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Tips For Travel in Mexico

It is unfortunate that once again Mexico is in the travel news for the wrong reasons. But it is a fact of life and with Spring Break about to break upon us, a word of caution about traveling to Mexico might be in order.

AAA of Arizona posted an article with great tips about traveling in Mexico. For those who don't know, in Mexico you are presumed guilty until PROVEN innocent of any crime or accident. You can and will be held without bond until restitution is made and with the laws on their side, fairness and equality may not be part of the language.

Add to this the latest shootings (mainly in border cities, though Acapulco got hit once again in March 2010) and it can make for a scary vacation if you don't stay on top of things. I especially liked the advice about carrying photocopied documents and such. Though mostly common sense, it is not something most Westerners are thinking about when leaving for a trip. I wrote this previously, that I knew a person who 'forgot' he had his shotgun in his truck when he rambled on into Baja one year, was arrested and held for months with no bond or attorney to represent him. So it does happen and it is NOT pleasant, therefore, bone up on the particulars of where you are going and try to stay safe.

Thinking About Europe This Year?

It seems that most travel writers make the case that currency strength dictates traveler's choices on where to go - at least when Europe is involved. When the dollar is weak and doesn't go too far in Europe, you hear horror stories of how expensive Paris and Rome are to begin with and much of the to-do centers on how much you lose in the currency conversion.

Yet another article has appeared with much the same opinion and I post it here for you for two reasons: one, it is an informative article and two, I haven't written about Europe lately. OK, just kidding on number 2. I think the article makes valid points and for those who have avoided Europe in the last few years due to either it being the most expensive place to visit or because of the worldwide recession, now may be a time to re-think going over the Pond.

Where I tend to truly differ is in assuming people choose to avoid a place like Europe solely based on how expensive it is. When I co-authored my honeymoon travel book, I gave numerous examples of how you could go to Latin America, Mexico, Hawaii, Europe, or the Caribbean and either spend LOTS of dollars or go to the same places and spend lots less. If you want (and can afford) to stay in) $400 a night hotels, you will spend three times what another will spend in the same relative city or country, but they will choose lesser accommodations and eat more frugally. I do not think one should avoid Europe based on a strong or weak dollar UNLESS you are planning a trip within 3-4 years and can afford to take advantage of a better exchange rate. THEN, you might want to investigate the probabilities of currency fluctuations and go in 2012 rather than 2010.

See for yourself whether this article makes sense to you and remember, the vast majority of the cost of visiting Europe is getting to the major cities. Knowledgeable locals know that flying into Amsterdam instead of London is far cheaper. Going into Germany is cheaper than Paris. Staying in downtown Paris or London is more expensive than staying 4 miles away from downtown. All in all, if you are spending $7,000 on a 2 week European trip, does it really matter that you could spend $300 more because the exchange rate for Euros has changed?

Finally, A Hawaii Recovery?

Almost 2 years ago I seemed to be writing about how great the discounts were to fly to and stay in Hawaii almost monthly. The dire monthly occupancy reports got so bad that I simply stopped writing about the same bad news (for them) eventually.

But I keep my eye on that market, especially given we are a West Coast hotel with many departures to Hawaii and when Hawaii suffers, so does our business.

At long last, the inklings of a recovery in Hawaii are becoming evident, as seen from the eyes of this article:Hotel, Arrivals Show Signs of Recovery. Coming from a Hawaiian New blog, it reports that hotels are now beginning to be 80% full and that is quite a jump from the mid 60 %'s they were reporting last summer. And while that is good for them, it means no more bargains for us.

Airlines (which were previously cutting capacity to Hawaii) are now adding planes and routes for 2010. Early bookings seem to show a strong season ahead for the Islands. Which means a change in strategy for those who cannot be flexible on dates and can look for last minute sales. In fact, I spoke with a couple who extended their recent stay in Hawaii by a few days (they were having too much fun to leave) and the gentleman told me it cost somewhere around $400 to change his tickets at the last minute, And thi sis in February (though it was near Presidents Day). I can only guess that by summer, we could easily see a rate of $800 per person again to fly to Hawaii.

So you may not want to wait for a sale and you may want to lock in your dates early. In combination if the fact that the economy is slowly recovering, the tourism indistry in Hawaii may be soon rejoicing - and at OUR expense.

Cruise Ship Mishaps

Veteran 'cruisers' already well know what can go wrong once you book a cruise. Changes of ports of call or cancellation of some stopovers are not uncommon, noro-viruses are seemingly ever present and even last minute cruise cancellations are not out of the question.

For the not so veteran cruisers or for those thinking about taking a cruise, you would do well to prepare yourself by looking over this article, titled : "10 Things Your Cruise Line Won't Tell You" from Smart Money magazine. Such things as dress codes affects your experience -especially if you think you will be on a formal cruise and it turns out shorts and T's are the norm. And don't forget the cuisine - from standard fare to gourmet food, you may have one idea and the cruise line another about what is gourmet.

As the article points out, there are so many new ships coming into the marketplace that terminology is sure to be different from a Norwegian Line to a South American based line. So do your homework before you get disappointed and start that homework reading the Smart Money article!

Alaska Fares to Drop?

It seems hard to believe that ANY segment of the airline business has not already slashed fares so low only a snail could look up for them but it appears to have been the case for years. Apparently, that last frontier ALASKA has been so underserved that airfares help up relatively well for the airlines. Of course, that in turn will spur competition and that is precisely what appears to have happened.

A brief mention out of Canada suggests airfares to Alaska may DROP this summer after Continental, Ual and Us Air add daily flights from at least 6-8 cities. While the cities have been identified (Portland, LA, SF, Chicago, Philadelphia, S.L City, Denver) the fares have not. But the mere appearance of a price war may spur discounts once the routes and flights are set in stone.

A Canadian Press release issued in early February suggests the addition of seats from 4 different airlines and from at least as many cities most likely will reduce fares to Alaska this summer. They noted the routes and flights may not be set UNTIL May or so therefore don't be surprised if you see fares that don't seem any cheaper until then. You can access the article here. We'll maybe see you in Anchorage this summer!

Travel Info for One and All

I write about travel and various destinations myself but I am not above passing along a good resource when I come across one. I am doing just that now, as I came across a Travel Guide from the L A Times that I think many people may enjoy.

Titled Travel Guide 2010, it is not only a site with information about places like San Francisco, Hollywood, Brazil, Thailand and Europe but there are numerous articles about cruising, contact information for hotel,s airline, car rentals, etc AND guide books for Mexico, Las Vegas, Hawaii and California to persue through.

You can find the site above and I would bookmark it for future use, since you never know if you will need a weekend getaway idea down the road.

Using a GPS When Driving/Traveling

This is a public service post but it relates to travel as well as for everyday driving, so I thought it a good subject for a post. It involves how using a GPS tracking device in strange environments can backfire sometimes - something I know well since many guests of ours driving to our hotel tend to be turned in the wrong direction because of the omission of a simple notation (S or So. for south). I usually tell guests to listen to MY directions instead of relying on a GPS - but what about when you cannot call someone?

Most of us are aware of the Oregon couple a few years ago that got lost WITHOUT a GPS device - now it appears more people are getting lost BECAUSE of the device. Recently, a Nevada couple got waylaid into the desert area using a GPS unit. The article I am referring to here concerns people getting lost in mountain terrain in winter simply because the GPS setting (for the shortest route?) turned them onto forest roads that were snowed in. They might be a great alternative in summer to shave time off your trip but not in winter.

Which leads to the point of the article. Don't leave your common sense in the trunk just because you have a fancy new gadget to try out. (In fact, I think all people should think twice about using GPS devices even when NOT in the mountains. I've seen too many instances where options showed up that outlined a shorter route but took you so off the beaten path that if you needed gas or a bathroom, you were out of luck.) Almost weekly we have overseas guests staying with us that swear by GPS devices. But they are in a foreign country and may not know details like we might know. Such as taking the shorter '"Old County Road" into Yosemite instead of the roundabout, S-curves main road. It is a great timesaver as far as mileage goes but is not meant for people towing trailers or medium to large RV's. Or cars with marginal brake pads! GPS units don't warn you about that.

So common sense and the old adage (When in doubt, ASK someone) come into play. You can't ASK a GPS unit "Where are we" once you get stranded!

When Hotels Switch Brands

I used to enjoy a scrumptious champagne Sunday brunch at an airport Crown Plaza many years ago. (Like when I could afford champagne). Then I dropped out of the Sunday Brunch racket for many years but when I found myself near the hotel one day, I was startled to see it was now a Sheraton. I had no idea where my hotel or brunch had gone.

Similar things happen all the time in the hotel business as a Holiday Inn will re-brand to a Sheraton or a Days Inn to a Howard Johnson and often the guest will be left wondering if it is the same wonderful staff and accommodations that have known from years before.

Along comes this article "When Sheraton and other chain hotels switch brands" and since it involves another consumer advocate position, I thought it might strike a chord in my readers as well.

First and foremost, the logical issue up front is you might wonder where your hotel went if you were looking for a Holiday inn and it was no loner there. Actually, it is still there, it may just be a Starwood hotel instead. The article asks "How would you know?" and I think the logical answer would be that it was no longer reservable as a Sheraton. That would be an obvious clue.

But what if you were using vouchers, such as the example they gave about someone using Best Western vouchers only to find it had ended its affiliation with Best Wetern just days prior to arrival. Needless to say, their Best Western vouchers were seemingly worthless. In this case, all ended well but it brings up a great point. What do you do if the chain re-branded and they never advised you?

The article is short on real answers so I'll offer my opinion. If you booked at an Econo Lodge and arrived there to find it was now the Cesspool Inn, you should be able to refuse the reservation and be able to cancel and stay elsewhere. Naturally, the hotel will probably cry foul and say you cannot cancel but I suspect your right to refuse the charge with your credit card company would be upheld in your favor if you proved you booked at one chain only to find they were now another. For whatever reasons, people may have a special hatred for a Hilton or Days Inn and not want to stay at one even if everything seemed the same. So I would first ask to get out of the room reservation charge because of the re-branding issue that you weren't aware of and then I would dispute the charge if they in fact charged you as a no-show.

No 2 hotels or their policies are alike but to me this is common sense and any manager of a hotel/chain would realize that if in fact a hotel re-brands, they should make every attempt to notify you and allow you to cancel the reservation before arriving and being stuck.

Hotels Fees You May NOT Be Aware Of

Consumer advocate Chris Elliott is not shy about reporting accounting shenanigans that go on in the travel business. In one especially egregious instance, I even wrote him and told him he should reconsider what he was writing because he apparently didn't understand the implications of what he wrote. Naturally, he ignored me. Yet I continue to quote him often because he and I are really onbaord the same boat - trying to make travel better for all.

The fact that I WORK in a hotel makes me susceptible to being considered a robber baron myself, since I am aware of fees and extras that hotels tack on to a bill. I can say that MY hotel only has one such fee, a 'safe' charge for the safe we put in the room but we will gladly refund the $1.50 charge before, during or after a stay if it is noted by the guest they either aren't, won't or didn't use the safe. I myself would be upset over some of the other fees I have heard being levied on guests though, especially resort fees for use of towls or pool side chairs when in fact you may have never gone near a beach or pool.

Well, here come Chris with another report and I think you should read it, even if you infrequently travel. I found it on his syndicated column that came from MSNBC and it is titled: "Hotel Fees that Must Die and How to Kill Them". They may not ever appear on your bill but it seems once there, many hotels and motels have a hard time removing them. Therefore being aware BEFORE booking is key. Read the report and see if you don't agree.

Hotel Sale from Ramada

It is not often that I post information about hotel sales. The obvious reason being most 'sales' I hear of are either too 'time restrictive' (book within 3 days) or they aren't truly sales. But it appears that this hotel recession we are in has finally produced some good sales.

The one I write about here is for all Ramada's. They are offering up to 50% off on certain stays. According to this article from Gadling, some Ramada's are offering rooms as low as $28 per night. Read the article for disclaimers and restrictions to see if there is any chance you could use a good 50% off for a future stay allowed by Ramada according to their parameters.

Also, however, keep in mind the following. Getting a 50% discount may be fine - staying in a dump where no price you might pay would be satisfactory is not fine. My experience tells me that often it is the $40 per night hotels and motels offering these discounts and sometimes the discounts are not much less than they would offer you the room for anyway. Keep in mind that as far as the food chain goes with hotels, Ramada is not exactly near the top. Along with Days Inn, Howard Johnson's and Travelodge's, these brands are in the lower tier of hotels/motels and are already considered budget hotels.

My advice would be to see what kind of discount they would allow (under the 50% off promotion) not only to see if you qualify but if it is available and then go to Expedia or their corporate website to see what the regular rate is. Or simply call the hotel some night and ask what the best rate is that they will give you. If they are offering rooms for $69 and you can get it for $41, that is a good deal. If you call them and they say they can give you a rate of $48 anyway, it is NOT such a great deal.

Keep in mind as well that most likely these reservations are non cancelable and non changeable, so if weather strands you somewhere, you will not be able to cancel or switch check in dates. So check to see what the cancel policy is for this promotion. And as always, remember that $28 per night motels are very likely to be a sad sack motel. Perhaps in bad areas or with tremendously bad reviews. (It pays to read reviews for such hotels on Tripadvisor, Travelocity, Expedia.) So "let the buyer beware" whenever you see a sale almost too good to be true. Make sure it is the recession forcing rates down and not a normally $38 per night hotel offering $10 off (unless you LIKE $38 motels!)