SONOMA WINE COUNTRY TOURING

On September 17/11, we flew into San Francisco for one night before driving up to the Sonoma area to spend a week touring wineries and relaxing.  We rented a van from the airport, which unfortunately took a very long time, despite the fact that it was booked in advance.  The good news is, California has a law that doesn't allow the usual extra-driver fees, so we were able to spread the driving--and wine tasting between 3 drivers--at no extra cost.

That night we stayed at the Bay Landing Hotel, Burlingame, which was close to the airport, and an excellent choice of hotels if you have a vehicle.  The hotel is very reasonable (just over $100 including tax/night) and is right on the water.  There is a great sea-wall for walking and it's also interesting to watch the planes take off and land, as San Francisco's airport is directly across the water.  I had earplugs and did not have any issues with plane noise.  The hotel also has an airport shuttle and can arrange tours of Alcatraz and other popular attractions for guests without cars.  The rooms are large with king beds and new bathrooms, a mini-fridge, microwave, coffee-maker, and safe.  Parking, Wi-Fi, and breakfast are also included.

That afternoon, we took a drive down the scenic Pacific Coast Highway to the highly recommended Sam's Chowder House.  There, we had a wonderful lunch on the patio and enjoyed the spectacular views.  The Beet Salad and the New England Chowder lived up to the billing, but others in our party did not feel the Lobster Roll did.

That evening we parked at Union Square and toured the area on foot. The following day the men took the Alcatraz Tour and then we met at the Mexican restaurant next to the hotel, El Torito.  The food there was plentiful and reasonable.  Then it was off to wine country; 45 minutes to an hour away.

 Alcatraz

Golden Gate Bridge

Our base for the week was a great 3 bedroom Worldmark condo in Windsor, with plenty of room for 3 couples. 

We started our first day of wine touring at the Ledson Winery.  The building is simply stunning and the wine was just as great.  We quickly learned that we could not buy wine at every winery we visited.  Our 2 bottles per person duty-free limit greatly restricted our style!

Ledson Winery

Next we visited the Kenwood Winery, where we had an indifferent host who did not give us any warm and fuzzy feelings. Afterwards, it was time for lunch to soak up the wine.  Nearby was a cute little Italian restaurant called Cafe Citti, where we enjoyed a reasonably-priced lunch.  They also offer take-out for patrons who prefer to take a picnic lunch.

After lunch we visited the Valley of the Moon Winery.  At first glance, we weren't even sure we should stop, but the wine turned out to be excellent and we had a great time there.

That night we found a great little restaurant in Windsor--one of the few open in the evening--called Kin. The food was plentiful and prices were excellent, especially the baked hot chocolate dessert! In fact, we liked it so much we planned to visit a second time; unfortunately we just couldn't squeeze it in.

After the first day of wine tours, they all begin to run together!  One lesson learned, the temperature was in the 90's, so on winery touring days, we brought a cooler and bags of ice to keep our wine cool since we would be gone all day and most of the evening.

The next day of touring we headed to Healdsburg and our first stop was the Sausal Winery.  There, we were the first patrons of the day and had an extremely knowledgeable young woman.  It's a small, family owned winery known for having the oldest vines in California.  The information was interesting, the wine was tasty, and the tastings were free.   Off to a good start!   

We were fortunate enough to happen upon the Alexander Valley Winery just as they were harvesting grapes.  We watched the mechanical separation of the grapes from the vine and also got a tour of part of the winery's 25,000 square feet of caves. 

Alexander Valley Winery

Mechanical crusher-destemmer

The tasting fees varied from winery to winery; some were free; others charged anywhere from $5 to $25/person.  The majority were $5 or $10, and some waived the tasting fee if wine was purchased.  The fees in Napa were generally higher than Sonoma.  We found most of the staff at the tasting rooms to be very friendly and knowledgeable. 

The restaurants in the area allow patrons to bring wine and charge a corkage fee, typically $10 or $15.  We took advantage of this numerous times as it allowed us to consume some of the wine that we couldn't take home.  

Soda Rock Vineyards

Our next stop was the Soda Rock Vineyards where we had a great time with the tasting hostess.

Bennett Lane Winery                             

                                       

  

At Bennett Lane, we were encouraged to taste the grape varietals right from the vine. 

Our next tasting had definitely more of a touristy feel. Castello di Amorosa is a "castle" built by a wealthy American who wanted a touch of Tuscany in the Napa Valley.  It was impossible not to enjoy the experience, thanks to our outrageously entertaining taster, Joshua Meyer.  However we all agreed the wine wasn’t among our favourites.

The buildings at the Beringer Vineyards were lovely but, sadly, there was no time for tasting the wine. Beringer Vineyards

The Culinary Institute of America in nearby St. Helena is a popular restaurant for lunch or dinner, so it's advisable to make a reservation.  We had booked a dinner reservation--and would not be going back to the hotel in between--so we left our hotel that morning, equipped with a cooler for our wine.  

The atmosphere at the CIA (as it's known) was lovely, and the food was good, but we thought it a tad over-priced for what we got.  After all, we supplied the wine!

Our next day of touring was to start at Folie a Deux Wineries, near the quaint town of Yountville.   From Windsor and then Highway 12, we took what we thought was a shortcut--but the wildly exciting Trinity Road proved a bit hairy.  Turns out it wasn't a shortcut at all because it was so windy, some of us were getting car sick!  However, it was all worth it when we crested the hill and saw the gorgeous Napa Valley spread out below.  We decided to stop first in Yountville to pick up a picnic lunch to enjoy at the winery.

Folie a Deux produces one of my favourite wines, a lovely red blend called Menage a Trois (do not read anything into the name!) that turned out to be the #1 selling red wine in America last year.  It sold 1.6 million cases and Menage à Trois was named the "Wine Brand of the Year" by the beverage industry publication Market Watch.  We had a great time at the winery with our picnic lunch (resident wasps not appreciated though).

Our last stop of that day was at Summers Estate Wines, which was a small winery recommended to us by one of the staff at Folie a Deux. She even phoned to make sure it was still open.  There, our host and wine educator was an interesting Welshman, Graham Jones. He loves wine and can talk it for hours.  He's also a chef and talked a lot about food.  He's a no BS kind of guy and tells it like it is.  We really enjoyed his insights. 

On our 2nd last day in wine country, we headed to the Healdsburg Market, before buying another picnic lunch and heading to the Armida Winery.  They have one of the best vistas in the Dry Creek Valley.  Unfortunately, the tasting room was very busy with 3 limos of people arriving, so it was a bit of a rush.  We did enjoy our picnic; how could you not with a view like this?

In addition to the ones I mentioned, there were a number of other restaurants that we enjoyed this trip.  The Crepevine in Santa Rosa was a casual restaurant offering large portions of healthy, appetizing food for a very reasonable price.  We did make it there twice.  Johnny Garlic's was also a pleasant surprise.

The last day of our trip meant a drive back into San Francisco for our flight home.  A word of caution, the return journey on a Sunday took twice as long as on the way in.  There was construction!  Not something we planned on for a Sunday, but luckily we had enough of a cushion to get us there in plenty of time.  It was also the only day of rain or fog we had the entire week, so we considered ourselves lucky.  And to top it off,  our 12 bottles of wine between us wine made it home in one piece!

MEDITERRANEAN CRUISING PART 2: VENICE, TAORMINA, BARCELONA, MONACO & FLORENCE

There’s nothing like cruising into a city like Venice on a cruise ship!  The views are absolutely stunning.  From high up on the sun deck of a ship, it’s very easy to see how much of the city is actually leaning as it sinks.

Ships dock close to the train station, which is also near the vaporetto terminal (vaporettos are the water taxis used to transport the public around Venice).  Cruise lines offer their own water taxis to the main tourist area, St. Mark’s Square, for a minimal fee.  The one reason not to take the cruise lines’ is missing the opportunity for a romantic boat ride down the Grand Canal (which only the vaporettos do).  The cruise port is about a 15 minute walk to the nearest vaporetto station, Piazzale Roma, where the water taxis cruise down the Grand Canal and to St. Marks Square.  Or, for walking enthusiasts, it’s a 45min to an hour walk from the cruise port into downtown.  Beware though, there are limited bridges that will take you to and from the cruise port and if you get lost—like we did in the dark—it can be difficult to find your way back.  We did the walk 3 times, and it can be really enjoyable if you’re taking time to see the sites along the way, or stopping for coffee or gelato in a local shop. Interestingly, in Venice, you pay for your coffee after you drink it!  

Of course one can’t go to Venice without indulging in a gondola ride, but be prepared for the cost, approximately 80Euros for 40 minutes.  They usually seat 6 and you might find yourself sharing with strangers if you don’t negotiate in advance, and most people found—including us—that the ride was not the full 40 minutes.  However, it’s hard to pass up the experience.

St. Mark’s Square is the centre of the city with its stunning St. Marks Basilica.  When we visited in 2006, the square was overrun with pigeons; many locals had a flourishing business of selling pigeon feed to the tourists.  Since 2008, pigeon-feeding is banned, so their presence is somewhat diminished.  Another surprise was the water that would periodically come up under the square at high tide!  In our case it was manageable, but sometimes it can be inches deep, which requires the hasty addition of temporary walkways to traverse the square.    

We took a boat ride to Murano Island, where we marveled at his speed and precision as a master glassmaker fashioned a beautiful vase in minutes flat.  Thankfully, it was that fast, as the heat was unbearable in the shop! 

After a wonderful 2 days in Venice, our ship headed to the ancient city of Taormina, perched on a mountainside in Sicily.  The bus ride was not for the faint of heart, traveling at greater-than-expected speeds up a narrow, winding road!

Once there, we visited the ruins of the Ancient Theatre, built in the early 7^th century B.C.  Amazingly, it is still in use today--for theatre, ballet and symphony productions.  We also sampled the world-famous Cannoli--another Taormina claim to fame.

Next, we were in for a rainy day in Barcelona.  We had pre-purchased Hop On Hop Off bus tickets, but could not use them as the buses sailed right on by without stopping!  It seems they don’t allow standing, so all the buses were “full”, with about 20 people.  We eventually gave up and just took the tube to the endlessly-fascinating Church of the Holy Family, or Basilica La Sagrada Familia.  Under construction since 1882, it is still incomplete.  So many architects have been involved in the process that the church looks completely different on each side.  The view from the tower is fabulous; but the steep and windy staircase back down was enough to make me woozy.

Our ship arrived in Cannes on a particularly blustery, rainy day, so the port authorities deemed it too dangerous for the tenders. That meant we were basically hostages on the ship until the waves calmed enough to open the port.  When that happened a few hours later, we were frustrated to find out that people who had booked their shore excursions with Carnival got first priority!  There was almost a mutiny as many people—including ourselves—had booked outside excursions or had plans for the day on our own.  Eventually we found a way off by purchasing a refundable bus ticket (for an exorbitant price), and then took the train to Monte Carlo (for about 12Euros) as we’d originally planned; we turned in our bus tickets for a refund when we got back.  I felt a tad guilty doing this but Carnival created the problem by giving preferential treatment to passengers who booked with them, instead of doing disembarkation on a first-come, first-served basis.

After marveling at the amazing cars everywhere we looked, we decided to get out of the rain and cold by checking out the famous Monte Carlo Casino.  The fee to get in—yes, they charge—was 5Euros/person and they also took a copy of our passport for security purposes.  It is a fabulous building, but intimidating casino.  All the dealers are men in tuxedos.  Not being brave enough to try a table game, hubby and I split the 12Euros cash we had and gave the slots a try.  Lucky us!  Twenty minutes later, we walked away with 126Euros between us.  We stupidly decided to grab a hot chocolate at the Café Paris across the street; 12Euros later, it didn’t seem like such a good idea!  Regardless, we enjoyed our day in Monte Carlo, and the walk through the cute streets of Cannes on our way back to the ship. 

Our last port was Livorno. From there we took a 45 minute train to Florence. It was a gorgeous, hot day. Not willing to stand in the 2 hour line to see the original statue of David, we elected to see the copy at Piazza della Signoria. It’s a beautiful square in front of Palazzo Vecchio and full of remarkable sculptures; some, particularly gruesome and not so pleasant!

                                  The statue of Hercules and Cacus

 Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus

We had a lovely lunch at one of the restaurants in the square and then decided to get a Gelato to help cool us down.  What an eye-opener; at 14Euros it must have been made of gold!  We certainly learned to check the price first after that experience. 

After an additional night in Rome post-cruise, sadly, it was time to head home from our fabulous Western Mediterranean cruise.  The Eastern Mediterranean is next on the list.

Booking Flights Part 1:

July 7th, 2011 by Flight Centre Staff They say Australians love to travel, but Joel Pennington takes it to a whole new level. After leaving Sydney at the age of 18 to travel, Joel never looked back. He’s lived in the UK for three years, backpacked across 50 countries, and now works as a travel agent here at Flight Centre. To say he’s caught the travel bug would be an understatement and we’re thrilled to share his travel advice with the community. This week, he dives into the world of booking flights and offers some great insight for anyone who plans to travel in the future. No matter what kind of travel you’re into, this is definitely one you’ll want to bookmark:

“10% of your life is what happens to you, the other 90% is how you react”
So let’s start by looking at the 10% – the factors out of your control when booking a flight, then we can assess how to react. Some of these are probably obvious to most, but they are important to take into consideration when booking:

Fuel

This is 40% of an airlines running costs and if you’re on the hunt for flights now I’m sure your noticing an inflated market due to fuel prices. Please don’t be under the impression I know and/or understand the fluctuating oil market, (although it seems like we are deliberately kept in the dark on that one).

 

Seasonal fluctuations

Obviously it is more expensive to fly to Europe in July/August as it is summer holidays, and the all-inclusive packages are more expensive during Canadian winter’s when everyone wants a week of sun. Yet something a lot of people don’t think about is their destination. Are you looking at flying into Beijing the week before Chinese New Year? Are you flying into Tel-Aviv on a Jewish holiday? Is the food festival on in New Orleans that week? Is it Ramadan in Istanbul? My advice? Thoroughly research your destination.

Time of Flight

If you’re prepared to be at the airport at 4am or flying through the night then you’re saving a bit of money. Availability does have an affect but this is not always the prime factor. I once paid £300 for a one way flight from London to Rotterdam which is not a good deal and there was 6 people on the plane, (leaving about 150-200 spare seats). Where was the sale there?

 

So what can we do after factoring in all these variables? We know our dates, our destination and time we want to fly. We have looked at the factors out of your control, which are important, but now let’s get down to business. Most people think when you book a flight the price depends on how many seats are on the plane. This is not the case; next time you get on a plane have some fun and ask some people around you what they paid for the flight. You could do the whole plane (and be highly awkward) and you will notice that some people have paid the same price but never more than a couple of dozen. What’s that all about?

 

When you book economy class there are many different classes to choose from but all are going to be the same seat, leg room (and possible snoring neighbour). But the difference between the prices is the restrictions placed on you. So first class is classified F class while Business class is classified C, Z and J class. Economy is pretty much the rest of the alphabet, so there are around 20-22 different prices you could pay in economy, without price fluctuations. In Business class there will be three different prices and in first class just one (these are generally the rules but not for every airline). Confused yet? It gets better.

So let’s say I book V class as it is the cheapest for my flight to Orlando. This ticket was $275 including tax. This ticket is non-refundable and incurs a $200 fee to change it. Now that is pretty restrictive, but let’s say I book L class for $345? Well then my cancellation fee is $100 and it only cost’s me $50 to change my flight. But is L class any different when I’m actually on the plane? The answer is no.

Next week I’ll share with you how to use this to your advantage, so stay tuned!

Courtesy of: Joel Pennington, International Travel Consultant, Flight Centre Canada.

Booking Flights Part 2

July 14th, 2011 by Flight Centre StaffIn Part One of his series, Joel Pennington walked us through the things we can and cannot control when booking a flight and explained how different classes affect different pricing. Now that we understand how flight pricing works, today Joel takes look at the many ways in which this can affect your booking and why using an agent can save you time and stress down the road:

First thing’s first: an airline will put enough seats in the lowest class and make the ticket non-refundable to cover the cost of the flight. For example, there are 40 seats in V class and they are all non-refundable so therefore the money made from those 40 seats covers the airlines costs, and everything else now is profit so they can have tickets that vary in terms of restrictions and change fee’s (I am trying to simplify this for now, as airlines can make it much more complicated but this is generally how it works).
Something websites have done to get people to book online, is simplify this system to the point of making it near impossible to know what exactly you’re purchasing. You just pick dates, destination and it will display flights starting at the absolute cheapest regardless of restrictions/times you want to fly/airlines/booking class. Every single client that has walked in or spoke to me regarding a flight they have found online I have found something else that is far more appealing to them whether it be price or logistics. For example I had a friend email me a flight he was happy with and said he just thought he would email so I would book it for him to help me out. The flight had two changes in awful airports and left at 6am (leaving Guelph at 3am to get to Toronto). I found him a flight for an extra $25 per person that had one change and left at 11am.
Another problem with websites not displaying booking classes is that if you have searched for a flight with two passengers and there is one seat available in V class for $250 and then the next level up is T class for $325, the website will give you two seats in T class. We as travel agents use a completely different system which displays booking classes so that I can book one in V class and the other in T class and save you $75!
So that is two examples of using booking classes to your advantage. Next week, we will look at some other options including seasonality and charter flights.

Courtesy of: Joel Pennington, International Travel Consultant, Flight Centre Canada.

Booking Flights Part 3: Seasonality

July 21st, 2011 by Flight Centre Staff

Now that we have a good background on understanding flight pricing in Part One and Two of his series, Joel Pennington adds another weapon to our arsenal by taking a look at seasonality. From seasonal trends to religious holidays, he breaks it down for us:
Flight pricing is heavily affected by seasons of the year, and that’s not just summer/winter/autumn/spring. It entails school holidays, religious holidays, events and festivals. I’m going to get you to be a little interactive here, by asking you to go onto a website you use to book flights and look at flights from Toronto to Krakow (Poland) for the 10th September returning in two weeks with Air Canada. Go on… I’ll wait.
Now go back and look at the 11th September returning on the same flight, same destination with Air Canada again. Interesting isn’t it? How did it go down $200-300 (this has probably fluctuated by the time you read this, and we know why it’s fluctuated, right? (if not go back and read part 1 and 2).
The reason for such a jump in one day is because every airline in the Star Alliance considers the peak season to Europe from Toronto to be finished on the 10th of September, no later and no earlier. So once again browsing online, this tool is not really available for you to use unless you fancy browsing every airline for your possible destination over a period of an entire season which could be 3 months. However as a travel agent, this tool is available to us. Online sites have overlooked this to keep to their very effective KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) theory in place.
The tricky thing here is that some airlines don’t have certain seasons for certain destinations and other airlines consider their peak and quiet seasons at different times for various reasons. This weapon is not always going to come in handy as your dates are not always flexible, but every now and then it has saved my clients hundreds by a day or two just because I have this tool at my disposal and I can quickly see which airlines might be about to change seasons around the dates I am searching.
Are your eyes starting to open now? Mine certainly were when I was learning all this. As a result I’ll never book online again…I’ll only book through travel agents from now on.
Courtesy of: Joel Pennington, International Travel Consultant, Flight Centre Canada.

Booking Flights Part 4: Charter Flights

August 4th, 2011 by Flight Centre Staff

After giving us some tips on seasonality in Part 3 of his series, Joel Pennington gives us some insight today on how charter flights work and some important things you should know before snatching up the next ‘great deal’ you find:

You should now be forming a basic idea of how flights work so now we can start looking into other matters. Things don’t get much more abnormal than the roller-coaster of prices that come with a charter flight. Lets discuss shall we?
A charter flight is basically when a company buys every seat on a plane and sells them off. The reasons for doing this are generally to tie the flight to a hotel, resort or event/festival. For example Sunwing in Canada uses charter flights to bundle them with a hotel to offer the public a lower rate. But how does this affect us?
First of all, booking classes are out the window, forget about that. 99.9% of the time all tickets are non-refundable and are non-changeable so you better have cancellation insurance for the unexpected and you better be sure these are the dates and times you wanted. There is no room for error.
Once you book you are much more vulnerable to the company making a number of decisions, or potentially going broke (charter flights go under much more often than regular airlines as they run on incredibly tight margins). Off the top of my head a charter company went under last week doing flights out of Southern Ontario to Central Europe. As a result we are having a lot of people looking to fly to Budapest last minute. Getting your money back in these situations is tough at best and impossible at worst.
The other aspect to consider is you are open to the airline changing that flight at anytime. Now in saying that any airline reserves the right to do that but it is much more common among charter airlines as their profit margins are so low they may need to chop and change flights in order to break even or crawl into profit if certain flights are not filling up.
The truth of the matter is, you can snap up a bargain in the mayhem of it all. Personally I only book charter flights if I am completely flexible and don’t mind the airline changing my flight times to a couple of days before or after.

Courtesy of: Joel Pennington, International Travel Consultant, Flight Centre Canada.

Booking Flights Part 5: Last Minute Deals

August 11th, 2011 by Flight Centre Staff
After giving us some tips on understanding Charter flights in Part 4 of his series, Joel Pennington gives us some insight today on the death of last minute deals and some important things you should keep in mind when on the hunt for your next cheap vacation:
“I want to go to Cuba next week and I don’t want to pay more than $500″
Any travel agents reading this will have a chuckle as this is the classic opening line of the last minute deal hunter. The travel industry has seen a dip in last minute deals becoming available from suppliers and this has left many people who wait until a week before they want to go baffled by the prices they are finding.

I want you to imagine for a moment that you own a package tour company. sitting in that hammock with a cigar and models serving you cocktails, pretty sweet right? But slowly you would realize running this package tour company is actually really hard work (who would have thought).
Trying to keep up with competitor pricing, filling certain resorts to break even, suppliers going bankrupt, an imminent hurricane at a beach with 15 of your resorts on it (that would be fairly stressful) and the constant stream of people booking last minute forcing you to chop and change flights, add or rearrange staff at resorts and ensure you’re still breaking even with your last minute deal. So, where is that cigar? Would it not take a lot of stress off your back if everyone booked at least 4-6 weeks in advance so you know your numbers and things become easier to organise and smoother to run? Well yes it does, so you might start considering this whole last minute deal approach.
There is a distinct movement from suppliers in pricing to encourage people to book in advance to not only secure a fair price but to allow the supplier to organize their inventory. This is not to say there are no last minute deals, they are just fewer and further between now. So if you’re looking for a last minute deal, I recommend the following:
-Do not be fussy- The reason a resort is not filling up is because people were not booking it. Ask yourself why is this so cheap? More often than not, the travel industry is just like anything else-you get what you pay for.
-Be totally flexible with when you can go- so not “anytime the first week of July”, it needs to be “anytime” and you need to be consistently checking.
Personally I feel last minute deals are poor value for money. Know where you want to go, when you want to go and book as far in advance as possible. If this doesn’t appeal to you, then I recommend you try it once and check on what you booked later and watch the price go up. Then allow yourself a smug smile for saving yourself some money and watch the suckers scramble and pay $200 more than you did.
Courtesy of: Joel Pennington, International Travel Consultant, Flight Centre Canada.

Booking Flights Part 6: One-Way Tickets

August 18th, 2011 by Flight Centre Staff
After giving us some tips on last minute deals in part five of his series, Joel Pennington breaks down how one-way tickets work, along with the insight of our travel guru Dennis, who both offer some important things you should know before making your next booking:
When booking a one-way ticket you may be shocked at the price. Sometimes its fair, sometimes its expensive, and other times it’s more expensive than a return ticket. The price of a one-way ticket depends completely on your destination.If you’re flying to a country that requires some sort of documentation for you to get through immigration besides a passport with 6 month validity, then chances are your one-way ticket is going to be very expensive and probably more expensive than a return ticket. We asked our travel guru Dennis to give us some more insight on this topic and here’s what he had to say:

One way tickets are comparatively more expensive than 1/2 a return, and in some cases even higher than the cost of a full return fare. As countries will always require documentation to indicate the purpose of your trip and proof that you are in fact going to leave within the maximum permitted stay allowance (such as a flight out of the country), arriving on a one way ticket could prove to find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation. Arriving one way without the correct documentation would result in interrogation by customs & immigration, and likely denied entry and your immediate expulsion from the country either via the airline that transported you, or via the first available flight at your cost. You could also be blacklisted which would affect your ability to travel to or transit via this country in the future as well.”

It’s very important to note that in most countries you’re likely to be denied entry with a one-way ticket as you have no proof of onward travel (you seem awfully suspicious with a one-way ticket to China with just a tourist visa for 12 weeks, trust me I’ve been there and trying to say “I’m backpacking through to Vietnam” in Chinese is really hard).

This is not to say all one-way tickets are expensive. Common sense would tell you using this knowledge that immigration is not really going to hassle you in Montreal after you boarded in Toronto, so therefore the airline is safe to charge you just the one-way fare.

When looking to book a flight that isn’t domestic and only one-way, it is worth looking for a return as well as this could save you some money. of course remember when picking a return ticket (of which you wont be using) pick the cheapest one according to seasonality and availability, which you now know how to do from my previous blogs.

Courtesy of: Joel Pennington, International Travel Consultant, Flight Centre Canada.

Booking Flights Part 7: Agent vs. Internet

September 1st, 2011 by Flight Centre Staff
After giving us some tips on one-way tickets in part six of his series, Joel Pennington tackles the common day battle of agent vs. internet. From sleeping at airports, to scouring websites for hours, Joel has learned a thing or two about finding the best deal and shares his experience with us:
I think I am fairly experienced from my travelling days to say I know how booking flights online works and where to look. I booked my own flights for five years travelling all over the world and I have done everything from translating the Hungarian airlines website to sleeping in Hong Kong airport for 2 days to save $450.
I can comfortably say I learnt more in my first week as a travel agent than I did in the 5 years I scanned, searched and scoured the internet looking for the best deal.
I am a travel agent, so please don’t be under the impression I am non-partisan in this debate, but I think I can present a well-balanced argument to the general reader who is looking to understand the travel industry and is looking for value for money.
Yes it is very convenient to book online; you can do it from the comfort of your home and entirely at your own pace. There are some websites out there that compare prices from different airlines (I have still yet to find one that does every single airline). It will generally show the lowest price first, but this can be a pro and a con as the website has absolutely no idea what you want.
My main point here is that a website cannot qualify you at all, it cannot ask you key questions to ascertain what it is your really looking for. Let's look at the process of booking online and with an agent and then this will become clearer.
First step online: you put in where you are leaving from, and the website takes the information into it’s system.
First step with me: you say where you want to leave from, and I suggest other airports which may be closer, less expensive to fly from and more convenient or nicer for business/first class clients.
Example: I had a young man flying to Australia come in and ask for some advice. I saved him $350 by flying him out of Detroit instead of Toronto. Would a website suggest that? Please tweet me (@FCpenno) if you know a website that does.
Website: 0/ Agent: 1
Second step online: You put in your destination, the website takes the information or gives you a choice of airports for that city with no further explanation.
Second step with me: You tell me where you are flying to and I suggest other airports that may be more convenient, closer to your final destination, or less expensive (Heathrow or Gatwick? Haneda or Narita? Charles De Gaulle or Orly?)
Example: I had a lady looking at flights to Budapest via Paris. I looked at the same flight and showed her she was flying into Charles De Gaulle and out of Orly, something that would be near impossible to do in 3 hours with Paris traffic.
Website: 0/Agent: 2
Third step online: You enter your dates and (my favourite) it might ask if you are flexible with your dates.
Third step with me: I ask when you are looking to go and HOW flexible you are with your dates. A day? A week? A month? Can you go anytime in the next six months? These questions are vital and you should know why after reading my blog on seasonality.
Fourth step online: Flights are displayed without preference to stop-over cities, departure times, arrival times, airline preference, potential visa requirements or basically any other alternative.
Fourth step with me: If I have not already separated myself from the internet then this is when I do. Unless the internet becomes a human, then I will always have this edge and that is my ability to ask you questions and make suggestions to get you exactly what you want.
Example: I have one for every single client that has walked in the door, but the most significant thing in my opinion is that the internet won’t say to you “for an extra $30 you can stop in Paris for 2 hours instead of 6” or “You do realize you’re looking at Sydney in Canada not Sydney in Australia right?”.

Website: 0/Agent: 3
Feel free to go online and search for flights (and possibly get very frustrated), but I encourage you to then come in and chat with me and let me show you how easy it is.

Courtesy of: Joel Pennington, International Travel Consultant, Flight Centre Canada.

Booking Flights Part 8: Code Sharing

September 29th, 2011 by Flight Centre Staff

After tackling the age old question of agent versus internet in Part 7 of his series, our Flightie Joel explains how code sharing works in the airline industry and what this means for you the next time you fly:
Sometimes when you book a flight you might see that you have purchased a ticket off airline X but it says it is operated by airline Y. Most of you probably know that this means that you will be on airline Y’s plane even though you purchased it from airline X.

How does this work? Well quite simply, one airline has bought seats from another airline in order to connect passengers onwards. For example, an airline with a base in London may find there is a high demand for flights to Hong Kong but they only have flights to Shanghai, so they buy seats from an airline that has flights from Shanghai to Hong Kong and combine these flights which is known in the industry as a code share.

What does this mean for you? Firstly you should be careful when you book because if you want to fly with a certain airline due to service standards, comfort or professionalism then you might be in for a rude shock when it comes time for boarding.

More importantly for some there may be a cost difference involved. You might be paying a higher cost to book the same flight with one airline than you are with another. I can only speculate as to why one airline is charging more for the same flight than another. I assume this is due to one airline trying to recover the cost of purchasing seats from the other airline.

But the bottom line is if you are booking, check what airline you are really on, if it is a code share then check the airline it is operated by. This handy tip has saved my clients quite a few dollars here and there.
Courtesy of: Joel Pennington, International Travel Consultant, Flight Centre Canada.

MEDITERRANEAN CRUISING PART1: ROME, POMPEII & DUBROVNIK

In September 2006 my husband and I took a 12 night Mediterranean cruise on the Carnival Liberty out of Rome. I have to say the ship was not my first choice but I got a travel agent rate I couldn’t turn down. Thankfully, the ship and crew were great and we really enjoyed everything about the trip.

September is a great time of year to visit the Med. The crowds are lessened after the summer and the heat isn't quite as unbearable (although we did have some 30C days).

We spent 3 nights in Rome, pre-cruise. After an overnight flight, we arrived at 7am in the morning. (By the way, I highly recommend taking No-Jet-Lag on any trip across the pond. I felt great even though I’d been traveling more than 16 hours and I’m never able to get more than 45 minutes sleep at a time on a plane.) It's a simple process to hop on the Leonardo Express train from Rome airport to the Termini --the main train station in Rome--and our hotel was walking distance from there. After an early check in, we left our bags at the hotel and started exploring the city.
 

First we made our way to St. Peter's Basilica. It's important to note that a dress code is in effect if you wish to enter most churches in Italy--no bare shoulders or knees. Pictures cannot do justice to the workmanship inside the Basilica and the Vatican, but I will include them anyway.

The view of St. Peter's Square from the top of the Basilica:

Then we took in Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Palatino and the Colosseum. It's so amazing to wander a city and continually come across famous monuments previously seen only in books or movies. It's a very walk able city, but we did take the odd bus to spare our feet. 
When riding the transit system in Italy, it's important to know that tickets must be validated when boarding the bus or train.  Unlike North American systems, the tickets purchased do not have a date and time so the ticket takes effect once validated.  The fines are hefty for travellers caught with invalidated tickets and the transit police check regularly.

Just one of many awesome sites excavated at the Palatino

 

The Colosseum                                                  

The next day we set off from our hotel on foot for the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.  They were very busy and it was impossible to get a picture that didn't have dozens of strangers in the background!  From there we visited the Altar of the Nation and the Monument to Vittorio Emmanuel.  After a long day of walking the city, we enjoyed a relaxing dinner in a cafe at Piazza Navona.  At night local artist's set up their paintings in the square.  It took ages to choose the one we wanted--and much haggling with the artist over price--but eventually we settled on an original work depicting a cafe on the Amalfi Coast. 

Our last day in the city was spent at the Vatican Museums.  The lines can be very long but it is an entertaining wait.  There are vendors constantly trying to sell their wares (all displayed on sheets next to the queue) right under the watchful eye of the police, who routinely patrol the area.  As soon as they get close, the vendors grab up their sheet of goods and run.  There are also beggars but one in particular was most disturbing.  A very old lady walking with a cane had one side of her scalp gone!  I'm talking completely open, red tissue and all.  At first we were all convinced it was a wig or some especially good makeup, but as she passed it was obvious that she had an open head wound!  I thought the woman in front of me was going to be physically ill.  Interestingly though, despite her seemingly dire situation, the police had no sympathy and escorted her away across the street.  Of course, as soon as they weren't looking, back she came! 

The ceilings and paintings in the Vatican Museums are simply stunning.  Without a doubt, it is worth braving the crowds and every minute of the wait to see such awe-inspiring work.  It takes hours to go through  the museums properly so be sure to allow enough time.

The next day we checked out of our hotel and headed to the cruise port at Civitavecchia, about an hour and 20 minute train ride from the Termini.  The research led me to believe it was a simple process to get there by train--and a fraction of the price of a shuttle--but in fact, with luggage, it can be difficult as one of the stations we transferred at had no elevators!  Once we arrived at the port, the cruise lines have shuttles to the ship for about 5 Euros per person.  Embarkation was super-quick and literally took about 10 minutes.  It was wonderful to sit by the pool and relax after our 3 busy days exploring Rome.
Our first port was the surprisingly ugly city of Naples.  I only feel comfortable saying that because our tour guide said it repeatedly and it was true!  Apparently there is so much corruption in the city that the inhabitants just build what they want and where, and the authorities turn a blind eye (as long as they are paid to).  We had a shore excursion to Mount Vesuvius, a Cameo factory and Pompeii booked.  I typically prefer to explore on my own and don't book cruise line excursions unless the port stay is very short, but we thought we'd give this one a try.  The excursion itself was excellent and we had a very entertaining guide, but we also had some ignorant people who got back to the bus late at each stop.  Honestly, I don't know why the tours don't leave people like that behind.  We are plainly told what time we need to be back and it's extremely annoying for the rest of the group to have the last stop--Pompeii--be shortened because of other's inconsideration.

The climb up Vesuvius isn't for the faint of heart.  It is steep (in fact they give you walking sticks) and very hot.  The view into the crater is worth the effort though, especially when you can see numerous puffs of smoke where the volcano is still active under the surface.  I could have totally done without the Cameo factory and had more time to spend at Pompeii.  It's an amazing place, if a bit eerie at times.  It's quite disturbing to see the frozen bodies, killed instantly in whatever position they were in. 

Our next port turned out to be our favourite; the gorgeous walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.  It's a stunningly beautiful place on Adriatic coast.  I never expected to find Caribbean-like beaches in the Mediterranean.  The only difference is the water is a bit cooler!  We took about 4 hours to walk the ramparts; taking pictures, enjoying the views and listening to the audio guide.  Unfortunately, the city was heavily damaged in the Bosnian/Serb war but, as a Unesco World Heritage site, it is gradually being restored to its original state.