Friday, August 27, 2010

Travel around the world -- in a lunch hour

The members of the New Neighbors Club of South Florida invite you to join them on Sept. 8, for lunch and a special travel presentation by two long time members and past presidents Suzuyo Fox and Joan Kanet.


The two have traveled extensively around the world including Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. They will dispute the guests with a travel enigma, by presenting an overview of a past travel vacation. The guests will approximate what country or city they were in.


Extremities and guests also will be bade to share their travel adventures.


In a press release, Phyllis Webber, the club's program chairman said, ``We are very excited to learn about exotic aims in the world, through the eyes of two of our very ain members.''


The dejeuner will begin at 11:30 a.m. and will be at key signature Gardens, 12725 SW 122nd Ave. The cost is $24 per person and reservations are asked. Call Barbara Richards at 305-595-8631 to reserve your place.


SUPPORT LITERACY


You can help stamp out illiteracy by contriving to attend the Alfalit International fundraising event to begin at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 25 in the Versailles Ballroom at the Intercontinental Hotel at 100 Chopin Plaza in business district Miami. The theme of the event is ``More Precious Than Gold and Rubies'' and is being acquainted to raise awareness and support of the administration educational programs. Myrka Dellanos will be the Mistress of ceremonials.


Agreeing to a press release from the organization, there are about 800 million illiterate people throughout the world. And while Alfalit International has changed the lives of more than 7 a million mass worldwide by providing basic reading, writing and math sciences, there is still much work to be done.


In the press release Roberto Perez, president of the Miami-based administration said, ``We face many challenges as we sustain and expand our broadcasts. Our major challenge is to find teacher replacement in various countries and the buying of textbooks.''


In addition to its literacy, basic breeding and preschool courses, Alfalit International also supports community development, health and aliment programs through cooperative projects with other international organizations. The administration serves 22 countries throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Portugal, and has been recognized at the 2006 and 2007 White House Conferences on Global Literacy. Alfalit also has received honors and the highest awad for literary development from UNESCO.


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Air travel flights - Air travel rules and requirements constantly changing

 Whether you’re planning a faraway vacation or business trip, it’s a good idea to be aware of all the rules and regulations before heading to the airport. Arriving at the airport early enough and knowing the list of prohibited items could prevent an exciting feel from turning into a frustrating and possibly dangerous nightmare.


 Aviation security is a shared responsibility around the world and abuses are continually being implemented to make air travel safer. Just as airlines do what they can to stay one-step ahead of any violent plots, everyday citizens can also do their part to keep air travel safe and commodious.


 Binding to the rules and policies of airports and individual airlines will most expected make for smoother travels.


 Pat Corfman, manager of marketing and public relations for Flint Bishop International Airport said the greatest thing they are dealing with right now at the airport is building. The Sam Adams bar, complete with charging stations for calls and computers, is set to open this calendar week and a full-service grill and gift shop are regular to be open for business by Thanksgiving.


As security remains a top priority, Corfman said the buy at flyers are accustomed to all of the ongoing restrictions and demands. Oftentimes, the infrequent flyer is unfamiliar with the liquid restrictions and packs a large shampoo in their bag besides a small bottle.


 Corfman said there are to be no neglected vehicles parked in front of the entrance. She said nearby cell phone lots are uncommitted so that those picking up a traveler can wait there for free until they get the call that their beloved is ready to be picked up at the door.


Enhanced security


 According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), riders traveling on flights to the U.S. from international destinations are sure to notice heightened, random security measures, including the increased use of explosives trace detection, canine teams, advanced imaging applied science (body scans), and behavior detection among other measures.


 Passengers who opt out of imaging technology screening, which some believe is too intrusive, will go through alternative screening, including same-gender pat downs.


Arrive early


 Because of the extra time asked to conduct enhanced security measures, passengers are advised to adjoin their airport to find out how early they should arrive. AirTran at Flint Bishop International Airport advocates travelers arrive at least 90 minutes early. Keep the number to the airline handy or curriculum it into one’s cell phone.


Prohibited food items


 Airport employees have seen it all when it bears on passengers wanting to carry food on to the plane. The TSA has a long list of banned carry-on food items. Rather than assuming, it’s OK to have that big-ticket bottle of perfume in a carry-on bag, check out the list (see sidebar) and see that this is one of those banned items.


Oversized electronics


 If oversized electronics (laptops, full-size picture game consoles, DVD players and video cameras that use cassettes) are in a carry-on bag be cognisant that the traveler will be required to remove these items from the bag and accede them separately for x-ray blocking out. Small electronics, such as iPods, can remain in the carry-on bag.


Liquids


 To simplify the come of liquids that can be in a carry-on bag, airlines refer to the amount as “3-1-1 for carry-ons.” This term adverts to 3.4 ounce (100ml) bottle or less (by volume); 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; 1 bag per rider placed in screening bin. Although some feel it is an inconvenience, it is also an bother for would-be terrorists who might be attempting to carry on a dangerous sum of explosive or damaging liquids, agreeing to the TSA.


 Medications, baby formula and food, and breast milk are allowed in fair quantities exceeding three ounces and are not required to be in the zip-top bag, all the same, they still need to be declared.


Metal detectors


 All travelers must authorize through metal detectors before boarding an aircraft. Transportation certificate officers have to identify any metal that is discovered at the checkpoint. If the metal detector alarms as the passenger walks done, the person will be required to experience additional screening. This includes a hand-wand and pat-down inspection.


Firearms


 Don’t attempt to carry on a firearm. Security officers are required to contact law enforcement immediately if one is discovered, regardless of the traveler’s excuse. On average, the TSA reports finding two guns per day.


 In addition to potentially missing the flight, passengers could have their gun confiscated and/or face criminal charges. A fine from TSA is also possible. Firearms meeting all airline requirements can be transported in checked bags.


Shaving razors


 For anyone who plans to take a razor with him or her on a flight, pack it in the checked luggage, rather than in the carry-on bag. Since the razor blades can so easily be removed from the old-fashioned razors, they are not allowed in carry-on bags, but the disposable razors are.


Number of carry-on bags


 Browsing Air-Tran’s website, travelers will learn they will be restricted to one carry-on item and one personal item.


Checked baggage


 The number of bags each traveler is allowed to check varies from one airline to the next. The TSA recommends the traveler contact the airline directly to find out sizes and quantity of allowed bags and how much of a fee will be charged for each.


Sharp objects


 Knives or sharp objects will not be allowed in carry-on baggage or past the security checkpoint. Any sharp items a traveler may need in their travels should be packed in their checked baggage. Customers dependent upon syringe-injected medications may carry on such items.


Identification


 The TSA encourages each adult traveler to keep his or her airline-boarding pass and government-issued photo identification available until exiting the security checkpoint (children are not required to show identification). If a traveler does not have identification (lost, stolen, etc.), he or she will be required to provide the officer with some information to help verify their identity. This will slow down the screening process and will result in additional screening.


Air travel issues to consider:


• Prohibited food items


• Oversized electronics


Travelers are required to remove their shoes before entering the walk-through metal detector at all U.S. airports and put them through the x-ray machine for inspection. This allows officers to see if the shoes have been tampered with in any way.


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Friday, August 13, 2010

Unlimited Vacation Time Not A Dream For Some - vacation apartment rentals


Rosemary O'Neill's employees weren't sure whether to believe her when she announced a change in vacation policy early this year.

"When I said, 'Unlimited paid leave, no strings affiliated,' there comprised a moment of, 'Are you punking us? Is this a joke?' " O'Neill says.

It wasn't a joke. O'Neill and her husband, Ted, own Social Strata, a small herding media outfit in Seattle. Their business has joined a tiny but acquiring group: For the first time this year, 1 percent of U.S. businesses say they offer infinite paid vacation.

For the O'Neills, the change started with an effort to help an employee in crisis. Their treasurer was struggling to care for a badly injured husband while also keeping up with her work. The O'Neills talked about letting her take off some time she needed. After all, she comprised a hard worker, and they trusted her. Then, they accomplished that was the case with all of their 10 employees.

"My husband said, 'Well, why don't we just do it for everyone!' "

That was a Friday. They addressed a Monday morning meeting, and, as Rosemary puts it, cast the bombshell. O'Neill says the fresh policy aims to go far beyond just allowing employees spend August on the beach.

"People have lives," she says. "We want them to be able to, I do not know, take a pottery class or go to their child's play or help a congenator who's sick." "Everybody's a doubter, like, 'That can't actually be true!' " says Brian Lenz, Social Strata's aged software engineer. He says friends still can't believe he's got it so adept.

One of the greatest changes he sees as a result of the policy is that if colleagues are sick now, they're more likely to actually take a sick day, since it no more cuts into a set chunk of paid time off. Lenz was also grateful for the new insurance when he became a father in February.

"I took six weeks off for that," Lenz says. "So that was a actual blessing just to be able to have that time with my wife and girl, that bonding experience."


Why the uptick in inexhaustible paid leave now? Studies have long shown that — conceive it or not — such flexibility actually makes workers fatter and engaged. But Lenny Sanicola, with the human imaginations group World at Work, which surveys company benefits, suspects something a lot of. Sanicola notes that with all the perks being cut during the ceding back, vacation time has held its own.

"Maybe not being able to provide other rewards," he says, "some accompanies said as long as the work gets done and the productivity that we're anticipating is achieved, you don't have to track your time and you are able to take unlimited leave."

Of course, Sanicola says this comprises limited to white-collar professionals. He's never heard of it by the hour employees; you can imagine a factory shutting down without a steady current of workers. In fact, the U.S. is alone in the industrialised world in that 1000000s of mainly low-wage workers have no paid vacation at all.

Some critics worry that in a acculturation of workaholics, unlimited vacation might actually mean no vacation; that without a specified time to be "off" employees might feel blackjack to always be "on."

The movie subscription service Netflix has had unlimited allow for a decade. "I personally am ardent about my job," says Steve Swasey, vice president for corporate communicatings, "and I don't mind checking my BlackBerry when I'm climb ruins in Guatemala and Honduras, which I've done."

But Swasey says Netflix does not ask its workers do that. He calls traditional vacation, as a matter of fact the whole 9-to-5 workday, a "relic of the industrial age." Swasey says Netflix values actors who can manage their own time.

"We have engineers who work jolly much around the clock because that's the way they work," Swasey says. "And then they accept two months to go visit family in India. We have citizenry who never take a vacation for three years and then take a 90-day trip someplace. But they've earned it."

At Social Strata, vacation flavor hasn't changed as dramatically as you might imagine. People must still bring off time off around deadlines and work that needs to get acted. Rosemary O'Neill says no one seems to be taking off much a lot of time than last year. That is, about no one.

"Well," she says with a laugh, "I took a longer holiday than normal!"

After years of devoting themselves to their business concern, O'Neill and her husband took their three young babies on a monthlong, cross-country road trip. She says she Bob Hope* it will inspire employees to set off on their own up adventures.
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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Summer travel deals still available in Virginia

Virginia is ranking high on even national travel internet sites as a great place to find a last minute summer holiday deal. Travel experts say that's good news for anyone on a budget who's appearing to stay close to home.

Travel agent Stephanie Goff says, "A lot of times you don't have time to go quite so far, so people like the finisher to home attractions like amusement parks, Williamsburg, you know dozenses, and you know a lot of vineyards are becoming a lot of popular with world class wine as close as about an hour aside in Charlottesville."

Goff says there are lots of addresses to be had, and you all the same have time to get them.

Goff says, "by all odds you are able to sew it up at the last minute. It looks like the trend is now becoming well lets see where we can go in the next calendar month, people used to book six months to a year in advance, and that's just not bechancing anymore."

Virginia Tourism officials say many people miss out on great travel deals since they forget to look in their own backyard.

Tamra Talmadge-Anderson with the Virginia Tourism corp says, "even if you live in the state there is so much to discover from account to beaches to mountains to wineries. There's something for everybody."

Smartmoney.com is evaluation Virginia as one of five top places to acquire a good deal right now.

Your best bet at a budget holiday is a flexible schedule.

Goff says, "that allows you to amaze the best bang for your buck whatever day they might be offering the advancements."

If you've already had a stay-cation or mayhap took that route last year, the deals outside Virginia and even the US can be even as good. Travel agents say prices drop when hotels or sails aren't booked up.

Goff says, "Vegas is always a great deal, cruises, it almost seems like they are affording them away they are so cheap, all inclusive trips to the Caribbean."

More times when you are booking travel at a discounted rate, those deals are non-refundable. So, you might prefer to think about getting travel insurance policy in case something unexpected happens.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Tips for finding the best cruise deals

When people find out I write for a travel publication, I inevitably get asked about good deals for upcoming vacations. My standard reply is that it all depends on what you like to do, and the conversation goes from at that place. I rarely advocate just going with rock-bottom costs, and instead suggest that travelers do a bit of investigating (both personal and trip-oriented) before planning a vacation. Essentially, a good deal or a avid value can only be determined by you—but there are cosmopolitan benchmarks to go by. Calls into question to Ask Before Planning Your Trip As you're starting your trip enquiry, always consider the following: How active of a vacation do you want to have? Are you the type who deficiencies to plop on a beach, enjoy a variety of another activities, or some blend of the two? Consider your traveling keeps company. What are their interests, preferences, and energy levels? Do their vacation anticipations match up with yours? How much do you want to drop? In what areas do you want to splurge, and which components are you willing to cut back on? Will you be spending most of your time outdoors?
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How important is it to you to have ideal weather? How long do you want to be away? Are you able to tailor your budget and interests to fit your time requirement? For More data on This Topic and Other Travel News Visit Our Partner SmarterTravel Once you have does to these questions, you should have a good idea of what type of vacation you're contriving, from which accommodations type is right for you to how light or active your path should be. Let your answers inform how you plan the rest of your trip, especially in determining the best value for each travel element.
Airfare
Airfare is the most fixed travel area, as far as appraising value goes. You'll be subject to factors beyond your control, so much as seasonality, supply and demand, and airline fees; but there are a few areas you can tweak to get the better value for your travel dollars. Always start chasing flights early to get the best sense of prices, add up of daily flights, and airlines that offer routes to your finish. If your travel dates aren't set in stone, take advantage of the many flexible-date explore tools out there to see when costs are lowest.
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Decide if you want a address flight (if available) or are willing to connect. Often, associating flights are cheaper, although you will add more time to your journeying and risk the chance of getting waylaid if there are any checks or cancellations. Once you've zeroed in on a few flight hypotheses, determine the true cost of your ticket by accounting all applicable baggage, meal, and other fees. SmarterTravel's on a regular basis updated Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide can help you anatomy out what your final ticket cost will be, as well as compare true prices across competitor airlines to find the best value since your trip.

Americans Afraid to Take Full Vacations

Forget that week-long cruise, drive through the national parks or journey to London. These days Americans are taking shorter trips -- mostly extended weekends -- and leaving a large chunk of their paid vacation days unused.

Americans already have fewer paid vacation days than their European counterparts, but now comes news that only 57 percent of people here are taking all of their vacation time.
"People are fearful for their jobs. They want to stay there and work but they also need the money," said John Wright, a senior vice president at the research firm Ipsos. "They don't want to miss out on anything at work because they don't want to fall behind or lose their job or something like that."
Ipsos teamed up with Reuters to look at where workers were more likely to use all of their vacation days. North American and Asian countries were at the bottom of the list, with Europeans and Latin Americans taking the most advantage of their time off.

"There a number of different countries that have mandated or legislated periods of rest. You look at France being at the top of the list. Italy is also there," Wright said. "It's not uncommon for some of the countries to basically shut down for four weeks."

Italy has the most vacation days, with the average worker there getting 42 paid days off, according to the World Tourism Organization. Next was France with 37 days, Germany with 35, Brazil at 34, the United Kingdom at 28, Canada with 26 and Korea and Japan both with 25. The United States was near the bottom of the list with the average worker getting 13 days off. But even with those 13 days off, only 57 percent of Americans take them all. Eighty-nine percent of the French use all of their days off.

Kathleen E. Christensen, the founder of the Workplace, Work Force and Working Families program at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and author of the book "Workplace Flexibility: Realigning 20th-Century Jobs for a 21st-Century Workforce," says a lot of this is cultural.

"Within different countries there is just a clear cultural norm that people take their vacations. In France, the country -- particularly in the cities -- virtually closes down during the month of August," she said. "In the United States we don't have any kind of prevailing cultural norm that is so dominant, that defines that this is a vacation month."

Discount Travel for Kids and Seniors

Discount travel may seem out of reach to some. We all know that traveling can be very expensive, especially when it comes to traveling with babies and/or other family members. We can at once thank sites like Travelocity.com, kayak.com, and additional holiday help-planner sites to find the best prices for hotel and traveling accommodations. One of the best types of travel for baby boomers today is chance traveling. Sure, staying at a nice hotel vacationing and acting nothing may sound enticing, but a fun, adventurous vacation in an exotic location may be the exact escape you are looking for. These adventure travel ideas for aged adults combine comfort and fun--while bidding a break from traditional travel. In fact, the travel company, Elderhostel was made in 1975, the age limit for engagement in its adventure travel and learning vacation programs was 60, later abbreviated to 55. Adults of any age are welcome--even travelers in their 20s.
Travel agencies with travel packages especially created for boomers hopes to assure older travelers by insisting that while the company will accept travellers of any age, the focus will continue to be on appealing boomers and seniors.
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Vacation rental sites you use in Australia

If the vacation rental sites you use fall short on options in Australia.

What's hot: It lists more than 23,000 holiday rentals in Oz. You are able to even track your darlings as you browse through a luxury villa on Whitsunday or an citified tree house in the Margaret River area. If you're not familiar with different areas, use the "Accommodation by Holiday Type" boxful in the right sidebar. You can look for locations accommodated for beach outings, skiing, surfing, or other travel feels.

What's not: Prices are in Australian dollars. As with many rental sites, you must accomplished a form to request a booking. Availability calendars are shown, and deposits are asked. Searches for specific types of properties don't always give exact results.
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Travel firm squeezed as holidaymakers hang back

THOMSON Holidays owner TUI Travel has been left with a lot of cheap deals to sell after would-be sunseekers sat on their hands amid nerves over post-election tax rises, decent summer weather and the World Cup, the firm said today.
TUI, which has more or less four million UK customers, said disruptions from Republic of Iceland volcanic ash cloud also affected trading as it warned of full-year results at the bluer end of City hopes.

UK bookings have fallen 2 per centum since its last update in May and the firm now has more vacations to give away in the "lates" market, bosoming profits.
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TUI, which is as well braced for a hit from the pound's recent defend against the euro, said the uncertainty was likely to linger as would-be tourers waited longer before booking.
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Chief administrator Peter Long warned: "It remains difficult to predict how the later engagement pattern will change over the next 12-18 months in the light of the current efficient environment."