Archive for July, 2008

Vacationing in Spain? Check Out These Money-Saving Tips

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

Ah Spain! One of the most amazing vacation destinations that promises a limitless supply of wonderful cultural experiences. In order to enjoy all the great cultural sights and sounds without breaking the bank, here are some helpful tips:

Madrid, Spain
  1. Where to Stay: look for vacation rentals or villas which could accommodate you for a rate that is less than what most hotels will charge you. Shop and compare deals online for more convenience. It will probably take some time for you to hunt for the best deals but it will be worth it.
  2. Where to Eat: when in this beautiful country, you will be delighted with the many restaurants and pubs that offer wonderful fares. A good tip is to order the Menu of the Day (Menu del Dia) between the hours of 2 to 3. You will enjoy delicious food while saving more. As for breakfast, you can always check out the cold buffet breakfasts offered by local delis and cafes.
  3. What to Drink: most locals share a starter as well as the desert and order the house wine when dining out. The good news is that most restaurants in Spain serve delicious house wine.
  4. How to Get Around: again, so what the locals do. You should be very comfortable getting around using the bus. There will be no difficulties going to Madrid, Avila, Segovia and Granada.
  5. Where to Go: museums in Spain have free admission days and you should take advantage of this. In Madrid, you will be delighted to know that free admissions are offered on different days.
  6. Where to Shop: when it comes to shopping for souvenirs, you will save more by skipping tourist centers and checking out local haunts.

Consider these hot tips and you will be surprised with how much you can save on your vacation!

Related Posts:

Making Long Haul Travel Comfortable

Monday, July 28th, 2008

Air travel on long haul corridors can be punishing for some people, particularly when they are not adequately prepared or not prepared at all. The humidity of the air inside the aircraft is a matter of concern for many. Against a normal 50 to 60% humidity level on ground, this plunges sharply to around 2% inside the cabin. The air fare, or cheap flights, or cheap airline tickets is not going to offset this situation.

Making Long Haul Travel Comfortable

Hydration

Keeping yourself well hydrated during the entire journey is a nice way to look after yourself. But, do remember that alcohol will do exactly the reverse of what water can to your body. In preparing for your air travel, maintaining a full hydration level for some days just before your travel will make you more comfortable. This measure would allow for intake of more water than you would consume otherwise during normal times.

Less leg room

Cheap airline tickets, discount airfare, or other similar flight tickets all come with certain riders attached to them. After all, they need to make their profits o. But, as a traveler, what you should expect is lesser leg room and more crammed space. The only alternative is to travel first class or elite class. We all know that every one of us have our own limitations in exploring this alternative.

Exercise your legs

Many people avoid taking water or other liquids to keep themselves hydrated because of a perceived embarrassment on the number of trips to the loo. However, the fact is that the more number of trips you make to the loo, the better it is for your legs. Your prime concern is to look after yourself and not what others might or might not think.

Rarely though, there are instances when excess intake of water can aggravate certain physical conditions. If you have the slightest of doubt in this regard, do consult a physician before you embark on the trip. Long haul flights are akin to visiting the deserts sans the heat. Therefore, it is a nice idea to carry adequate volumes of water in your flight bag on board, particularly when using cheap airline tickets.

Related Posts:

Long Haul Flights and Deep Vein Thrombosis

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Cutting across continents can be achieved in a day or often in half a day. Fine, your exigencies or business requires you to move around quickly. Whether you are a business traveler or on a last minute vacation, on cheap flights, or a midnight flight, certain health issues apply to anyone on long haul flights.

Long Haul Flights

Deep Vein Thrombosis

The airlines need to make a profit too and therefore they will always want to utilize that extra inch of space productively, and more so, if cheap airline tickets are to be offered at all. The Economy class and other cheap tickets also mean that more seats are packed into the same space. Does that leave you comfortable for a long haul of say 14 hours non stop? Blood clots particularly in the legs is a major area of concern and frequent travel in identical situations can lead to deep vein thrombosis. In rare instances, more serious complications have also been reported.

Addressing the issue

Cheap airline tickets are indeed handy when the flying time is a few hours. But on long haul routes how cheap, your cheap airline tickets can turn out to be is subjective. Yet, you can minimize, or even eliminate the risk of deep vein thrombosis arising from frequent long haul flights, by following some or all of the following tips.

Measures to prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis

Travel at frequent intervals is almost inevitable for many of us. But some of the measures we can employ to minimize or fight the effects of a long haul flight are:

  • Book an aisle seat near the bulkhead or an exit row so as to afford more leg room
  • Getting up from your seat and walking around for some time at least once every hour
  • Stimulate circulation of blood even while seated, by massaging lower legs, ankle, feet etc., clinching your toes etc.
  • Keep yourself well hydrated, but take care not to consume alcohol because that can dehydrate you
  • Consult your doctor before flying, if you have higher risks of blood clots, such as an existing problem of varicose veins

Related Posts:

Afraid of Flying?

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

An aircraft laden with a few hundred passengers and crew on board, falling to the ground cannot be a good news to stomach for anyone - more so if you are afraid of flying. The reasons for such accidents, though far and few in between, are queer. A common thread running between these queer accidents when it comes to the cause is “the engines did not respond”. Why the engines did not respond - as an ordinary traveler, we may seldom get to know at all, irrespective of what ticket we travel on - the elite class or cheap airline tickets.

Continue Reading: Afraid of Flying?

Days When You Can Avoid Travel

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

You have invested large amount of time researching cheap airline tickets, hotel accommodation, car rentals, and all that is essential to make your European vacation package most comfortable and exciting. But, have you also given a thought to certain occasions when you had better not undertake any travel to select destinations at all? Let us consider a Disney World vacation package, but don’t know the most ideal dates to visit. Now, if you are not holding an annual pass, then the ‘blockout’dates, 22 December through 4 January, 15 March through 28 March and 7 June through 14 August would apply. Now, these dates are out of bounds for seasonal pass holders because of busy calendar.

Continue Reading: Days When You Can Avoid Travel

Ticketing Horrors

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Modernity, convenience, getting things done from the comfort of your home sweet home, all these big words inexplicably also bring along a rich serving of foolhardiness. The “do-it yourself” models seldom ask you to recheck on the correctness of what you have done and in some cases even hurry you through the error. These tools delivered to us by the power of the internet are useful only when we are careful enough to use them with precision. Against “date of journey”, if you key in 12th January instead of 12th February, there is no tool to read your mind and make the correction necessary. The tickets are printed and you reach the airport on 12th February only to realize that you have missed your flight a month ago, and cannot travel on 12th February.

Continue Reading: Ticketing Horrors

United Offers Cheap Airplane Tickets to Canada!

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Five years ago, most people choose to travel to some other international destinations instead of Canada. But with the weakening dollar, it is not surprising that Americans are opting to go to this destination for their summer vacation. Aside from having fun, travelers will certainly welcome the bargain ticket prices especially those offered by United Airlines.

Continue Reading: United Offers Cheap Airplane Tickets to Canada!

Flying tips for cranky passengers

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Go to any airport across the globe, you are sure you find at least some passengers who are either irate or unhappy over airline schedules, baggage issues or anything else that can upset the rhythm of individuals. There will be people traveling on last minute vacation packages, last minute tickets, or other types of plane tickets.

Continue Reading: Flying tips for cranky passengers

You are sick and need to fly – Should you take the trip?

Friday, July 18th, 2008

You spent several days or perhaps even weeks planning that Christmas vacation, drawing vacation ideas from a variety of vacation packages, and have put together the best available family vacation packages on earth for your family. Cheap airline tickets have been sourced and your trip is confirmed. Hours before the scheduled departure of your flight, you or a member of your family takes ill with a high fever, a worse case of flu or a cough that can bring the roof the cabin down. Sickness of this kind often come unannounced and also disappear more or less the same way. But, is it good for you in the first place and the potential risk of infection to your passengers? But, the trouble is, most airlines do not recognize this type of illness as cause enough to give you a refund of the fare, or re-schedule your flight.

Continue Reading: You are sick and need to fly – Should you take the trip?

You can avoid wearing these on a plane.

Friday, July 18th, 2008

Many of us tend to pay little or no attention to the small details of what we should wear or rather not wear while on an air trip. Somehow, the gap between an ideal wear on commercial flights and the actual appears only widening with each passing day. We put in so many effort checking for cheap airline tickets, tabulating airfares, looking for those economical midnight flights and a host of other things.

Continue Reading: You can avoid wearing these on a plane.