BootsnAll’s blog

I have always been a fan of city break vacations. Whether short or long, city break vacations can shed a new light upon destinations we don’t always see as romantic or a quick getaway. Recently, with the continuous shift in currency rating and with the crisis looming over the tourism industry, it has become more and more affordable to visit places such as London.

Firstly, let’s talk about the airfare  . The airlines are fighting over finding new ways to promote their tickets – although they seem to be doing quite a nice job at adding new fees as well (but that’s another story). Over the past months, airfare to Europe  has become more affordable. Airlines now offer special discounts and promotions which last for months, making it easier to book a ticket to one of the incredible European cities.

One of the most popular European travel destinations is London. Visitors flock here for the nightlife, culture or shopping opportunities. Affordable tickets to London are easy to find, especially if you are flying from another European city and look for a low-cost carrier serving the city.

After the airfare, the accommodation is usually giving us goose bumps when we plan the budget. But the continent, and London makes no difference, is famous for the many Europe hostels  offering great location and excellent services. It’s possible now to stay in hostels even if you do want some privacy – that’s why the private rooms exist. Then, many hostels offer free wi-fi – at least in the lobby - , common kitchen and even laundry room. All in all, you really don’t need to look for a hotel when you can spend a lovely time in London hostels.

It’s important though to read reviews about the place you want to stay at. And a good place to do so is Hostel Blog  : whether you have any answered questions about the hostelling world, this is the place to find the answers.

Of course no visit to London is complete without checking out the city. And it doesn’t take too much money to fall in love with it. For example, there are free things  you can experience, such as spending time in Trafalgar Square, watching the changing of the guards or visiting British Museum.

 Since most companies nowadays cut down expenses starting with the business trips  , it only makes sense to figure how to save both on airfare and accommodation.

Even during recession, business travel  is a must. After all, we need to keep doing business and even find more ways to advertising products and expend the markets. When it comes to traveling for business, it’s best to find deals for the airfare, accommodation and car rental.

Business travelers should be aware of the frequent flyer programs  offered by various companies. There are several choices, including redeeming miles and using miles credit cards. The choice is yours and it really depends on the type of traveling the company is interested in.

And then, there are the promotional codes which can save a lot of money. For example the Travelocity coupon codes  are a good choice if you are interested in the specific package deals they offer. However, they are always running different seasonal promotions so you just need to keep your eyes open. In many cases, you’ll be able to save on airfare, accommodation and car rental, which is a plus for any business traveler. Especially if you decide to travel during the off season, you’ll be able to find a lot of great deals, although in some cases you can find good offers during the season as well.

The largest city in Colorado, Denver is an excellent destination for those who enjoy outdoor activities. As soon as the spring leaves room for summer, you can pack your hiking gear and head to Denver. Even late spring is pleasant with all the trees in full leaf by late April. Do expect some heat waves by late June and during the entire month of July.

When it comes to planning your budget, the bulk of it is definitely taken by the airfare and accommodation. Thanks to the airport (airport code DEN) being a base for Frontier Airlines and a hub for United Airlines, finding cheap flights to Denver  is not that hard. Just remember to book in advance if you want to fly during the high season and, if your dates are flexible, make sure to fly mid-week and not during the weekend. If you prefer to rent a car, it’s important to know that parking at DEN  makes your life really easy especially when you book in advance.

Choosing the perfect place to stay among the hotels in Denver  can break both your vacation and your budget. Thankfully, you can find cheap hotels even in downtown so you won’t need to use the public transportation or rent a car either.

As for the fun part, Denver is filled with museums and galleries and of course there’s the Denver Mint (which can be toured). Do some research and find when the museums offer free entrance so that you can save some money.

But most visitors come here for the outdoors. So pack your hiking gear and head out. You can visit the Butterfly Pavilion or check out Washington Park (you can also play sports here, such as soccer or tennis). If you happen to visit Denver during winter, there are many sky resorts where you can enhance your skills.

No matter when you visit Denver, you’ll end up right smack in a festival anyway: from the Indian Market in January to the Cherry Blossom Festival in June or the Great American Beer Festival in October. Each month there are at least 3-4 festivals happening here.

San Francisco is particularly known for its famous landmark – Golden Gate -, liberal community, beautiful views and great cultural diversity. Tucked between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific coast, San Francisco   offers everything a traveler is looking for. The climate makes it a lovely destination year round.

The city is served by three airports, but the most important one is San Francisco International (airport code: SFO). So finding affordable flights to SFO  is not that hard, especially if you choose to fly mid-week.

If you’ve ever been confused about airport parking then join the club, although parking at SFO  seems to be tackled easier than you might think. It’s a good idea to be more organized, and you’ll soon realize that by booking ahead you can just drive in and know exactly where to go. If you’re like me and you start worrying about what you’ll be facing when you arrive at the airport then do yourself a favor and book ahead.

Then, of course you will need a place to stay. When it comes to choosing the accommodation, you need to take into account your preferences. If you like to have privacy – bathroom, shower in the room – and maybe even TV and AC, then you should look for cheap San Francisco hotels  which offer such facilities. If you prefer to actually sleep at night, try not to look for hotels in the Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood, which happens to be not only the most popular among tourists but also the nosiest.

On the other hand, if you only need a place to sleep and don’t care if you need to share the facilities, the San Francisco hostels  might be the perfect choices for you. Most also offer private rooms but it’s hardly likely to have a TV in the room. Do make sure to read the reviews as you don’t want to end up in a party hotel if your plans include getting some shut eye.

When it comes to checking out the city, walking is the perfect way to do it. It only costs you …energy (and a good pair of walking shoes). Just make sure to get a map as you really don’t want to end up on a terrain you cannot exactly tackle (the famous steep streets). There are superb walks in every neighborhood so that should keep you busy for couple of days. And to keep the budget low, make sure to check out the parks as well. Plus, you can buy some treats in the markets and then go for a picnic in one of the parks.

I love to travel and I love that I have a job that’s all about traveling. The problem, however, with working in the travel industry is that I’m constantly being bombarded with stories and images of people on amazing trips all over the globe—a daily reminder that there is still a really long list of places I haven’t traveled to yet that just keeps getting longer and longer. Combine this with seeing all the crazy good deals on cheap international airline tickets out there right now and we’ve got ourselves a lethal combination on our hands.

Thanks to a half-French mother and being raised by parents who love to travel, I was lucky enough to extensively travel throughout Europe as a kid. I saw London, Paris, Milan and Barcelona before I had a driver’s license. My family once loaded up our mini-van and drove from our home in Colorado to the tip of Baja. As I got older, I lived in Paris and Annecy, France. I backpacked through Panama with my best friend. And, while I certainly think I am lucky to have had all these travel experiences in my short 23 years, I also realize that I’ve really only conquered Western Europe and a tiny bit of Central America.

BootsnAll Travel Network CEO Sean Keener recently asked us all if we could go anywhere, where would it be. I immediately replied “Asia,” which got me some looks, as it is an enormous continent with a huge number of countries and many different and diverse cultures. But, when I said I wanted to see Asia I meant it. I have long dreamt of going to China, seeing the beaches of Thailand, eating Vietnamese food, trekking through the Himalayas in Nepal and eating curry in India. Until recently, however, I did not realize that I would also love to explore the Philippines.

However, with recent travel deals popping up all over the internet, it’s been hard to resist the temptation of a Filipino vacation. Philippine Airlines has been continually offering up some pretty spectacular deals on flights to Manila lately, especially from where I am based here on the west coast. Between the unbelievable airfares and great deals on hotels in Manila, I’ve had a hard time not thinking hard about a possible trip to the archipelago in South East Asia.

The Philippines is also perfectly situated as a jumping off point for a larger Asian exploration trip or Round the World Trip. From Manila it is easy to hop over to nearby Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, as well as head to mainland China. Seeing all these crazy deals has gotten me plotting on a grand pan-Asian tour—including a stop in the Philippines to eat pansit and lay on the beautiful beaches on Boracay Island.

It would seem that summer is not going to come to the Pacific Northwest anytime soon.  It has been sunny and hot a total of two days this year.  I think I can actually count on one hand the number of days that I have not had to wear a sweater at work.  A friend of mine is taking weekend jaunts to Arizona just to get away from the gray and cold weather.  I on the other hand have decided that Florida is what I need.  There are definitely hotels cheap there and some cheap airline tickets to Florida are pretty to easy to come by right now. The hot muggy weather is usually not my favorite, but there is no way I can keep going without some Vitamin D! 

If your travels are taking you places, but only in short spurts and you are the type of traveler that likes to fly by the seat of your pants, then last minute travel deals are your thing.  Typically this type of travel is for the business person that has to be on a red eye flight to close a deal.  More and more though the professional travelers want to have flexibility in case they hear of a great destination and need to get there fast.  Sometimes you can find deals that match this type of lifestyle.  Maybe it is just a weekend getaway and you need last minute hotels to make it happen.  Whatever the reason there is always going to be some good deals out there for last minute travel.  Hotels almost always have bookings that fall through in the last minute or the off season has left many rooms vacant and they just want to get some bodies in there.   Either way as the traveler you win in this situation. 

Cheap travel is something that almost everyone is trying to find.  I mean why not, you get to save some money on getting to the destinations that you want to go to, which means more money once you are there.  The hard part is searching for the deals that you know are out there but are hidden amongst all the other travel information that you must weed through to find the good deals.  It is a common problem really.  There are sites out there like Kayak for instance that discount airfare but what about discount hotels or finding good cheap restaurants.  Inexpensive tours are hard to find as well.  So BootsnAll has come up with a new travel guide that will help you find what you are looking for, great deals, all in one location, Cheap Travel Scout.  You can find anything to do with traveling on the cheap.  With great articles about how to find good deals and links to some of the deals themselves.  

Going to Italy is a great way to get out of the US this summer.  The options are endless as to the things that one could do there and the food is amazing.  Not to mention that Italy is pretty well known for the vino as well.  So when looking into how you might go about it check out the Italylogue to get some great ideas.  A couple of things that could make things even better about going to Italy is that there are some great Rome airfare deals and some cheap hotels in Rome that would make the trip a little cheaper.  Rome could be a great starting point to the rest of Italy as you wind your way through this country of culinary delights.

My Girlfriend and I are trying to plan our wedding.  We really want to try to be different with this and so we are thinking about Cancun.  I know it is really out there and no one goes to Cancun for this type of event.  In reality Cancun is probably one of the top places in the world to get married.  Maybe it is the plethora of white sandy beaches and warm water or all the cheap hotels in Cancun that draws millions of people there every year.  It is pretty easy to get there from California or really almost anywhere in the US.  I have been finding cheap flights to Mexico lately so that is what has been helping us come to this all important location decision.  Now I know that getting married in the perfect location is so important on this most auspicious occasion. Another great reason is that Cancun is way more reliable for good weather than say Portland, Oregon where we live.  The tough decision is whether or not our friends and family can make it and once there were are they all going to stay.

Hotels and flights can be a daunting thing to try and research for a bunch of people but we really want to make this happen.  It seems reasonable to go to Mexico instead of France or some other awesome destination for instance only to leave everybody behind that we want to participate in our bondage, I mean bonding.  So Cancun is a great choice for us to make this happen.  As this starts to unfold more I am sure we will come to a decision but Cancun seems like a viable warm weather option for the time being.