Jim’s Travel Tips

What time is it, anyways? Traveling often involves different time zones. On a trip this spring my wife and I went to the Phoenix area just after the spring time change. Arizona is normally in the mountain time zone, but they do not follow daylight savings time, so when we arrived they were the same as west coast time – I was confused for a while, I had assumed they would be in Mountain Daylight Time. Traveling over the ocean can be just as confusing, especially right around our daylight and standard time changes. TIP: go to this website for all world time checks: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock

Standard packing lists always aid in assuring proper items are packed. We personally have lists in different categories like standard trip packing, condo trip, and camping trips. Here are two websites that can assist in list making. TIP: utilize sites like: www.onebag.com and www.dontforgetyourtoothbrush.com to at least get you started.

Here’s a quick, fun tip: Want a preview of travel destinations? The web site here is kind of like the Youtube of travel. www.travelistic.com

Traveling to foreign countries can bring up health concerns. Here is a web site that provides information and guidance for the individual traveler. It provides a “search by country section” and a health topic search for information. As with all health issues your personal physician should be consulted. TIP: go to: www.tripprep.com/scripts/main/default.asp

The cruising industry has taken a page from the Las Vegas Hotel book – bigger and better is the key to success. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has a new mega ship coming next year (2009) – check it out: www.oasisoftheseas.com

Also check out Norwegian Cruise Line’s new F3 class: www.f3.ncl.com/main.html

FYI – MAX JET and EOS, two discount business class airlines are now defunct. I had discussed this in a previous post. Other airlines have also ceased operations in this era of high fuel costs (ATA, Alhoa, etc). The lesson here is, don’t let too many miles build up or you may not be able to cash them in.

I just recently provided a web site that gives information on free wi-fi access. The site provided here gives you an airport listing that not only includes free access but what services are available and fees. It also has an added bonus of clicking on the far right to see what hotels are near the airport. TIP: go to
http://www.travelpost.com/airport-wireless-internet.aspx

Many searches end up at my page from people trying to find a particular 3 letter code for an airport. I have provided several different resources for this. Well, here is another one. TIP: go to http://www.airportcodes.us/

Changing your flights to an earlier flight is something frequent fliers do with some regularity. This should be done with care and with all the information possible. Case in point: On a recent trip I arrived at the airport purposely early due to poor weather conditions in the area. I was delighted to see an earlier flight was delayed but still leaving an hour before my original flight. I had the front desk change my reservation – in my elation I didn’t ask any questions. I arrived in the gate area only to hear an announcement that the flight I was now booked on was leaving later due to equipment problems, not weather. Bad move on my part (I was joined by others who fell into this same trap). Fortunately, I got back on my original flight (standby) and actually got my original seat back. TIP: Always ask questions about delays, don’t assume anything.

Previously I have provided some web sites for obtaining detailed flight status. I have discovered a quick and easy way to get to current flight status information. TIP: Go to your favorite search engine and just type the two letter airline code and the flight number. The search results will give a link to the current flight status. If you pick Google you will see the information right in the top search result without needing to click any further.