New England Holiday Festivals Too Good To Miss

No one dresses up for the holidays like the historic towns and villages of New England.  The first two weekends of December bring holiday festivals galore featuring historic house tours, gaily decorated inns, musical performances, costumed carolers, bell ringers, antiques and crafts shows and good cheer for all.  Here is a list of New England’s most inviting Holiday Festivals that are well worth the traveling for:

Maine Holiday Festivals
12/4 – 13   Kennebunkport Christmas Prelude a two week celebration.
12/4-6       Christmas By The Sea – Camden
12/5           Shaker Christmas Fair – New Gloucester
12/11-13  Christmas By The Sea – Ogunquit

New Hampshire Holiday Festivals
12/12-13  Inn to Inn Cookie Tour – North Conway, 14 Inns & Cookie Recipes!
12/28-29  Strawberry Banke Holiday House Tour  & Candlelight Stroll, Portsmouth

Read more

Get Extra Value For Your Shopping Dollars

Here are two smart ways to shop this holiday season to get extra value for every dollar you spend.

#1  GoodShop.com
For every dollar you spend, GoodShop will donate a portion of your purchase amount to your favorite charity.

#2  Airline Shopping Sites
The major US airlines have shopping sites that offer bonus frequent flier miles for every purchase you make.  The miles can add up quickly as some merchants offer up to 10 miles for every dollar you spend.  So before you visit an online shopping site, check first to see if you can access it through your favorite airline’s shopping site (American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines).

Awesome Black Friday Travel Deals

The travel industry has adopted Black Friday with gusto!
Here are the best deals we’ve found!

Sonesta Maho Bay- St. Maarten 50% off sale, book by 11/30 for travel 12/18/09 to 3/31/10 includes Christmas and New Years!! Book room only or all inclusive rates – both half off!  Use booking code BF09

ClubMed – One Day Sale (6am-4pm est) $99 per person per night, all inclusive rate.

Hotels.com - Up to 60% off hotels in Orlando and other destinations, book by Monday 11/30/09 and travel by 12/28

Expedia - $25 off hotel bookings of $150+.  Book by Monday 11/30 and use code BlackFriday25 at checkout.

Hyatt Hotels – Save 30% off rates for travel now until Feb. 10, 2010.   Enter code LTO110 (letter O11Zero) on Black Friday until December 10th.

Southwest Airlines – 7 Days of Click & Save Airfares.  Expires 11/30/09

Costa Rica – One week in tropical Costa Rica from $499pp with Air, Hotel and Rental Car.

Whistler British Columbia – Rooms from $95 per night.  Be among the beautiful people at gorgeous Whistler Resort before the Olympics begin in February.

Rock Resorts – Some of the most beautiful resorts to spend a family holiday – now up to 50% off.  Book 3 nights at a Colorado ski resort, get 1 night free, a $50 gift card AND a free helmet cam to record your adventures on the mountain!

Are You Enjoying The Free WiFi At Airports This Holiday Season?

Don’t forget to take advantage of Google’s generousity this holiday season.  From now until January 15, 2010, Google will be underwriting the cost of  WiFi at 47 major airports across the USA. When you power up at the airport look for the new free WiFi icon.  If you don’t see it – it’s possible that the airport you are in has a contractural relationship with a pay-to-use provider and cannot offer the free option.  Visit FreeHolidayWiFi.com for a full listing of participating airports.

What To Do When Flights Are Delayed or Canceled

Heads up my friends, we’re heading into the worst travel weeks for flight delays, oversold planes and cancellations – ahhhh the joys of holiday and winter travel! This year there’s a new tool to use – TWITTER!  Many of the airports across the US have their own Twitter pages that will give you the most up-to-the-minute information about parking availability, delays, which screening lines are shortest etc.  You should also be checking your airline’s Twitter page for similar fast-changing info.  You can find our new list of airlines on Twitter at our Twitter page WGTravelTips.  The folks at Travelocity are also pitching in to help Thanksgiving travelers.  They’ll have “spotters” at major airports across the country Tweeting updates about airport conditions.

1) Steps You Can Take In Advance of Your Travel
The sad truth is that there are very few legal obligations on the airline’s part to provide for your well-being when a flight is delayed or canceled, so it becomes increasingly important to plan in advance in order to avoid as many disruptions as possible.

• Whenever possible take the first flight of the day.  These flights are most likely to take off on time because the plane arrives the night before and if it is delayed or canceled you will have the most rerouting options.
• If you cannot fly nonstop, consider the connecting city carefully.  In winter choose a city to the south Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas etc, rather than a northern route connecting in Chicago, New York etc.  Allow 45 minutes or more in layover time just in case your first flight is delayed.  Read more

H1N1 Travel Insurance Explained

Will standard travel insurance policies cover you for cancellation if you or a family memeber comes down with H1N1 just prior to traveling?  The answers to this question have been changing recently.  Here’s an excellent article by the LA Times that gives an excellent overview of the up-to-date answers.

American Airlines Puts Europe On Sale For Winter and Spring

Just as British Airway’s World-On-Sale is expiring, American Airlines has taken up the gauntlet.  From now until December 3rd, winter and spring flights from the USA to Europe have been discounted.  Fly Boston to Barcelona for $248 each way, New York to London for $256, DC to Frankfurt for $298, Chicago to Rome for $327, or Miami to Barcelona for $274.  Begin your travel by March 28, 2010 and complete your journey by April 27, 2010.  This may be the year to finally see April in Paris!  Visit AA.com for all the sale details.

New Gluten-Free Allergy Alert Travel Cards

Staying healthy on the road is a particular challenge for folks with food allergies.  Anyone with significant food sensitivities should visit SelectWisely.com and order their terrific allergy alert cards – available in a wide range of languages. They have recently introduced a new card which alerts restaurant waiters to your Gluten-Free food requirements.  The cards are available for travel to either Asia (Chinese, Japanese & Thai), or Europe (Spanish, Franch & Italian).  Select Wisely also offers a wide range of alert cards for various food allergies, medical conditions and emergency cards.  Read our previous post for tips on traveling with food allergies.

Spend The Winter In Nice France Learning to Teach Business English

The TEFL Language House invites you to the balmy beautiful French Riviera this winter to earn a certification to teach EFL in France.

Beginning in January 2010, Language House is opening a new facility in chic, alluring Nice!  The one month certification course allows graduates to teach English to Students of Other Languages in Europe.  The school’s newest offering is a course in the fastest growing segment of EFL,  a CELTA or TESOL Certificate for “Teaching Business English” to foreign language students.  As countries throughout Europe push to embrace Business English as a common denominator among countries of the European Union, teachers  holding this certification are in increasing demand.

Students live with host families while they are attending the school for a 600 euro fee that includes boarding with breakfast and dinner daily, or two students may choose to share an apartment.  Once you’ve earned the teaching certification, The Language House offers robust job coaching services and additional language lessons for those wish to tune up on the language of the country in which they hope to live and teach.  The Language House is an American corporation who is creating an alliance of existing language schools, businesses and organizaiton in the Mediterranean.  They also offer TEFL teaching locations in Montpellier France, Genoa Italy, Antalya Turkey and Marrakesh Morocco.  Visit the TEFL Language House website for all the information on courses, locations and fees.

10 Reasons To Visit Cape Kidnappers In Your Lifetime

Have you been watching the PGA Kiwi Open taking place at Cape Kidnappers? Everyone is awe struck by the incredibly dramatic coastal scenery and furrowed cliffs that the golf course dances over.  Bring a bag full of golf balls is all I can say, this hazard drops 800 feet into the sea!   So what is this wild place all about and why haven’t you heard of it before?  Here’s the scoop!

New Zealand has a well earned reputation for exclusive luxury lodges scattered throughout the North and South Islands, positioned to take advantage of the some of the best scenic vistas in the country.  The Farm at Cape Kidnappers in Napier on the North Island of New Zealand is one of  the newest and most spectacular.  The lodge opened in November 2007 and offers luxury cottage suites that all enjoy 180 degree views over the headlands and out to the Pacific Ocean.  And the setting is just the beginning of the reasons to visit Cape Kidnappers. Read more

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