Tag: vacation
There are 4 entries that are tagged vacation. Now displaying reults 1 - 4.
Page: 1
Stupid Mistake: Missed Travel Insurance Deadline
Posted on January 14, 2008 by Her
I just discovered we made a stupid mistake. We missed the deadline to apply for travel insurance. WE are planning to spend a few days of our honeymoon in Turkey, a country that has seen a recent surge in terrorist threats and activity. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we won't be affected, but we had planned on purchasing an upgrade to our travel insurance policy that would allow us to cancel that part of our trip in case we feel that the terrorism has become too dangerous. We booked our honeymoon through a travel agent, and she dutifully sent us the paperwork for the travel insurance, along with a nice hand-written note reminding us to fill it out and promptly fax it back to her.
We didn't.
For a month, the paperwork sat untouched on the desk and we kept saying, "We really should send that in soon" but neither of us even bothered to read it. Finally, I decided to start this task. I researched travel insurance and found out that the one our agent had recommended is highly rated and considered the best policy for where we're going. You can even apply online. Hooray!
So I start the application, and one of the first questions is, "When did you first pay a deposit for any part of your vacation?" I answer it truthfully, and instantly many of the insurance upgrade options are grayed out. A tiny message informs me that these options are only available in the first 15 days after the first deposit is made on any part of our trip. Oh nos!
We can still purchase the basic coverage, but not the upgrade that would let us cancel due to terrorism. Now we just have to hope that everything settles down in time for our trip. We did learn a valuable lesson though: book your travel insurance as soon as you put down that first travel deposit!
Hotel Concierge Service: Above And Beyond
Posted on December 27, 2007 by Him
About 10 times a year I travel for my job. Sometimes the work that I do is quite easy, and I have more time to relax and do some sightseeing, or even make a vacation out of it. Other times the job can be quite stressful as we have to cater to our clients and make sure things go smoothly. When I need things to go especially well, I often enlist the services of the hotel concierge. Their advice is often invaluable in finding out the perfect restaurant in an unfamiliar city, for getting access to rooms at their hotel or another venue for impromptu meetings, or even getting umbrellas when an unexpected rain occurs. Of course, their work is rewarded with a generous tip.
However, the requests that my coworkers and I ask from the concierge pale in comparison to others. A Chicago Sun-Times article reports the unusual requests that Jon Winke, a concierge at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago since 1975, has had to fufill for guests. Some of them include:
- A guest wanted to see the premier of the movie "Disclosure" but he didn't want anyone sitting within three rows of him. Winke rallied staff members to go to the theater and buy enough tickets to block off several rows.
- A mother of the bride left her contact lenses in a taxi and was upset about having to wear glasses to her daughter's wedding. Concierge staff tracked down her California optician, got her prescription and had new contacts delivered to the hotel within two hours.
Have you ever used the hotel concierge to make your life easier? What was the strangest request that you have asked from one?
(via Chicagoist)
Reimbursed Vacation
Posted on October 25, 2007 by Him
photo: Davide Schiano
Since Her and I graduated from college, we've never taken a "real" vacation together...something about paying off debt got in the way. We could never justify spending a lot of money to take a nice real vacation together.
I've mentioned a few times that I get to travel for my job, and that I usually get put up at nice hotels. This past summer, I was offered the chance to go to a pretty nice location for work to attend a conference. I was going to be there for a few days and would have a lot of downtime. I thought it would be perfect opportunity to have Her come along and have a fun vacation on the cheap. Here's how we did it.
When I signed up for the Citibank AAdvantage card, I was entitled to received a free companion ticket. I made the reservation for both of our tickets with American Airlines; my ticket would get reimbursed, and Her's was free with the exception of taxes (which amounted to about $20).
Our company generally reserves hotel rooms only a few weeks in advance of travel. Because of this, many of the hotels near the convention center were already booked. We ended up booking a room at a hotel that was a little farther than walking distance, but happened to be the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. It might as well be the nicest hotel I will EVER stay in. We arranged a 4 night stay, but since I was doing work on only 3 of the days, we had to pay 1 night out of our own pocket. Since I was there for a conference we got a reduced rate on the room for all of our stay. We could have probably stayed somewhere cheaper for that 1 night, but all we could find were hotels that were far away from the convention center and hotel we were arranged to stay at. We decided the hassle wasn't worth the $50 we'd save.
Since we were more than walking distance to the convention center, we needed the use of a car. We rented a car for the full 4 days we stayed there, but paid for 1 day out of our pocket. We got a phenomenal deal on the rental through the travel agency that my work goes through, so we ended up paying $15 plus gas for the rental car.
Whenever I travel, all of my meals are reimbursed as well. On the non-business day we were there, we ate pretty frugally - living in Chicago has given us an astute sense of where the cheap, but good eats are. Some of the days we ordered room service for 1 - the portions were so large that it easily fed both of us. Other meals weren't extravagant, but weren't all at at Subway, either. We saved a ton on food - so much that I didn't mind the incredible pain in the ass it was to file the expense reports, separating our meals.
A lot of the stuff we did for fun was free or cheap. We're not really into touristy stuff, and much rather prefer to go on self-guided tours and get a feel for the culture of the place we're visiting. We did do 1 touristy activity and got tickets from the hotel since they offered discounts. I guess that is one of the perks of staying at a super-nice hotel.
After I was reimbursed for everything, our total out of pocket costs for the vacation was approximately $400. Not bad for 2 roundtrip flights, 4 nights hotel, 4 days of rental car, 4 days of meals, and entertainment. Oh yeah, and we got rewards for ALL of the vacation. The only downside is that I actually had to work on two of those days; although if it weren't for my job, we wouldn't have been able to have our first "real" vacation together.
Budget Vacation Tips
Posted on June 25, 2006 by Her
Would you like to take your family of 4 to Paris on $991? How about a honeymoon in Paris for $600? I discovered this very practical vacation bargain article tonight while looking for ways to trim costs on our honeymoon. It's a Christian website, but there's no proselytizing in this article. One of their suggestions includes doing a Home Swap (where you and another family swap homes for your vacation), which I've always been interested in doing. I stayed in a furnished apartment when I studied abroad in France, and I've always thought that home feeling would be nice to have on all trips abroad. This article has lots of creative ways to save money on your next vacation.
Page: 1
