6 posts tagged “flights”

Let’s face it. The year 2009 is one that the travel industry really wants to forget. Most people have canceled their travel plans altogether, or scaled their trip plans way back due to the economy. That all makes sense, but I get the feeling that most of those people don’t realize that if they went to Asia they could have an excellent and even slightly luxurious trip, assuming they went to one of the right places.

Flights are very cheap this year too

For people living on the West Coast of the US, and especially for people living on the East Coast, it’s natural to assume that flying to Asia is incredibly expensive. But it’s really not. You can always find cheap flights to Asia, though perhaps not to every destination in the continent.

If you want to have the cheapest possible vacation having the highest possible standards, just keep your eyes peeled for cheap tickets to India. It’s best to fly to either Mumbai or Delhi, though occasionally there are great deals to other cities as well. Once there just spend a couple days in the big city to get acclimated, and then head out to somewhere less hectic. You can find spas and retreats and historic towns and nearly any kind of accommodation imaginable, and it’ll cost about 75% less than it would back home.

Planning the cheapest possible trip

Even if you don’t go to India you can still find great bargains. Think about Southeast Asia, and especially Thailand. There are plenty of cheap Bangkok hotels if you look around. It’s possible to get a decent hotel there for around US$10 per night, though if you go during the peak wet and humid season (April and May) you’ll want a place with air conditioning, and that will cost a bit more.  Still, for around US$30 you can get a place that looks like it should cost at least $100 if it were anywhere else.

Once in Thailand you can take a cheap bus to Cambodia or Laos or Vietnam, and those countries are a bit cheaper than Thailand, though they also don’t have quite the tourism infrastructure that Thailand has so it’s not quite as easy to visit.

If you circle up to Hanoi, where you can get hotel rooms for around US$10 and you don’t need air conditioning, you are a short flight from Hong Kong and Macau. You can find plenty of cheap hotels in Hong Kong, though not quite as cheap as in Bangkok. You’ll spend at least US$25 per night there, and quite a bit more if you want something really nice. The trick about Hong Kong is you want to stay on the Kowloon Peninsula instead of on Hong Kong Island. There is way more to do on Kowloon and prices are much more reasonable.

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.

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! 

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.

One of my favorite things about traveling is getting to fly.  Lately though it is painful to go through the process of flying and the flights are usually very expensive which also makes it less fun.  When you have to be at the Airport at 0400 for a 0600 flight it takes a lot of the coolness factor away.  If say I have found some good airfare to Rome or other cheap flights to Europe it is not as painful.  The cost of flying these days can be scary and I can't say that I have a lot of money.  The thing that I have to keep thinking about is that if I am flying somewhere that means that I am still traveling and that is the important part, right... 

Going to Europe is can be an awesome experience.  It is well traveled and all the infrastructure is in place to make it easy to get around which is nice compared to 12 hour crowded bus rides that are on scary winding dirt roads in the middle of nowhere like some South American and South East Asian countries.  The food is mostly not going to give you the worst bout of diarrhea that you have ever had.  Which is a big plus because that is just a bummer.  All-in-all Europe is a great place to go travel for a bit just figure out how to keep your costs down and it will be a great trip.

Last minute travel is typically defined as within 3 weeks of travel.  Sometimes folks think of it as even less than 3 weeks, more like 3 days.  When you wait until the last minute to book your travel plans, you are playing with fire.  You could find a smashing deal, but you may also pay out the nose.

BootsnAll recently launched a Last Minute Travel section.  A lot of the inventory is based on the Site59 last minute travel site which is now owned by Travelocity.  So you'll see a lot of deals and promotions from them as well.

We tried to build the section based on what travelers were asking about last minute travel.  Last minute hotels, last minute flights, and last minute cruises.

Another thing we kept in mind when building this, is just the, "what can I do at the last minute" thought that I often go through.  You know, you think - what about next week popping down to San Diego at the last minute.  What will it cost?  An idea section for last minute ideas will be coming soon as well.