JA'VONNE'S TIPS FOR LAST MINUTE SUMMER DEALS

It's important to know how and where to find the deals.  With these tools you can find the ones you want to fit your own needs rather than just going to where the deal is and taking something that isn't really for you.
 
Look for ways to save in the city you are visiting.

 

City Pass, Gives you access to top attractions in that city at up to half off the cost of admission plus head of the line or express line access.

City Pass is currently in the following cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hollywood, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Southern, Toronto

Groupon, In their own words, Groupon features daily deals for stuff to do, see, eat and buy in 48countries and soon to be more. A lot of people use Groupon in their home town and never think to use it in a city they are visiting.  it's like a traveling coupon.  Before you visit a city, visit Groupon and see what deals are offered for big savings for your vacation.

Packages, bundling or packaging is a way to save.  Especially if you're using a travel agent or online travel companies like Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity or the airlines website. Often, when you book your vacation components together from the same source it's less expensive than if you were to book them separately. This means booking your air, hotel, transfers or car rental all in one. 

Apps, Apps give you up to the minute deals or information.  Here are a few I like. I like the Kayak app for the same reason I like Kayak.com, because you can compare travel sites for the best airfares, hotel rates, itineraries, etc. You save time and money!

With gas prices constantly changing and varying so much based on your location, Gas Buddy is a great tool to check whose offering the best prices when you're on the go.

An empty hotel room is very costly for a hotel and they would rather sell the room at a discount than have it empty.  The goal is "Heads in Beds".  So, when a hotel has an empty room it's the best time for you to get a deal.  Hotel Tonight is an app that offers such a service.  Hotels are listed with last minute deals for those empty rooms. And, they have just launched a lowest price guarantee.

Cruises, Cruise vacations have always been a great value and just like hotel rooms when cabins are unsold last minute deals offered. The cruise line would rather have you on the ship at a heavily discounted rate than have an empty cabin.  You can find last minute cruise deals as low as $55 per person per night.

 

Sign up for alerts with various sites.  The sites you register with will alert you when prices go down or sales are offered.  You can put in destinations, dates and other filters to get what you're looking for. 

Eliminate airfare and drive.

Book the right Day, If you're traveling over the Labor Day weekend, Friday and Monday will be the highest in terms of airfare and traffic. Try departing on Wednesday or Thursday and returning Tuesday for lower airfares.  This principle actually applies anytime you're traveling.  You'll want to fly on non-peak days and hours. 

Book the Hub, What I mean by this is that airlines have a hub, this is their base.  You'll find less expensive fares using an airlines hub because they have more service from there, more flights more frequency.

If you can, go the weekend after Labor Day, you'll get great deals.

Ja'Vonne Harley

JA'VONNE'S TRAVEL MINUTE - A SHOPPING TIP

A few years ago I went to West Palm Beach, FL for a long weekend getaway.  I only went because I found a great deal at the Chesterfield Hotel.  The Chesterfield was not far from Worth Avenue, a fantastic shopping street line with high end boutiques and designer stores. What I discovered when I went into one of the boutiques was a fantastic sale.  Everything was 75% - 80%.  Later I went to the movies (I have to add that the theatre is fabulous) and after the movies went to the Macy's not far from there.  Well, they too were having a fantastic  sale!  I thought this odd because for me it was the beginning of the summer.

What I learned is that West Palm Beach is the home to a lot of snow birds.  Those people who live in the North and flea to the South during the winter months.  When things warm up in the north those snow birds return home leaving a lot of vacancies in West Palm Beach and this is why the stores have big sales.

I can tell you that for me I'd go during that time just for the shopping.  It's a bit hot but you can manage that.

Ja'Vonne Harley
Owner, Advantage International
Co-Host, The Traveling Eye

JA'VONNE'S TRAVEL MINUTE - YOGA

About two years ago I started doing Yoga.  I had tried several times before only to fail or loos interest.  It was difficult for me to master the poses while trying to see it on Television and moving to the next pose.  It seemed when I figured out one pose they were on to the next.  So I gave up.

Then I got Wii Fit and tried the yoga poses.  What I loved about it was doing one pose at a time and the ability to do it over and over at my own pace and not moving to the next pose until I was ready to.  Now, two years later I'm still a novice but I absolutely love Yoga.  It's calming and meditative.

Yoga is that perfect travel exercise regimen because it requires no equipment or gym. You can do it at anytime in your own hotel room and you can even do some of the poses on the plane.  I especially do yoga before, during and after a long flight to combat deep vein thrombosis, that circulatory condition that can cause fatal clotting.

Click on the links for a full demonstration from Yoga Journal
My favorites:
Warrior Pose: It's like a fencing position. 
Standing Forward Bend: From a standing position bend at the waist and grab your ankles.  If you can place forehead to knee.
Sun Salutation: Standing, raise arms above head and place hands together.  Then lean back with hands apart with palms facing the ceiling and lean back as far as you can, then go into Standing Forward Bend.
Downward Dog: From a standing position lean forward and place hands on the floor with your feet behind you and make an upside down V shape.
High Plank: Like the high position of a push up.
Cobra: Lying on your stomach place the palms of hands on the floor at the sides of your chest.  Lift your chest and head like a cobra.

These are just a few.

I hope you try before, during and after your next long flight and see the difference.

Enjoy,

Ja'Vonne Harley

BONNIE'S EYE ON!

My favorite memory of the 4^th of July was making homemade ice cream.

Most of you think ice cream comes from the grocery store and has all kind of artificial preservatives and such.  Homemade ice cream is a taste like no other.

My Momma would let me help make the boiled custard that became the base for the ice cream. Everyone had their own recipe but the basics are the same, milk, cream, eggs, sugar, a little salt, and vanilla. You cooked it on the stove, stirring constantly.

Daddy would take the ice cream churn which was a wooden tub that had a

Metal canister that went inside, and pour the ice cream mixture into it. He would then place the churning paddle inside and the handle was attached.  

The metal canister went inside the wooden tub and ice and rock salt was packed around it. Then you started to turn the handle.  We kids got to turn first because it was easy but as the ice cream became solid, Daddy had to take over because it became to hard for us. When it was done we couldn't wait for the paddle to come out of the container and lick off the cold, good, sweet ice cream. OMG, I can almost taste it. 

Now a days, you can get an electric ice cream churner and it takes half the time but if you ever get to do it the old fashioned way, don’t forget to lick the paddle, yumm.

Until next time, keep your EYE to the Sky!

Bonnie

Co-host of The Traveling Eye

Ja'Vonne's Travel Minute

There are times when only one parent is traveling with their child or neither parent is traveling.  The reasons are many, the other parent just isn't traveling, divorce, a deceased parent, an absent parent or a school trip.  Irregardless of the reason when a child is traveling with one parent or someone who is not the parent or legal guardian you'll want to be prepared and avoid trip interruption, denied boarding or cancellation and have a parental consent or permission letter accompany you. This applies to domestic and international.  The Customs and Border Protection Agency or city or state officials may ask for this information.

While you may not be asked to show this letter, it is imperative that you have in case you are for whatever reason.  Otherwise, you and the child can be detained until the circumstances and permissions can be verified.

In some cases an airline may require a consent letter and if you don’t have it you will be denied boarding.  It could also be the requirement of the country you’re visiting and if not presented you could be denied entry.

These measures are in place because of incidents of child abduction including custody disputes.  The letter should include:

• Who: Who you are, who the child is
• What: What you will be doing during your travels
• Where: Where you are traveling to
• When: Your dates of travel including departure and return
• Why: The purpose of your travels, i.e school trip, reunion, etc
• Contact information: Name, Address, phone numbers of the absent parent(s).

While not always required, it is also highly recommended that the letter be notarized.

Ja'Vonne Harley
"Remember, the world is book and those who do not travel read only  page" St. Augustine
The Traveling Eye
Advantage International

Independence Day - Beyond the Fireworks

I'm not saying you should eliminate fireworks from your Independence Day celebrations.  I too have an affinity towards the brightly lit skies, the new and improved displays and the oohs and aahhs that accompany the fantastic shapes and colors that amaze. After all, America's second president John Adams and the first to light fireworks for Independence Day said "The holiday ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade -- and illuminations from one end to this continent to the other" Today fireworks are the grandest symbol of patriotism and celebration.

I'm just saying add a little extra to your holiday.  Add a little nature and history.

National Parks are a wonderful way to celebrate and take in some of America's natural beauty. There are over 400 National Parks that cover more than 84 million acres from coast to coast.

Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, and best know for Old Faithful, was the first designated national park by President Ulysses S Grant in 1872. Yellowstone is best for wildlife.

Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona takes your breath away with its shear vastness.  The Colorado River splits the Grand Canyon into the North and South rims.  A River runs through it.  Sorry I couldn't help myself.  A great way to experience the Grand Canyon is by (Helicopter, River, Land) to take it all in. While I have not experienced it myself, I hear the Skywalk is phenomenal but the lines can be long.

For some rugged coastline and a bit of the Atlantic seaboard visit Acadia National Park in Maine.  Acadia National Park is the first designated national park east of the Mississippi River.

The National Park Foundation has recently released "The Places Nobody Knows", a free online guide to lesser known national park gems. 

A little history anyone? Washington, DC, Virginia and Pennsylvania are the jackpot of America's Declaration of Independence.

In Washington, DC is the Memorial to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence it's near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.  There's also the Constitution Gardens and The National Mall. You can also visit The Jefferson Memorial for the Declaration Committee on the pediment of the memorial. In Pennsylvania visit the State House that is now Independence Hall and the chamber where the Declaration was signed. Actually, Washington, DC has a host of memorials of our founding fathers and great men who made a difference in the United States.  The newest memorial for a great American is the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, there's a king among presidents. I'm a bit biased since I was born and raised in DC.

OK, if you must, watch the fireworks and the Washington Monument, it's a very patriotic thing to do.

Ja'Vonne Harley
Co-Host, The Traveling Eye
President, Advantage International

Ja'Vonne's Travel Minute - Independence Day

There are other countries that celebrate the 4th of July.  The Philipines and Rwanda are two of them.

The Philipines celebrates July 4th as its Republic Day in commeration of the day they were no longer a U.S. territory.  It was in 1946.  The Philipines from the late 19th century to 1946 encountered several identity crisis.  Frist the Philipine Revolution that led to the first Philipine Rebulic, which was followed by the Spanish-American War and then the Philipine-American War. The United States rose are the dominate power and retained soverignty over the Philipines.  July 4th was celebrated as Independence Day until 1962 when in 1964 it was changed to Republic Day.

In Rwanda, July 4th is observed as Liberation Day.  This day marks the end of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide of the Tutsi's by the Hutu's.  In about 100 days more than 500,000 people were killed.  The Rwandan Genocide began on April 7th, 1994 and ended on July 4th, 1994.  April 7th is observed as Genocide Memorial Day.

Ja'Vonne Harley
Co-Host, The Traveling Eye

President, Advantage International