Pearl Travel

Pearls of Wisdom – Secure Flight

Are you flying this summer?  How up to date are you about the latest TSA requirements and Secure Flight?  Just what is Secure Flight you ask? In August of last year Full Secure Flight was implemented and now impact all air travelers.  It doe not matter if you arfe flying into, out of, and over the United States this applies to you.  The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) now compares pre-departure lists of passengers to the federal government watch list.  When you have booked an airline ticket you must now supply to the person/website/airline you are making the reservation through your Full Legal Name, your Gender,  and your Date of Birth.  You may also provide your Passport number, and Redress number (a Redress number is provided by the department of Homeland Security tohelp prevent future delays for travelers who have been misidentified in the past.  You can apply for a redress ) to help aid identification.  Your passport number and expiration date must be supplied if  traveling internationally.  I hope that this information will assist you when you next plan a flight.

Pearls of Wisdom for travel – Airline Fees

Have you traveled by air lately?  Well I just did and let me tell you it is not fun.  The advent of fees for things we used to take for granted is upon us.  First you book your flight then you have to remember that 24 hours prior to your flight you have to check in.  If you don’t it will cost you at the airport.  Maybe you want to change seat assignments - ok but if you want an exit row or an aisle seat it’s gonna cost you money. then you have to check how many bags you are taking and pay for them – if not it will cost more at the airport.  The list of fees gooes on and on be prepared.  This on top of the “wonderful” fare you already paid.  I understand that not everyone checks bags, wants an exit row seat, or even wants to eat or drink on the plane but if  you do be prepared to ante up with extra funds.  Fees are here to stay and air travel is becoming more a la carte every day. Between security, fees, and uncomfortable seating airline travel is not fun just a way to get from one place to another. 

Traveling with children

During the Holidays and over the summer many families will be traveling with children big and small and that can be trying for all involved so I thought this might be the right time for a few “pearls of wisdom”. 

Some security tips:

Always arrange for a meeting place if you get lost or separated and as soon as you arrive at a location make sure to point out a uniformed person that your child can go to for help. 

It is a good idea to have a recent photo of your child with you this can be really helpful if get separated. 

Walkie talkies and or cell phones are a great way to keep in touch with older children and other family members. 

When you arrive at your hotel get a card from the hotel and have each child in your party carry it so they will always be able to tell someone where they are staying. 

A few flying tips:

When flying a ’sippie’ cup with a lid is a great idea and a supply of favorite snack items will make the trip go faster. 

A 24 hour supply of food for infants and toddlers is a great idea in case of delays. 

For Toddlers making a little packet of goodies and surprises is a great idea and will give your child a special treat on the plane or even in the car (the dollar Store can be a great source for little surprises.)

A children’s book about animals from the area, fish from the sea if you are going to the beach, or the geographic area you are going to is a great idea. 

 Traveling with children can be a special experience for both you and your child no matter where you are going or how you get there so have a wonderful trip.  Happy travels.

Pearls of Wisdom for Travel – Travel to Canada

Being a part of the North Coast of the US and bordering Canada we are perhaps a bit more aware of some problems in traveling to Canada than other parts of the country.  I feel that it is important to let my blog know about travel restrictions that are occuring more frequently for US citizens trying to travel to Canada via cruise or car or bus, when there is a point of entry into Canada. 

A person is considered to be criminally inadmissible to Canada if  you have been or were convicted of an offence outside of Canada that is considered a crime in Canada; and/or committed an act outside of Canada that is considered a crime under the laws of the country where it occurred and would be punishable under Canadian law. 

I am sure that most people out there think this does not affect them but I want to remind you that a DUI or DWI conviction is included in this restriction.

Why am I talking about this now - in the past travelers have had problems and with the Olympics being in Canada and people planning their summer travel I felt it to be a timely topic.   A person was denied boarding in Anchorage Alaska for an Alaska cruise because the cruise ended in Vancouver and Canada denied them entry.  It is very important that you know this information if you are planning a cruise in Alaska or New England where the cruise begins or ends in Canada or has ports of call in Canada.  this can also affect you if you are just going to Canada on a gambling trip.  Another point to remember is that Travel Protection or Travel Insurance does not cover this situation. 

For more information the link below will take you to the appropriate web page for Canada.   

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5312E.asp 

Pearl of wisdom brought to you bay Barb

Pearls of Wisdom for Travel

I have been in the travel industry for about 20 years and during that time I have probably seen or heard thousands of travel hints that might benefit you the traveling public.  I thought I would share one or two of  those with you.  So weekly check the blog and see the new travel hint posted. 

Today’s hint: this comes from my husband who always says “Less clothes more money”  this being said with all the extra charges by the airlines for luggage is it better to reduce the amount of clothes you bring.  You can’t and don’t need to wear a new outfit every day.  Pick clothes that are mix and match one pair of pants multiple tops, clothes that wash and dry easily, and clothes that wear well.  The last part of this hint don’t contingency pack you do not have to have an outfit for everything that might happen.  That’s all for now

Cruise and Ports

Shore Excursions while in port are an important part of a  cruise but a little advance preparation before your cruise  can save time and money while allowing you to see all you want to see.  Don’t wait until you are on the ship to decide what excursions you want to take or what you want to do in any given port.  Advance preparation, checking out the port on line through local tourist boards, english language newspapers for special event listings when you are in town, museum web sites, local tour agencies web sites or web sites of companies specializing in day trips (like Shore Trips) are the most important part once you’ve booked your cruise.  Make sure you know the distance to where you want to go for example Livorno Italy is the stop for Florence but if you want to see Michaelangelo’s ’David’ Florence is 90 miles away and you need to prebook a scheduled time to avoid a long line during high season, on the other hand Barcelona port is right down town so everything is close.  Is there a port you are really interested in, perhaps you want to spend more time in a particular location, book a cruise that departs from that port.  If you are in a port and you know everybody is going to the same ’sight’ or landmark this is the time to splurge and book a private car and driver/guide.  You will get there faster and see more than on the ships excursions.  don’t forget to check about local holidays when you will be in town, some things are limited or closed if there is a holiday.  Remember do your research for a more enhanced stop at any port.

Weathering the storm!

My Pearls of Thought for this week are a bit about combating and being prepared for delays.  I fly an average amount of time  (not frequent) and over the years have been delayed due to engine trouble (9 hour delay for a 3 hour flight), overcrowding at the arrival airport (missed European connection), emergency landing (made it home safe but late), Security breach (arrived a day late) and an untold number of weather related delays this is what I have learned I offer you a few things you can do to minimize the problems of flight delays. 

When traveling to a wedding, cruise, tour or some other thing that is ‘time  sensitive’  (it goes without you) think about leaving a day early.  This affords you the opportunity to be ready and rested at the right time and can lessen the possibility of travel delays that cause you to arrive late.

Any time you are traveling is it important that you stay informed- don’t wait for robo calls telling you a flight is delayed or cancelled you may have already left for the airport.  Call your airline, check the airlines web site, or find a flight tracking web site  like www.flightstats.com that lets you see airport delays and allows you to check the status of your flight.  Don’t forget the arrival airport can cause a problem, if you can’t land you will not be allowed to take off.

Know what your rights are.  Your airlines has a contract of carriage and it is available on the airline website.  You will find that this usually has an exclusion for “Act of God” which includes weather.  Most airlines will, as a courtesy allow you to change your flights without penalty, or reschedule to travel at the earliest possible moment.  The problem is that most flights are very full these days so it sometimes is only possible to get a few people from a cancelled flight on the next available flight.  If your flight is delayed and you find your self in line (usually a long line) to reschedule immediately get on the phone to the airline and see if you can make the change before you get to the desk.  Even when the airline phone has a long hold time this frequently gets you through before you get to the agent.  I put the airline 800 number on my cell before I leave home so that I am prepared.   

There are 2 other bits of advise I have to offer first sometimes finding an alternative way (drive, bus, train) if it is a short flight and a long delay sometimes the alternative is the best thing to do.  Second and most importantly bring your smile and your patience with you and be alert sometimes just being near the podium and hearing a word can get you to the head of the line and a courteous talk with an agent will get you much further than being confrontational.

Punta Cana

Spending a week in the Caribbean in Punta Cana at the Ocean Blue Golf and Beach Club.  Not sure why it is called Golf as there is none connected.  Property is not bad looking and food has been quite good so far.  Friday our day of arrival we had rain but since then wonderful weather.  Sunny skies, warm tropical breezes.  Today we did an Outback Safari and had a reallygreat time.  We saw a lot of the country, stopped at several places where we learned about coffee and chocolate.  Bought some of each and also about Mamajuana – a rum/wine/honey with herbs and twigs in it.  Surprisingly good.  We are bringing a bottle back because once you have one  you are good forever (they say for 100 years) you just keep refilling it.  Also bought a few good Dominican cigars along with the coffee and chocolate.  There is a lot of concern here for Haiti and we donated for the locals to contribute to Haiti.  A touch of sunburn tonight after our day long ride and stop at the beach.  The waves were terrific and everybody was boogie boarding. 

Having a terrible time with Internet connection and cell phone connection so probably not going to do anything else for the blog until I get back on the weekend. 

Look for a travel hints to continue next week.

Barcelona day 2

IDONDE ESTA LORENZO?  Our second day in Barcelona was completely free and so we decided to explore.  We learned that when traveling in foregin areas you need to be specific about what you are looking for.  We headed off on the Metro, which is superb and so easy to use just watch you pockets and purses and ended up at what were the Olympic Village when we really wanted the Olympic stadium sites.  We finally made it there and saw the entrance to the Olympic area very impressive and now put to wonderful use as musuems, and convention centers.  We then decide we wanted to see another building by Antoni Gaudi so headed off on the metro fo Casa Mila.  We had to change from one line of the metro to another and as we were heading off we suddenly turned around and Idonde esta lorenzo? (where is Larry?)  We had lost him.  After some discussion we headed off for our original destination and since we were extremely hungry we stopped for lunch and then as we were approaching the Casa Mila there was Lorenzo – he had gotten on the wrong metro.  We did indeed see the building and then headed back to our hotel for a rest before we went to a Flamingo show.  this was fantastic there were times when the feet were moving so fast you could barely see them.  After this we had our ‘thanksgiving’ dinner paella at a sidewalk cafe.  It was a wonderful end to an adventure filled trip.  This was a superb trip with many ports of call as well as our two land stays.  I was very pleased with the Oceania Cruise, Shore Trips, and Comtours in Spain they all did a wonderful job that enhanced our trip.

Barcelona Day 1

I would be remiss if I did not finish our trip and our adventures with our stay in Barcelona.  Again we were so very impressed with this beautiful city filled with impressive buildings.  On Wednesday morning we bid farewell and Happy Thanksgiving to those who were on their way home to Cleveland and departed the cruise ship early in the morning.  After checking into our hotel we set off to explore the city seeing a market that was filled with so many things to eat that we headed off for lunch which we had at a tapas sidewalk restaurant.  We then had an afternoon tour of a portion of the city.  This tour included the public gardens first started by Gaudi as a residential development then donated to the city.  We had an overview of the city before going the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) church that has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be completed until 2020 or 2030.  This church is called a temple and is said to be the masterpiece of architect Antoni Gaudi.  Truly a magnificent structure even with all the cranes and construction going on.  We dined at a local restaurant specializing in seafood.