Free Travel Jackpot

I was using a free Air Miles flight to Nanaimo, when Air Canada asked for volunteers to take bump and take a later flight in exchange for compensation.  I volunteered. Why wouldn't I? I was on vacation and wasn't in a huge rush.

The Air Canada clerk thanked me for volunteering and another passenger gave me a hug. She bubbled over graciously thanking me for giving up my seat so she could get back to work on time. (She must love her job! LOL)

The next thing that happened was 'sit and wait.' Indeed, all the confirmed passengers made it to the flight and everyone was boarded. The A/C clerk confirmed the flight was full. Once the doors closed, he made a phone call to the A/C courtesy/help desk and advised them of our agreement.

I walked down to the help desk and about 10 minutes of paperwork ensued. At that point, I was given vouchers for meals, a hotel (which was a really fabulous hotel), my new boarding pass for the morning flight, AND an $800 credit for future Air Canada flights.  Yup. Awesome.

After an average (but still free) meal, at the hotel restaurant I climbed into bed and drifted asleep thinking of all the places I could go with an $800 flight credit. France. Hawaii. California. Ahhh... dreams of California in January. Not a bad way to fall asleep.

And that's how I hit the travel jackpot.

Fast 5 Travel Tips: Trips with Teens

Travel with your teen? Yes! Definitely!

Think about it... you might not get another chance for a family trip for a decade or more. And the next time you travel together, YOU might be the tag along Grandma who gets to watch his/her kids while the other adults get to to off exploring.

Yikes. A sobering thought, isn't it?

That's why I travel with my kids/teens every chance I get.

5 tips from my personal journal:

1. Share in the trip planning. They'll be more invested and more likely to participate.

2. Let them pack for themselves and carry their own bags too. Teaches planning and self-reliance. Life skills!

3. They needs to bring their own spending money. Ensure they use it for their own souvenirs, snacks, admission fees etc. Another teachable moment.

4. Plan ahead for communication back home. Know what their cell phone plan covers and does not. Not getting a travel plan for cell service could spell financial disaster. Know that they WILL communicate with their friends either openly or secretly. A not-so secret phone bill a month later could really sour the memory of the great time you had.

5. Adjust for their sleeping schedule and privacy. Most hotels can offer a cot so your teen has their own bed. And why not let them sleep in a bit, while you enjoy a morning walk or a little shopping? Start your sightseeing after 11am so that everyone is more agreeable and rested.

Do you have more to add to the list? Love to hear from you!

Maui $483.

I'm just going to tell you that this is the kind of thing that causes the bags under my eyes.

It's 3AM as I write this, and for the past 5 consecutive days, I've worked open to close at the restaurant. I'm tired. And yet, I pick up the scent of a travel deal, and I turn into a tireless bloodhood. I won't stop until I find the big deal.

I won't give you the play-by-play on how I found this, except to say that I shouldn't check my e-mail when I'm in bed. You see, Westjet sent an email with an offer of 20% of econo flights, or 25% off plus.

Ho hum. I didn't think too much of it. I looked around at a couple destinations, and it seemed the prices were inflated so as to accommodate the discount. But, since I was awake, I poked around a little further.

Seems Delta has a nice sale on to Hawaii. (From Winnipeg.) $566 return and taxes in, that's a excellent price any time of the year. (I searched and dates are available through February, but not at Christmas break of course.)

So that's when my 'bloodhound sense' kicks into a higher gear. Hey, I wonder if Westjet has matched those prices yet.... 

I looked, and yes they have. Nice. Westjet has $566 too. Now I wonder if that discount code works on top of this price match deal....

This is the point I get out of bed and head to an actual keyboard. (tap, tap, tap on the keyboard) Yes, indeed, the promo code works! And voila $483, round trip, taxes included to Maui.  $600 to Aruba is pretty sweet too.  Now accommodations are extra in both these situations, but that's not hard to solve.

Victory! I found the prize. $483 to Hawaii is a GREAT DEAL!  Now I can go to sleep.

But first, take my promo code. I won't use it. (Just incase Westjet didn't send you a code this time.)

Promo Code: REW07   Coupon Code: F8Y7IGP  (Yes, you need both) 

They key to getting the best price is do a couple flight searches and find your best price combination, THEN go back and do the search WITH the codes.  If you use the codes right off the top, it will NOT show you the various dates and potential savings of date selection.

Goodnight!  :)

Fast 5 Travel Tips: 5 Canadian Travel Lies

1. About Canadian Prairie Winters - "It's not that bad, it's a dry cold" we say. And yet we actually just slide around on our icy roads all winter, going from Tim Hortons to Tim Hortons, sipping hot chocolate to keep the blood from freezing in our veins.

2. Your money is worth more here! - But just wait until we add 15% tax to everything!

3. You only need a few days to see Canada - Are you kidding? Our landmass is vast and our transportation expensive. Don't think you can see Quebec and Alberta in the same week.

4. We're not all lumberjacks and hockey players.  But we DO all dress like lumberjacks and hockey players every winter! From coast to coast you'll see flannel plaid shirts and hockey jerseys on young and old. It's like our unofficial patriotic uniform.

5. Salmon jerky and ice wine are Canadian delicacies. Trust me, you should pass on the Salmon Jerky. It's not even good after a whole bottle of ice wine.  I don't even think it would be good with maple syrup on it. And don't even get me started on screech and prairie oysters (Buffalo/Bison  testicles)! Our regional food is.... funny, in a "I can't believe you actually ate that" kind of way.

But don't trust just my opinion. You should come up and see it for yourself. You might like it, eh?!!

Walking tour, Los Angeles

You simply see things differently when you're out walking and exploring on your own.  There is no taxi, bus tour or Frommer's Guide that can show you the city the way that an open mind and a pair of sneakers can.

I recently embarked on a street tour of Downtown Los Angeles. Some things were pretty, somethings were not. But everything contributed to the character of the area and gave me a really interesting perspective as a Canadian traveller.

I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves. The architecture, both of past and present, was incredible. And to see so many buildings being restored was encouraging. The preservation of history is important and for me, was heart-warming.

In total, according to my fitness tracker, I covered nearly 14kms on foot in 2 days. Though I also did accidentally (and later on purpose... to see the Ghostbuster's firehall) wander into the ghetto I did not stop to take photos. There is overt poverty, homelessness and even tent-villages in plain view, but I feel there is no purpose in objectifying the street people who struggle. It would only serve to disrespect human life to portray them here in a tourist blog.  So I won't.

Los Angeles, and Downtown LA specifically, is not all Hollywood glamour and riches, but you can certainly say that about any city.

Photos taken on an iphone, October 2015.

Back lane movie filming

Court House

Firehall from the 80s movie Ghostbusters

Opulent street entrance leading from the sidewalk

Through the window of a downtown office building. Marble everywhere!

Go ahead, scream it from the rooftops!

I got a kick out of these buildings when I spotted them in Downtown Los Angeles.

They are side by side, and quite obviously from the same era and builder. What I get a kick out of, is the giant neon sign that states "New Million Dollar Hotel Rosslyn." Just had to add that "million dollar" status eh?  Nothing like making the original Rosslyn feel cheap!

Where would you rather stay? The old Rosslyn, or the New Million Dollar Rosslyn? Makes me imagine that they were built by siblings still trying to one-up each other in adulthood.

I enjoyed this. It adds character to Downtown Los Angeles, and made me smile and chuckle. It was a nice change from the other areas of Downtown LA that made me turn and run for the hills. (Stories to come!)

Vegas in December

Here's another gem that meets my criteria:

• 5 star hotel, on the Strip
• Direct, Westjet flights
• $500 Cdn

Fast 5 Travel Tips: How to completely waste your vacation time

We all agree, vacation time is precious. Here are a few ways travellers waste their vacation time. Feel free to comment and add to this list:


Nod your head if you're guilty of any of these;  then vow to change your ways!

1.  Staying in your hotel room to use the WIFI to check Facebook, replying to messages and/or anything that lures you into work or makes you lose track of time.  If you're going to spend all your vacation time in the virtual world, you may as well have just vacationed in your parents' basement.

2.  Running around trying to find the perfect souvenirs for everyone. Trinkets without memories are practically worthless. The solution is easy... don't buy souvenirs.

3.  Trying to see everything and racing through the attractions so much so that you really don't SEE or EXPERIENCE anything.

4.  Trying to replicate a travel experience from a guidebook or travel blog. Have your own authentic experience. Enjoy YOUR own moment! No one sees things or experiences it quite like you do.

5. Giving a social media play-by-play. Getting 'likes' shouldn't affect the way you enjoy or remember your vacation.  What... my selfie at Mount Rushmore only got 3 likes? How uncool. Stupid Mount Rushmore! Better up my selfie game. What if I just pet this bear cub...

That cake.

When I am planning a trip I love to read and learn about my future destination. I'll search and read Trip Advisor and when I start to read the same thing over and over I start to believe it.

Like this time I read about coconut cake at Waikiki Beach. This cake reference and these cake pictures kept popping up. It wasn't long before "find that coconut cake" was short-listed on my must-do list at Waikiki Beach.

Truth be told, that when travel plans shortened our trip, I scratched "hike Diamond Head" off the list and kept "find coconut cake."  (Feel like you know me a bit better now? Hahaha.)

So... this cake. It is from Halekulani Resort. It's a stunning, exclusive, 5 star kind of place. But if you're not wearing sandy flip flops and you mind your manners, you can get the cake... to go. Which is what I did.

I seem to remember the slice of cake being about $15 and thinking, "this better be good cake."

It came in its own clear display box, with a fresh orchid as garnish, and was handed to me in a signature Halekulani cloth shopping bag.  So, that was impressive.

When I got back to my hotel room, I first took pictures of the cake. (Isn't that what all bloggers do when they get their food and it looks amazing?)

I was almost nervous to take a bite.

Sure enough..... AMAZING. The best way to describe it would be to say I think this is what
I think clouds taste like. Heavenly clouds!

The cake is so light, and nearly flavourless, but in a good way. You reach for another bite just to let your tastebuds at it again. There is a gentle, fresh coconut flavour that starts to emerge, but overall you just taste 'cloud.' It's pretty freaking amazing.

They are kind enough to publish the signature recipe on-line. Someday I will tackle this recipe in hopes I can come close to recreating it.

The cake is so popular, Google has it right atop their links when you start typing "coconut cake H..."

Have you ever gone out of your way to track down a meal, or a particular treat that you'd read about or seen on Food Network?
Do post your finds in the comments. I'd love to hear about them.

Video Clips: Yay or nay?

Not sure if I just like blogging and it's the writing that satisfies me, or if I should jump on the trend and try 'vlogging" a bit.

What do you think? Little video clips good or not quite so interesting?

Does it give you a new perspective? A better perspective?

Also, if it doesn't play on your mobile device please let me know in the comments. I want to make this blog more interesting and user-friendly if possible.

Thanks!

Get it on the grid

Do you like seeing your options?  Let's check out the possibilities for a reggae Christmas with the help of Trip Central. It's a Canadian site with one of the very best searchable realtime databases, IMHO.

Since we all agree, we like 4 star (or better) vacations, I used that as a criteria.

The first screenshot shows all their holiday package destinations.

Then I chose Jamaica. The only city option with All Inclusive offerings was Montego Bay. This second screenshot gives you a basic overview of what it would cost to go in any month of the year. Keep in mind that it's the same hotel, the same flight, the same everything, just the cost is different based on the time of year. (Supply & demand)  

Next choice I made was for December, to plan a reggae Christmas. This screenshot shows the dates available and the lowest cost. 

This final screenshot shows you all the different hotel options and their specific prices. My recommendation would be to look at your budget and the price you are comfortable with, then go to Trip Advisor and read recent reviews for that particular hotel. You may read that it is perfect and meets your expectations, or you may read that it's not your kind of place at all.  

Vacations are very personal. Each person will have their own set of expectations, interests, and family circumstances. And, at least, I have found that at different times in my life, and depending on who I am travelling with, I want very different things. 

My golden rule, is never let price be your ONLY deciding factor.

**Note, I have actually been to Jamaica this year. So if you have detailed questions definitely ask!

5 little luxuries for the road.

Space is a commodity and with airlines charging for checked bags, taking up too much space can be costly.

I almost exclusively travel with just a carry on bag. I roll my clothes, coordinate my outfits and preach about staying organized on the road with Ziploc bags. But given a little extra space, these are the 5 little luxuries I will definitely squeeze in.

1. Slippers. Just tiny, soft little ballet slippers. After a full day of walking, there's nothing more comforting on my feet than a cozy little pair of slippers.

2. Noise cancelling headphones. Tiny ear buds will do, but good headphones can really help tune out the travel chaos.

3. LBD. Just a sheath dress. Black and classic, in case your business lunch turns formal.

4. A hat. Could be a knit toque or a fun straw hat based on your destination. Could also be a lifesaver if you have a really bad hair day or an unexpected delay.

5. A book. I know you can read on your iPad or Kindle but, a real book still feels like "vacation" to me. A little luxury, easily tucked into the front pocket of your suitcase. It's a conversation starter, a de-stresser and a gift you can exchange with another reader.

Why I said yes to this souvenir

Normally, I skip the souvenirs. 'Collect memories, not things', I say.  But this last time, in Jamaica, I said yes and whipped open my wallet.

My son CJ is 9 years old. We were heading up to our hotel room to call it a night, in this fancy all-inclusive resort in Jamaica when he stopped me at the door. We were just past the local crafters who were packing up their wares and getting ready to head home.

CJ squeezed my hand and pulled me to a halt. "Buy something!" he whispered.

I whispered back. "I don't need anything."

He insisted, "Mom, buy something."

I leaned in and asked him, "why, honey? Is there something you want?'

"Mom, that (elderly) man has been sitting in the hot sun all day and I don't think ANYBODY has bought ANYTHING from him. Mom, can you PLEASE give him something."

Enough said.

The man asked $7 for the puppy carving. I gave him $10. He said, 'bless you." I choked back tears. I already know I'm blessed. And in that moment, I knew that I must be doing something right with my kids. Such good kids. And now we have this little carved puppy to remind me.

Vegas - Next Monday. Crazy Cheap!

Sometimes the last minute bargains are amazing!  Here's one from Westjet, just in case you need one more quick getaway before back to school.

These deals have direct flights to/from Winnipeg. (I checked the Brandon prices and they are 3x as much in this case). It's definitely worth the drive to Winnipeg for this one.

$209 & taxes ($360 total per person) Gets you round trip flights and 3 nights hotel, tax etc.  The Linq is centre strip, while the Tropicana is at the MGM/New York corner.  Both are decent hotels. But if you want to splurge a bit on an amazing hotel, stay at the Cosmopolitan ($448 tax in) or the Aria ($505 tax in). Cromwell, Vdara and the Venetian are all similarly priced.

These are Canadian prices, and considering our low dollar vs the US, I would definitely recommend buying the package rather than booking a flight and paying at the hotel in US dollars. You would have to book a US package (like from Allegiant) for $275 or less to beat this deal. See why I called it amazing! The real value is in the superior Westjet service and reliability.

Prices are subject to change. Book on-line or give Selloffvacations.com a call ((204) 571-4570) and tell them you saw the deal on my blog.

Vegas pictures, just for fun

A dear friend of mine is planning a trip to Vegas soon, so I thought I'd share a few of my own pics to help show her around and fuel the excitement.

Street view of the M&M store

Inside the colourful M&M store. Sure to make you smile.

Gardens at Bellagio in springtime. 

Located in the Aria Hotel

Salmon Vegas-style.

Bellagio 

Indoor canals at the Venetian Hotel

Candy stores all around

Showgirl crosswalk 

Burgers from BURGR in Planet Hollywood Hotel

Sunrise in Vegas... in case you miss it. 

Caesar's Palace sports book. Where you can go to bet on football etc.

Concert venue at Caesar's Palace

Rod Stewart on his walk about thru the crowd

Rod Stewart on stage in 2013

Art installation at the shops at the Crystals Mall, at Aria

The Chandelier  lounge at the Cosmopolitan Hotel

Pool at the Tropicana Hotel 

Room service Bellagio style

View of the pools at Bellagio

Me, Vegas-style