Family Holidays Are Just A Mouse Click Away
Once thought of as a vacation for romance, cruises are fast becoming a favorite for family holidays. Contemporary cruise lines know that if they can plan entertainment for the teens, their Mom and Dad will have fun, too. The first point to begin your search should be to go directly to the cruise lines themselves. A fast search on your favorite search engine, like Yahoo will reveal all the top cruise lines in no time. Many of the cruise lines offer last minute specials that can be the perfect family travel and save you a hassle. While on these websites, check for package deals for family vacations. Many cruise lines like to partner with the airlines to provide one stop shopping for their customers. These may not always be the best choice but in a few clicks , your family travel can be booked. One of my familys favorite family holidays spots is sunny Florida. The big theme parks like to put together package deals to make planning your family vacation easier. Most of these package offers will include everything from airfare, tickets to the park, rental cars and even free parking at the park. Because Florida is such a big hit with families, hotels often offer kids eat for free deals. This can be essential savings for a family of four. The hotels that offer these discounts are mostly the ones that are children-friendly and offer entertainment to keep the children busy when not at the parks. Getting there can be one of the biggest expenses of your family holidays, so check to see if the airline companies are offering any specials to your destination. You may find a buy one ticket and get another for half price deal, or some offer special rates for kids under a certain age. If youre looking for the best airfare at the right time you may even stumble onto a unbeleivable deal that an airline is offering to fill up seats on certain flights. These deals are limited in time, so have your credit card ready when you search. Airlines and travel agencies will often feature promotional periods where they will take care of everything for your entire family for one price. Such promotions are usually offered just once or twice a year to create attention for their business. If your timing is adequate you can take advantage of one of these deals. Look around to see when and if your airline company or travel agency offers these special discounts for family travel. If youre not sure of the destination of your trip or how much you should spend for your family travel, get online and start searching. There are online offers that can not be offered elsewhere, with a little luck and good timing, you can plan outstanding family holidays without breaking the bank!
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Adam Lee About the Author: How to get best deals without going bankrupt, high quality and entertainment from your
family vacations? Answers here: Family Holidays Are Just A Mouse Click Away. Ariff Madin runs a dedicated
family travel information website packed full of useful family vacation advice and informative content.
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Paris Hotels: How To Reduce Your Risk Of Being Disappointed
Travel forums are gold mines of information if you care to review the postings of enchanted and disgruntled travelers coming back from abroad.
As Senior Editor of "Paris Eiffel Tower News", I often peruse these forums to find out about the concerns voiced by fellow travelers headed to the 'City of Lights'.
Among the postings which keep coming back, one stands out from the crowd: what does a 3-star rating really mean? Travelers tend to be confused by the many star-rating systems in use. I felt the subject called for an educated explanation.
The meaning of stars in the US
First of all, let's be clear: there is absolutely no relationship whatsoever between the number of stars commercial travel sites award to hotels, and the hotel rating system in use in France.
The core business of commercial travel sites is to sell you hotel rooms, flight tickets, car rentals, and cruise packages. They purport to guide your choice by awarding stars to the products they peddle.
When you book a room on such sites, a significant portion of your money goes to the travel operator which presents the hotel - up to 50% on well-known websites.
For this reason alone, you could reasonably ask yourself: are these ratings unbiased, or tainted by corporate greed?
To make matters more complicated, each travel website uses its own rating method. Consumer Reports published an enlightening article on the topic in its November 2005 issue.
In other words, the number of stars awarded by commercial travel sites is not a fully reliable yardstick for selecting a hotel.
The meaning of stars in France
The French hotel rating system works on a completely different set of rules.
1.It is a standardized system: meaning, all hotels across France are categorized on the same unique basis.
2.The rating system was not born out of mercantile purposes: it was framed by the French lawmakers without any concern for profit.
3.Last but not least, the French hotel rating system does not measure quality. Instead, it uses 22 measurement criteria to assess the presence or absence of certain features in the hotel.
Among the main criteria used:
- Room sizes and numbers
- Room soundproofing
- Heating and air-conditioning
- Design of bathroom facilities
- Phone system
- Electrical equipment
- Elevators
Each requirement varies from one star category to another. (See link to full article below.)
Subjective quality vs. objective quantity
The French rating system does not take into account subjective quality criteria.
And because of this limited approach, it does not guarantee your expectations will be fulfilled.
First, there are keen differences in perception between populations. For example, American travellers are used to larger sizes of rooms and beds than the average room and bed sizes offered in Parisian hotels. This can be a source of disappointment.
Moreover, the French rating system does not measure service quality - cleanliness, absence of smells, staff attitude, speed of service, etc.
It may thus be chancy to base your hotel choice solely on the French rating system.
The safer bet
To afford the best chances to pick the right hotel in Paris I recommend the following 4 steps:
- Have a basic understanding of the French rating criteria
- Check guests' reviews on Travelocity
- Visit the hotel's own website
- Do not hesitate to e-mail your questions to the hotel.
Many travellers use Travelocity to write reviews on the hotels they stayed at. No hotel satisfies 100% of its guests throughout the year, so both extreme judgments and moderate opinions can be found on this open forum. My advice: favor moderate reviews with some flesh on the bones. They will usually give you a useful picture of what to expect from the hotel - good and less good.
Visiting the hotel's website will usually allow you to see multiple views of its rooms and bathrooms. I insist on visiting the hotel's own website since it usually is the place which offers the greatest number of photos.
Lastly, e-mailing your questions to the hotel owners may or may not get you an answer, usually depending on the proficiency of the receptionist in your language. Receiving informative answers to your questions is a good sign that the hotel cares for his prospective guests.
Following these 4 steps should help you minimize the risk of being disappointed during your stay in Paris. This is no guarantee though. Remember that cultures differ from each other, and your expectations of service might not be fully understood. In such case, communicate with the owner. They are usually keen on serving you to the best of their means.
Have a safe and pleasant trip to Paris!
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Phil Chavanne Phil Chavanne spent 30 years in Paris. Share his knowledge at
Paris-Eiffel-Tower-News.com: A city guide with the inside scoop on Paris and Paris hotels. You can also directly download a simple explanation of the
French hotel rating system here.
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How To Research For Your Best Las Vegas Airfare
Looking back on my many trips it occurs to me that trying to find the best deals on Las Vegas airfare can be confusing. Should I approach a travel agent in my area or should I look for a discount broker on the Internet? If I look on the Net, who is the best? Which airlines are the best ones for me? Who provides the most reasonable Las Vegas airfare?
Planning your trip to the great city of Vegas can be as fun as the city itself if you know where to look. We live in an age when opportunities for consumers are everywhere. The best first step when looking for Las Vegas airfare is to visit a discount flight broker like Orbitz, Priceline or Lowestfare dot com. Here you will get a reasonable idea of what the going rates are for Las Vegas airfare.
Discount brokers often find connecting flights or last minute deals that other travel services wont use. Because of the number of trips they plan, they can also get impressive volume discounts. But these types of brokers will not include total trip expenses in their estimates, only the lowest, quickest Las Vegas airfare.
Planning where you will stay, what shows and sites you want to take in, what your budget for food and gambling, as well as planning for your Las Vegas airfare, are also important considerations when planning an overall trip. This is your experience.
The question you need to ask yourself is: what does Las Vegas airfare mean to you? Perhaps your definition of Las Vegas airfare includes accommodations, gambling, or car rentals? For these types of Las Vegas airfare quotes you are better off going to a more inclusive agent like Travelvacations or Affordable travel dot org. Travel Zoo, Expedia and Travelocity are also good picks if you are interested in overall travel planning as well as factoring in what they consider to be the best Las Vegas airfare rates they can find. Vegas continues to be one of the most popular and legendary travel destinations in the US and when considering your ticket purchases, it is important to decide on the length of your visit and the cheapest months in which to travel. February is the cheapest month for Las Vegas airfare with August as a close second.
In conclusion, searching for Viva Las Vegas airfare can be a rewarding experience if you use the latest resources and have clear goals set.
Have fun and viva Las Vegas!
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Zahid Saddique Zahid Saddique is a successful Internet publisher and founder of
www.GetCheapAirfares.info. You will find anything and everything you wanted to know about getting
Las Vegas airfare at his cheap airfares web site.
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