EZTravelpad

What to Expect When You're Flying

What to Expect When You’re Flying

by Lindsey

 

You’ve booked your flight.. You’re ready to go.. Now what?

As a person who has only flown two or three times, and having all of those times been early in the morning when I was barely awake to remember the process, I need this refresher.

In September, I leave for England for four months! I’m flying out of Indianapolis to New
Jersey where I will have a connecting flight to London. This will be my first time leaving the country and flying alone.

Here are some helpful tips that I have put together for first-time or rare flyers like myself to assist future travelers!

• BE ON TIME! Be at the airport about two hours prior to departure for domestic flights and two to three hours for international flights.
• Have your boarding pass and identification ready for when you check in at the airport.
• While travelling, it is a requirement that adults have a form of identification with them. This can vary from a U.S. Passport to a driver’s license depending on whether you will be flying internationally.
• The first thing you will do is check in. This is where you check and weigh your checked luggage and possibly pay for exceeding the weight limit. You should fill out forms at this point in case your luggage is lost so they can return it to the proper address.
• The size and weight limit for checked luggage varies by airline, so you should find that information before you go. Make sure to check with the airline to determine their specific luggage policies.
• If you are travelling with items that exceed 3.4 liquid, aerosol, or gel ounces they must be placed in your checked bag or shipped to your destination and will not be allowed in your carry-on.
• Most sporting goods, guns, sharp objects, tools and flammable objects are not allowed in your carry-on but can be in your checked bag.
• For a more efficient experience with the TSA, it’s important to be an organized packer.
• Large electronics like game consoles and laptops will be removed from carry-ons and scanned separately
• When entering the scanners, remove items from pockets such as, money, coins, wallets, belts, jewelry, and cell phones.
• Shoes should go in a bin to be scanned separatelyat most security checkpoints so make sure to ask the agent if shoes need to come off
• Once past security, head to your gates boarding area. Check out the latest status for your particular flight and gate in case it was to change.
• About 30 minutes before departure, the flight begins to board, a reason why it’s so important to arrive on time.
• Upon arriving at your destination, it’s time to find your bags. Checked baggage will be on the conveyer belt awaiting your pick-up.
• For more specific concerns: TSA

It’s important to have a general idea of what to expect at the airport, especially since flying can be stressful. Hopefully reading and applying these tips will make for a hastier and easier trip.

Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets - Best Time to Book Your Trip

When is Best Time to Purchase Your Vacation?

This is a question that I get all the time - When should I buy? When should I travel? When are prices lowest?

The short answer is simply this- purchase your airline tickets as far in advance as you can, plan your trip early. Below is a very unscientific analysis of the cost to fly from Chicago (ORD) to St Lucia (UVF) - a very popular destination for Honeymoons and Destination Weddings.

I looked at round trip flights leaving Saturday and returning the following Saturday. I looked at departing the Saturday following the first full week of the month. I searched on Kayak. The search took place on February 21, 2012. Prices looked like this-

• Mar 2012 $917
• Apr 2012 $706
• May 2012 $596
• Jun 2012 $727
• Jul 2012 $677
• Aug 2012 $596
• Sep 2012 $592
• Oct 2012 $662
• Nov 2012 $659
• Dec 2012 $592
• Jan 2013 $621

The conclusions that I come to are- in general pricing is higher as you are closer to travel, and lower farther out. Clearly you don't want to purchase less than 30 days out if you can avoid it.

Pricing is better in May & September as well as in early December (while the kids are in school). In early December Americans have Christmas holiday shopping on their mind, parties they don't want to miss, things of that nature so pricing is a bit lower. In June & July people have summer vacation on their mind while the kids are on break so pricing is a bit higher. In late spring and in the fall you will find pricing moderates (is this why you are starting to see so many weddings moving to September?)

St Lucia is tough to get to so from the standpoint of being able to get the best connection you are best to book early, but the same holds true for most other destinations - there are only a certain number of flights that are direct or with good connections, and those are the first to sell leaving you with little choice and higher prices if you procrastinate.

When it's time to plan your next vacation consider EZTravelPad where the advice is free and the service is priceless.

How a Travel Agent Can Decrease Your Jail Time

Owner of South Bend Chocolate Company Jailed 2 Nights

This is a story about why it would have been good to have a friend....in the travel business

I awoke this morning to a news story that I found curious.

The story.....a very successful entrepreneur, owner of the South Bend Chocolate Company, spent a couple of nights in jail as a result of trying to get a gun through security at a Chicago airport -  see more at this link

How did the high profile owner of a very successful small business spend 2 nights in jail? Apparently he grabbed the wrong bag (the one with the gun in it) while dashing off to the airport and then inadvertently attempted to get it through security but TSA caught it. It can happen....

Here's the thing- supposedly he repeatedly tried to call his business to find someone to bail him out. The employees repeatedly hung up when they heard the call was coming from the Cook County jail. There are many questions that come to mind, like didn't he have anyone else to call? Perhaps all of his family and friends were out of touch.

While I don't know for sure, I have a strong feeling that he did not use a travel agent because I bet the travel agent that he used would have answered the phone!

As a travel agency owner I cannot say that I can keep you out of jail, but I am pretty darn certain that had this business owner planned his trip with EZTravelPad he would have gotten out of jail much quicker!

 

Free Press is Great Press!! - Appearance on WSBT's Business Break

Scott from EZTravelPad appears on WSBT Business Break

Recently EZTravelPad was invited to a segment called Business Break on South Bend's WSBT TV.

Business Break is a regular segment that features local businesses and community events to help viewers become better informed about what is available in their community.

 

   

Remember- you can go out into the wilderness of the internet on your own to plan your vacation, or you can get help - AT NO ADDITIONAL COST - from an agency like EZTravelPad

The choice is yours

IF you choose to go it alone, here are a few links that can help.

Booking simple flights or flight/hotel combos this link or this link

Booking hotels only at hotels.com

Finding Vegas deals on shows and more at this link

Finding deals in Orlando at this link

Big savings on restaurants all across the US at this link

Beat the fees for checking luggage with a new bag at this link

Find deals on cheap all inclusives and more at this link

Handle your own cruise at this link

Insure your vacation investment with better insurance coverage at this link

Thinnk you're going to save a little money using bookit.com? It's at this link

So these are just some of the best of the multitude of options for handling your own travel planning. There's nothing wrong with doing it yourself so feel free to take my suggestions for some of the best places to shop- but there's also nothing wrong with getting a little help from a travel pro.... a travel pro who will no doubt make your life easier, and makes save you a few dollars in the process!

Oh, there is 1 other place you can go to shop without picking up the phone or composing an email to EZTravelpad, and that is www.eztravelpad.com

Save travels!

 

 

 

Taxes and Politics and Airlines - One Man's Tax Decrease...

In this Budget Battle You Can Be Certain That.....Taxes Will be Going Down - And UP

We all have opinions. We lean more conservative or more liberal depending on the issue at hand. I lean both directions depending on the issue, but this blog is not about politics, it's about travel. That said, I remember seeing one of the Republican leaders on television the other day saying that there was no way that taxes are going up, NOT going to happen. Fees, on the other hand, not that's another matter....and then I just got this in my inbox from Spirit Airlines.

Don't Tax Me Bro!

Following the elimination of several taxes on airline tickets on July 23rd, Spirit's customers began saving up to $50 roundtrip. As a result, the volume of tickets sold jumped over 22 percent week over week in the first three days.

However, Spirit is aware that some policy makers are considering not only bringing these taxes back but also increasing the Federal Excise tax on air travelers and airlines and doubling several other governmental fees. Another proposal under consideration would add a new $35 takeoff tax to every ticket.

Spirit calls on airline customers, governmental leaders, policy makers, taxi drivers, hotel operators, cruise line personnel, restaurant employees, travel agents, tour operators, and others who would be directly harmed by an increased tax burden on travelers to join us in our efforts to keep airline user taxes low.

Learn more by visiting www.DontTaxMeBro.org and help keep your fares low by contacting your Congressmen below (please reference AIRLINE TAXES in your correspondence):

 

So form your own opinion- protest or cheer...rejoice or shake your head - and if you can still afford it contact EZTravelpad the next time you want to plan a trip

There's a good chance we'll save you some money, a great chance we'll save you time and effort, and a 100% chance we won't treat you like a politician would treat you!

Murphy's Laws - of Flying

When Flight Go Worng Blame Murphy

Who was this Murphy character anyway? Many of his "laws" are just not to my liking!

I received this in my inbox recently and thought I would share - if you fly for fun or business I'm sure you can appreciate....

MURPHY’S TRAVEL LAWS! 

1.    No flight ever leaves on time unless you are running late and need the delay to make the flight.

2.    If you are running late for a flight, it will depart from the farthest gate within the terminal.

3.    If you arrive very early for a flight, it inevitably will be delayed.

4.    Flights never leave from Gate #1 at any terminal in the world.

5.    If you must work on your flight, you will experience turbulence as soon as you touch pen to paper.

6.    If you are assigned a middle seat, you can determine who has the seats on the aisle and the window while you are still in the boarding area. Just look for the two largest passengers.

7.    Only passengers seated in window seats ever have to get up to go to the lavatory.

8.    The crying baby on board your flight is always seated next to you.

9.    The best-looking woman on your flight is never seated next to you.

10.  The less carry-on luggage space available on an aircraft, the more carry-on luggage passengers will bring aboard.