Alright, pretties, behave yourselves while I finish winging my way back home from our trip. I’ll be back later this afternoon with the winners of the latest contest and more deals, I promise!
Before you take the skies, take everything you don’t need out of your suitcase.
The rising cost of gasoline has some of us considering flying over driving for our summer plans—find a fare deal and flying could be cheaper—but you’ll need to pay close attention to the new airline regulations about baggage.
A sobering overview can be found here at Mouse Print, and you can find out more (complete with links to individual airlines’ regulations) here.
I wish I had some great tip here about how to circumvent the restrictions or something. My husband joked, “You should find a deal on one of those Space Bag vacuums!” but the reality is that restrictions apply to not only the number of bags, but the weight (and dimensions) of them as well. The only advice I can give you is to pack light or buy plenty of these and vacation at home.
Pretty, pretty Steph writes:
Pretty Pretty Mir, I have a question for you. I am going to Hawaii in June of this year, and April of next year, and the Samsonite luggage I got when I graduated from high school 10 years ago is falling apart. My family does alot of traveling (the trip this June is to get my sister and I to the state of Hawaii, we’ve been to all the other 49 states, the trip next April is a high school band trip), but does it in short time frames. We rarely stay in one place more than two nights, when we are gone for 1 1/2 to 2 weeks each summer. So…I need luggage that can take a beating, then get put in the closet til the next time. II don’t want to spend a LOT of money, but I would like something with a liftime/long guarantee. Any suggestions?
Actually, Steph wrote me this email a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been mulling it over for a while, because I’m of two minds on this issue. Usually I have a strong opinion and no issues with sharing it. For this… well, I’m just not sure. (more…)
Ah, the delights of travel. The fun of staying in a hotel where someone else makes your bed! The trepidation as you remember that investigative news show where you found out what a black light reveals on those bedspreads! And last but not least, the emptiness of your wallet. Alas.
Does it have to be that way? I say no.
Hello, lovely, pretty Mir!
Knight and I are thinking about taking a trip to San Antonio for a weekend, and, being the bargain-hunter that I am, looked for deals on hotels.com and expedia.com. I didn’t find anything that made me do cartwheels, so I thought I’d check to see what you knew about the subject. We’re driving, so we don’t need airfare. I’m just looking for a deal on a hotel room near the Riverwalk. We’re also planning to use a gift certificate from Restaurant.com…
Thanks bunches!
Look how pretty Rachel is, already planning on ways to save money. I’m proud of her already! (more…)
As some of you already know, I’m leaving on a cross-country trip tomorrow. I did my diligent shopping around for the cheapest plane ticket. I’ll be packing in my clearance suitcase. I’ve got my hot new laptop case. And I suckered a friend into playing airport taxi so that I don’t even have to pay for parking.
(I’m still a little amazed that my friends even talk to me. I’m kind of a pain in the butt, sometimes. Like, when I need to be at the airport at 7:30 in the morning.)
Yep, I’m almost ready to pack and be on my way. And then I thought to myself, (”Self,” I said) perhaps there are some lessons to share here. I concluded that mostly I have nothing really enlightening to impart, but we already know that that’s never stopped me before…. (more…)
So you’ve decided to take off for the weekend, and you’re hoping to score some plane tickets without dipping into your retirement fund. It can be done!
You need to know two things:
1) Some sites specialize in procrastinators. Have just a week or two (or less) of lead time? Check out Orbitz or Site59. (I’m particularly jazzed about Site59 because someone mentioned it to me and then I spent an entire day convinced it was a travel site called Area 51, which proves that I have watched far too many episodes of The X-Files and also that I’m a poor listener. But I’ve found the right place, now, and they’re cool. Ahem.)
2) Packages are often cheaper than flights, especially when making last-minute plans. “But I don’t need a hotel room!” Right. Well, suppose booking the hotel room makes your overall cost $200 lower. Need a hotel room now? That’s what I thought. The two aforementioned sites (as well as a slew of other travel sites) allow you to toggle between flight + car and flight + hotel. Check them both. Compare them to flight alone. And then don’t give too much thought to the car you won’t be picking up or the room you won’t be checking into. Who cares? You saved money.
The always-lovely Sheryl from Paper Napkin writes:
Okay Mir, I have a question for you. Everyone is planning their summer vacation, where are the best places online to hunt for tickets and hotels, and how do you find some good bargains to make the most of your vacation money?
There’s nothing like a question with about seven billion different answers to start off the day! Well. I’ve got my cup of coffee, and hopefully you have yours (and about an hour). Also, I’m going to have to upgrade the usual advice-giving shaker-of-salt to a 10-pound sack of salt on this one: My idea of a vacation is driving back to my hometown and mooching off of my parents for a few days. I’m pretty sure they’re not accepting random guests, though, so let’s look at some other options for the rest of you. (more…)
