My Ordinary Life: July 14, 2011 ~ Disney Part Two: "We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight. Actually, we arrived before the ticket agents. What can I say, we were exci..."
Monday, August 15, 2011
My Ordinary Life: June 23, 2011 ~ Disney Part One
My Ordinary Life: June 23, 2011 ~ Disney Part One: "It was either December or January when I started to form my plan. I thought about how our family had spent so much of the past two years gri..."
August Travel tip
We apologize that we have not blogged since April. We are happy to report things did get a little busy this summer here at "Travel with Us." We had the pleasure of helping many families and one church group with their vacation and missionary plans. Now, with summer vacation coming to a close, we are getting some much needed down time and are catching up with things that have been neglected.
For this month's tip, we wanted to concentrate on holiday traveling. The holidays?!?! You say, it isn't even Labor Day yet. Well, if you are serious about traveling this holiday season, you must start planning ahead. By mid-September flights for Thanksgiving are on the increase.
Here are some great tips to help you through the holiday travel stresses:
1.) Thanksgiving and Christmas: avoid booking a flight for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve. These are peak travel days, which require "peak travel day fees."
2.) Travel on the actual holiday if possible. Lines are minimal, flights aren't fully booked, and airports are virtually empty. Also, book your return flight for an off-peak day such as Tuesday. It's much less stressful and makes for a much more enjoyable trip.
3.) Save 25-50% by leaving on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and returning the Friday or Saturday following Thanksgiving. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is a peak travel day as well, which will incur extra fees.
4.) Book your flight as far out from the holiday as possible. As stated above, by mid-September flights for Thanksgiving begin to increase. The closer to the date, typically the higher the fare.
5.) The Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Tuesday after New Years are the best days of the year to fly.
6.) The weeks after Thanksgiving and New Years are considered "dead weeks" by the travel industry and great deals can be found from airfare to resorts.
7.) If your destination is less than 400 miles away, consider driving, taking the train or bus. It's 50-60% savings over flying.
8.) Carpool with friends if you are driving your own vehicle and split the gas money.
9.) Need a hotel for the holidays? Use your frequent flier miles toward your hotel costs.
Happy holiday travel planning! We hope these tips will help put some extra green in your wallet this holiday season.
For this month's tip, we wanted to concentrate on holiday traveling. The holidays?!?! You say, it isn't even Labor Day yet. Well, if you are serious about traveling this holiday season, you must start planning ahead. By mid-September flights for Thanksgiving are on the increase.
Here are some great tips to help you through the holiday travel stresses:
1.) Thanksgiving and Christmas: avoid booking a flight for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve. These are peak travel days, which require "peak travel day fees."
2.) Travel on the actual holiday if possible. Lines are minimal, flights aren't fully booked, and airports are virtually empty. Also, book your return flight for an off-peak day such as Tuesday. It's much less stressful and makes for a much more enjoyable trip.
3.) Save 25-50% by leaving on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and returning the Friday or Saturday following Thanksgiving. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is a peak travel day as well, which will incur extra fees.
4.) Book your flight as far out from the holiday as possible. As stated above, by mid-September flights for Thanksgiving begin to increase. The closer to the date, typically the higher the fare.
5.) The Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Tuesday after New Years are the best days of the year to fly.
6.) The weeks after Thanksgiving and New Years are considered "dead weeks" by the travel industry and great deals can be found from airfare to resorts.
7.) If your destination is less than 400 miles away, consider driving, taking the train or bus. It's 50-60% savings over flying.
8.) Carpool with friends if you are driving your own vehicle and split the gas money.
9.) Need a hotel for the holidays? Use your frequent flier miles toward your hotel costs.
Happy holiday travel planning! We hope these tips will help put some extra green in your wallet this holiday season.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
April Travel Tip #1
We are sorry that we didn't get a chance to share a travel tip for March. So,we are going to make up for it by giving you two tips in April. Here is the first of two:
When planning a trip or vacation, the key to getting the biggest bang for your buck, is to PLAN AHEAD. Generally, the best time to start planning is eight weeks or more in advance of your travel date. That gives you or your travel agent time to research the best deals, to get you the best value for your money. You want to have your reservation made six to eight weeks before your trip, the earlier the better. The reason for this is; as the planes and hotels fill up, the prices go up as well (especially flights). If you see a deal at a good price, book it! The likelihood of the price going down is rare, especially the closer it is to your departure.
On RARE occasions a last minute deal may be had, but this shouldn't be counted upon when planning your vacation. When planning a cruise, booking five to six months out is optimal as you can cash in on early bird fares. Happy travel planning!
When planning a trip or vacation, the key to getting the biggest bang for your buck, is to PLAN AHEAD. Generally, the best time to start planning is eight weeks or more in advance of your travel date. That gives you or your travel agent time to research the best deals, to get you the best value for your money. You want to have your reservation made six to eight weeks before your trip, the earlier the better. The reason for this is; as the planes and hotels fill up, the prices go up as well (especially flights). If you see a deal at a good price, book it! The likelihood of the price going down is rare, especially the closer it is to your departure.
On RARE occasions a last minute deal may be had, but this shouldn't be counted upon when planning your vacation. When planning a cruise, booking five to six months out is optimal as you can cash in on early bird fares. Happy travel planning!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Al and Kathleen's travel tip of the month-February
With Spring Break approaching, here are some tips to help you stay healthy during your next flight.
- Try to get a good nights sleep, the night before your flight. A 6 am flight might look great, (because it's the cheapest), but try to pick a flight time where you can get at least 6-8 hours of sleep before you fly.
- Airborne, Emergen-C or any of those vitamin tablets or drinks are your friends. Be sure to take some prior to your departure to the airport and take some with you while on vacation. If you aren't a fan of any of these tablets, just take your vitamins especially Vitamin C.
- Avoid the airplane water when they offer it during the flight. Studies have shown that the water can contain e-coli. Bottled beverages are your best bet.
- Travel with hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes, we use Purell when we travel.
- Wipe your pull-down tray with antibacterial wipes prior to use and NEVER eat straight off of it.
- Before placing your personal items in the pouch in front of you, place them in a plastic or carry on bag, to protect them from whatever germs may be lingering in the pouch.
- Avoid the pillows and blankets they offer on the plane. They're not washed between uses.
- When you arrive at your destination, make it an early evening and try to get eight hours of sleep that night.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Al and Kathleen's travel tip of the month
We would like to introduce everyone to a website called www.gasbuddy.com It shows you the lowest gas prices in your area. All you do is type in the city and state or zip code that you are in and it shows you the location of the cheapest gas. We love using it when we are on the road as well as at home. It's great having the piece of mind that no matter what town we roll into we know the location of the cheapest gas. Try it out and see how gasbuddy can help you and your family save money on the road.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Welcome to our blog
We decided it would be fun to start a blog for our online travel business. A place where we can share our trips and travel tips. As travel agents we have learned a lot and we're excited to share them with you.
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