I just received the email below

Dear David Owers,

As a valued Air Canada customer, we’d like to share changes planned for the 2013 Air Canada Top Tier Program. As the program includes the introduction of new tier levels and the realignment of some benefits, we are announcing the key benefit changes a year in advance.

Note that these changes apply to the 2013 Top Tier benefit year beginning March 1, 2013, and therefore do not affect the 2012 Air Canada Top Tier Program.

The 2013 Top Tier Program, which will feature two new tier levels, has been redesigned to better recognize and reward our customers. It also aligns our program with industry leaders and ensures that the Air Canada Top Tier Program remains highly competitive internationally.

Here are some of the highlights of the 2013 Air Canada Top Tier Program for each of the five tier levels:
Members earning 25,000 Status Miles or 25 Status Flight Segments will enjoy 2013 Top Tier benefits similar to those offered with the 2012 Top Tier Program

Members earning 35,000 Status Miles or 35 Status Flight Segments will notice changes to their 2013 Top Tier benefit program as compared to the 2012 Top Tier Program:
Star Alliance™ Gold recognition will be replaced by Star Alliance Silver. Members, however, will be able to choose Star Alliance Lounge access as a Select Privilege
Upgrades with eUpgrade Credits will apply on Tango Plus and Latitude fares for travel in North America, and Latitude fares for travel to international destinations
Members will continue to enjoy many Air Canada Priority Airport and Reservation services, complimentary access to Maple Leaf™ Lounges, three complimentary checked bags on Air Canada flights, Bonus Aeroplan® Miles for eligible flights as a Select Privilege, and more

Members will be able to achieve new levels of recognition with the introduction of two additional tiers:
Members earning 50,000 Status Miles or 50 Status Flight Segments will enjoy the 2013 Top Tier benefits earned at 35,000 Status Miles, as well as:
A higher upgrade priority
Upgrades with eUpgrade Credits which apply on Tango Plus and Latitude fares system-wide
Additional eUpgrade Credits
Star Alliance Gold recognition

Members earning 75,000 Status Miles or 75 Status Flight Segments will enjoy the 2013 Top Tier benefits earned at 50,000 Status Miles, along with:
A higher upgrade priority
An accelerated earning of Bonus Aeroplan Miles for eligible flights as a Select Privilege
Additional eUpgrade Credits
An exclusive Threshold Program

Members earning 100,000 Status Miles or 95 Status Flight Segments will enjoy 2013 Top Tier benefits similar to those offered with the 2012 Top Tier Program

To view more details with the qualification levels and associated benefits for the 2013 Air Canada Top Tier Program, click here.

Over the course of 2012, we will continue to introduce improvements to the program, as some new and exciting benefits are currently in the works. Also, we will be unveiling the names of the new tiers.

To keep you updated on the latest news, we will be communicating with you regularly throughout 2012. We also encourage you to bookmark aircanada.com/toptier2013 and to follow us on Twitter @ACTopTier.

***********
This is really a big change for Aeroplan as it used to be a program in which it was relatively easy to get gold status (35,000 miles). Now to get Star Alliance Gold only at 50,000 miles, while it does put Air Canada more in line with other Star Alliance carriers I think it might push people away from their program- at least the people who fly less than 50,000 miles per year and were still enjoying the perks of Elite. Personally it won’t affect me as I typically fly 50-75K miles each year.

One thing I am glad to see is Air Canada announcing these changes a year in advance. This gives time for people to get used to the changes and also gives them the time to make any adjustments before the program goes live.

I have not had the time to do much on this site as of late, aside from updating my Getting the most out of Aeroplan page.

In the last few months I have been busy changing jobs and moved to London, England..  Technically I was born in the UK- however it has been more than 25 years since I lived here, so it is quite a transition. Expect to see more UK-related tips in the future.

I am also planning some changes to the site to make it more logical to find information- so stay tuned…

By the way- I have been spending some time on Tripadvisor lately- there is a lot of good review information for anywhere you are planning to visit. They also have a cool travel map which allows to to pin the places you have been, and those you want to go to. You can see mine here.

In general I have been a fan of Delta… until today. My girlfriend reserved a week in the Dominican for my birthday, and because I have a lot of Delta miles I thought we could use my miles to fly there. One of the great things about the Delta website is that if your dates are flexible they give you a calendar which can help you determine which days require less miles.

Last week I made a reservation which had to be completed by this weekend. So a couple of days later I decided to complete my reservation online. I went through the entire process on the Delta website and entered all of my information… Uh-oh.. I get the following message

Call Delta to Complete Reservation

We are unable to complete this reservation online at this time. Please contact Delta immediately and provide your reference number to complete this reservation. Call 888-750-3284, or the number on the back of your SkyMiles card for assistance. Non-U.S. based customers, please call the Delta Reservation Sales office for your country. You must call within the next 4 hours to confirm your reservation. We apologize for the inconvenience.

I called the reservation number- thinking, this shouldn’t take long- after all, I had a reference number. The person took all of my information, my reference number, and my credit card number (for the taxes)… confirmed my address… and I waited… Then I was asked for a different credit card- so I gave them one… and I waited some more… the person I was dealing with came back and asked me to stay on the line.. then put me back on hold… for over an hour!!!

I didn’t want to hang up and have to start all over again but after 75 minutes I was worried that my cordless phone was going to die on me so I called the reservation number back from my cell phone, and sure enough, while explaining everything to the second person the first person came back on the cordless phone. They had finally worked it out, but in the process have given me two seperate reservations for my flights.  

I don’t know if it due to the fact that I was making a Skymiles redemption but my total time on the phone was 88 MINUTES!!!

Seems to me like Delta is making it complicated to redeem miles.

It’s interesting that I never had to wait that long to reserve a regular ticket.

This summer I took a trip to Ukraine and Russia. As it was for a couple of weeks, between my girlfriend and I we had one large bag and one small carry-on. The two large bags weighed approximately 20 kgs each- while the smaller bags were much less.

The first time I faced how important it is to keep things light was when we stayed for a day at a hotel in Kiev, Ukraine. Our room was on the fourth floor but there were NO ELEVATORS. My girlfriend could not carry her bag, so, I hauled one suitcase in each hand up to our room. When I finally got to the top I swore that I would not be doing this again… Or so I thought…

A week later we arrived in St-Petersburg to a mini-hotel. This hotel was on the fifth floor of the building- our room was on the SIXTH… and once again, no elevator.

A few days later we were packing up to leave St-Petersburg and I found that half of the clothes I had brought I had not even used once. This got me to thinking that it is really important to carefully consider what you will pack and be sure that you will use it.

If you are traveling somewhere like Africa, for example- you do have to take some additional precautions for your safety- especially in airports. Here is my advice for navigating through the airports in these countries.

1. Have someone meet you at the airport and do not take a lift unless you are completely sure that the driver is from the right organization.

2. Make sure that you have a world phone so you are able to call your local contact/hotel/etc….if you are not sure of the person picking you up.

3. Always carry on you a bunch of US One Dollar Bills. This is especially useful when someone wants to offer you a service such as carrying your bags. If someone does wants to carry your bags- let them. When you get to your bus/taxi- give them a dollar. I have seen people get hassled all the way out of the airport- but if you have a local guy carrying your bags noone will approach you. 

4. Dress down… far down… do not be wearing expensive watches or sunglasses as they attract attention. I am 6′ 4” and 250 pounds so I can’t be hidden- but I don’t stand out.

5. Do not get upset- some things take a lot longer in other countries- especially african ones. Remember that you are the visitor.

The more often you travel off the beaten path, the more used you will get to this. And there are incredible things that you can see and do which make it worthwhile to try sometime.

I have had the good fortune to have had a few of these experiences. I have ridden on a camel around the pyramids in Egypt… There is no way to explain the feeling of this kind of experience but it can really be life changing.

I have had my fair share of complaints about airlines- but today I thought I would share a few tips about how not to be a rude traveler. I see these people all the time- they are the ones who think that everything revolves around them- maybe it’s because I travel a lot- but I spot them all the time- on my latest trip I encountered three of them.

In the first case I don’t think the man was being deliberately rude- but there was certainly something odd about his behavior. I was in line in security at Amsterdam airport, the line was moving pretty well, but as I got close to the front it stopped. I peered ahead and there was an old man checking every single one of his jacket pockets for change- inside pockets and outside pockets- once, twice, three times. Then he just got fed up and took off his jacket. The guy behind me yelled out “what did you check your pockets for if you were going to take off your coat?”. Then the old man started checking his pants pockets…

Why is it that people get to security and all of a sudden realize that they need to take the change out of their pockets? I can understand for first time travelers- but I can bet that most of these people have been on planes before and know what to expect; especially as there are usually huge signs before getting into the security lines.

The second rude traveler I saw on this trip was on the flight from Dubai to New York. This guy was loud and obnoxious, and fortunately not sitting right next to me. Partway through the flight he needed to get out of his seat- but instead of waking up the person next to him and asking him to move, he decided to jump over him. Unfortunately his feet did not make it to the aisle- but they did land on his neighbor’s knees. The other passenger was furious.

Later on, while everyone was trying to sleep, this guy insisted on watching a movie which had him cackling loudly every few minutes, and the person in the seat in front of him had to turn around several times to ask him to stop shaking his seat. I spent a good part of the flight looking over at the neighbor and shaking my head in sympathy.
The third rude traveler I saw on my latest trip was while I was again waiting to go through security, this time in New York. Just in front of me was a middle aged lady who was going to Italy. There had been some screw up with her ticket which was making her very late and she was concerned about missing her flight. She was discussing with another couple who may have been her friends.

At one point we got pulled into separate lines, the couple in one line, and the complainer in the other, I got into the line of the complainer. As she suddenly had no-one to bitch to (she glanced my way but I ignored her), she pulls out her cell phone and calls someone to complain that she is going to be late for her flight, etc… This goes on for several minutes until she is at the front of the security line. The workers there try to get her off the phone but she doesn’t- so they start sending people around her. When she finally got off the phone she had to wait for a bunch of people to pass through before her- and to top it off she was upset that they made the others pass before her! If she was in such a hurry then could she not have waited to make this call?

I just wanted to share these because I am past the point of getting upset at these people- actually I think about them and get a good laugh.

I took a business trip this week, and as I was just traveling for four days to two destinations so I decided to only take one small carry-on. Normally when I travel I check in one bag and carry on only my laptop bag.

Well, this week has been an awakening for me, as it must be for most business travelers.

The fact of being limited to 3oz containers got my shaving cream confiscated by security prior to my first flight. They were nice about it and said that it is happening a lot to business travelers. So I had to buy another can of shaving cream at my first destination.

No big deal I thought, I’ll just buy a travel-sized can. But the pharmacy I went to only had standard shaving cream. So I used it for two days then had to throw it out prior to my second flight.

Once again, at my second destination I could not find a travel size can so again I bought a regular can, used it for 2 days, then threw it out before coming home.

Wow. I have gone through three cans of shaving cream in under 5 days. This must be a new record.

That was not my only experience with the liquid ban this week. Being the experienced traveler and shopper that I am, I had found a place to get great deals on alcohol in the US. I did get a great deal- one litre of smirnoff vodka for only fifteen dollars. Alas, I also got that confiscated.

I think next time I am just going to check my luggage.

I do a lot of travelling for business and as such I get asked by friends and family to help find the best deal for their trips.

Lately I have been using Kayak to find fare information. This has to be one of the best travel websites I have seen in a while. Kayak will compare fares from over 120 websites. I am planning a couple of trips this year, and the prices that I have found from this website are significantly better than anything else I have seen.

Ease of use is incredible the big thing that it offers that the other major travel websites don’t is that it is a sidebar which is incredibly easy use.

Try out this site, you will not be disappointed.

Just a reminder, time is running out for Canadian travellers flying into the United States to ensure they have the right documents.

Beginning a week today, Canadians will need to present a passport when arriving by air from any part of the Western hemisphere.

If you haven’t got your passport… better get it soon.

read more | digg story

Here are a couple of ideas related to planning and booking your next vacation, as submitted by one of my faithful readers:

1. I try to always book hotels directly on their own website once I have been to expedia to check out hotels and prices in the area I’m going to. The BIG advantage is that your credit card is not charged until you check out of the hotel. All the travel companies charge the credit card immediately.
2. Another tip is to use google earth to see exactly where the hotel is especially for holidays as “on the beach” can be a stretch. This way I choose the location first and then find hotels in the vicinity. Also I always check a hotel in a new location with Tripadvisor.com as they normally have comments from guests that are current.

Thanks to my father for these tips.

As I mentioned in a previous post, British Airways lost our luggage for three days on my last trip to Scotland. When we came back to Canada we submitted a claim for the clothes we had to buy while waiting for our bags to arrive. This was submitted on the BA website and we got back a standard e-mail response.

Well, as we have waited sixteen weeks now and having never received any response, we decided to call the Baggage claims phone number listed on the website- 1-800-828-8144.

They told me to fax a copy of all relevant information to Customer Service at the following Fax: +1 347-418-4241.

You should try these numbers if you are in North America and have had problems with British Airways.

I am looking forward to see if it works…

Having done a lot of international travel, my first question before planning a trip to a foreign country is do I need a visa?

Here are the steps you need to follow in order to get your visa.

1. Find the Embassy of the country you will be visiting located in your own country- these days, many of them have websites so it should be easy to find.
2. The website will have a section called Consular services- or something similar. Go to that section to find out the exact requirements you will need
3. Print out the requirements. It is very important to follow them exactly. If you submit your package with any single omission it is likely that it will be refused.
4. As an additional precaution- call the Embassy to verify the requirements. Fee structures sometimes change without notice.
5. Submit your documents to the Embassy with the appropriate fee. Note that most embassies do not accept cash or personal cheques.

Some countries, such as Russia, will require a letter from a tour operator. If you are not going on an organized tour, don’t worry, check around your local travel agents and online to see how to get such a letter. They are usually available for a fee. I have used the website Visa to Russia to get invitation letters sent to me for visits to Russia.

Other countries, such as Libya, will have special requirements such as requiring your passport to be translated. For this kind of service it is best to call the embassy to ask how to get it done. The last time I had it done someone met me outside the embassy and with an an official stamp, made the translation- for a fee.

Prior to my last trip to Moscow I was in line at the Russian Consulate in Montreal and the person in front of me was very frustrated, telling me that this was the fourth time they had come back. The only reason that this would happen is if something was missing from the package. Once again you must have everything required or your application will be refused.

For those of you wanting to enjoy your travels off the beaten path, iExplore (www.iExplore.com) announced today the list of Top Ten World Travel Destinations as determined by the vacation purchases of its adventure and experiential travelers.

Take a look at the article to give yourself some ideas of the many possibilities.
I have had the good fortune to visit a few of the places on the list. Unfortunately in my case the travel has mostly been for business but I have had the chance to ride a camel around the pyramids in Egypt, and take a safari in South Africa, both experiences I would highly recommend.

See some of my photos from South Africa here

For those of you traveling during the holidays please remember this one thing:

Take extra time to get anywhere you need to go- because more people are traveling during this time of year. And remember to have extra patience because the people working at customs, airlines, and airports don’t want to be there over the holidays any more than you do.

Many years ago when I was a University student I was on a bus going to Daytona beach for a week of Spring Break partying. When we stopped at the US border, one of the other guys on the bus, not the sharpest tool in the shed, decided to speak up loudly while the customs officer was asking passengers for ID. The guy was trying to be cool, saying “What’s taking so long? These guys are so slow”, and others on the bus were laughing.

Sure enough, when the customs officer got to him, he was asked to step off the bus and the next thing we saw were his bags being removed. He never made it for the vacation which he had already paid for.

I think about this when I feel myself getting impatient with customs or airport staff.

Have a great and safe holiday season.

As an update to my post a few days ago- Using Aeroplan at Uniprix.

I just checked my Aeroplan account and the miles were credited for my spending at Uniprix just a day or two after using my Aeroplan card there.

I am very happy that there is no need to chase after them, and I will be using Uniprix more often.

As reported here, some Hilton hotels (the Homewood Suites) are starting a new program where you will be able to see a floorplan of the hotel you will visit, and choose your own room prior to checking in.

This is a great idea if you have particular preferences such as not being near the elevators.

You can find more information about this project at the Hilton Homewoods Suite page here.

I guess it won’t be long to see a website like Seatguru for hotel rooms

Thanks to Upgrade: Travel Better for finding this

So you are thinking about visiting Canada? Where can you get the best information?

We have here many different regions which offer different activities, cultures, and sceneries. In fact, each canadian province has its own flavour.

The best way to get good information is though the various websites of the province you will visit. On each of these sites you can get lots of information. And you can even sign up or call them to send you a free package full of maps and attraction information.

To make it easy, here are the links to each of Canada’s province and territory tourism associations:

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon

The best advice I can give when you are planning out a vacation is to contact the tourist information of the place you will be visiting.

The best place to find this information is the website that the local government puts together- here you can often sign up to get sent a package of information which can include maps, hotel and restaurant discounts, and a lot of information about the place you are going. Best of all, the information package is free.

I have done this prior to a vacation across several provinces in the maritimes last year, and found it to be incredibly useful. This year, we were planning on taking a trip across western Canada, so I did the same thing and I received several packages of free information mailed directly to my house.

Tomorrow I will provide a list of the major links for tourist information in Canada

One of the things I get asked about sometimes is and what can be taken back through customs.

The basic rule is: know what you must declare. If you live in Canada you can find answers to the most common questions here

A case in point. On once occasion during a period of time when I had been travelling a lot I was coming back from France with some foie gras in my suitcase. The foie gras was sealed in a jar. When I arrived into Canada I had checked the box on the form indicating I had no food. But when the customs officer asked me, I suddenly remembered that I did indeed have a small jar of foie gras and I mentioned it.

From that comment I did get flagged and had all of my luggage searched. I was told that I could be given a $400 fine and I had to plead with them not to give it. The only thing that saved me was the fact that I had told the customs officer the truth, but that I had just filled out the form incorrectly.

On another occasion I was returning from Russia with 5 bottles of vodka in my luggage. This was of course more than I could bring back and as such I declared it. As my luggage came out on the belt I could smell it from 20 feet away. One of the bottle had leaked, soaking my entire bag with vodka! I am pretty sure that I would have been searched if I had not claimed the fact that I had it with me.

I have been looking for a while to buy a digital camera and I figured that New York would probably be a good place, since I was going to be there last week.

As I previously had a Canon camera which I liked, after some research I settled on the Canon SD600.

I did want to make sure to buy from a reputable store because I have heard of rip offs in New York so from my hotel room one evening I checked bestbuy.com which had the camera at 249 dollars. I thought that if I could not find it cheaper I would go with that.

Luckily, the next day I went to Macy’s and in the basement they have an electronics store offering that same camera for 214 dollars. I bought a 2 Gig memory card at the same time for 29 dollar, so I effectively got the memory card for the same price as the camera only from Best Buy.

Now that I am back in Canada with my new toy I just checked the Futureshop website to see if they have it in the same pricerange. They actually have the camera at 289 dollars, and they have a package including the camera and a 512 Mb card at 499 dollars.

So from the lowest price I could find to the highest price there was a difference of 300 dollars.

This shows the importance of knowing your prices.

When leaving New York yesterday I had an interesting experience which I thought I would share. When I left the convention centre, needing to go directly to the airport there were guys standing around, asking if we needed a ride.

The first price we got was $120 Each (for 2 people)! We told them it was too much. So the guys came down to $80 each, then went to $55 per person, but only if we would go with a third person in the car.

As we felt like we were being ripped off, we walked further down the street and caught a taxi which cost $55. This was still more than the way in to town- but a lot cheaper than what the others were quoting. As I mentioned in another post, I had taken a limo coming into town which cost approximately $30.

So here a couple of tips about taxi negotiation.

1. Have an idea of what the ride should cost.
2. Don’t accept the first price you are given.
3. If you think someone is giving outragous prices- they probably are- just walk away.

Found today on InflightHQ is a reference to a very interesting article.

There is a new frequent traveler program which is about to be rolled out in the United States. From the article: “Those willing to pay a $100 annual fee will no longer have to take off their shoes before flying, and their photo ID card containing biometric information will allow them to be processed as quickly as 30 seconds” (see the full article here)

I am happy to see that airlines are doing something to try to alleviate the frustration of airport lineups- even if it is a program you have to pay for (though $100 is a bit steep).

This program looks even better if you look at it in combination with the Nexus program which is being implemented to reduce customs waiting times.

Pretty soon airport lineups could be a thing of the past (hopefully).

I wrote an earlier post about Taxis and Limosines. Yesterday I came across a situation where taking a limosine was much better than taking a taxi.

I landed in the middle of the afternoon in New York, at Laguardia airport, expecting to take a taxi into Manhattan.

Unfortunately when we came out of the terminal we encountered what can only be described as a huge lineup for the taxis. There must have been at least two hundred people waiting in line.

As a result of the lineup we went back inside the terminal and asked for a limosine service. We got one which cost us just a few dollars more than a taxi would have, and we waited only five minutes.

So today’s tip is that sometime it makes sense to check the limo service.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Montreal airport has free wifi.

Well this post is from the free wifi there. I have seen rates between 11 Mbps and 1Mbps

Not bad for free.

Flyaway Weblog has an interesting post this week about handling your finances abroad. You can find the post here. I have previously written a post on a similar topic called Accessing money while travelling.

The main point here is that when you need to change money while travelling, check the exchange rate that is used and the service fees that are charged. Sometimes you will get a better exchange rate but have to pay a large service fee which ends up nullifying the better rate.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that all exchanges are the same- that thinking can cost you a lot of money. As I mentioned in my other post, I changed the exact same amount of money in two different locations in Scotland and there was a 20 dollar(10 pound) difference. The first place charged me 4% more than the second. On a single transaction maybe this is not a lot, but over several transactions in can add up.

Today I would like to offer another tip about frequent flier miles.

Previously I have talked about collecting frequent flier miles here and here. I have also discussed additional ways to find miles in unexpected places. Today I found another way to find miles. This is something that I have been doing for a while, it just happened to come in handy today.

My tip for the day is to subscribe to the e-mail newsletter of the points program you are a member of.

As I am an avid collector of Aeroplan miles, I get the Aeroplan newsletter sent to me. Every so often I go through my e-mail and scan the newsletters. Today was such a day. I was scanning through a bunch of these e-mails when I saw the title: Stay with Best Western for Triple Aeroplan Miles from an newsletter I received November 10th.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I am travelling to New York next week. What I did not mention is that I happen to be staying in a Best Western hotel. I usually prefer to stay at Marriott hotels but this one is very well located for where I need to be.

I was not a member of the Best Western hotel program. However, upon seeing this e-mail I followed the instructions and joined. The best part is that now I am registered to get three times the number of aeroplan miles that I would normally get. The entire process took less than 5 minutes.

It’s nice to see that sometimes things work out well.

Here is a tip to help you save money with your hotel bookings. If you have made your plans well in advance, double check the hotel rate the week before you travel.

I am going to New York City next week. As I have known the dates of the tradeshow for a long time my hotel was booked a couple of months ago.

Yesterday I went to the hotel website just to make sure that they have high speed internet (they do), and just for fun I put in the dates next week that I would be staying there, to see how much more the last-minute planners have to pay.

I was very surprised to see that the price shown on the website to me was cheaper than the price on my original booking. In fact over the 3 days of my stay it is $100 cheaper. And as we have three people from company my staying at this hotel, the time I took to double check (5 minutes) allowed my company to save $300.

So do make it a point to double check your prices- it might save you some money.

This post is about the second issue that I have had with British Airways. Strangely enough this is also related to the last trip I had with them.

I must preface this by saying that I have used British Airways for at least one hundred flights during the last few years and have had no problems at all; I consider them to be a better then average airline and I would not hesitate to recommend traveling with them. But until now I have never needed to contact their Customer Service department.

As mentioned in a previous post- I went on a vacation to Scotland in late August. We arrived in Scotland but our bags did not. We were given a reference number at the airport and three days later British Airways did deliver the bags to my aunt’s house.

However, as we only had the clothes we were wearing during our travel, we did need to go and buy some clothes and toiletries.

We did not spend a lot of money, and before beginning our return journey we stopped in at the British Airways lost baggage department. The staff there told us that we should make sure that we kept our receipts and that we should make a claim using the internet form on the BA website.

So a few days after our arrival back in Montreal we sent an e-mail using the online form. We got back a standard form letter saying please give us 6-8 weeks to reply. OK fine. But now it has been 10 weeks.

No contact other than a form letter response.

Once again I feel like we have been let down by BA Customer Service.

I have been a big fan of British airways up until this year.

On my last trip to the UK I had two major problems. The first of which was that BA overcharged me by $1,000 for my return flight.

You would think that this issue would be easily cleared up by calling in to customer service right? Wrong.

A bit of history… I had booked the flights using BA miles. At the end of my vacation when we got to the airport for our return flight the counter staff could not find my reservation, even with the booking reference that they had sent to me.

The counter staff at Glasgow airport sent us to the service counter where I explained the situation- including the fact that I had bought the tickets with points. The staff there gave me paper tickets and told me that everything was fine.

Imagine my surprise next month when my credit card statement arrived and I was charged an extra $1,100 for my return flights.

So, I called the British Airways Customer Service line. After going through the whole story, and spending some time on hold, the agent confirmed that in their system, instead of giving me the rewards ticket that I ordered- they had issued me regular one way tickets for the return.

What this means is that because I unknowingly used the regular fare return tickets, in their system I still have two unused return tickets which were issued on points. Of course my intention was to travel on the points tickets.

The British Airways agent I spoke to agreed that I should be refunded for the regular tickets, but that she couldn’t do anything herself and that I had to send a fax or e-mail to Customer Service.

That seemed reasonable. So I prepared a seven page fax including all relevant information and faxed it to the customer service department.

This was six weeks ago.

I received Nothing. Not even an acknowledgement, reference number, or confirmation.

I have faced many odd situations in my travels before but never this one- so I took it to the experts. And based on recommendations from the great people at Flyertalk; two weeks ago I initiated a charge dispute with my credit card company.

So I called my credit card company, they asked me to fax all of the information I had, and I have already received a letter confirming the complaint and telling me that they will be investigating this issue.

I am now more comfortable that this will be resolved soon. But it does highlight an incredible deficiency in the way customer service issues are dealt with at British Airways. They could learn something from credit card companies. 

Just a quick update on my issues rescheduling a flight with American Airlines which I mentioned earlier this week.

On thursday I had called to try and get a change to flight from one leaving at 5 p.m. to an earlier flight which left around noon. The initial feedback from American Airlines customer service was that I had to pay $500; which even they agreed did not make sense, or that I should go to the airport on friday and fly standby.

As I did not have anything else to do on friday I went to the airport in the morning well before the earlier flight. The American Airlines counter people were very nice. I was put on the earlier flight, given an exit row seat and was not charged anything for the change. Thank you American for the outstanding service.

I am currently on a business trip, and have completed my meetings. I am now trying to reschedule my flight home to an earlier time in the day tomorrow because I was originally on a late flight.

I have found that the best way to get a ticket changed is usually to call the airline directly as they are the ones who will be letting you on the flight you require.

So I call up American Airlines to ask if I can get on the earlier flight tomorrow. Please hold….. I’m sorry sir, that would be $500 plus fees…. then some explanation about the kind of ticket my travel agent booked. I missed the explanation due to my surprise at the price- my full original ticket including 3 flights was only $1000. The person I talked to at American Airlines was actually very nice and recommended that I just go to the airport tomorrow and they will probably get me on the earlier flight just for a small fee, because there are over 60 seats still available.

I guess the question I am asking myself today is- how can it be over $500 to reschedule a flight one day, then $50 or $100 less than 24 hrs later. Does this make a lot of sense?

 This is exactly the kind of thing that people hate about airlines.

Having just commented on how long the lineups are at airports- I just had one of the best airport experiences I have ever had.

Denver International airport is so well organized, the only other place I can compare it to is Dubai airport. This is what I just experienced:

I arrived at the airport 50 minutes before my flight was scheduled to depart. I know this is very late but it was unavoidable. First, upon disembarking from the rental car shuttle bus, I was greeted by a United attendant who checked my bag and gave me my boarding pass. One person in front of me in line, so maybe 2 minutes wait.

I decided to go through security immediately nbecause you never know how long that will take, it was very fast. Maybe 5-10 minutes I and was through.

Denver airport is pretty big, so you do have to take a train to your concourse. But I actually managed to get to my gate within 20-25 minutes of my initial arrival at the airport. This is incredible, especially considering that I had been initially worried about missing my flight. 

A few years back I had a similar experience in Dubai airport. My flights had me landing in Dubai and leaving on a connecting flight 45 minutes later. I was concerned that this would not give me time to reach my next flight, but my travel agent said that the system allowed the booking so it should be ok. When I got off of the first flight I was directed to a counter where I was issued the boarding pass for my second flight, and told where the gate was. In less than 20 minutes I was at the gate for my second flight, just at the beginning of boarding.

Now I ask myself- if some airports can be this efficient, why can’t the rest of them take some notes from the good ones?

As I was passing through Montreal airport this morning I wondered to myself what the airports could do to make things more convenient for passengers. I spend a lot of times waiting at airports which gives me a lot of times to think about this. Here is what happened today:

I go to the airport an hour and a half before my flight, which is about the latest I could get there. There is a lot of waiting at airports. And waiting in line happens to be one of my pet peeves.

This morning I counted that I had to wait no less then four times.

1. First you have waiting in line just to do self check in.
2. Next you wait to get a luggage tag.
3. Thirdly you wait waiting to pass through US customs, and
4. You wait to pass through the security check

I would have experienced a fifth wait- the waiting prior to boarding at the gate, but on this occasion by the time I actually got through security I just had enough time to get to my gate and I ended being one of the last passengers to board the plane.

What really amazed me is that my luggage was put onto a conveyor belt just before I entered the security zone. This was about half an hour before my flight was departing, between my third and fourth lineups. I thought that my luggage wouldnt get on the plane, but lo and behold, my luggage was off the plane and on the conveyor at my destination when I got there.

If they can do this for luggage they must be able to do something for people. I am not saying that it will be possible to eliminate all waiting, but I think that someone smart should take a look at how to minimize some of these waits.

One of the things I always tell people is to always keep some cash on you while traveling, because you never know when you will come across a situation when you will need it.

I broke my own rules today.

I wasn’t traveling- but I am leaving on a one week business trip tomorrow. I usually keep some cash on me but in this case I thought to myself never mind, I will use credit cards today, and for the rest of the week I will be in the United States so there is no need for Canadian cash.

This afternoon we decided to go and find a small honey farm outside of Montreal. The farm sells over 40 different kinds of honey, and when we went to pay they said sorry, we only take cash. I had seen a back one kilometer back down the road so I excused myself to go and get some money. The machine was not working. The problem when you are out in the country is that you really don’t know how far the next bank is going to be, and I had never been to this area before so I just started to drive. I passed a couple of gas stations and considered going in and asking where the nearest bank was but, I am a man, and in any case, I know what banks look like so there was no real need to do that, it would waste valuable driving time. I eventually found a street which looked like it had commercial buildings and I found my bank machine and made my way back to the honey farm- my entire trip to get some cash taking me 40 kilometers and close to an hour.

This is a prime example of why you should always keep some cash on you.

I just ran across what must be the definitive list airport wifi access over at travelpost.com. They also have a listing of the airports with free wifi access here

A few of the airports on the free list are in Canada and my home town Montreal is mentioned as one. I have never bothered to try connecting there but as it happens I will be passing through this airport twice in the next two weeks, so I will be checking it out.

For those of you who are just starting to travel for business, here are a few pointers to make your business travel easier. When I was in Scouts I was told to “be prepared” and hopefully this will help you.

1. Bring wrinkle-free clothes. If your clothes are not wrinkle free you can have them pressed by most hotels for a small fee.
2. Always be ready for the common situations. In my own case, as I am in sales, I am often asked to give a presentation. These presentations can last anywhere from 5 minutes to two hours, so I am always keep my computer pre-loaded with them which allows me to start anytime when asked. The second thing that I get asked all of the time, because I am in sales, is for pricing. So I keep a copy of our price list taped to the inside cover of my notebook. 
3. If you are renting a car- rent one with a GPS. The additional few dollars a day is well worth it in order to guarantee that you are not late to an important meeting.
4. Always have one or two small gifts with you. This is maybe not as common in North America, but in many countries you will be given a gift and it is important to be able to return the favour

I just commented a couple of days ago about why lounges can’t provide free wifi access, and it looks like there is hope. At least one lounge is offering free wifi- the Continental lounge in Boston Logan:

from an article in Roadgladiator

The FCC has finally ruled that “Continental Airlines can continue to offer free Wi-Fi access through Continental’s own selected carrier in its Presidents Club Lounges, including the lounge at Boston’s Logan International Airport“.

I have checked, and I can use my Priority Pass there. Sweet.

This is some additional info from yesterday’s post, airplane tips- but here are some tips while you are actually on the plane.

1. Take off your shoes- your entire body swells up when you are flying and is not a good idea to keep your feet or any other part of your body constricted.
2. Drink lots of water- it is well known fact is that you dehydrate more rapidly while flying.
3. If you are going on a trip more than three hours long- buy a portable headrest- these are U shaped pillows that fit around your neck. They are inexpensive and can be found at most airports. There come in a few different versions- I have tried the inflatable and the beanbag versions of these- while the beanbag versions are a bit more comfortable, the additional bulkiness to carry around is not worth it for me.

I have been on many long flights, the worst of which was a direct New York to Johannesburg flight- a 14 and a half hour journey.

Here are some ideas for making your flights easier- especially for long haul flights.

1. Before checking in, take a look at a seating site such as seatguru to make sure that you are sitting in the best possible seat on the plane for your class of ticket.
2. Check in early- the earlier you check in, the better chance of getting a good seat. Many airlines are now offering the possibility of checking in online, 24 hours before your light. Ideally you want your seat confirmed before you go to the airport.
3. Try to get a seat in the emergency exit row. Exit rows offer slightly more legroom then regular seats- this is so well known that they are usually booked by other frequent fliers but it is worth a try to get one when you check in.
4. If you cannot get an exit row seat, get a window seat. On a long trip I always try to get a window seat so I can lean the pillow on my window to sleep. The only exception to this is in the last few rows of the plane, because the fuselage of the plane curves inward giving less room to the window seats in the last rows.

This is written for those of you who bring far too much luggage with you when you travel- you know who you are.

Before I start packing for trip I do think about the type of trip I am going on (business or personal) , and the destination. These are the two things that make a big difference in determining what I will be needing. When I say need I mean actually will definitely use- not what I might use.

Bringing too much can also cost you money. I was formerly a person who brought far too much on while traveling. And I have found out that not only can it be a nuisance to travel with a lot of extra items, it can actually cost you. On one occasion I brought a lot of luggage on a 2-week trip to Florida. During my trip I took advantage of the great prices and bought lots of clothes on sale or discounted; only to get charged $300 at the airport for excess luggage on my return flight. This didnt make the clothing deals seem that great.

Most people bring far too many items on a trip- if you are taking a road trip for a week and you are two people in a large minivan- go ahead, take that extra lounge chair- but for most situations less is better. The truth is, there are very few times where you will be somewhere and it is impossible to get what you need, or find an equivalent alternative. On my last trip to Venezuela I opened up my suitcase on the first day only to find that I did not have any bathing suit for a week at the beach. So in this case I bought another one- not the kind of bathing suit that I would normally wear but it worked for me for that week. I also had just broken my digital camera just before leaving, so I bought a disposable one- again. This was not an ideal replacement, but the disposable camera did have some advantages over the digital one: it made me much more relaxed about losing or damaging the camera.

My favorite item to bring while traveling is a couple of plastic bags. It is a good idea to use them to put some clothes or valuables in. I have seen suitcases show up at their destination very wet, on several occasions. This is especially important if you use a suitcase made of material since water will soak through the case.

So my advice is, bring only what you are 100 percent sure you will use, and always have some plastic bags with you.

There are a lot of ways to save money when buying something, this applies when you are travelling but I guess this can also apply for buying something at home too… Here are a couple of things to keep in mind…

1. When buying something, try to do your research so you know what the value of the object is. It is usually more difficult when you travel to know if you are getting a fair price, but you can always try several places offering the same item, or ideally, find someone local who can give an idea. In my experience the best source of information in most cities are taxi drivers. They tend to know the best places for whatever it is you are looking for. Second place would be your hotel concierges. It is their job to able to find anything, but I personally find their service hit and miss; some are very good and others not so.
2. You should always try to negotiate, especially on more expensive things. Don’t accept the first price they give you. I was in India one time wanting to buy a carpet, the seller started off at $1200 for the carpet I liked. I let him talk and only started negotiating when he talked himself down to $750. I ended up paying around $500 for the carpet.
3. If you are buying something internationally, do not forget to consider the taxes you may have to pay when you bring the item back through customs at home. Of course this mainly applies if it is an item you can actually find at home.

In one of my earlier posts I talked about mandatory documentation when you travel. In this post I would like to address what I call “secondary documentation”. This is the kind of thing which will could cause you some difficulty if you do not have it, but will not ruin your trip.

1. Maps (especially for road trips). I am often one of the first to give out advice to others, and also one of the first to ignore my own advice. The last time My girlfriend and I went to New York city I thought I just needed to print out a Google map of where we needed to go. Google maps are pretty good if you are going to a familiar area- the big problem with the directions that you get from Google Maps is that it often does not show surrounding streets. What ends up happening on a long trip is that if you miss one exit, you have to backtrack until you can find the latest reference point. Unless you are familiar with the place you are going- bring a street map if you are driving, or a train schedule if you are taking the train, etc…. So what happened when we went to new york? Well, let’s just say that a drive from New York to Montreal which normally takes 8 hours took us 15.
2. Copies of your frequent flier numbers. It has happened so many times to me that I have checked in for a flight, or checked into a hotel, and they do not have my number in with the reservation. Now I keep a card in my wallet with the most common ones written down. You can always collect miles /points later if they do not get posted to your account but I find it much easier to ask the question when I check in.
3. Receipts- reason #1. if you are traveling internationally, you may need these when you are coming back into your home country, to prove the prices that you paid. It is helpful when the customs duty does not believe the great deal you just got on an item purchased outside. I am not sure about other countries, but here in Canada if you owe tax on an item purchased outside of the country I have seen two things happen. Sometimes they will charge you tax on the price you actually paid, other times they use the standard tax value of what you would have paid for this item in Canada.
4. Receipts- reason#2. In many cases you can also claim tax back by submitting your receipts. Sometimes this only works for things you are bringing back to your home country but in other cases it can include things like hotel bills too. Tax refund forms can be found at most airports and must be handed in before you leave to go to your home country.
5. Receipts reason#3. If the airlines lose your luggage (as British Airways did on my last trip), you may need the receipts to claim back money for replacement items you purchased.

Any thoughts on this?

As I mentioned in my last post, Marriott does not currently have a parner credit card in canada.

However, the word from the Flyertalk forums is that one is coming soon…

GregWTravels writes that he got the following info from Marriott Customer Service

“…We should be announcing a Chase Marriott Rewards Visa available to the residence of Canada with in the next couple of months. Please watch the mail for this announcement. It will also be posted on the Marriott website at Marriott.com….”

You can check out the entire thread here

This is definitely very interesting… I am a big Marriott fan, but I have found that one of their limitations has been the fact that I cannot collect points with a credit card (as I can with Starwood)

In my last post I discussed one of my favorite hotel programs- Marriott Rewards.

In this post I would like to point out the advantages of my next favorite hotel program: Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG).

Starwood has fewer properties than Marriott (around 800 compared to Mariott’s 2,700), but on average I think they are nicer hotels.

There is one huge benefit to Starwood’s Preferred Guest Program. In terms of flexibility to exchange points for airmiles, you will not find a better program than SPG. You can transfer 20,000 points into 25,000 airmiles on most major airlines . This is incredibly useful if you need a few extra points to take a free trip somewhere.

Additionally, even though there have been rumours about one, Marriott does not have a partner credit card in Canada. For Canadians, MBNA has a Starwood Preferred Guest Mastercard. Here are the features of this card:

For a credit card with No Annual Fee this adds up to a lot of bonuses on this card. If you spend a total of $30,000 per year on the card, you will end up with 35,000 points the first year, and 30,000 points in subsequent years. As you can usually fly anywhere in North America for 25,000 miles, you can exchange your points for 3 flights in North America every 2 years.

In fact- if you were to get this credit card and use it just once, it woudl be well worth it, because on your first use you get 5,000 points which is enough for a free night at a category 2 hotel.

The 2 hotel point programs that I have used to a good extent are Marriott and Starwood. Each of them has their own individual advantages and disadvantages.

In this post I will go over some of the important aspects of Marriott points.

What do I like about Marriott?

Firstly they have over 2,600 locations so you can find one almost anywhere. Internationally this is not always the case, but I have found these hotels in a lot of places that I have travelled to.

Secondly, they have a wide range of properties ranging from the higher end Marriott hotels to the lower end Courthouse and Residence inn chains of hotels.

Thirdly it is pretty easy to earn enough points for free nights. After having spent 10 nights in a year at a Marriott hotel you get Silver status. This does not give you much in terms of service, though it can sometimes get you access to a special club lounge. The important point is that it gives you an additional 20% of points earned.

The most important tip I can offer about Marriott points is that you must make sure to always sign up for the bonuses on the hotel website. There is always some kind of promotion going on, and it is very easy to sign up. You just go to the rewards section on the Marriott website, and click on the promotion to sign up.

As an example, the current promotion is something called Mega bonus, which gives you an extra 5,000 points for every third stay that you pay for with a Visa card. Last week, I stayed last week at three different Marriott hotels, over a five-night period, and during this time I earned enough points for a free night at a category three hotel (or two free nights at a Category one hotel).

I was on my way from Tunis to London, via France. My flight was supposed to leave at 5 p.m. and arrive in Paris just past 7 p.m. This would give me time to get to my hotel near Charles de Gaulle airport for an evenings rest before my morning flight to London where I was scheduled to meet some customers. Little did I know that a short flight was going to become one of my worst traveling experiences.  As my flight from Tunis was international, I had to be there at 3 p.m. The flight leaving Tunis was delayed for several hours, and unfortunately the airline (Air France) chose to tell us about the delays in 30-minute increments. Each time we would get close to boarding time, the departure time was pushed back. At first there were rumours of trouble with the aircraft. What we found out eventually was that the air traffic controllers in France were on a one-day strike. Why no one from Air France in Tunisia, seemed to be aware of this initially, or why they would tell us about aircraft trouble, I have no idea. If this had been known- which Im sure it was in the rest of the world, I would have much preferred to move my travel plans back a day then spend my entire evening in Tunis Airport. What did Air France offer us for a delay of 7 hours? A can of soda or a bottle of water (one or the other- not both). Thanks Air France. But my night wasn’t over. Eventually the flight from Tunis did depart- we boarded just before midnight, landed in Paris after 2 a.m., and had collected our luggage at around 230 a.m. At this point I had a problem. I was not sure how close my hotel was to the airport, and I had a flight to London at 7 the next morning (meaning I would have to come back at 5); So, I decided to stay at the airport. Unfortunately at this time of night there is absolutely nothing open at Charles de Gaulle airport, and equally unfortunately there seemed to be many other passengers in similar situations. So I spent the next three hours wandering around, occasionally finding a spot to sleep; only to be woken up any time I seemed to get my eyes closed for more than a couple of minutes. Many times I was woken up by the machines that clean the tile floors. What a horrendous racket they make- not only from the brushes, but the machines also beep loudly. Unshaven, unwashed, and very unhappy, by the time I got on the flight to London I was little more than a walking zombie and when I eventually got to my hotel in London. I called my clients to cancel my meetings for the day and went directly to bed. Before you travel, in order to make the best of it, in the unfortunate case that you ever find yourself in a similar situation, do take a look at the website www.sleepinginairports.com. Charles de Gaulle is listed as one of the worst airports to spend an overnight. That does not come as a surprise to me.

A friend of mine came out of the airport in Montreal recently, only to find a long lineup of people waiting for a taxi.

Not liking to wait in line, he asked how much it would be for a limo ride. Surprisingly, it is pretty much the same price to use a limousine than a taxi. And there are no lines.

 The reason for this is that the limousine has a flat rate, whereas the taxi is metered. So if there is no traffic your cost may be approximately the same, but if you do get stuck in traffic it becomes more expensive to use a regular taxi.

 I have come across similar situations before. One time I was staying in New York city for a conference and when a co-worker and I came to hail a taxi to get to the airport, the doorman told us that the two people in front of us were going to the same airport and he could put all four of in a stretch limo for a price which was more total cost than the regular taxi, but much cheaper per person…

Another example of this I have seen is getting from the airport in Nice to Monaco. It is cheaper to take a helicopter than a taxi if you are alone- if you are more than one person than it is cheaper to split the taxi fare.

This may be something worth checking out the next time you are trying to get to or from the airport.

While I spent eight hours in Atlanta airport yesterday, I spent my time there wondering about the small things that could be improved at airports. I had a reservation on the 10pm flight back to Montreal. As my business in Atlanta was finished in the afternoon, and as I had already checked out of my hotel, I decided to come to the airport early because I had seen there was another flight at 6pm. When I arrived at 3 p.m., even though I was 3 hours in advance to the other flight I was told there was no room. I find that very hard to believe. I then asked if it was possible that some seats would become available before the departure of the earlier flight- the response was: its possible, but once we have checked your bags on the later flight you have to go on that one. Thank you Delta.
So, I sat in the Delta lounge in concourse E for six hours, very grateful for having my Priority Pass. Interestingly, there are a bunch of airlines listed at the entrance to this lounge, but as was the case at LaGuardia, there is no Priority Pass listed. This is a large lounge, and actually very well laid out compared to most of the ones I have been to, but like most lounges in North America I dont understand how they are so limited in terms of services. The food choice is pretzels, crackers, or peanuts- most lounges in Europe, which I have been to have a much wider selection. I am not expecting five star cuisine, but maybe some small sandwiches or soup would be nice.
The World Series is on and people have been grumbling about CNN and FOX being on the TV screens, it looks like they cannot even get the baseball game on TV. I guess this is because we are watching the special airport channels.The best thing about the airport channels is that they repeat themselves- so  I have now seen the CNN interview with Dick Cheney’s wife three times.
My final comment of the day, by the time this gets posted I will already be home in Montreal because I do not have internet access- why cant they have free Wi-Fi access in airport lounges? You can buy access for 24 hours at the very reasonable price of $5, but I, like most of my fellow travelers, am not going to be here at the airport for 24 hours, most people will be here an hour or two at most. Why dont they offer it by the hour?

At the last company I worked for I did a lot of international travel on different airlines to different airports- and corporate policy was always to travel economy class. At some point I was introduced to Priority Pass and I have been using it for the last three years.

For those of you unfamiliar with Priority Pass , it is a service which gives you lounge access at over 500 airports worldwide, so if you are in an airport pretty much anywhere, there is a good chance that you can access one of the lounges using your card.

Priority Pass isn’t cheap. For occasional travelers you can have a basic membership for which you pay $99 +$24 each time you access a lounge. If you have more than 6 lounge visits per year you should use a standard plus membership for which you pay $249 but you have 10 free visits- and subsequent ones are $24 each. At the top end is the prestige membership which costs $399 but you do not have to pay anything more for any visits. Prestige works out best if you have more than 16 visits per year.

What are the downsides to Priority Pass ?

• The staff at airport lounges are not always familiar with it- although this has been improving. On one occasion (at the lounge in Luanda, Angola) I was refused entry even though I knew for sure that I should have lounge access.
• The program changes all the time. On another trip I was denied entry (at Air Canada lounge in Montreal) because that particular lounge was no longer part of the program.
• Many times there are no signs which show you can use Priority Pass, so you have to go and ask.
• If you bring a visitor you always pay $24 for them

These kinds of incidents range from embarrassing to downright infuriating as I pay $400 a year for my pass out of my own pocket. Case in point, I was just at the Delta lounge in Laguardia. I was traveling on an A ticket- first class- which sometimes give you lounge access. At first when I tried to access the lounge the staff said that I needed a Delta Club card- the lady at the counter smiled at me and offered to sell me this for $400 per year. When I then asked if I told her that I already pay $400 for my Priority Pass they said that I could use it. I would have shown the Priority Pass sooner, but there were no signs for Priority Pass at all.

The really nice thing about this card, though, is the wide availibility of access. I don’t know how they do it but it is rare than I cannot use it at all and generally it works well. Check it out if you are unfamiliar with it.

Here are a couple of ideas that a friend of mine gave me for saving time at airports. I knew he was a good person to ask because he hates waiting in line: 

1. If you happen to travel through the same airport often,get a few copies of the customs forms and fill them out in advance, in order not to delay your lineup.
2. If you have a way to fast-track customs, do so. In Canada we have Canpass which will make your trip through Canadian customs much faster, as you get to bypass the regular lineup. There is another program called Nexus, which is currently being trialled at Vancouver airport. Nexus is a joint program between Canadian and US customs authorities to allow travellers from either country to fast-track.
3. If you are flying on a short trip, do not check any luggage.

My friend uses Canpass and loves it. He says that he now avoids the big lineup at customs, and that he does not get stopped any more than usual. I am going to try it out and let you know what I think…

One of the most common problems you will face while traveling across times zones is jet-lag. Because your body is not accustomed to the new time you will feel tired and worn down for a couple days. If you are traveling to a different time zone, here are a couple of tips that can help to ease the suffering of jet-lag…..

1. Try and get your body on to the new time one or 2 days before your travel. I typically go to bed around midnight. As I am five hours behind U.K. time, when I travel to the UK, I try to go to bed at 7 p.m. for one or two nights before I set off, and start my day at three or four a.m. This way, my body has already started to adjust to the new time by the time I get to my destination. Similarly, while I am in the U.K.; before I begin my return to Canada, I try to stay up until 4 or 5 a.m., so that my body is already starting to adjust back to the right time by the time I get back home.  

2. Try anti jet-lag pills- you can find these in many pharmacies and in airports, though they cost more at the airport. I have found them to be quite effective. 

3. Take advantage of early check-in. nowadays most airlines will let you check in to your flight online 24hrs before you fly. This can get you a better seat and will speed up your process at the airport. Better seat= more comfortable travel= more rest= less jetlag.

4. Before you check-in early, in order to help you evaluate which seats are better than others, have a look at http://www.seatguru.com/.

If you are going to be renting cars for any of your travels- here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Check all available rental companies from your pickup location- especially if you are renting at an airport or other place with multiple rental companies- there can be quite a difference in price between companies. During my last trip to scotland I save 100 pounds (200 dollars) on the same sized car by choosing enterprise over avis (who I usually rent from). An easy way to do this comarison is on sites such as expedia.
2. If you are unfamiliar with the area, rent a car with gps- and use it. This will help you immensely in finding where you want to go. If you have not used this technology before, you type in the address of your destination and a small computer will give you step by step directions of how to get there. The best feature of using GPS is the fact that if you happen to miss a turn that the computer recommends, it will automatically recalculate another route to our destination.
3. Rent a car using a credit card which will cover your collision insurance. This will save you a lot of money as insurance can easily double the price of your car rental. Bring proof of collision insurance with you. As there are many different credit cards with many different options , and as not all companies are familiar with credit card options, bring proof of this collision insurance with you, or be prepared for the rental agent to call up your credit card company.
4. Before you leave on your trip, check if you will need an international driver’s license. Depending on the place you will rent your car, this may be required. They are usually easy to pick up in your home town and are not expensive.
5. When the rental agent asks you if you will bring the car back with a full tank, get them to explain what they charge for gas. Some rental companies charge the regular gas price to bring the tank back to the same gas level you started with and others will chrge you for a full tank whether you bring it back empty or half full. If you are lucky enough to be renting with the first type of company you will not need to worry about filling up the tank before you return the car. If you have the second type- better to bring it back full. The rental agent will usually tell you what makes more sense

Christopher Elliot noted on his blog that “Baggage complaints are soaring in the aftermath of the gel and liquid semi-ban, and one airline, British Airways, has even said its earnings will be affected by the combustible-liquid threat”

This does not surprise me at all, though I suspect that the affected earnings may have to do more with the additional cost of handling the baggage complaints, than the increased security. Here is my own experience…
 
I have recently returned from a vacation where my (and my girlfriend’s) luggage was lost on the way to Scotland by British Airways. We were not the only ones on our flight with this experience- in fact there was a line-up of people who were missing bags. Incredibly, my sister, who was also traveling on British Airways on different dates, also had her baggage lost. But in her case it was on her return flight to Canada. I have had airlines lose my luggage before, but in my previous experiences it has taken the airlines one or two days to get the luggage back to me. In this case it took four days; which is not a fun way to start a vacation.
 
The worst part about arriving somewhere with no luggage is that you have no toiletries or change of clothes, and the ban on gels and liquids just aggravates the situation as it has forced you to check-in pretty much everything. So the day after arriving, instead of getting to play tourist, we went shopping- wasting one of our seven days in Scotland at the local mall.
 
Having returned home from our holiday, we now have go through the fun process of claiming money back from British Airways. Even though it is clear that they lost our bags and that we only claimed 150 British pounds between 2 of us(not an unreasonable amount considering that 2 people did not get bags for 4 days); British Airways is telling us that it takes 6-8 weeks to process the claim.

So, I don’t know how much additional money the security threats cost the airlines, but certainly the cost of finding the luggage, delivering it to its destination, and compensating clients, who have had their trips affected by lost luggage, must be a substantial sum.

Here are a couple of pointers about luggage:
1- Tag your luggage properly. This means to have a tag around the handle of your luggage and also your name and address inside the bag- just incase the baggage handling tag gets ripped off- I usually leave a business card in one of the pockets which includes my cell phone number. 
2- Keep your receipts, if your luggage gets lost and you do have to buy clothes, toiletries, or anything else make sure to keep the receipts, because when you go to claim money back the airlines will ask for them.
3- Pack anything valuable in plastic bags- when my sister got her luggage back finally after three days, the suitcase, and all of the contents, were completely soaked. She had some photographs which would have been ruined had they not been wrapped in plastic.

Airports used to be a relaxed place to spend some time before you travel or while you transit…. but due to recent events they are fast becoming some of the most miserable places to spend a few precious hours of your life…. Here are six tips to help you take the stress out of airports.

1. Firstly, take advantage of early check-in. nowadays most airlines will let you check in to your flight online 24hrs before you fly. This can get you a better seat and will speed up your process at the airport.
2. Check in everything that you can unless you really need the item during the flight - I have seen so many people carrying large bags all around airport, what for? Airports are big places which typically require a lot of walking- you will often have to carry you bag for a while, so make it as light as possible. Ideally in many cases I don’t have any carry-on bags at all. Whenever you are passing through an airport, try to wear a coat with pockets, you can carry small things in it (I usually have a book), and it will also make your life a lot easier passing through the security check.
3. When you pass through the security screening, you then only have to take your items from your pants pockets and put them into your coat. Do not forget to take your watch off as that may also set off the metal detector. I constantly see people waiting in line for 10 minutes in order to start emptying their pockets when they arrive at the front and they are surprised when they have to pass back through the detector three or four times because they forget to take everything out.
4. Another tip about the security screening- try to wear the right type of shoes- this usually means shoes with soles that have been glued- not nailed, or shoes that do not have large metal lace hooks- both of which can set off the metal detector. Many airports now ask everybody to remove their shoes.
5. If you have lounge access- use it. As a minimum you can use the lounge to get free bottles of water. If you do not have lounge access try to find a comfortable corner of the airport to relax. I have a Priority Pass, which gives me lounge access in almost any airport. As a frequent traveler it has been very worthwhile.
6. Lastly, remember that you do not need to be the first one on the plane… as long are in the waiting area at the right time, the plane is not going to leave without you - if the airline cannot find you they actually have to unpack your luggage from the plane. They do not want to do this so they give people a good chance to arrive before they would not let you on. It never ceases to amaze me that many people will wait in line eagerly to get to their seat as soon as possible- then have to wait for everybody else.

I hope these few ideas help your next airport visit.

Let me start by saying that travel websites are one of the best things to happen on the Internet. With a few mouse clicks anyone can be his or her own travel agent. This is good for people who want to find the best deal. However, these websites are good in some situations but not so good in others.

Here are some examples of when travel websites can be the right booking choice:

When your dates are inflexible. This is because once you make a booking it is next to impossible to change it.

• I used to book all of my hotel rooms with Expedia- they had a great selection of low-cost rooms, and I could trust that I was saving my money for my company. However, the first time I needed to change something it became evident that low prices come with limitations. I had booked a seven-day stay at a UK hotel. Upon arrival I got a message that I needed to travel in 3 days to Saudi Arabia so i had to cut my UK stay short by three days. First, I called the hotel lobby- sorry; your reservation is with Expedia. Ok, so I called Expedia. Sorry, no changes permitted. Several hours were spent on the phone with customer service agents who could not tell me why. Finally they explained to me that if I had made 7 individual reservations I could have cancelled the last 3 days, but having made a single 7-day reservation nothing could be done. 
  
• When your plans are flexible- that is, you are not stuck on staying at a particular hotel brand, etc… this is important because various hotels may give special prices for a whole variety of reasons. I once had the good fortune of booking 5 nights at the millenium hotel in central London for 99 pounds a night, this is a really fancy boutique-style place, since then the cheapest I have ever seen it has been 300 pounds a night.
  

It also pays to check all of the major websites, I have a few listed below… one of them may have a better deal on the flight or hotel you are looking for.

Keep these things in mind when you book from a travel website- if your travel meets these minimum criteria there are some very good deals available. Just remember to read the fine print.

Here are some links to check out and compare for your next trip …

www.travelocity.com
www.hotwire.com
www.expedia.com
www.orbitz.com

Of course when you go on any trip you will be needing money. So, what is the best way to get money in a foreign country? As is the case with many things the answer is, it depends.
 
The first thing to consider is the country itself, you can pay for things with credit cards in most first world countries, but developing countries are not quite as simple- usually major hotels will take your credit card, but you may be out of luck in other places like restaurants, etc… If you do have a large amount of cash, you can usually leave it a safe in your hotel, either in your room or in the lobby.

The simplest and most convenient option that I use is to bring cash and change it at the airport when you arrive. The main problem with this is that the rates are not always good, and you also usually have to pay a service fee. I do recommend this to get some small amount of local currency just to get you started- for lunch, taxis etc… When you have to change a relatively large amount of money however, you really have to look around for the best rate. On a recent trip to Scotland for example, I changed 500 USD at the airport for 242 pounds, then a few days later exchanged the same amount again in a store for 252 pounds- that’s a 10 pound or 20 dollar difference- which is the price of a nice lunch.

Another option if you are a person who likes to carry cash, is to take money out directly from a bank (ATM) machine. This is possible in many places by checking the back of your debit card to make sure that one of the networks is listed on your card and also on the machine you are withdrawing money from (examples of these are cirrus or plus)- your bank will sometimes charge a fee for this, but the exchange rate is usually pretty good. DO watch out for suspicious people around ATM machines- I have had my bank account accessed in the UK after I had used a particular machine, I had not noticed anything unusual at the time but a few days later I checked my account and had $2,000 withdrawn over the period of five hours. Somehow they managed to copy my card and pin number from a particular machine.

 A third option is to pay for everything on your credit card, you will not need to pay a separate fee, however, the exchange rate they give will include a small percentage exchange  (usually 2-3%)- this is probably around the same rate as you would get from your bank?

I usually tend to use a combination of the above ideas- varying the amount of cash I carry depending on the country I’m visiting- the less I think I will be able to use my credit card, the more cash I will carry. But I always carry some cash because you never know when you will need it.

If you are traveling to a new country may be risky for any reason I would add one last item: keep a note with the address and phone number of your nearest embassy/consulate in a safe place- this can save you a lot of hassle if your documents are lost or stolen.