The Lollipop Road

Archive for February, 2010

• Central NJ to Central MA today – Snow, sleet, rain, sun, more sleet, heavy snow, sun then more rain. Some delays in NY/CT. #weather #
• #Cruisedeals : RCCL Liberty of the Seas 7nt 5/2 From $499pp inside. Book 3/2 only. #traveldeals #
• Weather Alert: Well, it's a mess here in the Northeast again. The wet heavy snow has caused cancellations and delays. Drifts up to 2 feet! #
• Tripadvisor 10 Quirkiest Vacation Rentals – Check out #4 if your kids love trains! http://bit.ly/bTGkad #kids #familytravel #lp #
• Great Westin/Amazon Promo – Get $100 #Amazon Gift Card for 2 Westin stays thru 5/13 – register http://bit.ly/9byVEW #traveldeals #hoteldeals #
• $69/nt — New D.C.-Area Westin incl. Breakfast & Parking from Travelzoo http://bit.ly/8Z8lsg #traveldeals #hoteldeals #
• KOA Come Camp and Care Weekend – May 14th-15th. Stay one night get the second free! http://bit.ly/bn1AbY #familytravel #camping #KOA #
• Airfare Deal: Virgin America Prime Time Fare Sale from $49OW http://bit.ly/d6RHNn #traveldeals #
• Yosemite managers ask for help deciding future of historic cabins closed after rockfall – latimes.com http://shar.es/mmUFd via @sharethis #
• Major Outbreak on Celebrity Mercury – over 400 sick. Cruising with kids? Read our article on cruise ship sanitation http://bit.ly/ahOQf1 #
• Good Read on When kids travel (fly) alone http://www.stuff.co.nz/s/vLlR #
• Shield youngsters from serious illness on winter vacations: http://bit.ly/8ZsAWO via @addthis #
• Free Breakfast Today For Everyone At IHOP – 14 Palm Beach Area Locations http://bit.ly/bKl99R via @addthis #
• #CruiseDeal : Carnival Glory 4nt Canada from NYC – From $249pp inside #
• Lufthansa Pilots Officially on Strike – Disrupting Trans-Atlantic Service. For United or USAir customers, make sure you're not on Lufthansa #
• Airfare Alert: Southwest Flys to Boston from PHL beg 6/27. One-Way from $59+ Watch for fare sales in the coming months! #
• Air Deal: BWI-ABQ $178 RT incl tax on Continental. Perfect place to explore our National Parks! #traveldeals #
• WSJ.com – Your Kids Love It. You Love It. Perfect. http://on.wsj.com/dc6tvW Great example of family bonding through travel. #
• Airlines, passengers squabble over baggage fees – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/18/AR2010021805637.html #
• We Just Love #Alaska ..check out this interesting article. http://nyti.ms/8Z4Qa5 #

We all thought that it would be a much bigger deal than it turned out to be, but it’s still a memory that will remain with us forever.  If you’re Irish, married to someone who is Irish, or just love drinking a good Guinness now and again, visiting Ireland should top your list of things to do with your kids before they’re out of college and have long forgotten about vacationing with their parents. 

As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, I’m flooded with wonderful memories of a family vacation to Ireland taken many years ago, right around this time.  To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, we’d planned on trudging out early into the cold, damp morning to marvel at the entertainment of Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  It was quite a long walk from our hotel to the parade route, but we were so looking forward to this once in a lifetime experience, I mean, it’s St. Patrick’s Day and this is Ireland.

Strange...

We’d anticipated large crowds of people vying for a good spot from which to view the spectacle.  When we arrived at the place where we thought we should be, we wondered if we had taken a wrong turn.  There were fewer than a thousand people within our sight – perhaps as a result of the inclement weather, we thought.  The crowd did grow a bit by the time the parade started, but it wasn’t until later that we’d realize that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade back home was a much bigger deal than it was in Ireland.

What the heck...?

There was some strange stuff in that parade!  Oh well, we enjoyed it all the same!  It was a once in a lifetime experience.  Enjoy the photos and check back with us again to read more on traveling throughout Ireland.

Playing The Bagpipes

Enjoy the photos!  For more amazing photos, please visit Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.   

Disclosure

Airline extras and fees have been a hot topic lately.  As airlines continue to figure out new ways to make money, priority and advanced seating assignment fees are becoming more popular.  Although Northwest Airlines recently dropped its Coach Choice program, that move was not a sign of the program’s unpopularity or lack of revenue generation, but rather a result of their merger with Delta and Delta’s inability to maintain the program on their web platform.

Fortunately, most major domestic carriers have to this point resisted charging a fee for advance seat assignments or premium seating.  However, advance premium seating is still typically reserved only for the most frequent flyers and highest fare paying passengers.  So, perhaps the opportunity to snag a premium seat for a little extra cash might not be a bad thing, so long as you can still assign any regular seat for free at the time of reservation.

Unfortunately, however, the low-cost carriers have begun to exploit the flying public, especially families.  Most families want or need to sit together, so not obtaining seat assignments in advance might cause significant problems on the day of departure.

The biggest offender to date has been Spirit Airlines.  As you can see below, you can’t obtain seat assignments until check-in (24 hours in advance of your flight) without paying a fee.  To add insult to injury, Spirit Airlines only allows a random seat to be generated for free at check-in, without the ability to change it.  This nuance makes them the least family friendly domestic airline in this roundup.

To their credit, Southwest Airlines has taken the extra step of singling out families by guaranteeing those traveling with young children a priority boarding spot between their “A” and ”B” boarding groups.  Of course, this means that they have eliminated priority boarding for families, so I’m not sure if this is really supposed to be an “enhancement”…you decide.

Keep in mind that most fees are per segment, not each way, so if you have a connecting flight, you’ll pay that fee twice.  The chart below outlines advance seat reservation fees as well as premium seat fees for domestic airlines as of February 25, 2010.   First or Business Class upgrades may also be available for an additional fee.

So, as you can see, not all airlines are created equal when it comes to fees.  Make sure that you take into account all fees when choosing the “least expensive” fare.  Check out our roundup on checked baggage fees and stay tuned for future reviews of even more fees being imposed by the airlines!

Disclosure

This week, we’re grabbing the best of the best spring airfare deals and putting them together all in one place.  If you haven’t made plans for spring break, now is the time while there are still some deals left!  As always, these super deals disappear fast, so don’t dawdle - book now!

Cheap Domestic Airfare Deals Between Major Cities During March/April -

• New York to Pittsburgh ($99), Boston ($129), Chicago ($140), Dallas ($183), San Francisco ($211), Los Angeles ($214), Las Vegas ($221), Seattle ($234)
• Boston to Baltimore ($99), Dallas ($175), Minneapolis ($182), Denver ($199), Los Angeles ($212), Seattle ($232), San Juan ($244)
• Baltimore/Washington to Boston ($99), Charlotte ($118), Atlanta ($138), Albuquerque ($178), Phoenix ($209), San Francisco ($214), Seattle ($215), Los Angeles ($218)
• Chicago to New York ($140), Fort Meyers ($142), Tampa ($163), Orlando ($169), San Juan ($232)
• Atlanta to Baltimore ($138), Boston ($182), Dallas ($209), Albuquerque ($219), Portland ($231), Los Angeles ($238)
• Dallas to Tampa ($155), Orlando ($169), Boston ($175), New York ($183), Minneapolis ($201), Albuquerque ($206), San Francisco ($211)
• Los Angeles to Phoenix ($119), Las Vegas ($139), Denver ($159), Boston ($212), New York ($214), Balt/Wash ($218), Miami ($229), Ft Lauderdale ($239)
• Seattle to Denver ($177), Raleigh-Durham ($207), Ft Lauderdale ($214), Balt/Wash ($215), Tampa ($222), Orlando ($226), Miami ($231), Boston ($232), New York ($234)
• San Francisco to Las Vegas ($132), Denver ($159), Pittsburgh ($195), Dallas ($211), New York ($211), Orlando ($212), Balt/Wash ($214), Miami ($219), Tampa ($219)
• San Diego to Phoenix ($119), Denver ($159), Las Vegas ($161), Orlando ($237), Miami ($241)

Fares include all taxes and fees.  Availability varies by date and airline.  Utilize a website with calendaring tools such as ITA or FareCompare to find the best fares.

Disclosure

The majority of airlines impose some sort of travel restriction or requirement on women who are pregnant.  Traveling during pregnancy should be planned carefully and you should always consult your physician in advance to make sure that it is safe for you and your unborn to travel.  Your physician can also explain what to do in the event of an emergency while away from home.  A little advance planning and preparation will give you great peace of mind.

In order to protect your safety as well as their liability, many airlines require women who are more than 36 weeks pregnant to provide a physician’s clearance to travel.  However, the restrictions vary widely amongst airlines, so we’ve included a chart below that will help you sort through the maze of requirements imposed by domestic airlines.  Note that although some airlines have no restrictions, you should always consult your physician if traveling in the final stages of pregnancy.

Of course, airline personnel and crew always have the final authority when determining if an individual is fit for travel.  So, even though you obtain a medical certificate, you may still be denied boarding if you are determined to be unfit for travel due to health or safety reasons.  Traveling while pregnant is generally safe so long as you’re prepared.  Look for more upcoming articles on this topic, including tips for making your trip more comfortable and cruise line restrictions on pregnant travelers.

Disclosure