The Lollipop Road

Posts Tagged ‘Travel Tips’

Is it really less than six weeks away…I know, where did the time go? Are you traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday this year? Well, holiday travel numbers have been up this year, so it should be interesting to see if that trend continues through the remainder of the holiday season – I’d bet on a resounding yes. Luckily, this year we’re hosting Thanksgiving, but in years past, we’ve carefully planned our trip to avoid traffic and congestion. There is only one thing worse than tired and cranky kids (while sitting in traffic) and that is tired and cranky parents.  So, how can you beat the rush?

The first and best advice we can give you is to take Thanksgiving week or the week after off.  This will undoubtedly give you the most travel options.  As a matter of fact, the week following Thanksgiving is the slowest travel week of the year, so it is also a perfect time for a family vacation.  At the very least, if you take the Tuesday before Thanksgiving through the Monday after, you will be able to avoid most of the travel congestion by traveling on Tuesday and then again on the following Monday.

If you can’t swing a week off, remember that many travelers have a four day weekend, but some may also take Wednesday off, so expect the heaviest travel days to be Wednesday and Sunday.  Experts might tell you to leave Tuesday evening, but that really doesn’t work for families with toddlers because of the ‘witching hours’ (although it is a great option for families with infants).  So, if you can take Wednesday off, leave early in the morning, after the morning rush hour has subsided.  If you cannot make that work for you, do not leave past 11AM on Wednesday, wait until Thanksgiving morning instead.

Although there is a great deal of travel that occurs on Thanksgiving Day, it is more weighted toward short distance and local travel, so the highways are less likely to be crowded.  If you start out early, say by 8AM, you can make a 250 mile trip by 1PM, just in time for dinner.  If you have a longer drive, starting out Wednesday morning works best.

Friday will see a lull in travel and most traffic will be concentrated in local shopping areas for Black Friday.  So, if you don’t care about making your destination for Thanksgiving, have a nice family meal at home and head out Friday morning after 8AM – it should be smooth sailing most of the way.  Friday is also the best day for a return trip.

The next best return will be Saturday morning; however, you can also leave late Saturday afternoon, stop for dinner and stay overnight part way, finishing the trip early Sunday morning.  Travel will only worsen as Sunday progresses,  so avoid traveling after Noon at all costs.  Of course, if you can travel on Monday instead, that would add sanity to your trip.

When timing your travel, be aware of your route.  Passing through major cities or congested local areas during peak times should be avoided.  A shorter trip is a better trip.  Check for traffic alerts before you leave and be aware of how weather might impact your travel.  Most of all, drive safely.

Looking for more Thanksgiving holiday travel tips? Check out Best Family Travel Advice where other family travel experts answer your questions.

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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.

Your third trimester has just arrived and you could no doubt use some rest and relaxation, right?  Well, although most airlines allow you to travel right up until the very end of your pregnancy, most cruise lines impose more severe restrictions during this period and you just might be out of luck.  Maybe traveling during pregnancy isn’t the best idea anyway, but you’ve had enough of just sitting around and waiting and you’re in need of some serious pampering, so you decide to go for it and book a cruise.

Have no fear, so long as you cruise before your third trimester (weeks 28-40), you should easily be able to find a cruise line that will allow you to sail.  Although the majority of cruise lines require that you are no more than 23 or 24 weeks along at the time of disembarkation, you can find a few that will allow you to stretch it out a bit…or indefinitely, although that isn’t necessarily recommended.

There are only a couple of mass-market cruise lines that provide a bit more flexibility.  Costa Cruise Lines will permit you to sail as long as you’re 24 weeks or less at the time of embarkation, which depending upon the length of sailing, could bring you right up to your third trimester.  MSC Cruises also has a more liberal policy, allowing you to cruise if you’re 27 weeks or less on the day of disembarkation.  In both cases, your doctor will still need to demonstrate your fitness for travel.

Moving into the specialty market will definitely grant you more flexibility.  Fred Olsen Cruise Lines. Star Clippers and Swan Hellenic all allow pregnant women to sail right up to 27 weeks (based upon disembarkation date).  You’ll even find a handful of cruise lines that have no formal written guidelines or allow you to cruise throughout the third trimester (AMA Waterways, Cruise West, Peter Deilmann and Viking River Cruises).  However, this does not necessarily mean that there are no restrictions.  At the very least, you’ll need to demonstrate your fitness for travel by providing a physician’s report and you should also fully understand the risks associated with traveling during your third trimester.

No matter which cruise line you choose, you should plan on visiting your physician the week prior to sailing.  Because cruise ship medical facilities are not equipped to handle medical emergencies, you should not travel if you are experiencing a high risk pregnancy or if you are not in perfect health at the time of departure.  Be sure to contact your travel agent or cruise line well in advance to confirm their policies and requirements.

Bon Voyage!
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.

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