Valentine's Day Recommendations

The famed, mid-February love-fest day that conjures the following reactions: 1-yay, 2-ew, 3-whatever, is approaching. Regardless of your reaction, this Valentine's Day lands both on a weekend as well as during the Winter Olympics. So if you're not enjoying the weekend off or watching Nordic Combined, Alpine Skiing or Biathlon, here are a few options to spice-up your day:

Recommendations for Valentine's Reaction 1) Yay - hotels tend to jack-up prices on Valentine's weekend, so consider giving your honey a card noting an 'upcoming trip' you're cooking-up and book a weekend, week-long or spontaneous trip between feb 14 and spring break, or after March when sun and ski destination prices fall. - if you book something this coming weekend, many hotels are offering last-min deals via twitter, through their loyalty programs or online through programs like kayak private sale.

2) Ew - tune into CTV or NBC for complete Olympic coverage all day sans mention of V-day - turn off the TV, get your mind off the "hallmark holiday" and give yourself something to look forward to by planning your next trip! - since Valentines' is all about the heart, why not look into local or international volunteering opportunities

3) Whatever - V-day, what? since you don't care about Valentine's Day, forget it exists and do whatever you usually do on Sunday - take a day-long road trip just because - organize your life. take the day and devote it organizing and purging what you don't need/want

All-Inclusive Tricks of the Trade

[trip style = all-inclusive]

Booking your Trip

• Who to book with
  • Resort direct.  If you have a preferred all-inclusive, get on their newsletter list.  This way, you'll be the first to know about insider-only deals.
  • Resellers.  Here are a few of my faves:
    • Canada - itravel2000.com, aircanadavacations.com
    • USA - applevacations.com, resortvacationstogo.com
• What to Ask for
  • Top-floor, many all-inclusives have tile floors which can be loud if you're on a bottom or middle floor
  • Quiet room away from elevators or stair wells
  • Room away from the resort's night club or cabaret
  • Some resorts have two sections: regular + enhanced.  Prior to booking, double check if your resort has this offering.  Sometimes the prices are cheaper than expected for a far superior offering.  Once when I was in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, the Resort offered us an upgrade to their premium area for only $10 extra/day. Stupidly we said no.  After being at the resort for a few days and seeing the premium area, I wish we'd said yes.
• When to Book
  • Find most discounted prices: fall, spring, late summer.
  • With the exception of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, hurricane season hits the Caribbean from June - November with September usually being the most problematic month.  Note that most major resort chains like Superclubs and Club Med offer weather and hurricane guarantees.
• Double Check
  • Does the resort require reservations for restaurants?
  • What's the dress code?
  • Does the resort offer premium-brand drinks?
  • Do they have a tipping policy (ie - some resorts forbid it, others unofficially encourage it)
  • Are motorized sports included?

Getting There Most resorts outsource the airport transfer, therefore, make sure you have a few extra dollars (between 2 - 5) for tipping the driver to and from the airport.

While There

• If you go in high season and want a premium spot on the beach or at the pool, you may have to get up early to reserve your preferred spot.  This is not true for every resort.  I just stayed at the Sandals Whitehouse and always got an excellent spot on the beach between 10 - 11am.  This depends on occupancy, time of year and beach chair to guest ratio.
• Bring an insulated travel mug to minimize trips to the bar and keep your drink cool.
• Also make sure to pack some sort of beach bag.  When you're catchin' rays away from your room for the better part of the day, you'll want a place to store items like camera, room key, water bottle, books, mags, ipod, cover-up, etc...
• Don't come back with bites all over your legs (don't laugh, I see it happen to guests every time I visit all-inclusives in the Caribbean).  Always bring insect repellant just in case.  The Caribbean is lush and sandy, hence noseeums, sand flies, etc...

Related Don't Judge an All-Inclusive until Day 3 :: 7 Reason to Wait to Evaluate A Redo trip :: What to do when an all-inclusive experience goes belly-up Update on my Redo Trip :: An overview of the highs and lows of the Sandals WhiteHouse

Getting the Best Travel Deals via Twitter

[trip style = budget]

Most savvy hotels and online travel agencies are now on twitter.  Are you?  If you're a saavy traveller who likes learning about offers, deals, promotions and contests, then get on the bandwagon and follow your fave companies on Twitter.  It'll be worth your while.

Travel tweeting has become so popular that travel providers are now doing twitter-only specials. Some of the best twitter travel promotions I've seen lately are from: @hawaiianfares promoting discounts @fairmontwhistlr promoting a "twinter twitter package" @applevacations promoting "Bermuda 50% off" @kayak $39+ (99 hours only) CheapCaribbean.com anniversary celebration http://bit.ly/bwoe8p

Yet Twitter isn't only about deals and offers, it's also about information.  Many airlines now post flight delays, humanitarian efforts, responses to travelers' questions, as well as tidbits of info. Yesterday @fairmonthotels informed its 7200 followers that US Presidents Obama, Bush, Carter, Clinton, Ford, Johnson, Kennedy, Reagan, Taft, Truman have all stayed at the Fairmont San Fran. Interesting.

How to Get the Best Travel Deals on Twitter

• sign-up for a twitter account
• follow your fave travel companies
  • easiest way:  find a travel company you like with a significant twitter presence and browse through their listings to decide who you want to follow
• be flexible and ready to act
• many deals are time-sensitive, so check your feed frequently
  • if you are now worried that this whole 'twitter thing' sounds like too much work, don't worry, being an active observer on twitter doesn't take more than 5 mins a day, scanning your feed in five minute increments throughout the day
• for a more personal experience, interact with the hotel or tour company
  • when you sign-up for a twitter account, you don't have to tweet, but to gain a more in-depth rapport with your travel companies of choice, consider tweeting.  ex: if you've just flown to Australia with Virgin and had a great experience, tell them!

Some of my Favourite Travel Tweeters

• @fairmonthotels
• @kayak
• @LAtimestravel
• @applevacations
• find 21 others here

PS - don't forget to follow @tripstyler too!

Planning a Ski Weekend

[trip style = ski]

TGIF.  About to whisk yourself away to Whistler, Vail or Chamonix this weekend?  If not and the idea of skiing, apres-ing and hotubbing sounds parfait, then this post is for you.  Below you'll find the quickest ways to plan ski vacation in advance or last-minute.

We're in the height of ski season frenzy.  January's web searches confirm this too.  According to HitWise, people searching for ski vacations online is way up this month.  Looks like the masses were waiting to see how the season would shape-up before committing to the slopes.

HINT - Based on year-over-year ski resort bookings, Hoteliers say that most people depend on the prior year's weather and ski conditions when making a determination regarding a present-day booking.  Ironically, the present year's weather is not necessarily an indication of next year's weather.   Either way, this is an opportunity for the savvy traveller: a) book your vacation once you're aware of the present year's ski conditions or, b) if the previous year was bad, expect bookings to be down and savings to be big!

Planning a Ski Vacation in Advance

• Season & Cost ($ - $$$$$)
  • nov - mid dec:  $
  • mid dec - early jan:  $$$$$
  • early jan - early mar: $$$
  • mar (spring break): $$$$
  • apr - jun: $
• Weather
  • nov - mid dec:  can be sketchy, but also amazing. better to book this micro season 1-month to 1-week prior to arrival.
  • mid dec - early jan: usually good conditions.  best to book far in advance to get desired booking/price for Christmas & New Years.
  • early jan - early mar: typically best conditions of ski season.  best to book in advance.
  • mar (spring break): decent conditions. book in advance to secure desired destination/room amid family spring break frenzy.
  • apr - jun: secret season.  good snow mid-to-high mountain as well as good deals.  can book last minute.
• Where to book
  • ski resort direct
  • hotels direct (hint - join your fave hotel's loyalty program for bigger savings and first-to-know promotions)
  • ski condo booking websites: vrbo.com, alluradirect.com, ownderdirect.com (best options if you want a kitchen to lessen cost)
  • travel resellers like skicentral.com, expedia.com, ski.com or skiresorts.com
• Finding the best deal
  • early and late-season most hotels and condos are liable to provide the best deals
  • many hotels and now using Twitter to post advance or super last-minute deals, so follow your fave hotels in your ski town
  • when there, check in the local newspaper for restaurant promotions and special happy-hour pricing

Planning a Ski Vacation Last-Minute

• Best Last-minute Micro Seasons
  • nov - mid dec:  the best snow coverage in early season is mid-to-high mountain.  resorts are eager to fill rooms and kick start the season's buzz, therefore are more willing to offer lower prices.
  • apr - jun: known by many ski resort locals as 'the secret season' when vacationers leave and locals play.  good snow mid-to-high mountain and good deals.  can book last minute--even 1-2 days prior to leaving.
• Where to book
  • ski resort direct (search for website's last-minute booking section)
  • hotels direct (hint - join your fave hotel's loyalty program for bigger savings and first-to-know promotions)
  • reliable ski condo booking websites: vrbo.com, alluradirect.com, ownderdirect.com (best options if you want a kitchen to lessen cost)
• Finding the best deal
  • get a group together and book a condo that's not slope-side.  condos farther away from the ski hill offer significant savings and booking with a group allows cost-sharing for accommodation and meals.
  • the instantaneous nature of twitter has given hoteliers the best opportunity to offer last-minute booking deals; I follow many ski resort hotels on twitter and frequently see twitter-only rates and promotion codes for online booking, etc...

Vancouver 2010: Free Activities

[trip style = urban]

As Vancouver and Whistler launch into their final preparations to welcome the world, the Olympic Games are just over 20 days away!  As a Vancouverite, I'm in the 'excited for the games' camp.  For the vast majority staying in town, the general buzz is one of  pride and anticipation for what's to come.  Overnight, our lifestyle-driven, sea and mountainside turf will go from modest Canadian city to budding metropolis.  Normally you have to travel to experience an overnight change this significant, but in this case, both locals and visitors can travel together!

If you don't have tickets to any events, no worries, there is a host of free 2010 activities going on in and around Vancouver and Whistler.  For a full list of free Olympic Activities, check out http://www.citycaucus.com/2010freevenues

My Top Picks: Free 2010 Activities

• Vectorial Elevation :: A giant consumer generated light show over the Burrard Inlet :: dusk to dawn :: English Bay/Kits
• Laser Waterworks Show :: Nightly :: David Lam Park Yaletown
• Ice Skate at the GE Plaza :: Robson Square :: open 12 - 9pm daily :: skate rentals $3
• Heineken House :: Celebrate Dutch athletes and drink beer :: Minoru Arenas 7551 Minoru Gate, Richmond
• LiveCity Downtown :: See demonstration sports, entertainment and on-screen programming :: Georgia & Beatty
• LiveCity Yaletown :: Live arts, entertainment, pavilions, sponsor tents, refreshment and on-screen sport highlights :: David Lam Park
• Nightly Medal Ceremonies in Vancouver and Whistler :: not free but reasonable - tickets from $22 :: featuring athletes and world-renown singers :: BC Place and the Whistler Celebration Centre
• O-Zone Richmond :: 60-acre celebration :: Ice art, outdoor skating, athletes, virtual reality, food, fireworks :: Canada Line Brighouse Station
• Vancouver Art Gallery :: BC, Canada Pavilion :: 9am - 9pm daily :: catch the Renoir exhibit too!