What can you do about those annoying baggage fees?
We used to just worry about whether the airlines would get our baggage from point A to point B. Now they’re charging us–in some cases nearly as much as the flight ticket–to ferry it there
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Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Getting There | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
A two-week trek to Chile – DAY ONE: Valparaiso
We are sprawled under giant eucalyptus trees, chickens squawking as we tuck into a picnic (our trays are the tops of oak wine barrels—at the Emiliana Winery, which makes only organic wines in the Casablanca Valley—one of Chile’s big wine-growing regions about 22 miles east of Valparaiso.
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KINDER, GENTLER AIRLINES?
Don’t we wish! I was thinking about that this morning as I drove my husband to the airport because his elderly mom had been rushed to the hospital and was very seriously ill. Luckily, I was able to get him a free flight. If not, it would have cost nearly $1,000 for a round trip ticket from New York to Chicago (and never mind change fees since he doesn’t know when he returns.) That’s what you get for trying to buy a ticket instantly.
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Scoring a Holiday Deal That Won’t Bust the Budget
I’m perched in a wooden treehouse lazing on a cushy double mattress atop a white sand beach along Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Overlooking the turquoise Caribbean Sea, I’m about as far away from holiday hoopla and craziness as I can get when the beach butler comes by to see if I need anything.
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When Life Interferes With a Planned Celebration
Life has a way of changing planned celebrations. Jean Anne McKiernan and Richard Sandano were planning a big Brooklyn, N.Y., wedding when they discovered—very happily—they were going to have a baby.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Getting There | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
Surviving (Maybe Even Enjoying!) a Road Trip
No matter how snazzy the car and how short (or long) the trip, the biggest challenge is keeping the kids amused along the way. And that’s clearly a challenge a lot of us will be facing this summer.
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On the old-fashioned train to the Grand Canyon
It’s that rare vacation moment when everyone is happy at the same time. And all it took was an old-fashioned train in a remote Arizona town and a singing cowboy leading the kids in a spirited rendition of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
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ON THE TRAIN TO THE GRAND CANYON
Today, the train once again carries more than 200,000 passengers to the Canyon 60 miles and 2.5 hours from Williams. Some will return the same afternoon. My cousins — -Jayme and Mike Sitzman and Ethan, 6, and Hannah,4, and I have decided to overnight at the canyon so we have more time to “explore,” as Ethan says.
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DAY ONE OF A TRIP TO THE GRAND CANYON
DAY ONE (Tuesday, March 31, 2009) — The Purple People Eater; Qutie (well it’s a four year old’s turn); Rhinoceros; Tickle Monster… by the time…
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How snow sports can transform a child’s life
“This is a lot more than teaching kids how to turn on the mountain. This is about using sports to do character development.”
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Finding an affordable last minute holiday getaway
Finally, some good news for traveling families. If you thought the ever-worsening economy meant you should forgo a holiday or post-holiday getaway with the kids, think again. The reality is that this may be the year to travel.
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Surviving the holiday travel crush while you are watching every penny
Another Thanksgiving weekend, we got back to Chicago with our crew after visiting the relatives to discover that the battery to our minivan was dead — in the airport parking lot. We waited a long time that cold night for AAA. Isn’t holiday travel with the kids fun?
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HITTING THE AIRPORT VIP LOUNGES
Pancake, the much loved blue bear, seemed right at home among the oh-so-serious laptop-toting business people. So did his 4-year-old owner, Colin Blodgett. Colin, Pancake and Colin’s parents were awaiting their flight from London to New York in British Airway’s expansive $60 million Executive Lounges in Heathrow’s new Terminal 5
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Heading home from Europe — is duty free a bargain?
A word about duty-free shopping. It’s tempting but I’ve never found any real bargains, except maybe on liquor or cigars. I buy something we can’t find at home for my husband and son just before we board our flight home and resist the temptation to stock up on cosmetics and perfume that I don’t need and that likely cost the same or more than at home.
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SURVIVING A ROAD TRIP
What the kids don’t get is that driving for hours with a couple of antsy children (not to mention sullen tweens and teens) is no fun for parents either — especially not when we’re paying record prices for gas. Still, millions of us — 20.4 million just over the July 4th weekend, AAA reports — are hitting the road with the kids this summer.
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Pay for your luggage, fight for the overhead bin… what next?
I hate being nickeled and dimed when I travel. That’s why I hate resort fees for services I probably don’t use, fees for accessing the internet at hotels and now, fees to check even one bag on an airplane.
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PACKING SMART FOR FLIGHTS THIS SUMMER
Starting June 15 – just when we’re taking off on long-planned vacations — American Airlines will charge us $15 each way for the first checked bag and $25 each way for the second checked bag on American Airlines, assuming you are flying domestically on a discounted ticket and are not a top-level frequent flier. (Southwest will still allow you to check two bags free.)
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Getting There | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
A Week in Belize (after a nightmare in the airports)
We arrived yesterday evening after typically frustrating flights. First, we had to get our flights changed because of the American Airlines MD-80 inspection mess. That took hours on the phone. We thought we were home free when we were able to rebook our flights on Delta but no such luck. At the airport in New York, we encountered incredibly long lines for check-in and security.
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Backyard Vacations | Beach Vacations | Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Getting There | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Weekly Column
A LAST-MINUTE SPRING BREAK
What are you waiting for? Spring Break is looming and you haven’t planned a getaway. We’re not talking a Big Trip — a cruise, for example, or an adventure trip to Costa Rica, though, according to Travelzoo.com, there are good last-minute deals to be had in Costa Rica.
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Back to Crested Butte — where there’s plenty of snow
We’re heading to Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado to meet up with an assortment of family, all staying at a condo in the spanking new Lodge at Mountaineer Square, which is part of the hundreds of millions of dollars of improvements here.
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Heading South in the Minivan
ALONG INTERSTATE 95 HEADING SOUTH —: “PLEEZE make the radio louder!”
“Turn off the radio and put on a CD!”
“Not THAT CD!”
