Beat the Expiration Date

[trip style = any]

Most airline mileage program miles expire after 18 months.

At the Trip Styler headquarters, one of our many passions is maximizing travel and costs, so it kills us to see these miles go to waste. Having booked a bunch of trips with air miles, traveling for free is SUCH a rewarding feeling. Why lose an opportunity to fly South, attend a destination wedding or see aunty Erma in Edmonton?

The Good News It’s really easy to keep airline miles active, especially when you're loyal to one or two collecting programs. Even if you go through an 18-month period where you don’t board a plane, you can still collect miles from gas stations, grocery stores and hotels to keep your account active.

Though I always try and stick to one or two mileage collection programs, there are a few fringe programs I'm trying to keep active until I have enough miles for free travel. Here are the ways I'm keeping the airline miles active for each...

Last month I flew to NYC. Though I flew with Cathay Pacific, part of the One World Airline alliance as well as my secondary collecting program, I opted to get the miles on my Alaska Airlines mileage card because I'm just short of a free flight. I'm also a few miles short of a free flight with Flying Blue {program for Air France, KLM} and recently got a notification from my mile tracking app that my miles would expire soon. At first I thought I would transfer my Starwood Preferred Guest points to avoid expiration, but I was just short of the minimum transfer amount, so instead, I'll donate a small amount of miles to keep them active.

These experiences reminded me of some simple ways to keep airline mileage programs active...

Ways To Keep Airlines Miles Active

• Get a mileage tracking app like PageOnce or mileBlaster.
• Book a flight {just make sure your fare is eligible to collect miles}, or if you have any upcoming flights, see if they're elegible for miles on the program you're trying to save from expiration.
• Transfer the points from your preferred hotel's loyalty program or travel rewards credit card to miles.
• Stay: always check if your hotel stays are eligible for airline points. For example, when you sign up for Fairmont's free loyalty program, you can get miles toward your airline as well as toward free stays.
• Shop: Don't forget that shopping at places like Safeway or Future Shop can get you AirMiles or Aeroplan miles. Likewise, putting gas in your tank can also give you miles.
• Donate: almost all airline loyalty programs will allow you to donate your miles to keep the program active. Donating your miles and keeping them active = win win.

PS - Don’t discount a small number of points/miles. You can fly across the country and beyond with as little as 25,000 airline miles; in fact, this fall I’m flying from Vancouver to Aruba return for 25,000 miles {read how here}.

{photo by Benjamin Griffiths}

Healthy on the Road :: Road Trip Style

[trip style = road trip]

Road trips are one of my favourite things about summer. The journey allows time to sit still and relax, listen to good music and spend some quality, uninterrupted time with friends or family. Yet, a funny thing happens when you sit for a long period of time expending very little energy, you start to feel lethargic and end up craving unhealthy food. Freeway fare, or items from the carb and sugar family {chips, candy, salty nuts, burger, fries} fill your body with bad fats, calories and little nutrition. And filling your body with crap, leaves you  feeling tired, grumpy and blah, which is no way to start your adventure on the open road!

This weekend I went on a short road trip with a best girlfriend down to Seattle for the day. Nutritionally, the trip started off badly. A rushed, early morning departure left me skipping my regular balanced breakfast and wolfing down a Starbucks scone and coffee instead. Less than one hour later, I felt ravenous again, and what was I craving: another scone, and it wasn't even 8am yet!

Rather than feeling too much guilt about my poor food choices, I decided to focus on what I would do next time, so here’s what I suggest for you (and myself!)...

Healthy Road Trip Food Choices Prepare Ahead of Time Before you leave, pack some healthy snacks in a cooler with ice packs to keep food fresh. Load up on fresh-cut veggies, fruit, skim milk cheese strings, nuts (unsalted almonds, cashews, or walnuts), sandwiches (peanut butter or some lean meats) and plenty of water for sipping throughout the trip. If you don’t have these items at home or are travelling into the USA, bring the cooler and stop at a grocery store before hitting the road or once you've crossed the border.

Eat A Good, Balanced Breakfast Your grandma was absolutely right, it is the most important meal of the day. There is no better way to rev up your metabolism. The more balanced your breakfast, the less likely you are to have cravings throughout the day.

Have Some Snacks to Settle A Queasy Tummy I may just be speaking for myself, but I find my stomach gets a bit unsettled on long road trips, making me want dry food like breads, pastries and chips even more! Bringing along baked, whole grain crackers will help settle your tummy without the salt, sugar and extra calories.

If Service Stations Are Your Only Option Protein bars can make a good meal substitute, but read labels to select one lower in sugar and calories. A bag of pretzels isn’t a balanced snack, but it’s better than a bag of BBQ chips.

Coffee Shops Look for options other than pastries and muffins. For example, at Starbucks I would have been better off if I had chosen their “Protein Platter”---a lovely variety of grapes, hard-boiled egg, pita, peanut butter, and apple slices---for my most important meal of the day. If you want something sweet, opt for a bran muffin {which has more fibre so the sugar won’t enter you bloodstream so quickly} and you will feel fuller longer.

{When she’s not training clients or being trained by her dog Zuzu, Leah writes Healthy on the Road, published the first Thursday of every month.}

More Healthy On the Road... Make Any Trip Style Healthy The 20-min Exercise Itinerary Active, Relax, Repeat Healthy DIY Plane Snacks Hotel Room Exercises {You can do in your underwear}

[photo by patxi Izkue]

10 Travel Tips for Every Trip Style

[trip style = any]

Recently, I've been traveling a lot on planes, trains and automobiles, partaking in a variety of different trip styles: glamping, urban, sightseeing, sun, beach, sailing, luxe and budget. On a recent trip to NYC, I couldn't sleep because I was severely jetlagged just having come home from Australia, so in a sudden moment of 4am inspiration, I started to compile the below list of simple, and {hopefully} helpful travel tips, applicable to any trip style.

10 Travel Tips For Any Trip Style 1/ Smartphone = Mirror If your hotel room has no full-length mirror, which is sadly more common than you'd think, check your outfit by taking a picture of yourself with your smarphone or digi cam. Edit your look based on the picture.

2/ Slip It Always bring washable slippers on vacation. They work well for hotels that don't provide them, as well as keep you cozy on the plane {never, never walk to the bathroom in sox or bare feet}. I usually bring old hotel slippers, which amazingly, wash really well.

3/ Wrap It For those of you who read Trip Styler regularly, you know my deep affinity for pashminas and oversized scarves for travel. Use this multi-purpose wonder as a scarf, plane blanket, beach towel or pool/beach cover-up. Recently, my pashmina also came in handy when I walked home from my Canada Line {Vancouver's airport to downtown train} station post-flight. I wore it like this to protect my head from the rain.

4/ Wipe it You never know when wipes will come in handy. Every time I travel, whether the trip style is adventure, urban or anything in between, there's always an opportunity to use wipes. They are great for cleaning sticky food from your hands, sanitizing anything or having an impromptu shower in the airport's bathroom.

5/ Back-Up Always travel with back-up of your travel itinerary and photocopy of essential travel documents. I use the Tripit app to compile my travel itinerary digitally, but having a physical back-up is great when your phone is about to die, etc...

6/ H20 Stay healthy on the road. For the duration of your entire trip, from lift-off to touch-down, keep drinking water to flush your system. As well, consider taking a daily emergen-c vitamin supplement pack {or like product} to make sure your immune system is in tip-top shape for your cross-border galavanting.

7/ When In Rome This is one of my favourite all-time sayings. It also acts as a call to action for travelers. When abroad, there is nothing sweeter than attempting to live like a local, diving head first into the culture. For example, in New York: walk everywhere, dress-up for dinner and try to find a roof-top terrace to enjoy a drink, or in Italy: eat dinner at 9pm and go for it with the pasta. You can always work off the pounds when you return.

8/ Blend Be yourself and stay true to a version of your style, but try to blend in, so you don't become a tourist target. This is a lot easier said than done, but when possible, not sticking out like a soar thumb will only help your case as a tourist. Practically speaking, I usually observe what people are wearing, and if I like it, buy one or two pieces of clothing as a blending technique and trip momento.

9/ Suggestion Dominos Start with people you trust when asking for travel suggestions in your destination. Once there, if there's a restaurant you like, ask the server or manager where they'd suggest, and so on. Wild card: for true local faves, ask cab drivers or hotel workers where they like to eat.

10/ Let's Get Physical Always get a local map in case there’s no wifi, or your phone dies. Fold it so you only need to look at a small portion every time you take it out. Though I'm a huge lover of all things digital and app-related, having a physical document as a back-up does provide that extra bit of insurance.

Packing 103

[trip style = any]

Aside from talking trip styles, one of my favorite topics is packing: tricks, tips, carry-ons, new suitcases, etc.. Recently my friends asked me how I managed in Australia for just under 3 weeks of travel with one carry-on and a purse. My brief thoughts and strategies below.

Every trip I've taken since starting Trip Styler in late 2009 has been with a carry-on, whether the trip style is weekending, urban, beach, sun, spa, adventure, ski, or a combo of styles, it's always, always carry-on. The only exception I'd make is a ski trip abroad, which involves a ton of winter gear---unless you were to rent it there.

Why Two months before I started Trip Styler, I took a trip to Europe and Africa. That was the final straw. I brought a carry-on and big backpack. Big mistake on all fronts: a) I wasn't backpacking b) I brought too much. Combing through two bags to find clothes every time I moved from one city to the next was a nightmare. And given we're all time-strapped, why would anyone want to wait an extra 20 mins for their luggage to arrive on a carousel, or worse, have it misplaced {used to happen a lot to my husband} or lost by the airline?

How to Pack Light

• You have to want to pack light.
• Get a carry-on that's on the top-end {but just "under"} of carry-on size requirements for most airlines, or the airline you fly most frequently.
• Wear your bulkiest shoes on the plane, it's shoes that are packing light's biggest deterrent.
• Do you need 20 tops and 7 bottoms? I brought a fairly small carry-on {20 x 13 x 8} and this purse/tote with me last week to NYC, and managed to bring my toiletries, computer, 3 scarves, jewelry, a clutch, 2 shoes {heels and flats}, 2 bottoms, a leather jacket, blazer, a sweater and 10 tops.
• Bring more tops than bottoms.
• Accessories like scarves, wraps and jewelry are your friend. Men, this goes for you too with scarves. They can dress an outfit down or up, and keep you warm.
• Layer-up on the plane a) to protect against air temperature changes, and b) to diminish what needs to go into your suitcase.
• Roll almost everything.
• Go with a colour scheme.
• Ladies, leggings are your friend: they are light, small, easily washable and can be dressed up or down in an instant.
• If you're flying an airline known for being strict with carry-on size allowances, bring a non-structured, malleable bag {like this Ben Sherman or Kenneth Cole for men, and this Longchamp Expandable Le Pliage for ladies} that can be pushed and shoved into the baggage measurement cube to fit to size. I use this strategy each time I fly a discount airline!

Luggage "Like" I've talked before about the world's lightest suitcase, the Sub-O-G {now called IT-O-2} before, but I'm seriously considering purchasing the 21" upright carry-on only weighing 5 pounds with dimensions that fit within most airlines' carry-on size restrictions. Though I wouldn't suggest it {or a bigger version} for checked luggage, it is great for traveling extra light.

Challenge If you're an over-packer {like I was until I started getting serious about packing light}, tell us about it! What inspired you to pack light? Will you go back to schlepping baggage on an off the baggage carousel?

Related Content Travel Essentials for Any Trip Style Packing 102 Mastering the Art of Packing High Rolling :: To Roll or Lay Flat? A Summer Weekend Packing List Go-To Carry-On Toiletries Choosing the Best Type of Carry-On Travel iPhone Apps :: PackingPro The Art of Carry-On Travel Going Away? Packing and To Do List

[photo features the IT-O-2 ultra light carry-on suitcase and a Clare Vivier La Tropezienne purse, discussed above]

Travel App Tuesday :: 5 Wifi Finders

[trip style = any]

Knowing so many travel apps depend on wifi, today's Travel App Tuesday series involves human interaction and wifi hints versus dependence on an app.

Half the travel apps I have work in offline mode, and the rest require wifi to render fresh material. When outside of Canada, my iPhone's data won't work without wifi, which is one of the MANY reasons I appreciated my trip to Eastern Canada and the Maritimes last summer. I was able to get data from my carrier anywhere, any time. However, aside from local trips, I usually travel abroad so finding wifi is a massive consideration in how I travel as well as the hotel I choose.

Tips for Finding Wifi Abroad 1. Use a Human "Finder" Ask your hotel's concierge, front desk or housekeeper where to find wifi in the area. In Sydney, I had to initially rely on the hotel's concierge to find wifi given it was $30 a day at the hotel.

2. Buy a Starbucks Coffee In Canada, the US and UK, you can get free wifi at Starbucks. I can remember a surf trip to Oregon a few years ago where I became intimate with the Starbucks near my yurt because I had a ton of work to wrap-up over the long weekend...

3. McWifi Unless you count my copious consumption of McDonald's soft serve ice cream {and only McDonald's ice cream} while in Tianjin, China in 2001, I'm not a huge fan of McDonalds, until I discovered their newest McFeature, free wifi available in most major worldwide markets. Here are the McDonald's locations with confirmed free wifi: Canada, USA, Australia, UK, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, etc... Please let me know if other countries should be included in this list.

4. Is Wifi a Loyalty Program Away? One of the many reasons I love Fairmont Hotels is their complimentary wifi, but it is only free if you're a member of their loyalty program {also free to join}. It amazes me how many people pay between $15 and $30 a day for something they could have free, but how would you know unless you asked or googled it pre-trip?

5. An App for That If all else fails, which I know sounds ironic given this is a weekly app series, use a free wifi finder app when you're out and about to try and find wifi via the app's GPS and downloaded database of wifi locations.

— Get more travel tips & updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email, liking us on facebook or following us on twitter. —

Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• Hail a Taxi
• Groupon
• Travel Apps Nominated for a Webby Award
• Whistler Blackcomb Live
• Room77