Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, which may be the world’s best-known lopsided structure, is an enduring attraction in the Northern Italian city of Pisa. The nearly 200-foot high tower has undergone years of stabilization work to ensure that visitors can continue to admire its classic architectural beauty.
            Construction of the tower, which is the bell tower of Pisa’s cathedral, began in 1174 but wasn’t completed until almost 200 years later. An insufficient foundation, set in unstable subsoil, doomed the tower to lean from the start. However, construction stops and re-starts actually allowed the foundation to stabilize enough for the tower to be finished in 1372.
            During the 1990s, a $30 million project stabilized the tower by slowly removing soil from one side of the foundation to reduce the tower’s degree of lean. The tower reopened to visitors in 2001. In 2008, more soil was removed from the foundation to further stabilize the tower. Today, visitors can once again climb the nearly 300 steps to the top of the leaning tower for a lovely view of the city.
 Pisa has other interesting buildings to explore, including several other structures that share the “Field of Miracles” with the leaning tower. There’s the Romanesque cathedral; the Baptistery, decorated with scenes from the life of Christ; the Campsanto, full of funerary monuments for long-ago noble citizens of Pisa; and a museum filled with medieval paintings and sculptures. Pisa’s Piazza dei Cavalieri also has beautiful buildings and towers from the 16th century. If you have time, take a stroll through the city’s botanical garden, one of the oldest in Europe.
            As in much of Italy, tourism in Pisa peaks in the summer months. If you can visit in the spring or fall, you’ll find pleasant weather and smaller crowds. To plan your trip, talk with your travel professional.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Tips for Busy Days at the Airport

The holiday season means busy days at the airport.  When you're making air travel plans, remember that the busiest days are those immediately before and after the holiday.  If you can, avoid those days - try to travel two or three days before or two or three days after, and even consider traveling on the holiday itself if possible.

Whatever day you travel, remember that you don't want to be on time for holiday season flights - the key is that you want to be early.  The usual rule is to arrive at the airport 90 minutes in advance for domestic flights and two hours in advance for international flights, but during the holidays you may want to arrive two hour in advance for domestic flights and three hours in advance for international departures.

At the airport, you may encounter a new type of screening technology; millimeter wave Advance Imaging Technology machines.  These devices screen passengers for metallic and non-metallic threats that could be concealed under layers of clothing.  The machines screen passengers quickly, and most are able to proceed immediately through the security station.  While these machines originally generated a unique body outline of each passenger, raising some personal privacy concerns, new software eliminates passenger-specific images and uses generic outline of a person when screening passengers.

The following rules for airport security screening are probably familiar, but it may be helpful to review them before taking a holiday season flight.  As you approach an airport security checkpoint, be prepared to:
  • Remove your coat or jacket and your shoes and place them in security trays for screening.  Children are usually subject to these rules as well, and may need help with their coats and shoes.  Frequent travelers often opt for slip-on shoes to speed them throughout the process.
  • Secure all liquids or gels in your carry-on bag in a clear, quart-size plastic bag and place it in a security tray. If you forget to prepare this bag at home, most airport have bags available at security checkpoints.  Remember, each container of liquid or gel can be no more than three ounces, or it will be confiscated.  The TSA refers to this rule as 3-1-1, meaning three ounces liquids or gels allowed in a single (one) one-quart bag.
  • Empty your pockets of change, keys, cell phones, combs, eyeglasses, etc., and put these items in a small security try for screening.  If you're wearing a belt , you may also be asked to remove it as well.  To speed up this process, savvy travelers typically take care of placing these items into their carry-on bags prior to their approach through security screening.
  • Remove any computers or other large electronics (video game consoles, remote-control toys, etc.) from your carry-on bag.  Unless you have a TSA-approved bag, you'll need to place them in a security try for screening.
  • You may be in a hurry, but double check that you've collected all of your belongings from the security trays before you leave the security checkpoint.
Remember that Holiday travel can often be impacted by winter weather.  Be sure to keep your travel agent's contact information stored on a fully-charged cell phone just in case you need any additional assistance once you arrive at the airport.  Happy and safe travels through this holiday season.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Top Trends in Buisness Travel

While employers vary in their enforcement of cost-saving travel policies, the majority of Travel Leaders associates who serve business clients - 68 percent - say their business clients are at least somewhat strict in their enforcement.  However, another 29 percent loosely or rarely enforce their policies, and three percent actually have not travel policies at all.  In addition, while air travel policies are most often enforce, employers tend to be more relaxed about enforcing hotel and car rental policies.

Because corporate travel policies are designed to save cost while ensuring quality, road warriors may find that enforcement in general will tighten as employers continue to navigate the ups and downs of the economy.

In addition, a growing dispute between the airlines and the companies that own the global distribution systems used to search for, reserve and purchase airline tickets could have an effect on travel costs.  According to Travel Leaders executives, some airline would like to force travelers, including corporate travel departments, to "buy direct" by pulling their flight data from the global distribution system.  Ultimately, business travelers could pay more for tickets.

The survey also revealed that corporate travel departments still reward their business travelers by allowing them to keep frequent flyer miles and loyalty rewards points earned while traveling on business.  All of Travel Leaders associates surveyed said their clients are able to earn loyalty rewards points fro their hotel stays; and 97 percent said heir clients are able to earn loyalty reward points fro their car rentals.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Top Vacation Destination for the End of 2011

Las Vegas reclaimed its top spot on the recent Fall Travel Survey conducted by Travel Leaders.  The desert glamour spot had consistently ranked as the top choice of travelers booking a vacation in the U.S., but recently lost that position to Orlando, Fla., and its fantastic them parks.  The 2011 Fall Travel Survey, which gathered actual booking data and insider expertise from 443 Travel Leaders owners and agents nationwide, once again has Las Vegas on top, albeit by a small margin.

There's always something new in Las Vegas, a city that understands how to reinvent itself.  Along the Strip, one of the newest casino resort hotels is The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.  The contemporary-style hotel has many rooms that overlook the lights and excitement of the Strip, including some at very affordable rates.  Trends among established Vegas hotels include new pet-friendly programs, featuring room service for pampered pooches; in house tattoo parlors; and gourmet vegetarian and vegan selections on restaurant menus.

Orland's theme parks have introduced some new features this year that are appealing to first-time and return visitors.  Sea World Orlando has a new killer whale show, One Ocean, with lost of high-energy leaps ans stunts.  Visitors to Disney's Hollywood Studios give great reviews to the new Star Wars-based Star Tours 3-D attraction.  And a new attraction, Legoland Florida,has recently opened last month. 

Rounding out the top five U.S. vacation destinations for the rest of 2011 are balmy Honolulu, Hawaii, at number three; bustling New York, N.Y., at number four; and Kahului (Maui), Hawaii, at number five.

Travel Leaders' survey also found that overall travel is up slightly from this time last year, encouraging sign at a time when the U.S. economy continues to have ups and downs.