Extra Travel Fees Here To Stay, Like It Or Not

by Chris Owen on

Extra travel fees bring customization options that can make for a more pleasant air, hotel, land or sea experience. Also called “user fees,” those who value the option they provide are relatively happy to pay. After all, these are not mandatory fees but options. Still, just the dollar amount makes experts wonder, “What’s next?”

Airline fees should add up to $36.1 billion in 2012, according to a recent study from IdeaWorksCompany reported in the Los Angeles Times. That includes extra travel fees for checked baggage, Internet use, food, drinks, premium seating, quick boarding and more. Up more than 10% over 2011, online travel agencies and airlines have figured out how to position buying options in the booking process. Out of convenience, passengers make online buying decisions to save time at the airport.”They are understanding how to raise and lower fees to maximize overall revenue and how to better position items in the booking path to drive better sales,” said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorksCompany in the Los Angeles Times report.

While there are no hard numbers on cruise line extra travel fees, those can add up too, as travelers choose premium dining options, tours ashore and onboard extras to customize their travel experience.

Sure, we don’t have to check luggage, enjoy a drink on board or use the Internet in the air. It is a choice travelers make, an optional travel expense.

Air travelers can choose to carry on their luggage, take any seat they get, enjoy whatever is included with the flight and not spend one penny more on extra travel fees. Cruise travelers can indeed sail and spend nothing more than the price of the cruise.

But do we really want to?

Apparently not, as extra fees are becoming so commonplace that they are rarely questioned or even complained about. Optional user fees are designed to charge those who want the service and let others save the charge as we see in this video:


[Photo Credit: Flickr user mroach]

Travel Gifts To Capture The Moment

by Chris Owen on

Travel gifts that capture a moment when we were with someone at some special place can be as simple as a smartphone photo taken at just the right time. A bar napkin from a time and distant place shared, snuck into a Christmas card, brings us right back to that place. Just one pebble taken from a beach during an enchanting vacation, on our desk back in the real world, can bring a flood of great memories when needed. As holiday shopping season approaches, taking some time now to consider thoughtful travel gifts can make for some of the best gift giving possible.

How about cufflinks that have the exact spot on the planet where we met our special someone engraved on them?

That’s exactly what American Samantha Jenkins gave to Bengali Rham Khandoker to remember when they met and instantly fell in love several years ago. Forbidden by his Islamic religion from being with Rham, Samantha had these cufflinks made as a symbol of their love that can exist only via Skype, email and text, but never in public. It’s about as close of a real world, physical symbol that they may find.Surely that’s an extreme story but not a bad idea for a travel gift with meaning. Skip the tourist attraction bobble-heads, T-shirts, snow globes and other trinkets. With holiday shopping coming up, think about something someone could not buy for themselves. Something unique that will be around for years to come, long after the clothing, gift card or wish list item someone else gave is gone.




[Photo Credit: Flickr user rikomatic]

Photo Of The Day: Eye Of The Beholder

by Chris Owen on
This Photo of the Day, taken in Arches National Park, Utah is titled “Eye of the Beholder” and comes from Gadling Flickr pool member Terra_Tripper

Arches National Park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, pinnacles, fins and giant balanced rocks. Located just outside of Moab, Utah, the 76,679 acre red rock wonderland was originally a National Monument then redesignated as a National Park.

Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as Photos of the Day.”

Tips for getting featured: Include the camera you used along with any other equipment or processing software that might help other photographers know more about your image.

[Photo Credit: Flickr user Terra_Tripper]

Cruise Line Hosts Pop-Up Restaurant On Land

by Chris Owen on

Cruise lines like to dazzle passengers on their ships with some of the best cuisine available, sourced from around the world. Cruise travelers often have so many choices that deciding what to have for dinner is a difficult decision. Those who have never been on a cruise anticipate culinary offerings but don’t know exactly what to expect … until now.

Celebrity Cruises, with a reputation for extraordinary cuisine, is bringing its onboard fare to Stable Café in San Francisco’s Mission District via a popup restaurant. Its just for two days, November 14 and 15, 2012, but Celebrity’s John Suley, Director of Culinary Operations, and his team of chefs will be presenting menu items inspired by seasonal, local ingredients and flavors in and around the San Francisco area.

Those wishing to attend the nearly sold out event sign up in advance for a lunch or dinner reservation. When they do, they are also entered into a giveaway to win a seven-night Alaska cruise for two on the stunning, luxurious Celebrity Solstice in 2013. No purchase necessary.Proceeds from your ticket go to support the Celebrity Cruises Scholarship at the Culinary Institute of America.

This is not the first land-based public event Celebrity has sponsored. Not long ago, Gadling reported that Celebrity Cruises had commissioned Kurt Werner, the inventor of 3-D street art, to create an art installation at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the arrival of the cruise line’s newest Solstice-class ship Celebrity Silhouette.

[Photo Credit: Flickr user garybembridge]

Travel Brochure Finds: The Best Key Lime Pie And More From Florida

by Chris Owen on

Travel brochures found at any given destination compete for our attention. Local tour operators want us to choose them over others. Convention and visitors bureaus work to highlight all their city has to offer. Florida, the land of theme parks, beaches and year-round sun is no exception.

Racks of colorful point-of-travel brochures can be found in airports, at hotels, highway rest stops and just about any other place that travelers are likely to gather. On a road trip from Orlando to Miami, we stopped at turnpike rest areas along the way and picked up some of the travel brochures that crowds of visitors seemed most interested in.

Kissimmee, Florida is home to must-see theme parks Walt Disney World Resort, Seaworld and Universal Studio’s Orlando Resort. From world-class resorts to RV campgrounds, Kissimmee offers a variety of choices for any age or interest.

Special events held throughout the year range from June’s Silver Spurs Rodeo to the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights coming up November 3 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, running through January 3.

Key West, Florida calls itself America’s Island Paradise for a number of reasons. Walking tours are a good way to see some of the island’s best attractions but trolley tours are also popular.

The Key West City Cemetery offers a quiet tour of Key West’s past, featuring a memorial to American sailors who died in the explosion of the USS Maine in 1898 along with legendary headstones that read, “I told you I was sick,” and, “At least I know where he’s sleeping tonight.”

A visit to Key West Audubon House and Gardens, Key West Harbour and the Florida Eco-Discovery Center make for a nice day and don’t forget a piece of Key Lime Pie, served at a variety of locations. Download a Key West vacation planner here.

Butterfly World in Coconut Creek, Florida, is one of a number of attractions that host aviaries filled with butterflies and free-flying birds. This one lets visitors enter their man-made tropical rain forest, a living habitat with a mist-filled cave and a cascading waterfall.

Butterfly World features six aviaries, live butterflies, Hummingbirds, an Insectarium, a Butterfly museum and more. Open seven days a week, Butterfly World is the largest butterfly and bird park in the world.

Miami Seaquarium is a 38-acre tropical paradise that is home to Lolita The Killer Whale, Salty the Sea Lion and everything else one might expect from an aquarium located minutes from the ocean.

At Dolphin Harbor, visitors can connect with one of the ocean’s most intelligent creatures doing a deep-water swim that has no swimming or height restrictions.

In addition to sea life from sea turtles and manatees to sharks and stingrays, unique to Miami Seaquarium are a number of animal and tourism experts on hand to share information and answer questions.

Here’s more about Florida, featuring Florida swamps, working cattle ranches, beautiful lakes and streams, and incredible wildlife.



[Photo Credit: Chris Owen]