Taking off Travel blog

Travelers leaving the US from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airport will soon have a new destination to fly to – Sydney, Australia. Qantas is to start operating a service four days a week from May 16. According to the MSN report,  DFW Airport has offered the Australian airline some $3M of incentives to kick start the service, which is estimated to bring in some $130M in annual revenue. The direct flight will last just over 15 hours, with the return leg via Brisbane.

According to eTravel Blackboard, 50,000 of the 900,000+ Australians who visited the US last year went to Texas. (If you’re planning to take advantage of the new route, don’t forget you can book Dallas airport parking with us; see the main Park Ride Fly USA site for a coupon.)

ORD Airport News

In other airport news, Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD) is to sell bonds worth $1bn in April to fund a planned expansion which will see the number of runways increased to 8. The move is intended to cut delays. (via Reuters)

MKE Airport News

Finally, yesterday’s announcement that all the airport parking lots at Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport were full gives another good reason to take advantage of our Milwaukee airport parking service. As we’ve said before, booking off airport parking saves time and money, not to mention getting turned away at the gate!

If you’re cruising on Royal Caribbean this year, you’ll need to adjust your daily tipping budget.  According to the Miami Herald, the cruise line is now recommending a daily tipping allowance of $11.65 per person per day, up from $9.75. This seems pretty standard compared with the suggested gratuities from the other cruise lines cited.

Since I’m not a confirmed cruiser, I didn’t realize that in many cases this goes straight onto your bill, which at least saves you the hassle of working it out. I was in a restaurant the other night where instead of the standard 10% service charge, the service charge was 12.5% – try working out what your share is after a couple of appletinis.

To save you the same trouble on your international business trips, here’s a roundup of advice on tipping and gratuities.

• How Tipping Works – a round up of tipping psychology, guidelines and customs (including what to tip your off airport parking attendant).
• International Tipping Etiquette – advice on tipping from the BBC’s h2g2 community.
• Worldwide Tipping Guide – Magellan’s guide, which tells you where NOT to tip, too.

It may be a while before your next trip, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be ready. These five questions make a handy trip planning checklist you can use to prepare for travel.

1. Have you got a passport? Is it valid?

To seasoned travelers, this might seem like a silly question, but there are millions of Americans who don’t have passports and who only take trips within the country. If you’re planning to go beyond national borders though, you WILL need a passport. If you’ve already got a passport, then check the expiry date. Some countries require your passport to be valid for at least six months after the date of entering the country.

2. Have you got foreign money?

The US dollar goes a long way in a lot of countries, but it’s always wise to have some local currency for paying for drinks and small food items. Exchange rates in the country may not be as good as those at home, so take care of it before you leave. Some companies also offer foreign exchange cards which you can load in your currency and spend in another (such as England). This can be useful to avoid prohibitive foreign currency transaction fees on your credit card. Read more »

I’ve discovered something. It’s not so simple to identify cheap airport parking locations across the US. Sure, it’s easy if you want to find the cheapest airport parking provider at a particular airport. However, it would take a long time to sort through all the airports to find the most affordable off airport parking nationwide. (If I’m wrong, do let me know, because I’ve been looking for ages.)

Assessing the Cost of Airport Parking

But sometimes I wonder whether it would be sensible to have a national comparison engine for offsite airport parking. After all, in the same way that you look for cheap flights and then make a decision on where to go, the cost of your parking has a major impact on the overall cost of your trip. Luckily, there are lots of ways that you can save money on this part of your holiday.

Book Online

One top tip is to book your parking online. Choose a provider with a good website who will make it easy for you to make reservations, apply discounts and secure additional services from one handy place. Of course, don’t forget to look for local deals which may be available through your newspaper or favorite news site. Off airport parking providers often make deals available through different media outlets.

Discounts and Coupons

It is also worth looking for seasonal discounts, such as our holiday discount parking coupon. These can give you a significant saving on the usual price of parking, making your off airport parking cheap. To add to this, you may also be able to get discounts on car hire, hotels and other travel services through your parking provider’s partnerships. And of course your airport parking facility may offer reward and point schemes which you can apply to your future off airport parking requirements.

Other Benefits

As well as saving money on parking, there may be additional benefits to using an off airport parking provider. For example, your provider may offer a valet service, or may warm or cool the car for you before pickup depending on the season. They may be small things, but they can give a boost to the overall travel experience. So the next time you’re ready to book cheap airport parking consider the tips I’ve given above — and you could save a mint!

Last month, we added Thrifty Airport Parking (CHA) to our list of off airport parking facilities. Located near the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, the Thrifty Airport offsite parking facility is secure and well lit, providing a complimentary shuttle service and car care.  Chattanooga Airport connects to major airports in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, Orlando, Washington DC and Tampa, with services to Detroit scheduled to start in September 2010. Airport amenities include a business center and free Wi-Fi, a great advantage for business travelers. The airport is close to downtown Chattanooga, which is the fourth largest city in Tennessee. The city has been recognized many times as a great place to live and has also won awards for housing.

Railroad History

If you’re spending some time in the area, then there are several attractions you can check out. First on the list has to be the Chattanooga Choo Choo, made famous by Glenn Miller in the 1940s. This old station house is now a vacation destination, with lots to offer and plenty of history. Where else can you sleep in a historic train car while enjoying mod cons such as wireless internet? If you’re interested in the history of rail, you can also check out the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Read more »