Pack Light - Lightweight Travel
There has never been a time when it has been more important to "pack light." Airlines will penalize you as never before if you show up at the airport with lots of heavy luggage. Budget travelers must be light on their feet if they are going to take advantage of cheaper ground transportation. Security personnel who decide to search your bags will delay your trip much longer if they have three pieces to search rather than one. Find out how to pack light using a step-by-step approach. It takes a little more effort and planning, but lightweight travel can be rewarding.
Pack Light - Lightweight Travel originally appeared on About.com Budget Travel on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 23:55:47.
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Venice on a Budget
Venice is one of those places that has an intimidating reputation among people who must seek out budget travel. Many fear the high prices charged for a meal, a hotel room or a gondola ride will make it impossible to visit one of the world's most remarkable cities. Take a look at some tips for making a Venice visit affordable. With some planning, it's possible to experience Venice without paying top prices.
Venice on a Budget originally appeared on About.com Budget Travel on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 17:37:21.
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Deals for the Week of March 8
Here's the latest list of 10 travel deals. Many of these links lead to offers with a very limited shelf life, so if you're interested, act quickly. But don't act so quickly that you miss the fine print. For deals that aren't quite so fleeting, check out Spring deals. This week's deals include discounts on European hotels, a six-night Ireland package from $599 and deals on Los Angeles stays.
Deals for the Week of March 8 originally appeared on About.com Budget Travel on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 16:31:10.
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Spring Travel Deals
Many travel deals are offered with strings attached, not the least of which is a seasonal deadline for purchasing, departing or returning. If you're willing to play the game, you're bound to find some bargains. At this time of year, most of us are looking for Spring Break deals. Others will want to avoid the crowds and look for great places to see at this time of year. Here's a listing of spring 2010 deals on airfares, cruises, ski deals and all-inclusive resorts, ground transportation and accommodations.
Spring Travel Deals originally appeared on About.com Budget Travel on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 22:18:29.
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Remember that 100,000-mile Offer by British Airways?
Back in November, one of the Deals of the Week was an offer from British Airways. If you were willing to sign up for their Chase Visa Card and pay the $75 annual membership fee, you could get up to 100,000 frequent flier miles. That's enough for two round trip tickets to Europe! I decided to try it.
There were a few steps to complete: You received 50,000 miles with the first purchase using the card. But to get the second 50,000 segment, you were required to charge at least $2,000 to the card within three months. I was told it would take at least one statement period after the money was spent before I'd get the second 50,000 mile award.
I watched as seats that would have been first-choices disappeared. I was thinking about summer travel to Europe, so I knew there would be strong demand for a limited number of available reward seats. With the holidays in full swing, I paid expenses with my new card that would have been handled with another account so I could satisfy the entire $2,000 requirement in the first statement period. Now I should get my full 100,000 miles to redeem by late January, right?
It didn't happen, and I got conflicting information about when the mileage actually would show up in my account. Eventually, an email arrived that stated the 50,000 new miles would appear in my account at the end of the next billing cycle (at the end of February). That turned out to be the case.
Now for the good news: I cashed in the miles to book an open-jaw itinerary that would have cost $2,793 USD for two people with a cash-only British Airways purchase. That's not a horrible price for July travel between North America and Europe, but it's also not the lowest price I found. Iberia had an itinerary very similar to what I booked for $2,544.
In addition to redeeming my 100,000 miles, I still had to pay the taxes on the flights, and because I strayed out of a few Western European countries for my travel, there were a few added fees, too. Total cost for two people to fly Boston-Milan and Vienna-Boston: $878. That's a savings of $1840 after the $75 membership fee is deducted.
To make the itinerary work, two layovers were required in Boston and London. So the cost of those hotel rooms will also be deducted from the savings total. It wasn't exactly seamless, and I didn't get my first choices of airports or travel times in some cases. But picking up a trans-Atlantic airfare for $439/person in the heart of the summer travel season is a very solid deal, wouldn't you agree?
The 100,000-mile offer disappeared in early December. British Airways warned in their promotions that it could be withdrawn after Nov. 30. If you took the airline up on this offer, please leave a comment and tell us how your experience unfolded. You can also check out more information on air mileage credit cards.
Remember that 100,000-mile Offer by British Airways? originally appeared on About.com Budget Travel on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 16:59:10.
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Deals for the Week of March 1
Here's the latest list of 10 travel deals. Many of these links lead to offers with a very limited shelf life, so if you're interested, act quickly. But don't act so quickly that you miss the fine print. For deals that aren't quite so fleeting, check out Spring deals. This week's deals include an airfare sale to ski areas, resort discounts in Jamaica and a new special offers page for outdoor adventure activities.
Deals for the Week of March 1 originally appeared on About.com Budget Travel on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 16:34:04.
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