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    Traveling Cheap Is Not Worth It
    Saturday, August 29th, 2009 /

    It’s human nature to try and cut corners and to take the best deal whenever and whereever possible. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression: “If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is”. I don’t want to take that expressions directly in context and relate it to travelling because it doesn’t directly apply! What I do want to do though is point out that being super budget when you travel doesn’t really add up.

    Your about to book a trip to your favorite holiday destination. Let’s say it’s Cancun, Mexico. You’re online, or with a travel agent, finding cheap tickets, and looking at all of your different options for accomodations. You’re looking at things like star ratings and facilities, and most importantly prices. At any major travel spot their is a huge array of differences in accomodations, which equivalates to a huge difference in pricing across the spectrum. Unless you’re swimming in money, you’re probably going to think: I want to get the most from the hotel and amount of stars for my money.

    You take middle of the road: three. Your eyes are dazzled by the stars, and now you’re quickly going throught he list looking for the cheapest hotel rated three stars. Why? Maybe it’s because you’re cheap, but most likely it’s just because you’re human. You want more, for less.

    You’ve found it. You wait for the time to pass until you embark on your journey. Flights, airports and taxis later and you arrive at your hotel. I’m going to pick on all inclusive because it’s in those where the greatest differerence I feel lies within the star rating. When you’re staying at a hotel for a night, and eating out,etc there really isn’t that much of a difference (at least to me), between having marble floors, and carpet. But when you’re at a resort for a week, and the food is barely edible, the service is non-existant, and you’re worried about leaving you’re room in fear of you’re contents going missing – the difference all of a sudden becomes of the richter. The first day is tolerable, the second and third are working there way steadily down hill, and by the end of the week it’s miserable and you’re ready to go home. You’ve save yourself probably a few hundred dollars, but instead of having the vacation of your life and not being able to wait to get back, you’re at the end of your stay longing to be home. Home, the place you couldn’t wait to get out of just a week before.

    There isn’t many circumstances when a little price difference isn’t justified. If you’re going to spend $2000, spend $2500, and a few extra days when you get back or before you leave. It’s worth it; you’re worth it!

    Category: Travel  Tags: , ,  Leave a Comment
    How To Choose A Travel Agent You Won’t Regret
    Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 /

    When it comes to making travel arrangements a travel agent can either make the process a dream or a nightmare. If you travel on a frequent basis finding a good travel agent that is reliable and trustworthy can be as important as a financial planner or a dentist. Here are a few tips to help you find a good one that won?t have you pulling your hair out while you are trying to plan a relaxing vacation.

    One of the reasons for enlisting the services of is the fact that they can generally get better deals than the public due to the relationships they have formed with travel related companies such as airlines, hotels, and rental car companies. Their ability to get better deals is a great reason to use them but I like to use a travel agent just for the convenience. I can just call them up and tell them where I want to go and they will call me back with three or four choices to consider.

    Like anything else, the key to finding a travel agent you can rely on is research. You can start out by asking friends and family for referrals of travel agents that they have enlisted the services of. Another excellent tool at your disposal of course, is the internet. With the internet you can find a list of agencies in your area and peruse their sites along with reviews and testimonials of their service. Look for forums and message boards where travelers talk about traveling and their experiences with travel agents. Even though everyone will have different opinions you can rest assured that a travel agent that gest good remarks from most people will be someone you can work with.

    Another key indicator that can help in your search to find a good travel agent is whether they belong to the American Society of Travel Agents. The reason this is important is that allows the travel agents the ability to network with other members of the group such as cruise lines, airlines, hotels, and many other travel related companies. There are also certain minimum qualifications that must be met and maintained which means that the person involved will be more conscientious than one that is not a member.

    It is perfectly right and acceptable for you to interview the prospective agent and ask questions of their qualifications and experience in order to make up your mind if they are the right agency for you and that they will be able to satisfy your travel needs. You should also ask them for references of clients who have used their services so you can get a third part?s take on them. By doing these things as you look for a travel agent it should help you to find one that will be good for you.

    Category: travel tips  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
    Choose Timeshares for the Best Vacation Accommodations Worldwide
    Friday, August 21st, 2009 /

    Going on vacation should be a relaxing, fun proposition. Unfortunately for many, the choices and planning that go into creating a perfect vacation leave the time as being anything but relaxing. Just getting from point A to point B can be a nightmare and then, of course, there’s the fret that goes along with finding decent accommodations for the long haul. For those who take part in timeshare programs, this worry, at least is removed.

    It used to be that timeshares were considered a fad, a gimmick, something that would soon pass. But as the advantages to these arrangements became known, the idea spread, and now timeshare opportunities are available in every major vacation spot the world over. Whether a person buys into a timeshare or simply rents one from an owner, these accommodations are generally solid and typically available the world over, helping take the worry of booking rooms off vacationers.

    The advantages to timeshares are many and include:

    * Location, location, location. When it comes to the best vacation destinations in the world, timeshares are there. From Orlando and Los Angele’s, to Europe and beyond, timeshares are available almost anywhere a vacationer would want to go.

    * Choice. People can get in on timeshares whether they’re buying or just renting. Buying offers a whole host of advantages, financial and otherwise, over simply leasing a timeshare from another, but the perks of timeshares are pretty much available to anyone on vacation.

    * First-class accommodations. Timeshares range from full condo units, complete with kitchens and living and sleeping quarters, to more common hotel rooms. They are generally in top-notch vacation resort areas and tend to include all the amenities of five-star resorts such as pools, weight rooms and more. In places where timeshares are simple rooms without kitchens, room service and other perks are generally available. Whether a person owns or rents a timeshare, there’s generally more than enough information available on the accommodations to take the guesswork out of what type of place the family will be staying in on vacation.

    * Benefits for owning timeshares include the ability to trade out days with other owners with different accommodations, the ability to sell days for profits and more. This gives owners the flexibility to vacation where and when they want as long as they have a timeshare in a desired location to trade.

    * Cost savings over regular hotels. This is perhaps one of the biggest perks. Timeshares tend to be cheaper and they tend to offer users more flexibility. Those that come with complete kitchens take the expense of eating out every night off the vacationers and those with room service, too, give them a world of choices for relaxation.

    The advantages to timeshares over regular rooms are many, but perhaps the biggest is never having to worry about where to stay when on vacation. This takes a lot of the pre-planning burden off and lets vacationers do what they do best – relax and enjoy. If you haven’t looked into a timeshare, you haven’t seen some of the best vacation accommodations offered.

    Category: vacations  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
    Discount Travel Ideas – Learning How to Bargain
    Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 /

    This discount travel idea came into being because traveling can be quite expensive relative to most people’s incomes. Unless you’re fairly well-off, you won’t be able to travel as much as you would like until you master some discount travel techniques. The art of discount travel is more then simply a few tricks. It is an overall strategy that you can, and should, apply to every element of your trip.

    For example, you should explore charter flights and last minute deals, etc. to get the cheapest possible airfare. Once you arrive in a foreign country, you should meet some locals and establish where the cheap places to eat and stay are. Discount travel involves a lot of small things that when applied together result in big savings, and allow even those on moderate budgets to travel more and more enjoyably.

    An important discount travel idea to use if you want your money to last while you are in a foreign country is that of bargaining. In most foreign countries, and especially those of the third world, bargaining plays a big part in everyday life and you will find yourself continually overspending if you don’t participate in it.

    Most North Americans are terrible at bargaining, which is not at all their fault. Bargaining simply does not play much of a role in our everyday transactions except for large purchases like buying a car, and maybe to a lesser extent a house. Most of us aren’t used to it and we certainly aren’t used to haggling over small everyday items.

    The first thing to understand – and a great discount travel idea – is that in the third world, everything is negotiable, and usually very heavily negotiable. When you start to bargain, you’ll soon see that the type of bargaining that goes on in other parts of the world is very different from the North American style. People often start with figures that are double or more their desired amount.

    The first step in bargaining is to not be in any kind of rush to get in a taxi, or in a hotel room, or to purchase your item. Take the time to ask around, and if you can, find some locals who will (hopefully) give you an idea of a good price. The second thing to keep in mind is you have to be willing to walk away, or at least good at pretending that you’re willing to walk away. Oftentimes you’ll find that by simply showing a lack of interest and willingness to avoid the transaction the price will be lowered, without any need for specific bargaining on your part.

    Once you get the hang of bargaining you’ll find it rather easy, and in some cases fun. The main thing to keep in mind when you’re in a foreign land is that your status as a North American will usually label you as rich to locals, even if it doesn’t seem that way to you. If you don’t want to get charged double – or more – for every single thing you do while traveling you’ll have to get used to the idea of bargaining. This is a key idea in the overall strategy of discount travel.

    Category: Travel Ideas  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
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