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June 02, 2008

Choose Your Travel Partners Carefully

On all of my previous trips I've either traveled alone, or with my cousin Erin (who really, is more like a sister, and my best friend, all rolled into one). On these previous trips I've had a fantastic time, seen amazing sites of both artistic and historic merit, and thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in the local cultures. Whether I was alone or with Erin, I almost always encountered the "Ugly American Tourist" at one point, and while embarrassed for them, I was always thankful that I was not one of them, and that I was not WITH them.

That changed on one of my last trips.

There was a sizable group of us going, six total. The group included two of my friends from out of state who met up with us in Venice, a good friend from here in town, and two coworkers.

The whole concept of this trip started when the coworkers had told me that if I ever saw a good deal on a trip to Italy, to let them know. Once I found the trip, I booked it for the three of us, and as time progressed, my other travel partners jumped on board.

Considering that my two coworkers had never traveled internationally before, and had never spoken a single word of Italian, one of the first things I did in an attempt to help them to prepare for the trip was to purchase an Italian for Travelers CD and burn copies for each of them. I gave them the discs, and the next day they returned to work and essentially said "We don't need these, we're going to be with you".

This was my first sign that they were not going to be the best travel partners ever.

From there, the two of them continued to be dismissive of every suggestion and piece of advice that I tried to give them. While I didn't think that the three of us would return home the best of buddies, I didn't foresee that I was about to go to Venice and Florence, with the stereotypical "Ugly American Tourists". They complained that the weather was too cold, the food wasn't what they expected (they later admitted that what they were expecting was something like Macaroni Grill or Olive Garden), and they honestly complained that not enough people spoke english. Seriously. I truly wish that I were making all of that up.

All of my other travel partners were a joy to be with the entire time. I would travel with any of them again. The two coworkers, I can not say the same about.

When you're going to be traveling with someone, or with a group, that you've never traveled with before, take a number of factors into consideration.

1 - How open minded they are.

If they are the type who are set in their ways, and have to have a routine and you are not that type, theres some initial basis for friction. If some of you are open for spontaneity and others are not, there will most likely be some disagreements on what to do and when to do it.

2 - How flexible they are.

This is really just a repeat of the tip above, but I can not stress its importance enough. If you're okay when theres a three hour flight delay, but your travel partners are not, everyone is going to get annoyed. They'll be annoyed by the flight delay and you'll be annoyed by their outward annoyance.

3 - Expectations.

If you're going to Italy for the first time with an open mind and n expectations of what things are going to be like, but they're expecting to be dining at Macaroni Grill every meal, they're going to be disappointed that things aren't what they expected them to be and you'll be frustrated by their complaining.

4 - Language.

If your travel partners aren't willing to learn any of the language of the country that you're going to be visiting, thats a big red flag to how flexible they're going to be. So, if you and some friends have been discussing a trip to Brazil, buy a Portuguese language cd and give them a copy. If they're not willing to listen to it and at least learn some basic phrases, that means that they're going to be counting on you to help them with everything from ordering dinner to buying their bus or train tickets. If you're okay with having everyone be dependent upon you, this may work for you. However, that statement does not apply to me. I value independence in travelers and view having to assist people with everything as a burden that prevents me from fully experiencing my trip, and it can create yet another level of annoyance and frustration that is unnecessary if everyone on the trip is willing to take accountability of themselves and their own preparations.

5 - Level of pace.

When people are training for marathons, they're grouped into similar time categories. People who run the 7 minute mile are not grouped together with those who run a 12 minute mile for a reason - some would get shoved and others could get trampled. Use this same philosophy when traveling. I, personally, am very Type B. I like to casually stroll, enjoy the local atmosphere, and take the time to soak in the nuances of my surroundings. Some of my travel partners to Italy were very Type A and wanted to go, go, go, from one attraction to the next. While this pace worked for them because they feel that they were able to see more sites in the limited time we had, it didn't work for me. For me, it disrupted the relaxed nature of my visit, I felt that by rushing through from one site to the next, I would be missing out on the little things that you see when you take the time to slow down. They were complaining that I was too slow while I was enjoying the beauty of the sunset over a canal. It's two different perspectives, neither of which are "wrong", that just create the potential for more conflict.


What about yo? Do you have any travel partner horror stories? Any suggestions on how to select a travel partner?

February 26, 2008

I've Booked My Next Trip

I've done it. I've booked my next trip.....
I'm going to London!

London is one of those great international cities that I've always wanted to visit but haven't yet had the chance. That changed this past week. I found some cheap airfare - only $454.09 round trip from San Francisco to Heathrow on Air Canada. I checked and they're offering the same rates out of Los Angeles. It would definitely be worth checking out of other gateway cities served by Air Canada.
So I'm taking off towards the end of April, and will be flying through Calgary on the way there, and through Toronto on the way home. There is one bonus to flying through Canada - extra stamps in the passport!

I bought my guidebook this weekend, and booked my tickets first thing Monday morning.

Have any of you been to London? Any recommendations on what are the must sees and what I can pass on?

As always, I will be doing this on a budget , but this time I'm thinking that the budget will be especially tight since its such short notice I won't have much time to save up for the trip. I will be documenting EVERYTHING - where I eat, reviews on the restaurants, pubs, and attractions, and general observations about the city.

While I do pack lightly in general, I'm considering making this the trip where I try to fit everything into one carry on bag. I'm not sure that I'll be able to do it, but I'm thinking of trying.

February 16, 2008

More Great Airfares....

I've been sick and haven't really had the chance to comb through some of the airfares being offered until today...

London
One of the great international cities that I haven't had the chance to visit, but look forward to exploring one day. Everyone I know who has been thinks that I would love it.
Now through Monday, February 19, Travelocity if offering roundtrip airfare on Virgin starting at only $343 (plus taxes and all that other stuff). This includes departures from the west coast (SFO or LAX) starting at $401 (plus taxes and all that other stuff). Check out the details here for full information on the available dates, departure cities, and fares.

Italy
I know that this is extremely short notice, BUT, if you can purchase by tomorrow (Feb 17) and travel by March 29 AND you're in or near Boston, Chicago or NYC, you can snag roundtrip airfare via Travelocity to various destinations in Italy starting at only $463 (plus taxes and all that other stuff).
Check out the details here for all the info.

More goodies from Travelocity...
Aer Lingus is offering one-way airfare to a variety of European cities, departing from various U.S. cities starting at just $200. Purchase by March 31 and complete your outbound travel by June 30 to get these deals.
Go here to see everything thats offered.

If you're wanting something a little more exotic than Europe, head to Central or South America.
Orbitz has airfare on TACA airlines starting at just $194 roundtrip out of Chicago, Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington DC.
This one is also short notice - purchase by February 17 and travel by May 31.
See the fine print here.

South of the border...
Dreaming of Mexico? In San Francisco and want something all inclusive?
Fare Deals is offering packages from San Francisco to either Puerto Vallarta or Los Cabos for 3 nights starting at just $387 per person (plus taxes, blah blah blah...).
Package includes roundtrip airfare on United, 3 nights lodgings at the resort of your choice, airport transfers, all meals snacks and drinks for the all inclusive resorts, hotel taxes, fuel surcharges, and activities and entertainment.
See all of the options here.

Happy travels!
All information is accurate as of the time of publishing.

February 05, 2008

Hurry, Go Quickly!

If you happen to live in the San Francisco area, or will be visiting there within the next week and a half, make your way to the Legion of Honor.
Now through February 17 you can see an exclusive exhibit of some of the contents from Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's private residence on the grounds of Versailles.
Check out the details here , hours and location here,  and ticket information here.

If you can't make it to the Petit Trianon exhibit, but plan on visiting San Francisco later this year, there are a number of upcoming exhibits that would be great to see.

At the Legion of Honor:
The Dead Sea Scrolls and 5,000 Years of Treasures - February 16 through August 10.
Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005 - March 1 through May 25.
Women Impressionists
- June 21 through September 21.

At the de Young:
For Tent and Trade: Masterpieces of Turkmen Weaving - now through September 7.
Gilbert & George - February 16 through May 18.
Chim: The Photography of David Seymour - now through February 24.
Lynn Hershman Leeson: No Body Special - now through June 1.
Chihuly - June 14 through September 28

February 04, 2008

Mondays Miscellaneous....

A lot of random updates for you today....

Some fellow Californians have an interesting travel blog. Merideth Canham-Nelson and her husband, Chris Nelson, have left their home in the Carmel Valley to spend a year traveling the world in search of "great beer adventures". While they do visit the famous sites and landmarks of their destinations, the goal of their journeys are the pubs, breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs.
You can follow their experiences at www.thebeergeek.com.
That is one travel goal that I'm a wee bit envious of.

If you're planning on flying with United Airlines in the future, pack lightly.
United has unveiled a new policy on checked baggage for domestic flights where they will begin charging passengers $25 to check a second piece of luggage to those who are not members of their most frequent flier programs. To qualify for those frequent flier programs, and get that second bag checked at no charge, one would have to fly a minimum of 25,000 annually on United.
The new baggage policy goes into effect May 5, 2008 and the details are here.
By the way, the 50lb weight limit still applies to the bag that you can check at no charge.

I've used Gate1 Travel last November for a trip to Italy and had a fantastic time. The fantastic time was mainly due to two things:
1 - It was Italy
2 - I had referred a number of friends (5 to be exact) to them for that trip.
At the time when I was booking the reservations for all of us I asked if they had a referral program or could maybe throw me a little bit of a discount since I was throwing so much business their way. Unfortunately, the didn't - but they do now.
If you refer someone to Gate1, and they book a trip, Gate1 will give your friend $50 off their trip and $100 off the next trip you book.  Before you get too excited, check out the Terms and Conditions, it looks like they only apply to the escorted tours and river cruises which on average are a bit higher priced.

Speaking of Gate1 Travel, they're offering a few deals to Eastern Europe right now.
You can visit either Prague or Budapest starting at only $599 (if departing from  NYC).
Both of these specials include airfare and 4 nights hotel accommodations.
Checkout the details for Prague here, price and availability does vary. If you're unsure of what to see and do in Prague, visit Lonely Planets online overview OR hop on down to your nearest bookseller to pick up the Rick Steves guidebook to Prague & the Czech Republic. If you pick up the Rick Steves guidebook, checkout the online guidebook updates for important information on sight closures and discounts on hotel accommodations (not really needed for this package deal though since it does include the hotel accomodations).
If Budapest is your destination of choice, see the details here.
Lonely Planets online overview of Budapest.
Rick Steves doesn't have a city specific guide for Budapest available, or even a country guide to Hungary, but he does offer a "Best of Eastern Europe" guidebook which includes Budapest, the Danube Bend and Eger (all in Hungary) as well as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, and Vienna.
At this time, there are no notable updates to the "Best of Eastern Europe" guidebook, but you can always check back before you go. The online index to Ricks guidebook updates may be found here.

If you have a little more time, and a little more cash, you can visit Prague, Budapest AND Vienna with prices starting at $1299 (again, if departing out of NYC).
Included in this package:
Airfare from NYC- Budapest and Prague-NYC
Rail transportation between cities
3 nights hotel accommodation in each city with breakfast daily
The Lonely Planet online overviews for Prague and Budapest are above, to check out what they have to say about Vienna, go here.
The Rick Steves "Best of Eastern Europe" guidebook, also noted above, would be perfect for this trip since it includes all three cities, but you can also check out his book for "Germany and Austria" if you like.
There are a few updates for Vienna noted towards the bottom of the page here.
I priced this package based upon two tourists, double occupancy, departing from San Francisco on Octber 13, and the total came up to $3,648.02 - $1,824.01 each. This price seems a little steep - the supplement to depart from SFO instead of NYC was nearly $400 per person. You could save yourself some cash by booking the trip out of NYC, and watch for cheap tickets to NYC on some of the discount domestic carriers such as JetBlue or Frontier. If you take this option, be sure to check out the transportation options between the various NYC airports. When I did the price check for the NYC options, it departs from Newark and returns to JFK .
JetBlue flies through JFK so you wouldn't need an airport transfer on your return, but you would when you depart. A shuttle is available for $24.
Frontier flies through LaGuardia and there don't appear to be any direct transfers between LaGuardia and either Newark or JFK. Juggling transfers between LGA and the city, then the city and either EWR or JFK could be both costly and a hassle, which may make the supplemental airfare out of SFO (or your nearest airport) worth it.

All information is correct at the time of posting.
Happy travels!






January 23, 2008

Airfare Alerts

I have got A LOT of great airfare deals for you today.

For starters, the domestic....
Book on Aloha Airlines by January 29 and travel from January 23 through 31 with fares starting as low as $129 each way (plus applicable taxes and fees).
Departure cities include Sacramento, Orange County, Oakland and San Diego with arrivals in Maui, Honolulu, Kona or Kauai.
See the details here.

Now, for the international fares, and I'm noticing a lot of low fares to London.

US Airways
is offering roundtrip, nonstop flights to Heathrow starting at just $398 (plus taxes and fees) out of NYC and $519 out of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
This sale ends January 24 (yes, today) and is good for travel between March 24 and May 25.
Click here to check out all of the available departure cities and to book your flight.

Another offer for those of you who are London bound is on Virgin Atlantic, where you can find fares starting at $179 one way (plus taxes and fees) departing from Newark, and topping out at $279 out of Las Vegas.
These prices are available through January 26 and are good for travel now through March 23.
Read the fine print here, and check out what other departure cities are available.

If you like the ease of inclusive packages, turn to European Destinations.
I've found a dual city package deal for 6 nights in London and Paris, including airfare and hotels, starting at $619 (plus tax & fees). This package is valid for travel through March. Check out the departure cities here.

United Airlines is having special fares to multiple destinations throughout Europe, from Amsterdam to Zurich from departures throughout the U.S. with fares starting as low as $169 each way (plus tax and fees). These fares are available for purchase by January 31 and good for travel between January 28 and February 29.
Click here for a listing of available routes and all of the details and restrictions.

January 16, 2008

Last Minute Airfare...

Here are some more great airfares to Hawaii.

Aloha Airlines has some last minute fares available out of Sacramento, Oakland, Orange County, and San Diego starting at $129 each way (plux tax & fees).

Book by January 22 for travel between now and January 31.

More information is available here.

Need a Weekend Getaway?

Is the chilly winter weather dragging you down? Find yourself dreaming of warm beaches? An island getaway would be ideal right now.

Luckily, Airfare Watchdog has posted airfare from San Francisco to Honolulu THIS weekend for $299 round trip. See more details here. Unsure of what to do and see in Honolulu aside from Pearl Harbor? Visit Hawaii's official tourism site for information on everything from Iolani Palace, to surfing lessons on Waikiki Beach.

Still want the warm beaches, but feeling the need to go someplace with passport control and an accent? If so, there's Cancun. Again, Airfare Watchdog has posted round trip airfare from San Francisco to Cancun for only $176. Details are available here. A small sampling of Cancun attractions can be found here.

Wanting a fun trip a little closer to home that still feels like a world away? The answer is simple - Vegas baby, Vegas!
If you purchase by January 17 (yes, tomorrow) and travel by February 29, you may be able to snatch airfare from San Francisco to Las Vegas for $88 round trip from Southwest Airlines.

Maybe you're the type to bypass the sun and surf in favor of the cold. If you would rather spend your days spend a few days soaking in some culture and history than sipping umbrella drinks and getting sand in your suit. Yes? Then London's calling.
Orbitz has airfare from Los Angeles to London starting at $553 round trip. Purchase by January 18 for departure between January 23 through 25, returning January 28 through 30. Book your flight here.
Find more information on London by visiting Lonely Planets online travel guide for a rough idea of what to see and do in the region. But, before you leave, be sure to grab a copy of Rick Steves London guidebook. Whenever I visit Europe, I make sure to have a copy of Rick Steves local guidebook - 
it has never failed me, and has always provided a comprehensive guide to the area attractions along with tips on how to maximize your budget by suggesting the most affordable restaurants and accommodations.

January 15, 2008

Change to Southwest Airlines Baggage Policies

I normally don’t find myself affected by baggage restrictions on airlines. As a general rule I’m a light packer and if I do check a bag, it’s only one and very seldom weighs over 25 lbs.

However, I have travelled with glamazons who have to pack half their wardrobe, their entire cosmetics collection, and the whole bathroom cabinet.

For those types, you should take note of the following:

Currently, Southwest Airlines allows 3 checked bags (weighing up to 50 lbs. each) per ticketed passenger.

Beginning January 29 2008, that will change. The maximum number of checked bags per ticketed passenger is being reduced to 2. The weight limit of 50 lbs will remain the same.

Additional bags and/or overweight pieces are subject to additional charges.

Full details on Southwest Airlines Baggage Policies can be found here.

January 14, 2008

Welcome!

Welcome to The Tightwad Tourist.

For years I dreamed of traveling the world, mainly Europe, but always assumed that it was beyond my budget. On December 31, 2005 I decided that I was done dreaming and that one of my New Years Resolutions for 2006 was to travel somewhere that required a passport.

I just had to decide where to go.

This was to be my first international trip ever, and I was going alone so I decided that an english speaking country would probably be best. Ireland had always been at the top of my list of places to see, so I decided that that was where I was headed. I was intimidated by many things - the anticipated costs, figuring out conversion rates, I was certain that I would find myself completely broke half way through my trip.

I knew that I had to do this on a budget.

I was able to make some creative choices to minimize costs, yet still enjoy myself the entire time without sacrificing any of the experience.

As cliche as it sounds, that was a vacation that changed my perspective of the world, and of myself. In Ireland, I learned that I can navigate this world solo, meet interesting people from different cultures, and have a fantastic time exploring different countries.

Since then, I have been back to Europe and have learned more tricks to efficiently budget. I’ve become a resource to friends and coworkers, helping them to plan trips, saving them anywhere from $200 to $400 off their original projected costs. I’ll share with you my tips on how and where to find affordable airfare, reasonable accomodations, and how to make the most of your budget.

Whether busting out the passport to spend a week in Europe, or just getting in the car for a weekend trip in your own state, travel can be as affordable as it is enjoyable.

A lot of what I post here will feature airfare discounts out of Northern California, simply because I feel that its a region that doesn't get the attention that it deserves. When I first started traveling the majority of the airfare specials that I found were based out of NYC, or possibly Los Angeles, but very few were out of Sacramento, San Francisco or Oakland. I'll share those specials with you, as well as how to take advantage of some of those specials in the larger cities.

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