A pearl revealed in each and every trip
When Chris Gray Faust, former travel editor at USA TODAY, asked at her blog for best travel experiences of 2009, I spun through all of my travels to see which one came back as ‘the best.’
But I found that it was not one particular trip that was ‘the best,’ but rather it was realizing that my love of travel has been inherited by Read more of this article »
Well, not exactly . . .
There were creatures stirring this morning, but not as many as I thought would be. I had a very early 6:30am flight out of Orlando. The Delta Sky Club was virtually empty. The concourse was busy, but not as crazy-busy as a typical travel day.
The flight to Atlanta was surprisingly empty, both in First and in Coach. The Atlanta concourse was hopping, but again not as hectic as I thought it would be. I even had time to visit the Kiehl’s store in Terminal B for some gifts to self!
The children were nestled all snug in their beds Read more of this article »
It’s always fun to plan future travel. Coming up with an idea of where to go and what to do AND have everyone agree can often be a challenge. Here’s a tool that determines your travel personality and can recommend appropriate travel choices – the Plog Travel Personality Quiz located at www.besttripchoices.com.
The Plog Travel Personality Quiz was developed by Dr. Stanley C. Plog who received his doctorate from Harvard University. The concepts are scientifically validated and based on 40 years of continuous research involving over 250,000 people who have taken the quiz. I think you will find the quiz interesting and fun and you may also learn something about yourself. There are six different categories of travelers and you’ll be given your results immediately after answering a quick 15 questions.
Obsession with our mobile phones, that is. Just observe the people around you the next time your flight is getting ready to take off. When the plane door closes and we need to turn off our phones, watch how many people keep on talking and checking their emails. I feel sorry for flight attendants. They often have to ask people several times to turn off their electronics, and have to listen to rude comments by passengers.
I sat next to a guy in first class last week and he never did turn off his phone. He set it to airplane mode instead, telling me that studies have shown that cell phones cause no interference for the pilots and their systems. Is this the time to be disputing studies, right before the all-important take-off? Personally, I’d rather not cause any unnecessary risk to the flight, whether real or not, so my phone is always off. (My husband will tell you that I always follow the rules and I get upset with him if his bag is not fully underneath his seat.)
Want to look back at your holiday travel with fondness this year? Here are my Top 5 Tips for Stress Free Holiday Travel that I recently passed on to fellow travelers as a guest blogger at FareCompare.com.
Enjoy this holiday season and have fun in your travels!
On Saturday, I saw the movie, Up in the Air. Living away from home a couple hundred days a year myself, I wondered how Hollywood would glamorize jetting off from place to place. Wonder no more.
For a really fun way to get holiday shopping done in one day flat while having an experience of a lifetime, check out A New Look at Holiday Shopping.
With Christmas just around the corner, the majority of us still have a long list of people to buy gifts for. It's challenging enough to find the perfect gift for someone. Add in the challenge of being on the road for business or conferences and then finding the time to shop is the biggest challenge.
I only have 5 days at home between today and December 24th before I head to Chicago for the holiday, and I have only just begun to think of my Christmas list or where I am going to shop at. After this article is written, I had better get my shopping started!
I have a deadline of next Monday, December 15th, to have gifts ready for a child I selected to buy for in Houston, so that will get me heading to Amazon
MSNBC had a great article this week on giving yourself the gift of air miles while shopping for the holidays. Many airlines have partnered with loads of great name stores so that you can buy exactly what you're looking for at typical online prices, with the added benefit of getting air miles for each dollar spent. Prices are no higher by going through the airline's shopping link, as you are redirected to your desired store's website. The airlines get their revenue from the stores themselves, typically a percentage of what you and I spend. So there is no cost to you to use the airlines' online stores … just the added benefit of getting air miles for your purchase.
I created an account with Delta's SkyMiles Shopping so that they could record my miles for what I spend. It's easy to see how many miles are offered by store, so that I can select the stores that I want to purchase from:
Your purchase will be sent to you directly from the company you purchased the item(s) from, not from the airline.
Not only do you get air miles for your purchases, but for many airlines this is a legitimate way to keep your account active if you have not flown their airline in awhile.
I'm off to get my shopping started. With four new nieces this Christmas (2 born last week; 2 born in September), it'll be fun to shop for tiny baby clothes! Then I'll have the more difficult task of figuring out what to buy for our mid-20's kids. Baby clothes are much more fun to buy than big kids' stuff!
Check out this article on MSNBC and start shopping and earning air miles!
I could not care less about the Tiger Woods stories running rampant through the news, but each time I read about Continental and United Airlines, I perk up. I know, it’s sick! As a Continental Platinum member, talks about how these two airlines interact are important to me. So I wonder …
United has many other airlines in their Star Alliance but all of the chatter in news reports and blogs is about their relationship with Continental, the airline who joined Star Alliance only six weeks ago. Both airlines announced enhancements to their frequent flyer programs beginning in mid-2010. If you have elite status on one airline, the other will honor it. Each will offer better seating, unlimited upgrades and the ability to accrue and redeem miles on the other’s flights. This could be in response to Delta's announcement about changes to their SkyMiles awards program, but what is significant is that these recent announcements have come from both airlines.
So why is it that we don’t hear United talking about similar programs with other Star Alliance members? Why is it that each enhancement or new program includes only Continental, the newest and brightest Star Alliance member?
We have been treated to many joint statements and photo ops, watching reps from both airlines meeting together in public, smiling – holding hands as it were, but there is no public talk about marriage, i.e., merger, because it begs the question: Which airline would be the swallower, which one the swallowee?
Would a merger even be necessary if they continue working together this way? Are they strong enough to seriously compete against the Delta/Northwest giant as it is? Lots of questions, enough to make this soap opera endure for a while.
In the meantime, we will be treated to lots of these lovey dovey stories about the two airlines working together. Publicly, they sound like a wonderful relationship. Privately, they may be sharing a bedroom more than they tell us.
And you can bet this story will go on a lot longer than Tiger Woods.
The results of a poll taken by Business Traveller magazine show that less than 1 in 5 of us are using a mobile boarding pass. Since this is poll taken by a business travel magazine, the results reflect what frequent fliers are doing rather than the general public. When adding in all fliers, it is probably less than 2% that are using mobile boarding passes.
In fact, I asked a TSA agent at the Orlando airport this week as to how many people come through his line using a mobile boarding pass. He estimates only 2 people per hour, so I was 50% of his mobile boarding pass customers in the 7am hour. Since so many travelers coming through MCO are family tourists, it is not surprising that the number in Orlando is low.
However, I see about the same results in Houston’s Intercontinental Airport where there are a lot of business travelers on Thursday and Friday evenings. The TSA agent in Houston I spoke with also said that very few mobile boarding passes come through. Until recently, the mobile boarding pass machines were usually off in Houston, and needed to be turned on when I came through with my phone’s boarding pass. Today the machines were actually on, so maybe business is picking up.
I personally love using a mobile boarding pass. I do not have to worry about printing a boarding pass ahead of time, or getting it from a check-in kiosk at the airport. At the airport, my iPhone always connects successfully to the link. I do try to have the boarding pass displayed before I get into the security line, as it takes a few seconds or more for my connection to the boarding pass to display.
I have seen that other travelers have had troubles with the scan of their mobile boarding pass, and they have gotten sent back to an agent for a paper boarding pass. The TSA agents I talked with said that it is primarily the boarding passes on a Blackberry that have a problem. They can only be sized in one of two ways on the Blackberry, and even the larger size may have problems being scanned. They said that the iPhone generally has no issues because the bar code can be set to an easy-to-scan large size. I have never had a problem on my iPhone, so I happily use my mobile boarding pass whenever I can.
I also show my mobile boarding pass when I enter an airline’s club room. The boarding pass is simply looked at and not scanned in these locations.
On a quick layover in Atlanta, I had an opportunity to check out Minute Suites, a new service for travelers who want a quiet break. It was reported in USA Today here.
I’ve got to say, it’s a pretty interesting concept. For $30, travelers can have an hour of peace and quiet in a private room. And this is quite a feature-rich room.
You get a bed, desk, alarm clock, large screen monitor which can be used as a tv (satellite hookup) or a computer monitor, and an amazing eight power outlets. If you wish, the monitor can even track your flight or someone else’s flight.
Already this might be enough to make someone shun the airport lounges but Minute Suites is not done. For those who desire rest, they offer disposable pillow covers, a blanket that is nicer than what you get on an airplane (which you can keep) and an audio program they claim will give you the feeling of three hours of sleep in only 26 minutes.
If you prefer to simply get work done or just relax, these suites – Minute Suites calls them Travelers Retreats – provide most everything you need. They offer a computer with high speed internet, a desk to work from, and a wireless keyboard and mouse. Alternatively, you can relax on the provided sofa bed and operate the computer or tv right from there.
Adding another touch of luxury, Minute Suites includes a hot towel service for guests. You can also control the room temperature, and each suite has a ceiling exhaust fan as well as a sprinkler system.
If sleep is the preferred choice, you can awake to either their supplied alarm clock, a call to your cell phone, or a polite knock on the door. After all, the pleasant staff does not want you to miss your flight. I suggested they consider also offering ear plugs and sleep masks like you get on trans-con flights. We’ll see what comes of that.
They claim the rooms have a “sound masking system” but if I had to pick on a weak point, this would be it. Even with the door closed it was easy to hear some of the chatter in the terminal as well as voices in the next room.
Understandably, no food or drink is allowed in the rooms. They are just being realistic here. Really, how many people want that Burger King smell when they are trying to take a nap?
The cost is $30 for the first hour and $7.50 for each additional fifteen minutes. I wondered whether this was a lot so I compared it to the airport lounge fees.
The fees for existing lounges are typically $40-50 per day, per person. However, that price includes at least some food and drink, as well as showers and meeting rooms in some lounges.
On the other hand, the lounges are certainly much more crowded, power outlets more sparse, and there is never a place to lie down and sleep. For more about airport lounges, check out this article.
The Minute Suites rate applies regardless of how many use the room. In other words, the charge may seem pricey for only one person but for two or more, the price is more appealing. For four people, the cost is quite modest and yes, four can fit in these rooms quite easily.
Presently there is only one Minute Suites location in the U.S., and it’s in the Atlanta airport in Terminal B.
Their current hours are 7am-11pm. This is good enough to accommodate most travelers who want a nice break.
If you have sufficient time between flights while traveling through Atlanta, this may be just the thing for you.
