Do you book airfare or hotels first?

I first look to see what flights are available. Then I look at hotels to make sure they are available and there is not some event causing rates to rise.

Once I know what my options are I book my flights first and then hotels. Hotels are easier to change than long haul flights.

I always book flights first, accommodation is generally easier to get than flights.

I look at hotel sites like Booking. om or HRS.com to see what prices are like for the time periods I am interested in, then I look at flights on Kayak or certain airlines to see prices. Then I book my flights, everything else comes afterwards.

I just try to book airfare first.

I've planned a couple family trips when we've needed 5 or 6 hotel rooms, and needed specifics like elevators and a certain location. Then I've booked the hotel first. I also have a trip to New Orleans in April coming up, and I know that hotel rooms are tight during a festival. I'll book the hotel soon and flights later. But I'm looking at flight prices now.

Always airfare first for independent travel. Airfare second if booking a tour.

Generally, I book flights first - but if I'm going somewhere at a popular time of year, I might book the dates I want at the accoms, then do the flight. For example - we're doing Venice for Carnival next year - I booked our rooms back in early Aug but won't book the flight until next month. I knew which B&B we wanted, and since we won't be flying direct to Venice and will have days before and after that I can play around with, I'm not worried about tying myself into having to have a particular flight.

I often book lodging first, because good places can fill up early and often can be cancelled or tweaked without cost till much closer.

Living near Philadelphia means my flights are usually not a problem. I guess people who need multiply hops to get to Europe might have more issues finding reasonable itineraries.

I can't tell you how many times I have run across people who regret arriving in a city when some huge event is going on, school vacation just began, etc. giving them hotel rooms that are tripled in price, and trains packed with students. Or there is also the opposite, they arrive a day too late or too early and miss a wonderful event.
Listen to them moan, if I only I had known before I got my plane tickets.
Always check events in cities and hotel prices before buying plane fare.

Good point Ms.Jo! I do look at lodging a bit before I commit to flights. I will even put in a cancellable reservation here and there before I reserve my flights. This approach helped recently when I realized we were meeting my brother and SIL in the U.K. and a bank holiday was making it impossible to find lodging (we were willing to pay for) in one location, so we adjusted the itinerary.

One rule of thumb is to always scope out holidays in the country you are visiting. Bank holidays in the U.K., as well as half term breaks, unleash an exodus to many popular spots.

Although it has not happened to me, Ms. Jo brings up a good point. But, where do you check to find out if there is a festival, event or holiday where you are planning to go?

If you look into rooms, you will see a spike in rates, or lack of availability, when there is a local festival.

I think Ms. Jo brings up a good point. I always book airfare first, and often with no reservations, but it's not a bad idea to make sure lodging won't be an issue after you've booked your flight.

I'm going to Dublin in May. There are no major happenings on any calendar but there are some big rugby tourneys that wouldn't necessarily show on any calendar I'd see. They could use up a lot of available lodging.

I was in Verona in mid-October and lodging was an issue because there was a cheese convention in town. That said, even with a cheese convention (and no reservations) we didn't go homeless.

I’ve done it both ways. When using frequent flyer miles, I get the flight first usually. My next trip I plan on staying at a favorite inn and will make that reservation first.

After I've assessed hotel availability in the cities I'm visiting I book my airfare--there's a bit of bouncing back and forth on dates especially if multiple cities are involved, but I always secure my flights first.

Every city has a website. Google the cities you are planning to visit to see what kind of events are happening. Parades, festivals, marathons, etc.

Depends on the type of travel.

If I am going on a tour, I will book the air last after receiving confirmation that I am actually on the specific tour with the given dates.

If I am traveling on my own, I book air first and then plan the rest of the trip around what flights I end up getting.

But, I do research my destination before deciding anything. Plane tickets might be cheap one day because there is a major strike or other disturbance expected on that day. Tours might be discounted as well for similar issues. I always make sure I know what to expect first, then I purchase as noted.

Almost always I book the flight first, be it to Paris, Frankfurt, or London since I'm going over late spring or early summer. Booking the accommodations comes afterwards.

I look at both simultaneously and then when both sides meet my budget, I buy the airline tickets first.

Always book the flights first. Our travel depends on cheap flights, so I buy the cheapest I can find (which can take months) and then I fill in the trip. That said, I typically start looking at airfare around now for summer ;p

I research flights first, then research hotels. This way I can move things around a bit if necessary. Even if lodging isn’t sold out, I don’t want to pay top dollar just because there’s a sporting event or concert that night . I use this technique to also plan which order I’ll see cities.

Airfare, then hotels. On most of our trips we only book hotels for the first and last day or two and figure out the rest as we go since we don’t always have a set itinerary.

We check events first, such as special exhibitions at museums.
We check for Bank Holidays, school holidays in England, and avoid hitting London during the times that huge crowds will be crammed into the tourist attractions.
Then we check hotel prices for all the places we will go.

Then we check airfare prices, ready to book immediately when we find a good price.
Step 1. (is always) book airfare.
Step 2. Book hotels.
Step 3. Purchase tickets for events.

Well, I think it is probably most sensible to buy airfare first but we have tended to do it the other way around. Started when we had a family trip planned for Greece which meant no flexibility in dates and very specific housing requirements. Bought tickets to fit the itinerary. Now doing same thing for a trip to England which is linked to a conference for me.

I think the main reason to buy airfare first is if you have flexibility to shift the dates to save money. If the dates are set for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter very much.

A generic version of Rebecca's scheme works well.

I'm also in the make-air-reservations-first camp, but I do a lot of research first.

When I start planning a trip, I set up a spreadsheet on my computer, with the itinerary on the first tab page. I make a rough itinerary by day number, not date, then assign a tab to each place I want to stay and to each day of in-Europe travel. I use in-document hyperlinks to link each item on the itinerary to its associated tab page. I use the town website mentioned by Jo (and/or Google Maps) to find accommodations that meet my requirements (I have found from experience that town websites have the largest selection of accommodations including a lot of less expensive, but perfectly fine places that don't appear on booking sites because they don't want to pay the commission.). I list the potential accommodation I find with rates and contact information (email addresses) and sort them by preference. I also look up rail connections to make sure they are feasible and save them on the transportation tab page.

Only when I have completed the above do I start looking for airfare. When I find a fare I like, I fill in the actual dates on the itinerary and send emails to the top two or three accommodation for each town, inquiring about availability for that date. Unless it's on a weekend, this usually only takes a day or two to confirm the there are accommodations available at each town. Then I make my airfare reservations and confirm the accommodations, all in one day.

This has worked fine for me over the last ten or more trips.

I tend to book accommodations first.

We travel as a family of 5 and usually stay in apartments. I’m very picky about location and amenities (we need an elevator or ground floor, for example, prefer a balcony or outside access, 2 bathrooms, etc., etc.). I find that the more desirable (for me) places get booked super early, as much as a year in advance. So I do a lot of research to find a good fit and then reserve as soon as our plans are firm.

With respect to airfare, we are lucky enough to have multiple gateway airports within reasonable driving distance. I start tracking flight prices as soon as we know where we’re going and grab flights when I see a good deal. But with lots of departure city options, I am comfortable that we will wind up with something reasonable for airfare, so I don’t necessarily book those early in the process. I feel like our accommodation choices may be more limited given our needs, so I get those wrapped up ASAP.

I look at hotels/apartments to get an idea of availability and cost but always book our flights first

I plan my trips 9-11 months in advance. As soon as I decide on a destination I book the hotels. I track airfares and buy when it looks like a good deal, usually 5-6 months out. I purchase train tickets and events as they become available. I really enjoy the planning part of the trip!

I book air first, usually 8-11 months out.
Then hotels, then tours.

This is how I planed my last two trips:
1. Picked where I wanted to go.
2. Picked travel dates.
3. Request the time off of work.
4. Used guidebooks to help write myself an itinerary. On earlier trips I was unsophicticated and I didn’t write myself an itinerary.
5. If you are writing a good itinerary, you write which town you are sleeping in each night, how you are getting from one town to another town (airplane, bus, train, and so on), in addition to major activities you want to do each day. This requires going back and fourth between researching bus, train, and/or plane tickets, typing your itinerary, and checking your guidebooks.
6. You have picked your major plane, and train, and/or bus tickets. Now get your credit card and buy the tickets. Print the confirmation pages. Put the printouts in a ridgid plastic folder. Put the folder in your carry on bag.
7. Now you can start finding hotels.

Always airfare, then I decide itinerary.

Book the airfares. Then pencil in the itinerary. Book a sleep at Changi's transit hotel. Book the first 2 nights accomodation in the arrival city. Organise how we will be travelling on the ground. (railpass/vehicle hire).
We book the rest of our accomodation as we go, usually the night before, sometimes in the morning. Sometimes we walk up to the desk on arrival in the town. We have never had an issue getting a night's accomm. I am sure we pay a little more at times but we like the freedom. We often will book one night then fall in love with the place and book in a few extra nights.
Possibly reflects my mispent backpacking youth - sleeping in railway stations etc.

If I'm going to use miles for a.planned trip, I start looking at flights as soon as the schedule opens up. For our December 2019 trip we knew we wanted to be in Vienna for New Year's Eve and wanted to stay in a specific apartment, so we have that reserved -- won't be able to book flights until January. (But the trip will include stops before and after Vienna, so flight dates are flexible.)

HOWEVER, if I see an unmissable low fare, I buy it and then figure out where to go from the cheap European destination.

It really depends. For business I always get the hotel first. For pleasure I may book a couple hotels, but I usually just get the airfare and then fill in the rest. I've traveled for weeks just staying someplace local I find at the last minute.