How to Book a VERY Last-Min Tropical Getaway

[trip style = sun + beach]

The notion of dropping everything and weekending somewhere sunny, hot and breezy is romantic, spontaneous and fabulous. But, it doesn't have to just be a notion. You don’t have to be a full-fledged, first-class, jet-setter to enjoy a sejour in the tropics. If you choose the right season and a destination you know well, you too can jet-set like the rest of ‘em.

Here’s how

• a few weeks prior start to think about where you might want to go
• week of
  • check your potential destination’s weather report
  • survey flight fares, hotel prices, car rental rates
• day before
  • do a final check of your plane, hotel and car options, if all looks well...
  • book!
  • pack light (refer to our packing list)
• upon arrival
  • ask the concierge to make restaurant reservations at your fave spots
  • hit the beach/pool

Helpful Hints

• Try to focus your tropical jet-setting to low season so you can get the availability and prices you want
• It helps if you’ve been to the destination before so you
  • know what airlines, hotels and car rental co’s are your best bets
  • know what to expect
  • know how to hit the ground running
  • know what restaurants you want to book
• Travel with a carry-on. If you are going somewhere hot all you really need is your bathing suit, cover-up, a dress or two, toiletries, sunscreen (buy at destination), sunglasses and hat.
• Passport, local currency or US dollars are also helpful to have on-hand.

Myths

• Last minute travel is always expensive
• Jet-setting is only for the uber wealthy
• There is never availability last minute
• Too complicated

Booking a last-minute extended weekend getaway also happens to be one of the items on my travel bucketlist and last weekend, I did it!

Gifting your Air Miles this Chrismas

Christmas is a time of giving. One easy and rewarding way to give is by donating your airmiles to those in need. What only takes a few seconds, allows a worthy individual to care for others or get the care they need.

This Christmas, why not consider helping others and offloading those airmiles  you'll never use.

How it works

• login to your airline of choice's website [or directly go to donation links below]
• navigate to donate air miles webpage
• give

Sample of airlines with online air miles giving

• aircanada
• alaska
• continental
• delta

According to miledonor.com: "American Airlines, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines allow earned mileage to be donated in any amount. Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines and United Airlines allow donations of a minimum 1,000 miles; Air Canada requires a 2,500-mile minimum and Delta Air Lines and US Airways allow donations of at least 5,000 miles."

Also don't forget that individual organizations like make-a-wish also accept miles directly.

Finally, in most cases donated airmiles are not tax deductible because they are recognized as a gift or an award.

Going Away? Packing and To Do List

Whenever I go away, I always re-write the same lists over and over again. The insanity has to stop. Without further ado, I'm immortalizing my packing and pre-trip "to do" list, so both you and I can refer to it prior to taking off. Do

• record "away" voice mail
• write "away" email notification
• arrange snail mail pick-up
• prepare any documentation back-ups you may need like flight and hotel confirmation numbers
• travel insurance
• get or change money

Bring

• passport
• 1 - 2 print outs of your passport
• trip documentation or itinerary
• money*
• money belt
• books/mags
• smartphone
• iPod or like device
• camera
• earphones [and dual-pronged converter] for plane
• power converters for international travel
• chargers [camera, phone, laptop, etc...]
• ziplocks [always seem to come in handy]
• small umbrella
• hand sanitizer or wipes
• toiletries
• any meds you think you might need** [pepto, cold &flu , tylenol, gravol]
• sunscreen
• bug repellent
• sunglasses
• hat
• bathing suit
• pashmina or scarf for everything including the plane's ever-changing temperatures
• clothes
• shoes

*No matter where you're traveling, having a little of the local currency on-hand is always smart.

**I was in Africa earlier this year and came down with a bad cold enroute. The last thing I wanted to do after just landing and traveling through multiple time zones, was take a taxi to a local store. I broke down and purchased drugs akin to Tylenol Cold & Flu at the hotel's store.  Twenty painful usd later, they were in my possession. Turns out all I needed was sleep because I was better within two days.

Creating a Travel Bucketlist

Some trips are planned, others just happen. Whether it's an on-a-whim getaway, attending a destination wedding or doing charity work abroad, impromptu trips are fun and exhilarating. Half my trips fall into the planned category, the other half into the impromptu category. There is a time and place for both. An exercise which can help focus our travel, is to create a bucket list---or list of places we want to see and activities we want to do in our lifetime. Travel planning is a good exercise because it forces us to think about where we want to go and why in advance, so when the opportunity comes up, we can take off!

Here is my Travel Bucket List.  What's yours?

1. stay in a glass-bottom, over-water hut in french polynesia
2. snorkel the great barrier reef and visit fraser island in australia [partly done & would do more]
3. bungee jump and sheer a sheep in new zealand
4. do a safari in africa [done & would do again]
5. learn to kite-board in the dominican republic or somewhere hot
6. take a spontaneous trip: as in decide on fri, leave on sat to hawaii for a weekend [done]
7. ski in the alps
8. go on royal caribbean's oasis or allure of the seas ships: zipline over the top deck and surf on the flowrider
9. do a jungle trek up machu picchu [done]
10. sip coffee, learn spanish and dance in buenos aires
11. travel everywhere in italy [partly done, a lot to go]
12. see brazil's rainforest
13. stay at the one&only in mauritius
14. go dolphin-watching in the maldives
15. island-hop in the seychelles
16. rent a scooter in greece
17. go on a summer whitewater rafting trek in Northern Canada
18. mush a dog sled
19. climb part of the great wall of china
20. spend a romantic day in paris - toasting champagne at the top of the eiffel tower & kissing under bridges on a seine tour [partly done]
21. tour south east asia
22. marvel at the architecture and design & partake in public saunas in scandinavia
23. visit wineries in bordeaux
24. taste more wine in napa [done & would like to go back]
25. visit wineries in BC's okanagan [done, but would like to go back]
26. visit wineries in washington and oregon
27. skate at rockefeller & watch the rockettes in NYC
28. stay in an ice hotel during quebec's carnaval
29. sit in a thermal bath in iceland
30. spend canada day in Ottawa and tour the maritimes [done, but much more to see]
31. attend the following euro festivals: San Fermin, Tomatina and Oktoberfest
32. see the pyramids and sphinx in Egypt
33. float in the dead sea
34. see alaska
35. watch the aurora borealis from canada's north
36. visit the following areas in cali: pismo beach, la jolla, coronado beach, mission beach
37. storm watch at tofino's wickaninnish inn
38. visit these hidden tropical hideaways

How to Travel Free

Although the notion of travelling for free does seem sketchy, it is completely possible. All it takes is knowledge and forethought. Whether you travel once or ten times per year, there are ways to be strategic about your travel spending.

If you are serious about reaping the benefits of travel, there are 3 main ways to start accumulating points, miles and dollars toward travel.

1) Get a Travel Credit Card Getting a travel credit card was one of the best decisions my husband and I ever made. Rather than get a credit card with points toward a GM vehicle or cash back, every time we spend money on our card our travel points go up. Our Travel Rewards Card has no black-out periods, an online booking portal and if you book your travel via expedia or the like, you can apply your points/cash to your purchase.

Strategy: Rather than using a combo of cash, debit and credit for your purchases, if you and/or your significant other can responsibly use your [joint] credit card, the points will accumulate much faster. Another way to collect points quickly is to make business purchases or charity donations on your card. Both regular and one-time payments add up, so if you are disciplined, using a credit card for the majority of your purchases can get you one step closer...to Paris!

If you don't already have a travel credit card, inquire through your financial institution. Many of the popular travel credit cards offer similar benefits.

2) Join an Airline Loyalty Program As mentioned in Friday's post, making a point of choosing one Airline loyalty program can be advantageous. Since most airlines are part of larger syndicates, you can reap the benefits of multiple carriers through programs like One World or Star Alliance. Try to find flights with one of the carriers within your preferred airline's alliance to amass points every time you fly.  This will allow you fly to the Seychelles sooner than you thought.

Little-known Fact: You can redeem more than just flights with airlines miles. Many airlines have a host or travel and non travel-related products to which you can apply your points.

3) Join a Hotel Loyalty Program Choosing to be an Intercontinental Ambassador or Starwood Preferred Guest has its benefits, and this too can put you on the path to free getaways. When planning your trips, seek your hotel group's properties, in other words, if the price is right, try to give your them first right of refusal.  Often joining programs such as these will give you the inside track on new property openings and discounted prices, so it pays to be loyal and in-the-know.

Read your program's fine-print: Some hotel loyalty programs offer more than just free stays. Between complimentary dinners at their restaurants, additional points towards a partner airline's miles and in some cases, free use of golf clubs, it is important to familiarize yourself with your program's opportunities so you can effectively reap the rewards.