Airline Tips from the Pros

There’s nothing like a fabulous flight at the right price to kick off your exciting vacation. Here are some tips from our pros to make sure you and your luggage arrive in one piece.

Make the Best Deal
It’s tough to determine the best time to buy your flight, but as long as you purchase more than 30 days in advance, you likely won’t be greatly overpaying for the trip. Economy airlines, while offering bargain fares, charge for many other services, like checking or carrying on bags, assigned seats, snacks, and beverages. Check with us to see what’s included in the ticket price before booking.

Make Sure Your Luggage Arrives with You
While the overall number of lost bags may be decreasing, it still happens from time to time. To up the chances of your baggage arriving as soon as you do, consider investing in a RFID tracker, such as ReboundTag. These small, portable tags (or microchips) can be clipped onto your bag for an added level of security. If lost, the chip will automatically update you with location information by SMS or email.

Avoid Delays
There’s no surefire way to avoid flight delays, but there are some ways to increase your odds of an on-time departure. If you book a flight earlier in the day, there’s a better chance of your flight leaving on time, weather permitting. You can also consult resources like Flightstats.com to help determine which flights are more frequently delayed.

Skip the In-flight Wi-Fi
Pricing can sometimes be complicated with the in-flight Internet and the service is often slow and frequently disrupted. If you have to use it, opt for the cheaper package to cut costs. Important to note, many US airline carriers lose connection as soon as they hit international skies, so keep that in mind before you click buy. If you can, consider enjoying the in-flight entertainment (if offered) or simply disconnect for some moments of peace.

These tips will help you enjoy your next flight without breaking the bank. Call us for your next flight. Happy flying! This is from our Travel Tips Quarterly newsletter.

Reasons to use a travel agent

     In watching a show on Discovery last night regarding the embarkation of cruise passengers, I saw several reasons to use a travel agent. The most apparent one to me had to do with documentation. People were almost denied boarding because they did not have the proper identification papers to board the cruise.

The one that stood out the most was of a honeymoon couple where the bride was listed on the manifest with her new married name. Unfortunately, her documentation had her maiden name and she did not have a copy of her marriage license with her. If they had booked this through a travel agent (and I’m guessing they didn’t), the agent would have advised her to book it in her maiden name unless she had had ample time to get all her identification changed over to the new name prior to departure. Or, at the very least, have advised her to take a copy of their marriage license with her.

Another one, is where a family is traveling with a child (anyone under the age of 18) whose last name does not match that of the rest of the group. In this case, I would have advised that they needed a letter from her father stating that it was okay for her to travel internationally without him present. The cruise line could be held liable if that child is then reported abducted.

This is just one of the reasons to use a travel agent –  a lot of little snaffoos and stress that can be avoided.

Tips for Saving Money at DisneyWorld

Okay, summer is here again and we’re headed to Disney World. I know the Magic Kingdom and saving money don’t really go together but there a couple of things you can do to stretch the bucks. I would recommend doing some research both online and check out the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World at your local library or buy Birnbaum’s Disney or something from Fodor’s travel guides.

1) Airfare – the advertised price may look great but what else do you have to pay for? Most airlines charge other fees on top of the cost of the ticket like baggage fees, seating assignments and who knows what else. Southwest still offers your “bags fly free” with 2 checked bags per person. Even your golf bag flies free. Jet Blue allows your first bag to go free.

2) Hotels – the All Star and Pop Century Resorts are the least expensive and still on-site with shuttles running all day until the after the parks close. Plus, staying on-site gives you “Magic Hours” – time that you as a Disney resort guest get in the parks before it opens or closes to the public. Plus, you get free parking! Staying off-site can save you some money but the aggravation of driving in traffic, parking or having to wait on shuttles to take you back or missing the fireworks because the hotel’s shuttle leaves before it’s done may not be worth it. If you want a less expensive property, Disney does offer packages with their “Good Neighbor” resorts – close by with shuttles. Going off-season (Mid-Aug to about the first week of December) can help save money too.

3) Tickets – if that’s all you need, give us a call before you leave and save 4-6% off the prices at the gate. Your best savings comes with multi-day tickets (savings start with 4 days or more) and purchasing a package with hotel and passes. There are 3 tiers of tickets – the base ticket is your least expensive deal, hopper pass (give you the option to hop from park to park on any day at any time) and hopper pass with water parks includes Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. Skip the hopper pass if you’re trying to do this on a budget – we’re talking a savings of $50 per person. And, unless you’re planning on spending a full day at the water park – you can save about $50 per person by not getting this option. You can hop from resort to resort and check out their pools which gives you some fun times in the water without having to pay extra.

4) Food – take snacks with you. All that walking around makes for a hungry bunch. So, we bring a backpack with granola bars, fresh fruit or sandwiches. Also, most resort and theme park restaurants serve good size portions – try sharing with the kids or buying kids meals. Also, most menu boards only offer the combo prices. However, if you order just the entre and skip the fries and a coke – you can save money there too.

If you don’t want to mess with bringing food, try Disney’s Quick Dining or PLUS Dining packages. The Quick Dining gives a snack and 2 combo meals per person, per day. The PLUS Dining option gives you a snack, a combo meal and a sit-down meal. You can combine 2 of those table meals to get a character dining experience or even a dinner show. Those can really tax your wallet if you’re not careful. During certain times of the year (usually in the off season), Disney offers FREE dining. Warning – you do have to stay on-site to get the meal deal and there may be a minimum number of nights required with the FREE dining offers.

5) Drinks – can cost a fortune at the park. Option one, buy a refillable mug at your Disney resort which gives you free refills at the resort – it’s a big mug and can last all day. The down side is carrying it around. Option two, buy some six-packs of your favorite drinks, put them in the fridge overnight and then stick them in your backpack with your snacks. Don’t forget the water – buy some water bottles, freeze them overnight and by the time you get thirsty at the park; they should be thawed and cold. You can refill your water bottle at the park’s fountains.

Don’t Forget to Clear Your Cookies

According to Ed Hewitt at Independent Traveler, don’t forget to clear your cookies before looking for airfares. I have read so frequently that your browser history can lead to higher airfares and this information shows you how. In fact, even the type of computer you use can affect what fares and options booking engines show you; Orbitz CEO Barney Harford reveals how the site recommends different (usually pricier) hotels to Mac users that to PC users.

Many sites use cookies to identify you in various ways as you surf the Internet, most easily seen in “Welcome back, Ed” notices when I return to a shopping site, even while not logged in — and most obviously in ads for things I have recently researched in the same browser (our family recently visited Disney for a day, and after I bought some tickets, it was like my browser was taken over by mice and princesses). These cookies have real and useful applications that benefit the user — an obvious one is to track items you put into a shopping cart without requiring a log-in — as well as real and useful applications for the website you visit, such as serving up targeted ads and knowing your general preferences. In recent months, many travel experts have reported that airlines and booking engines are using cookies to show potentially higher airfares on routes that you have searched often. So if you are researching an upcoming trip from Cleveland to San Diego and have checked airfares on the route frequently in recent days or weeks, the site “knows” you really want these fares, and “guesses” that you might be willing to pay a bit more for them.

Some even think the airlines are tracking IP addresses, which is your unique address on the Internet that allows computers to find you. Beating this trend would entail changing not only browsers, not only computers, but also your location. You can give this a try if you are desperate — search at home, then again at work or a local coffee shop before booking (or vice versa) — but otherwise clearing cookies, using a different browser or even checking on your mobile device vs. your computer is a good place to start.  You can skirt the IP issue by using your phone as long as you make sure it’s not using your home Wi-Fi connection — connect through your phone provider and you’ll have a different IP. Amazing – isn’t it? So, don’t forget to clear your cookies and you can also call your local travel agent.