The Lollipop Road

Archive for the ‘Travel Tips’ Category

Making travel more affordable is a multi-step process.  There isn’t just one magic trick that will save you thousands – there are many.  We post travel deals every Wednesday in hopes of pointing you in the right direction, but we’re also going to train you to do some of that research yourself.

One of the strategies for obtaining travel discounts is through cash back websites.  Some folks go absolutely crazy and belong to almost all of them and others have never even heard of them.  We are weeding through them to determine what you should look for in a cash back website and some examples of the winners.

Let’s start with a list of qualities we want in a good cash back website:

• Ease of use and speed – getting there and getting around is easy and takes less than 30 seconds.
• The site has a simple search feature and category feature that allows you to identify whether or not there is a rebate for the merchant you want
• The website offers a wide variety of merchants (especially in our target area of travel)
• Credit or cash back and payments to you are regular and reliable
• There is no spam or unwanted solicitations
• There are few or no restrictions on getting your rebates
• The website offers other coupon and discount information
• Longevity and viability

Although there are lots of sites out there, when you look at all of the criteria we’ve outlined, we can only recommend two websites at this time.  These are the best websites for cash back on travel.

The first is Ebates, which has been around since 1999.  Since that time, they have paid over $50 million to their members.  In our opinion, this is the best cash back site on the internet.  We’ve been members since 2000 and have never had a single problem getting paid.  Even when we moved and a check never arrived, a simple e-mail to them had us a replacement check within two weeks.  Those were the old days, now the money is deposited directly into our Paypal account.  The upside is that Ebates has tons of merchants and cash back gets credited quickly (usually 48 hours), but payments only happen every 3 months and only if you have $5.01 or more in your account.  If you don’t meet the minimum, the money is carried over to the next quarter.  Ebates also lists coupons and additional discounts available at select merchants.  Take a look at some of the rebates available:

Another drawback of Ebates is that it doesn’t always have the best cash back offer, so you should always check all websites before making your purchase.  Ebates does offer special promotional cash back rates and a Double Cash Back Deal for one or more stores each day, so you must check each time you shop and not just assume that one or the other has the best offer solely based upon historical offers.  Sign-up using this link or the link above and you will eligible to receive $5 free cash in your Ebates account when you make a minimum $20 purchase at one of their merchants within 90 days of joining.  By using this referral link or the Ebates link above, we will receive a $5 referral bonus upon your completion of the above requirements.

Our second recommendation is Fat Wallet, which has also been around since 1999, although cash back was not launched until 2001.  The site is easy to use and unlike Ebates, there is no minimum amount required to request a cash payment to your Paypal account ($10 minimum if you want a check).  There is a 60 waiting period from time of purchase, which protects Fat Wallet from loss of commission if you return the item.  Although Fat Wallet has fewer travel merchants, sometimes the cash back is higher, which is what this is all about.  You’ll also find some great forums with coupons and discounts to help you save even more.  Below is a sample of current cash back offers that are better than Ebates:

Sign-up for Fat Wallet and you also get access to participate in their forums, which can’t be beat for finding super deals!

At the end of the day, some of these amounts are small, but others can really add up.  A 5% rebate on a $1,000 one-week hotel stay will get you $50.  As I said in the beginning, this is just one of the tricks to saving $$$.  You may use one, two or more savings opportunities while planning the same trip.  The goal is to be consistent and always check these two cash back sites before reserving your travel.  The detour will add about 30 seconds and you’ll save some real money.  Of course, you should be using these tools for all merchants, not just travel.  Go forth and prosper…

Disclosure

You can read more about this topic, as well as many other family cruising topics, in our new book–Cruising With Kids: A Guide To The Perfect Family Cruise Vacation. Visit our dedicated Cruising With Kids website for more details.

The necessity of having pre-determined alternate travel plans should be clear after last week’s crippling of the air traffic system in Europe.  Having spewed ash miles into the air and across a heavily traveled air corridor, one volcano has managed to leave the travel plans of many families in it’s wake.

Trying to second guess mother nature is a losing proposition, but planning for it certainly is not.  Whenever making travel plans, always presume that there will be a major delay.  What will you do if an act of nature cancels flights out of your airport or to your destination airport?  What if inclement weather (or ash) at your destination prevents you from getting there?

There are a few simple steps that you can take to prepare for nature related flight delays -

First, reserve early morning flights (before 10AM).  Morning flights on a stormy day are the most likely to depart on or near schedule as the aircraft more than likely arrived the prior evening.  Delays tend to worsen as the day progresses.

Second, plan on flying from and into the most reliable airports in the area.  Large metropolitan areas like Washington DC, New York and Boston have several airport choices, but one of them may be better equipped to deal with severe weather.  For example, in the Washington DC metropolitan area, the most reliable airport (that is typically always open) is Baltimore Washington International Airport, while other area airports are known for closures.

Third, when scrambling to salvage your flight plans, explore all options.  Can you drive to your destination?  Are there flights from or to any other airports within a reasonable drive?  Can you take the train?  Can you take a bus?  Can you take a ship?  Lock in an alternate flight and keep checking for something better.

Fourth, check the conditions often in the days leading up to your trip.  If you suspect that there may be severe travel delays, you should make arrangements to change your flights in advance.  Most airlines will issue a waiver and allow changes without penalty.  Be proactive!

Finally, if you have a date and time certain for your vacation, plan to leave a day early.  If you are cruising or taking an organized tour, you’ll be responsible for meeting the group or ship on their regular itinerary if you miss the departure.  Although cruise ships have been known to delay sailing in extraordinary circumstances, don’t count on it for a delay impacting a fraction of it’s passengers.

Although travel insurance can help defray the cost of the delay, it isn’t likely to reimburse the cost of  alternate transportation or costs associated with changing your flight’s destination.  You may, however, be protected when inclement weather or other natural occurences forces a cancellation.  But, who wants to cancel their vacation?

Planning is critical.  Don’t panic – know what your alternate plans are in advance and don’t delay in executing them.  Be decisive, lock in the most reasonable alternative, then keep looking for a better alternative. 

Travel safely and good luck.

You can read more about this topic, as well as many other family cruising topics, in our new book–Cruising With Kids: A Guide To The Perfect Family Cruise Vacation. Visit our dedicated Cruising With Kids website for more details.

Disclosure

When planning an outing that involves dining out with young children, please ask yourself the following question: While waiting for our food to arrive, does my child a) listen intently to my every word while quietly playing with their toys, b) throw projectile objects like forks into the air to see how far they will go or c) body surf on the table while knocking everything onto the floor? If you answered yes to (b) or (c), then you’re not alone. In fact, you are just like us!

Everyone Better Duck!

The last couple of dinner outings have been a challenge. My youngest son, 17 months, has proved to be quite a handful at restaurants (see b and c above). Climbing on the table, throwing any and all objects within his grasp and the general mischievousness is really getting to us. It has been especially difficult because our oldest son is more like (a) above. Sure he plays with the occasional sugar packets and is constantly talking or asking questions, which can wear down anyone’s ability to remain calm, but at least he does TALK to us. We understand that this will promptly cease when he becomes a teenager. So, what do you do?

Unfortunately for us and for most other parents of babies, toddlers and preschoolers, we need to take clues from our children to determine where, when, and most importantly, how often we dine out. We figured our second child would be trouble when he kept tipping sideways in his bouncy seat at the ripe old age of 7 days. For weeks I thought I was just crazy because our first son never “flew” out of his seat! Our newborn was quickly nicknamed bee-bop or bopper for short and the rest is history.

When my oldest was just over a year, he and I would travel to see daddy, who was working out of state at the time. I used to think that we couldn’t sit at a restaurant because he would cry when I put him in a highchair. Then one day, tired of having to eat in the cramped car, I let my little guy stand next to me on the bench seat. And it actually worked! Sure the first couple of times he was a little rambunctious, but he eventually settled down. And I could finally relax a little myself. As it turns out, he just wanted to sit right next to me (as he does to this day!).

When our second child came along, somehow I knew things would be different. This little dude is all about action…a future hockey player, perhaps? But, right now we’re just trying to figure out dinner. We could put him in a highchair until about 14 months and then he wanted out, and out he got. No matter how we strapped him in, he managed to climb out. In about 5 seconds, my little cherub would go from seated and happily eating to standing in his chair and laughing at my silliness for thinking I could keep him strapped in.

Sadly for us, we must be very careful when choosing a restaurant with “bopper”. I don’t just mean finding a family friendly establishment either. I’m referring to locating a place that has few breakables, tolerates the occasional throwing of projectiles and has wide tables for body surfing. Oh, and we haven’t even discussed the food yet.

So how do you know what type of restaurant you can go to with your child/ren when you’re on vacation? Honestly, it’s a little bit of trial and error, knowing your child and their temperament and some well-timed disciplinary actions thrown in with a little bit (okay, a lot) of luck. Some children can sit and behave at a very upscale restaurant at a very young age and even use adult glasses with care (our first was like this). Then there are the rest of the children who vary in their destructive abilities (our second being very destructive). Sometimes you have to eat out when traveling, but is it worth it?

While it’s important to bring toys and/or activities while dining out, these items can only go so far (sometimes up to 5 feet!). If the weather and location permits, order take-out (or stop at the local supermarket) and go to a local park for a picnic. Of course, my kids love to eat in the hotel room where they can cause maximum destruction. We have also noticed that dining out with “extra” people can make a tremendous difference in your dining experience too. I think it may be a combination of distractions for the children as well as letting go of some of the responsibility so it is not so overwhelming for any one person. Do your best, try new things and understand that their restaurant manners will get better in time. I’m not exactly sure how long this phase will last, but by the looks of it, we’ll need to keep the local take-out menus handy for quite a while.

Disclosure

The idea of having a relaxing family vacation, especially when you have young kids is a bit oxymoronic.  I was reading a great article the other day that talked about how the euphoria leading up to vacation quickly wears off once you return.  It’s so true, isn’t it?  You’d like to be able to count that meltdown in weeks, but when you have kids, days or hours is probably more accurate.

Well, according to the researchers, people who described their vacation as “very relaxing” experienced a more extended period of post vacation happiness.  Hmmm, sounds great, sign me up!  Oh wait, do I still have to change diapers? 

Here are our Top 5 Tips For Making Your Family Vacation More Relaxing:

1. Plan stops throughout the day that allow the kids to unwind and have fun.  Playgrounds, parks and wide open spaces will give you an opportunity to relax while the kids burn off all of their extra energy.  Bring a snack, read a book or just indulge in some much needed adult conversation.
2. Reserve a room by the pool or other venue of evening activity so you can easily sneak away once the kids are asleep.  Bring baby monitors or two-way communication devices that can be set to always be on so you can keep close tabs on them while you enjoy some quiet adult time.  If you are cruising, reserve a cabin with a balcony; it can serve as your secret and secluded evening retreat.
3. Choose a resort or cruise line that offers babysitting and supervised kids activities.  Family friendly resorts and cruise lines will provide activities for your toddlers and teens.  Use your newly found free time to enjoy a spa treatment, sit by the pool, nap on the beach or sneak back to your room for some private time.
4. Keep it simple!  Don’t  try to cram too many activities into one day.  Choose family friendly restaurants and keep an ample stock of your kids’ favorite snacks.  Reducing expectations and allowing yourself to go with the flow will reduce stress and make your time together more enjoyable.
5. Travel with friends or extended family.  By traveling in a larger group, you can pool resources and take turns “escaping” for a few hours.  If you travel with other families, the kids will have playmates to keep them busy and it will give you a little extra free time to relax.

Traveling with kids can be a tremendous joy, but escaping the day-to-day responsibilities that come along with them may be impossible.  Be sure to schedule time for yourself individually and as a couple.  Relax, enjoy and maximize your post-vacation high!

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!

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