07Aug 2009 by admin No Comments

Fare war means big savings for airline travelers

Travel

The recent downturn in airline traffic is a boon for frequent travelers, as airlines have slashed prices. Finding an airline travel deal has never been easier, as the major domestic airlines have dropped their rates by an average of 9.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009 alone. Airlines began cutting capacity as a result of the reduction in travelers during the global recession, but a recent reduction in fuel costs have allowed them to also reduce fares. Almost every major domestic carrier has drastic reduced costs on airline tickets. Specials started appearing after Southwest Airlines cut rates on some of the most popular short flights to as low as $29 each way. The cheapest airfares of the major 100 cities can be found in Long Beach and Oakland, while…

05Aug 2009 by admin No Comments

Managing Kids With Travel Sickness

Travel Tips

Car trips can be a challenge for parents managing kids with travel sickness. Fortunately, taking certain precautions can reduce the risk of nausea. There are also several ways to deal with carsickness if it occurs. For children who are at least two years old, giving a dose of Dramamine or Benadryl 1 ½ hours prior to travel can help prevent nausea. Kids prone to carsickness should be seated in the middle of the backseat so that they are looking directly out the front windshield rather than the side windows. Placing a cool washcloth on the forehead when a child complains of feeling queasy can sometimes ease nausea. Opening the windows to let fresh air in can also help the stomach settle. Holding an icepack on the back of the neck…

03Aug 2009 by admin No Comments

Taking A Holiday To Russia

Travel Tips

A holiday to Russia would not be complete without enjoying the sights of Moscow, the capital city and also Russia's cultural and historical center. Moscow is a combination of new buildings alongside ancient churches, monasteries, theaters, gardens, parks, and museums. An outstanding art museum is the Tretyahov Gallery with an Old Gallery housing the works of Russian painters going back to the early fifteenth century and a New Gallery containing more contemporary artists, and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts hosts famous paintings as well as plaster casts of ancient scuptures. The Polytechnical Museum is Russia's largest technical museum with many technological achievements and historical inventions. Moscow is also the center of Russian performing arts with 93 theatres, 132 cinemas, and 24 concert halls. You can experience everything from ballet…

07Jul 2009 by admin No Comments

While on Vacation, Tweet with Caution

Travel

Article written by Gear Up 4 Nature Most of us know what precautions to take before going on a long vacation. We ask a neighbor to collect the mail and watch the house; maybe we even leave on a light or two so as to give the appearance of being home and not tip off burglars to our absence. But when it comes to the newer world of social media, most of us would think nothing of sharing the news of an extended trip. Why, we’d just as soon tweet that we were spending a week in the Bahamas as we’d tweet the news of discount airline ticket sales. But as one Mesa, Arizona couple found out recently, the tendency to overshare on Twitter can have serious ramifications. The Dallas…

08Jun 2009 by admin No Comments

When to Book Your Airfare

Travel

Booking discount air travel can be hit-or-miss. Either you hit that one deal or you miss out on a low fare altogether. Blink at your computer screen, and the $79 special between Los Angeles and Denver might be gone. So what can you do to beat the fickle airlines and secure the best deal? According to some travel experts, the day of the week that you book your airfare is important. As with gas prices, airfare almost always goes up on weekends. Mid-week, however, after major airlines release new sales and other airlines match the lower prices, can be advantageous. Monday may be too early to capitalize on the lowest prices, and Thursday may be too late. Tuesday evenings and early Wednesday mornings are generally the best windows in which…

15May 2009 by admin No Comments

Culture Tripping

Travel Trends

The latest issue of T Magazine pegs “culture tripping” as the new trend in travel. The story goes that those who can still afford to travel are attempting to assuage their guilt by infusing their odysseys with cultural significance. Pinacoteca Founder Anna Di Stasi tells the magazine, “It’s not about luxury anymore. Everything is cyclical, and slowly we’ll come back to the point of acceptance of the ‘L word,’ but for now it’s about the experience you take away with you.” Culture tripping reportedly is popular with families especially, who want their children to gain “enlightening experiences.” Before you write off culture tripping as just another bourgeois exercise, however, be aware that it’s not just about immodest guilt. For some people, culture tripping is more about “shaking things up” and…

05May 2009 by admin No Comments

Hotels Retool In-Room Dining

Hotel Trends

Room service, or in-room dining as it is now often called, is being retooled at many hotels as a way to cut costs while struggling with lessened demand for rooms and decreased travel. In-room dining has never been profitable for hotels, even prior to the recession, but has always been de rigueur for hotels of a certain stature, Joseph McInerney, president and chief executive of American Hotel and Lodging Association, told The New York Times. Brad Barnes, founder of restaurant consulting firm GigaChef, added that the service enhances the welcoming feel of a hotel, which in turn bolsters customer loyalty and the overall perception of the establishment. So how do hotels trim their in-room dining offerings without axing the service altogether? According to the Times, some are focusing more on…

04May 2009 by admin No Comments

Dining among the Trees

Australia & New Zealand

If you're claustrophobic, or dining with the fishes just isn't your thing, consider the Yellow Treehouse, a New Zealand-based exercise in both marketing and sustainability that sits 30 feet above ground amidst a private redwood forest. The large, onion-shaped restaurant was conceived as an ad campaign for directory-focused company Yellow and was built using only resources found in the company's directories. With its slatted, tree-clinging structure, the restaurant is meant to resemble nature and, fittingly, was constructed using redwood from the surrounding forest, as well as sustainably grown pine and poplar. The bad news (or good news, if you're acrophobic) is that the Yellow Treehouse was open for business for only a few months. However, in the future it may become available for rent for weddings and parties.

28Apr 2009 by admin No Comments

Visiting America’s Most Endangered Places

Featured

Here's an avant-garde idea for a vacation: travel the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of the "11 Most Endangered Historic Places." According to The New York Times, it takes more than perilous looks to make the list. Instead, "the trust selects what it considers important examples of the nation’s architectural, cultural and natural heritage that are at risk of being destroyed or irreparably damaged," Robin Pogrebin writes. This year's list includes a special emphasis on the threat to Modernist buildings. In alphabetical order, this year's most endangered historic places are: Ames Shovel Shops, Easton, MA Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston, TX Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA Dorchester Academy, Midway, GA Human Services Center, Yankton, SD Lāna‘i City, HI The Manhattan Project’s Enola Gay Hangar, Wendover Airfield, UT Memorial Bridge,…

27Apr 2009 by admin No Comments

Hot Spots: Dublin, Ireland

Hot Spots, Ireland

There’s more than just a robust literary underpinning to Dublin, Ireland, although the city’s history of letters is unavoidable. The erstwhile hometown to James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, J.M. Synge, W.B. Yeats, and many other major writers brims with a youthful vim (an estimated 50% or more of the city’s denizens are less than 25 years of age) that belies the solid architectural appearance. Neatly bisected by the River Liffey, Dublin offers ample sightseeing opportunity via foot. For the traveler on a tight budget, Dublin’s many free attractions leave extra funds for a pint or five after a long day of tourism, but for those with a little extra gravy, the Dublin Pass widens the range of attractions while keeping funds in check. What…