helpfulholidays.co.uk

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The Dos and Don'ts for family gatherings

GATHERINGS of the extended family can be a daunting experience. You have everyone from great granny and granddad to distant aunts and uncles and little ones to please. Large property lettings agent, thebigdomain.com, shares its tips for a successful get-together:

Include some pre-planned activity – while a full-on itinerary for the entire gathering is probably going a little overboard, make sure there is some structure and that all the key reasons for getting together are covered. It's also important to make sure that everyone has some downtime so that they can relax or go out and do their own thing

Make sure everyone feels involved – ensure everyone has the opportunity to be involved by asking people in advance to contribute their ideas for games and potential group outings. Not everyone, though, will want to be involved in everything.

Something for everyone – with people of all ages and interests getting together, you're never going to please everyone with a one-size-fits-all event. This doesn't mean having to organize a special tour to indulge one person's niche interest, but a little goes a long way when taking into consideration someone's allergies or that they have a small baby to keep in a routine.

Be patient – there's always that one person who manages to push our buttons or say the wrong thing. For the sake of keeping the peace, take a deep breath and think positive thoughts.

With properties that sleep up to 140 people, thebigdomain.com offers a range of family gathering options in the UK and overseas.

www.thebigdomain.com

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