Taking off Travel blog

Christopher Elliot recently published a list of 7 trips you should never book online. His list online booking scenarios to avoid included:

• Cruises
• Round the world trips
• International travel
• Exotic holidays
• Special events

An Online Booking Nightmare

He cites the case of a honeymoon couple’s online booking nightmare as a reason and suggests the use of travel agents instead.

I disagree, because I don’t think it’s an all or nothing scenario. I’ve been booking online for years to destinations including Europe, the Caribbean and of course, the US. Read more »

There’s a good chance I’ll be going to Las Vegas next year, so I thought I’d check up on airport amenities, off airport parking facilities and things to do around the airport. The McCarran International Airport (LAS), to give the Las Vegas airport its full name, is about a mile from the southern Las Vegas Strip. It’s got two terminals, with a third due to open in 2011.

The airport is easy to get to and has a full range of public transport options, with buses, taxis and limos making regular airport runs. There are also about ten care hire firms on site and, if you have your own car, lots of options for airport parking and off airport parking.

Las Vegas Airport has a full range of amenities, including a bureau de change and post office, shops, slot machines (of course), secure luggage lockers, a first aid clinic and medical centers. There’s also a children’s play area, fitness centers, massage and lots and lots of restaurants. There are many nearby hotels on the strip which are suitable for conferences, and the airport is fully accessible.

Read more »

Don't be forced to park like this. Use coupons to save on a better parking space.

Travel has become so expensive that we’re always looking for ways to save money. One area where you can cut the cost of your trip is with off airport parking. This is usually much cheaper than standard airport parking, with a number of useful additional facilities. But there’s no need to stop there; you can make off airport parking even more affordable by using coupons.

Local Airport Parking Deals

One good place to start is in your local newspaper. You’d be surprised how many off airport parking coupons I have found simply by looking through the ads at the back of the paper or in the travel section. You can get some great reductions for the price of a newspaper, which isn’t a bad deal at all. Read more »

Will there be airport parking - or should that be spaceport parking - problems in space? Just as the early inventors of the car would have found it hard to imagine the chaos that affects our roads at rush hour and the need to pre book off airport parking just to be able to make a flight, we may find it hard to imagine that one day similar problems may affect space. But with recent developments, it has to be a possibility.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two

Virgin Galactic’s Space Ship Two (surely it could have a more interesting name) is being unveiled this week in the Mojave Desert after five years of top secret development work. It’s the world’s first commercial space craft, bringing us one step nearer to the future envisaged by Star Trek and similar TV programs. Like much of what used to be science fiction, scientific developments have put mass space travel within reach - quite close reach, as Virgin Galactic is planning to run two test flights next year and take the ship to maximum altitude in 2011. Read more »

We’re on CBS! In a feature on Travel Tips for a Stress-Free Thanksgiving, Travelocity’s Genevieve Shaw Brown suggested booking off airport parking in advance to cut the hassle and recommended ParkRideFlyUSA for this service. Here’s the video:

Watch CBS News Videos Online