Bea's Travel Tips

Vacation Planning Tip

2009-10-17T20:41:00.006-06:00

What will you do at your Vacation Location?

• Before you go have a Visitors Guide sent to your home or look at the city's web site.

• Look for an event calendar showing your vacation dates.

• Highlight activities and places that you would like to attend.

• Write down the Names, Addresses, Phone numbers and days/hours open for business.

It's a good idea to call ahead, ask for opening and closing times, and days of operation for the places you plan to visit.

On a recent trip, my sister and I drove to the BMW facility in South Carolina. The brochure and other advertisements indicated that it was open on Saturday. It was not. The sign on the door gave hours open during the week, Mon - Fri only. Had we known, we would have gone on a different day.

Tip to avoid lost luggage.

2009-10-01T19:14:00.004-06:00

You have arrived ready to start the vacation of a lifetime.
Waiting as the baggage carrosel goes round and round. Where is your suitcase? All the bags are gone and still you do not have yours. Off to the lost luggage room. You fill out a form and hope for the best. Your bag could arrive on the next plane or go flying off to who knows where.

Place a printed or typed paper in your luggage with the following information:

Name
Home Address (optional, some people are not comfortable putting their address in the suitcase)
Home Phone or Cell Phone
Name and Address where you will be staying while away.
Phone number where you can be reached while away.

This information will make it easy for the airlines to return your luggage to you, should the tags fall off during transport.

5 Travel Planning Tips

2009-09-07T19:17:00.008-06:00

When to go?
What is the destination?
How will you get there?
Why are you going?
Who is traveling?

When do you plan to go? Try to be flexible for the departure and return dates.

Make hotel reservations. You can make changes or cancel later. Pick two or three hotels near your event or places of interest to compare prices and amenities. If the hotels are full during all or part of your planned stay, there is likely an event that is filling the hotels. You may want to change your dates of travel, unless you need or want to be there for the same event.

Next, purchase travel tickets, unless you will be driving. Use the airlines' websites to check airfares. Be flexible, checking different days and times to find the lowest rate. Compare them with the discount travel sites. The airlines will let you reserve the tickets and prices for twenty four hours if needed. Ask how many carry-on bags are allowed. Do you have to pay for in-flight meals? If so, you might want to bring your own.

During my last flight only soda and cookies were free. Meals could be purchased.

Purchase tickets to events and popular activities before you go. Try some of the Discount Travel sites for tickets at your travel destination. The concierge can get you tickets to events and activites when you arrive.

During a trip to Maui my friends and I planned to attend the Royal Lahaina Luau. We were disappointed to find that they were sold out. We then reserved seats at a different Luau. Later while talking to the concierge, who worked for one of the on-line discount travel sites, we discovered that she was able to get us seats at the first table of the same Luau for the same price. So, we canceled our original reservations and bought tickets from the concierge.

Consider the needs of your traveling companions. The elderly or disabled may need assistance at airports. Request a wheelchair when purchasing the airline ticket. This way there will be someone waiting at check-in who will push the wheelchair through security and to the departure gate. Be sure to tip the attendant a couple of dollars. Those in wheelchairs go though a separate security area. The security staff is trained to screen people with mobility issues. Most are polite and will tell you what is going on. Those in wheelchairs will be asked to remove their shoes and the metal detector wand will be waved over the person. People with metal in their bodies, such as artificial knees or hips, will set off the detector. At that time the security staff may pat the area to ensure there are no hidden objects. Children may need items to occupy them while traveling.

Most of all: Plan time to relax and enjoy the trip. The beach, the mountains, the view, whatever it is enjoy.

Carry on Luggage - money saving tip

2009-08-16T20:58:00.005-06:00

The airlines have started charging additional fees for each bag checked. Some charge $15.00 for the first bag and $25.00 for the second bag per traveler. In order to avoid extra fees, I have noticed that many people are bringing larger carry-ons to avoid paying the bag check fee.
Most of the airlines will take carry-on bags when boarding, tag it and give you a stub from the tag for identification later. This bags will be loaded last in the baggage area of the plane and be the first bags off on landing. This way your bags will be waiting when you step off of the plane.
If you can fit your travel items into one small suit case, this could save you some money and time waiting at the baggage carousel.