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

New England Fall Foliage Trains – Scenic Views Without The Traffic

New England is blessed with some of the most spectacular fall foliage displays in the world.  The diverse variety of hardwood forests climbing dramatic mountainsides and reflected in shimmering lakes guarantee scenic overload.  This year skip the traffic jams on the highways and view the foliage on board one of New England’s scenic train tours.  Narrow track rail beds wind their way through deciduous forests, scenic villages, past covered bridges and mirrored lakes.  Here are New Englands most popular vintage scenic train journeys.

• Connecticut – The Essex Steam Train and Riverboat

• Maine – Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railway, Maine Eastern Railway,

• Massachusetts – Berkshire Scenic Railroad, Cape Cod Central Railway

• New Hampshire - Conway Scenic Railway, Mount Washington Cog Railway, Winnipesaukee Scenic Railway

• Vermont – Champlain Valley, Green Mountain & White River Flyer,

10 (Painless) Eco-Friendly Tips For Your Next Trip

Looking for some simple ways to be more environmentally friendly on your next vacation? Here is a practical list of small adjustments each of us can make to lesson our eco footprint as we travel the globe. Each of us can minimize the impact left in our wake through a few mindful approaches to planning our trips.

1) Support destinations that are taking an active stance to protect sensitive areas, species in decline and preserve natural resources. The National Geographic Traveler is a terrific resource for research – click on their Geo-Tourism tab. You’ll find the Nat Geo Center for Sustainable Destinations on their website, where they have rated 115 places in the world for their environmental policies.

2) If going on a group tour, seek companies that are committed to responsible touring. Choose a company that has an environmental impact policy in place and who sponsors programs that give back to the communities in which they operate tours. Top companies offer travelers an opportunity to volunteer in local settings during their tour.

3) Look for boutique hotels and lodges which place less of an ecological burden on the local bio-systems rather than large sprawling resorts or giant high-rise hotels. Select properties built with a respect for their unique environment, and which incorporate the topography in their buildings. These hotels or lodges often employ local people who are experts about the area’s natural wonders, culture, indigenous groups, and geography. These unique properties often seek relationships with local food producers to provide guests with succulent meals that showcase authentic flavors of the region. Take a moment or two to see if the hotel you have chosen has an environmental impact policy stated on their website. Some hotels will donate a portion of their income for carbon offsetting, or are active partners in local volunteer programs, or may work with visitors to plant trees to assist reforestation of tourist areas. Read more

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