Planning your 'cuti' online
BY TAN KIT HOONG

SO you saved up enough money to take a holiday somewhere but not sure where to start? 

The good news is, with the power of the Internet right at your fingertips nowadays, you can pretty much plan your trip and book tickets without ever having to leave your home.  

Planning stage
Planning your trip, as they say, is half the fun.  

If you’re planning on taking a holiday within Malaysia, the most obvious site to check out is the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia website (http://www.cuti.com.my/). 

Cuti-Cuti Malaysia has extensive listings for every destination within Malaysia, including photographs and descriptions of the attractions, which is sorted by state. 

More important, the website also has a listing of the holiday packages available (usually with return airfare included) and allows you to book online. A one-stop shop indeed. 

If you want something a little more unusual, check out MM Adventure Services (http://www.mmadventure.com/), which specialises in activities like caving, pot-holing, abseiling and backpacking holidays at various destinations within Malaysia like the Belum and Endau Rompin forests. 

If you’re thinking of having a holiday overseas, then planning your trip is even more important as you need to find out when the weather is best or when a major festival takes place, to fully maximise your time there. 

For the more common destinations around the world, Fodor’s Travel Guides (http://www.fodors.com/) is a good place to start. 

The Fodor’s website has brief descriptions of various holiday destinations, including a short overview of the country, sights and activities available and even which restaurants you should be eating at. 

Fodor’s lists all the popular destinations of the world, though some of them seem to slightly incorrect in the details – for example, in the listing for Malaysia, the prices shown are listed as “B$” instead of “RM.”  

The prices, however, are correct even if the currency symbol used is not. 

If you want to venture off the beaten track, then the best reference online by far is from http://www.lonelyplanet.com/. 

The Lonely Planet website has the most extensive listings and commentaries on almost every destination on earth – some of which, like the Pitcairn Islands are so remote that the only way to get on or off the island is to hitch a ride on passing ships. 

In case you’re wondering, Pitcarin Island is famous because Fletcher Christian and his crew settled there after leading the mutiny on the HMS Bounty in 1789. 

Lonely Planet’s online resource is very complete, covering not only weather, currency and attractions, but also very extensive (and often humorous) notes on the history and culture of the country and whether a travel visa is required for entry. 

The website even has essays written by the editors as well as other travellers recounting their experiences, often giving useful tips to save you money.  

The website’s main value, however, is that it tells it like it is. It doesn't come with any sugar-coating, and has loads of useful information for the rich traveller as well as one on a shoestring budget. 

Booking
The next step after the planning your trip is to get your flight tickets. 

For Malaysians, the most logical sites are http://www.mas.com.my/ and http://www.airasia.com/. 

The Air Asia website not only has an online booking system available but has a number of packages with hotel bookings included. 

Of course, Air Asia destinations are currently limited to Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand apart from Malaysia.  

The Malaysia Airlines website is more extensive, giving you complete packages for almost every popular destination in the world. 

While airline bookings are usually cheaper at the respective airline company’s website, if you’re looking to book a hotel room in a foreign country, then you might like to check out http://www.priceline.com/. 

Priceline.com has a unique service, which actually allows you to select the location and rating level of a hotel and then name your price for a room. 

The site allows you to enter the price that you want, then connects to the hotel and asks if they’re willing to give you a room at your requested price. 

The only catch is that if there’s a match, Priceline informs you of the hotel name and contact number and charges your credit card immediately. No cancellations are allowed. 

United States visas
While most travel visa applications are pretty straightforward, getting a United States visa is a process complicated enough to require a section of its own. 

US visas require that you fill in the DS-156 visa form at evisa evisaforms.state.gov and provide a special 2 x 2in photo of yourself against a white or off-white background. 

Once completed, the DS-156 form will generate a barcode and number which you have to enter at 210.177.22.41/kualalumpur/consular_page.asp to set a date for an interview at the local US embassy. 

You will also need to print out the DS-156 form and bring it along with you on the day of the interview. 

You also need to pay a non-returnable RM380 fee at a local RHB Bank. 

Additionally, if you are a male between the ages of 16 and 45, you need to print out and fill in a DS-157 form available at foia.state.gov/FORMS/visa.asp.