Wow, such a detail planning, researching, & all those fine tunings! I like how you plan on the budget, at the end check the balance if still have much left and afford a small upgrade. I usually plan my accommodation budget first as most of the time I stay in Airbnb and I spend a lot of time to research so that I don't come back and research again at the end of the itinerary.

Well, guess we both are similar to the ticketing stuff, when I travel to Taiwan a few years back, I asked my Taiwan friend to help me book advance HSR ticket from Taipei all the way to Kaohsiung as I don't want to buy expensive ticket last minute and I don't want to spoil my planned itinerary.