More low fares from USTravel

This time, the rates are valid through Dec. 14, 2011. That’s the good news. Just remember: you must purchase no later than Aug. 29. So there’s a short planning window–but don’t miss it!! Above, we were climbing out of Seattle and made a close pass to Mt. Rainier! NOTE–These fares are ONE-WAY without tax/fee on [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AlaskaTravelgram/~3/Pv4g7TzWrHs/

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5 Reasons to visit Tuscany (apart from Florence)

?Apart from Florence? because the city itself is, in my humble opinion, an excellent reason to visit Tuscany. But, of course, it?s not the only one?let?s be inspired by these five! Collodi Your kids will thank you for a long time, if you bring them to visit the city of Pinocchio! Collodi is the city [...]

Source: http://alexasigno.co.uk/5-reasons-to-visit-tuscany-apart-from-florence/

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TSA Cancer Cluster Myth Buster

Source: http://blog.tsa.gov/2011/06/tsa-cancer-cluster-myth-buster.html

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KOAN Podcast: Have bike (built for 5), will travel!

Listen up while we chat with Bill Harrison. Bill and his family pedaled a custom-built bike all the way from his home in Kentucky up to Fairbanks, Alaska. Yup. They’ve written a book about the adventure, too. Plus, as usual, co-host Erin Kirkland and I review air fares, travel issues and solve all of the [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AlaskaTravelgram/~3/Q3_RXG2-SO0/

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Some Advice on Using Home Rental Sites in the Future

The big kahuna in online home rentals, HomeAway.com has been gobbling up the competition in the last few years, integrating their properties and technology (in the case of the late Second Porch, which had an innovative social media side to it). So successful has HomeAway been that its rare to find a direct-to-owner site that it doesn't control, TripAdvisor's Flipkey being a notable exception.

A Homeaway Rental in Mexico

Its for this reason that I'm getting very "inside baseball" today, writing about a significant changes in policy at Homeaway that will likely have ripple effects across many vacation rental sites.

What's the change? Its basically a pay to play scheme, or really pay more to play better. Homeaway will be allowing those rentals who pay more to float far higher on the search page than the competition.

Why should consumers care? For two reasons. First off, the change will mean that those rentals paying more may have to charge more to their customers to make up the difference. Which could mean that the most visible properties will also be the most expensive.

It also means that the rental agencies that list their properties on HomeAway, VRBO, VacationRentals.com and other sites in that corporate family, will also have a bigger presence. The agencies, after all, will likely have greater resources for advertising than individual property owners. And agency referred properties tend to be pricier than those rented directly from owners.

The take away? Scroll. And scroll again. In order to get the best prices on rental homes, you're likely going to want to read the home rental listings from the bottom up from now on.

Source: http://paulinefrommerbriefing.blogspot.com/2011/08/some-advice-on-using-home-rental-sites.html

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Tourist tat: what's the tackiest holiday souvenir you've bought?

Ironic kitsch or source of embarrassment? Whatever your take on trashy trinkets, you can share your souvenir shame here

The classic holiday purchase is the pair of loon pants that makes perfect sense in a dusty alleyway in Delhi but looks instantly ludicrous when unpacked from your rucksack on returning to Daventry.

More unforgivable, however, are those mementoes from your time away that you knew were wrong from the moment you saw them ? and yet you bought them anyway.

One colleague fondly remembers the his-and-her T-shirts ? the first saying "The love" with an arrow, and the second reading "of my life" ? found for sale in Shanghai. I suspect they won't be wearing these while walking hand-in-hand in their home town anytime soon.

Mosque alarm clocks are pretty tacky; worse is the pop-off bra that opens when you clap, just the thing you need when scouring Damascus for a culturally sensitive gift.

I'm more guilty than most of bringing home terrible tat for loved ones. My worst guilty pleasure holiday purchase was when I believed, regretfully, that my trip to St Petersburg would not be complete without a fridge magnet from the Kunstkamera, the museum of curiosities founded by Peter the Great, which depicted a dead baby in a jar.

Are tasteless souvenirs just harmless post-modernist fun or is something more corrosive at work, gnawing away at the souls ? and wallets ? of visitors and the visited?

Italy ? famed for the marriage of creativity and commerce that has produced modern classics such as the cooking apron depicting the naked torso of Michelangelo and the underpants with the Leaning Tower of Pisa rising from the crotch ? is this month hosting a summit to tackle the problem of holiday tat.

In Pisa, five stall holders have been fined ?500 for offering for sale the Leaning Tower underwear and various mayors and governors of other Tuscan towns now want to sweep away "trash souvenirs".

What's the trashiest souvenir you've brought home? And is it a guilty pleasure or a genuine source of shame? You might like to check out travel writer Doug Lansky's Crap Souvenirs website for inspiration (warning: most of this collection is just plain wrong rather than ironic or kitsch). Then tell us about your favourite trashy trinkets or, better still, share your photos of them on our Naff Souvenirs flickr group.

Patrick Barkham

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/aug/31/holiday-souvenirs-tacky-gifts

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The Front Desk Trick

Just wanted to alert you all to a new travel scam that's becoming quite wide-spread apparently. Here's how it works:

In the middle of the night, the phone rings in the hotel room. The person at the other end says that they're from the front desk. "We're having difficulty processing your room payment, " he says and then requests that the guest give him his credit card information once again over the phone so that he can check that the hotel has it down correctly. Usually the guest, not wanting to get dressed again to go downstairs (and often half asleep) complies without question.

As you may have guessed, the phone call isn't from within the hotel. Its an outsider randomly calling rooms, phishing for information.

What to do if this happens to you:

• Tell the person that you'll call them back at the front desk, hang up and call downstairs to make sure the call was legit. Often that's all it will take to suss out this scam.
• Or, better yet, get dressed and head down to the front desk just to make sure that everything's okay. You want to keep your credit card in your sight as much as possible when on vacation, so this may be the better approach.

Safe travels all!

Source: http://paulinefrommerbriefing.blogspot.com/2011/08/front-desk-trick.html

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