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How to get a cheaper ticket to unusual destinations
Here is a way to experiment with an on-line search for airline tickets. I needed a ticket to Pisa for our Italian Cooking Tour March 29-April 5, 2014. Pisa is not a major airport but it is served by British Airways an American Airlines code share in One World. I searched first on American as I am a fflyer and prefer to have the miles added there. AA schedules with British Airways, so I could get there easily on the aa.com…
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Holiday Gifts for Women Travelers
Here are our choices for Holiday Gifts for Women who Adore Traveling.
A lesson in using your phone as a camera. A smart phone has many applications which are free or close to free. But for electronic idiots like me, they can be hard to understand. Many camera stores, libraries and Apple stores give lessons. I learned how to take quick unnoticed photos without clicking the aperture! Women travelers are less likely to be electronically savvy.
Better suitcase: the best suitcases for us women are those that swivel so you can drag or ‘walk’ your case.…
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Ixtapan versus Ixtapa
Since we are getting many new requests for Ixtapan Spa Discount Week, Feb. 9-16… let’s spell the place right. Many Mexican words have ‘x’ in them, I think the Spanish substituted x for difficult indigenous words they could not pronounce.
Ixtapan de la Sal (Sal being salt) is a mountain village long known as a place with mineral waters and one where affluent Mexicans have weekend homes. Ixtapa is a beach resort with modern hotels and cruise ships. So if you are planning to come, be aware that we will be in gorgeous mountains in a colonial village, with cool evenings and mainly dry days.…
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Most important item women forget to pack for Holiday Travel
One pair of loose slacks! We all gain weight at Thanksgiving and yet forget to bring along one pair of looser slacks. There is nothing so uncomfortable as traveling in tight clothes especially those which are binding around the waist.
In addition blood clots can form if you cut off circulation. If you think you can unzip once you are seated, remember few domestic flights carry blankets anymore so you will need some Houdini moves.
So to be comfortable on the way home, pack that generous pair of trousers, along with non-elasticized socks and eat and cheat all the way home.…
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Carrying gifts on Airplanes
Like many of you, I will be bringing gifts for my family next week and on that super- crowded Thanksgiving flight. Yes, even we professional travelers end up on the most overbooked flights! Here is my conundrum: how do I pack the gifts so they do not disappear at the TSA scanner? Ideas welcomed from all of you.
So far, I will triple wrap the small things in other containers.
I have alas larger ‘objects’ for the guys in the family.…
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10 Ways not to feel Sad on Christmas Day
——–Do not go where the crowds go or risk overbooking and overpricing. Try new destinations
——–Do not eat what you would at home! This risks feeling homesick and family deprived.
——–Do not shop for others; this is your time to pamper yourself, not others.
——–Do not spend Dec. 25 in a place where everything is closed.
——–Do not stay in your room, walk around town, hang out at a restaurant or the hotel public spaces.——–Research ahead of time for walking tours given on holidays ( they exist even in religious countries).…
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Best Candy for Travel
M&M’s of course and we all know why…unless you are from the Moon.
Peppermints, on a long overnight trip, their freshness pops.
Reese’s small peanut butter squares: something about peanut butter feel healthful.
Tootsie Pop, even though you have to search for a tiny amount of chocolate, it feels like childhood. We all need a pick me up at some point during a long trip.NO GUMMY BEARS or anything that can cause a tooth problem!!!!!!!
Enjoy… and be nice to the kids tonight.…
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Fly Away from Holiday Blues: Solo Holiday Travel
Why stay home this year and hide from ever-present awful tinsel? Be your own Santa, fly away from holiday blues to a movie world: Morocco. Why Morocco?
***Small accessible country with one medieval scene following another. Ancient desert towns? Walled medinas? Roman outposts? Snow-capped mountains? Tribal henna’s hands?
***Friendly to Westerners: see Sunday’s feature in the NYTimes about a woman visiting Fez solo.
***Access to a UNESCO Heritage church Christmas Eve.
***Wonderful hotels with pampering in the Turkish bath or the jewelry store.… -
Glaring Mis-representation by NYTimes Travel Ad
Of course, I read every travel brochure which hits my mailbox. Today we received a tour wrapped into our New York Times.
Headlined: 9-Day Exclusive Tour * * * * *
The hotel page of the tour brochure sets the five stars in gold highlighted rectangle entitled PURE LUXURY * * * * * as five stars.
But read further, ladies!
The hotels are then listed as 3*, 3* and 4*. Admittedly the cost is dirt cheap but as they say in the movies: cheap is cheap.…
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Exactly what flight am I on?
It used to be that your ticket had one flight number which you searched for on the departure board. The captain announced the same number, in that uber-male ‘Welcome Aboard’ speech. Today you will see multiple flight companies and numbers for your flight, flashing one by one on the departure boards! And today these will all be announced when you board. These are codeshare flights.
Under code-sharing, an airline sells seats on ‘partner’ flights, but the flights are operated by a separate airline.…