Taking off Travel blog

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 »

The news that European airspace has been reopened has not lessened the disruption to travellers. Many people still face severe delays in getting back home – and when they do what else could it cost them? Imagine if you were due to return to your off airport parking lot a week ago and have been racking up additional daily charges ever since. These charges and sometimes run to as much as £12 per day in the UK.

Luckily for some, the airports operated by the  British Airports Authority (BAA), which owns Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow airports have promised to waive additional airport parking charges. London Gatwick and Luton have said the same. But who knows what the dozens of off airport parking firms will do?

Some UK off airport parking providers have little information other than a notice giving the latest update on flight delays. Others have created special pages for update on the volcanic ash situation and how that affects parking charges. For example, Parking4Less has suspended its standard hotel and parking cancellation charges for the time being. BCP has said that with the exception of one of its parking lots, there will be no charge for additional days’ parking as a result of the volcanic ash delays. However there may be other headaches for travellers looking to clean on their insurance. BCP says:

We do not consider volcanic ash to be ‘adverse weather’, therefore there is no cover under the ‘UK Departure Assistance and Missed UK Connection’ and the ‘Missed Departure’ sections.

Additionally, it is not a stated reason to cancel or curtail a trip and therefore there is no cover under the ‘Cancellation, Curtailment and Trip Interruption’ section.

It looks like lots of people will be having tricky conversations with their travel insurance providers.

FlyPark has a long list of which parking lots will allow cancellations and amendments and which will not. It’s bad news for those who have booked Supersaver rates as they will no doubt end up being out of pocket. However many airports on their list have also waived their standard charges.

Airport parking charges aside, there’s still the question of when people were actually be able to get back home as planes are located all over the world in the wrong places. Disruption is likely to continue for some time.

To keep abreast of the latest, check out this Iceland volcano update page from the Telegraph as well as the NATS website.

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.

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