Botswana safari | 2 for 1 luxury safari

Among the incredible luxury travel values to come across my desk in recent weeks, none will save you more money than this once-in-a-lifetime safari in Botswana. Buy one land safari, and the second guest's land safari is FREE!

Botswana is located in Southern Africa, bordering South Africa to the southeast, Namibia to the northwest, and touching Zambia at a single point. During your vacation, you will stay at renowned Orient-Express properties. In Johannesburg, your home will be the historic Westcliff Hotel for two nights. In Botswana, you will experience a total of six nights at three Orient-Express luxury safari lodges — Khwai River Lodge, Eagle Island Lodge, and Savute Elephant Camp — which feature luxurious air conditioned tents with en-suite facilities. Your safari includes all meals and drinks as well as daily breakfasts in Johannesburg and private airport transfers.

Of course, the reason to go on safari is the experience of seeing African wildlife in their natural habitat. Most travelers to Africa enjoy experiences that surpass their expectations. This exclusive offer of a 2-for-1 luxury safari is not likely to be seen again, and it's valid only through 2009.

Buy one, and the second guest stays for free. Land price from August - October is $8,675. In November and December, the land price decreases to $6,595. Not included is international air from the USA and roundtrip air between Johannesburg and Botswana.

luxury safari (search here on Google)


copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

del Coronado | San Diego beach resort

Hotel del Coronado (known in San Diego simply as The Del) is an historic hotel just minutes south of downtown San Diego and over the causeway on Coronado Island. Built in 1888 and now a National Historic Landmark, Hotel del Coronado provides the ideal setting for a beach vacation in sunny Southern California. Coronado Beach is quite simply one of the best beaches in the world.

Its unique Victorian architecture reminds visitors of the casual elegance of an earlier era. The Del has hosted eleven U.S. Presidents, and its spiraling turrets were the inspiration for the Emerald City in Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz. The Del also provided the setting for Some Like it Hot, starring Mariyn Monroe, filmed on the property in 1958.

I saw a variety of room types during my site inspection. If you want to stay in the Main Resort, I highly recommend a Deluxe Junior Suite — a large suite with a stunning view of the beach and the blue Pacific Ocean beyond. But for the ultimate in a family beach vacation, book connecting suites at the Beach Village to form up to a three bedroom apartment with a full gourmet kitchen. These stunning rooms are available with full views of the beach and ocean.

For the very best luxury value, book through a Virtuoso luxury travel consultant (click here to book). Virtuoso guests pay the Best Available Rate and receive exclusive additional amenities including daily buffet breakfasts for two and room upgrades if available upon check-in. Additionally, Beach Village guests receive a daily $100 spa credit.

Hotel del Coronado (search here on Google)


copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

the most incredible luxury vacation value

There are beach vacations... and there is Four Seasons Punta Mita, one of the world's most luxurious beach and golf resorts. Located just 25 miles from the Puerto Vallarta International Airport, the area features 9 miles of pristine white sand beaches and lava rock formations. With just 173 guest rooms nestled among 26 acres of lush tropical grounds, you will never feel crowded. And once you luxuriate in one of Four Seasons' spacious guestrooms and enjoy a fabulous night's sleep on their exclusive custom designed mattresses, you'll be spoiled for life!

Relax on the beach or enjoy activities ranging from golf on the Jack Nicklaus designed championship course, tennis, scuba diving, surfing, snorkeling ... even romantic horseback rides on the beach. Children can participate in the Kids Program which is included in your package.

This incredible deal is available until December 21st .. and not likely ever to be seen again.

1. Rates begin at just $415 + tax for a spacious 645 square foot Garden Casita.


2. For every four consecutive nights you book, you will receive a resort credit of $1,234 that can be applied to your room bill or other charges.


3. When booking through a Four Seasons Preferred Partner, you will also receive complimentary full breakfast for two daily, an upgrade to the next room category if available at check-in, and a $100 golf credit.

Do the math: Four nights with tax will cost about $875 with breakfast included. Eight nights will cost about $1750 with breakfast included. You're spending less than $220 per day to vacation at one of Four Seasons most renowned beach resorts.

Contact a Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel consultant for a complimentary booking.


Four Seasons Punta Mita (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

the best return on your travel investment

If you're like most luxury travelers surfing the web, I imagine you're looking for the best travel experience for the lowest possible price. I totally understand that logic, and in fact my services as a luxury travel consultant are all about obtaining the best possible value for my clients.

The search for the absolute lowest price, however, sometimes has unintended consequences. Making decisions simply on the basis of price, especially when we're traveling to unfamiliar and exotic destinations, can rob us of the very experiences we're traveling around the world to have. Here's a true story that happened to me.

Shortly after I became a Virtuoso travel consultant, I planned a trip for myself to Italy. I scheduled two nights in Naples, wanting to visit the famous ruins of Pompeii. I asked one of the Virtuoso onsites in Italy to provide me a quote for a tour of Pompeii — a car and driver to take us there and a half-day tour of Pompeii with a private guide. While their price was OK, I also emailed the Concierge of my hotel in Naples, asking him to quote me a price for the same services. The hotel's price came back perhaps 20€ lower. So I went with the lower price. What's the difference, I figured, between one guided tour and another?

Well, quite a lot, it turns out — a lesson I learned the hard way. Our driver was great. He picked us up in a comfortable car and drove us to Pompeii. Upon our arrival around 10 a.m., we were introduced to the guide arranged for by the Concierge. He took us into the ruins of Pompeii, explained the various sites that we were seeing, and then — at 11 a.m. — said "goodbye" to us.

"But we paid for a half-day tour," I said.

"I don't know anything about it," he replied ... and off he went to meet his next clients.

I saved 20€, but I didn't get the experience I was hoping for. When a three hour in-depth tour turns into a sixty minute cursory visit to one of the major attractions in Italy, you are going to feel cheated and disappointed. This was a valuable lesson.

Why do we travel, after all? We do it for those unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experiences of seeing history with our own eyes ... and while I saved 20€, it shortchanged my experience of Pompeii (although we made good use of the extra time by having our driver take us to Herculaneum - not all was lost).

So here are the top reasons that Virtuoso travel advisers will use onsites to plan the components of a foreign trip.

1. They are true experts about their locale. They know the best way to tour the sights and absorb the culture of their destination.
2. They are vetted by Virtuoso, and you can be confident that these companies are financially secure and consistently provide exceptional service.
3. They contract with the best available English-speaking guides.
4. They know the best restaurants (and can make reservations) and can take you to out-of-the-way sights most tourists never see.
5. They can arrange exclusive experiences that will give you "bragging rights" for a lifetime.
6. If anything goes wrong on your trip, they are a local resource there to assist you.

It's not the least expensive way to travel and your travel consultant will receive a commission [disclaimer], but onsites offer the best possible return on your travel investment.


luxury travel consultant (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

how not to get bumped

Travel forums relate countless stories of travel adventures — of once-in-a-lifetime accounts of transcendent moments that surpass expectations ... and of frustrating misadventures of travelers whose plans go awry. The latter was the case in the story, posted just five days ago, by a traveler flying to Buenos Aires to embark on a 16 day cruise around South America.

Things went terribly wrong. His airline flew him from LAX to IAD, then bumped him from his connecting flight to Buenos Aires. Even though he had purchased business class tickets from IAD to BUE, his seats on the second leg were cancelled due to an "equipment change" (or so he was told). Unable to board his international flight, he missed his cruise, an adventure he had been anticipating for an entire year. It doesn't get much worse than that.

Is there anything he could have done differently? Although there are no absolute guarantees when it comes to travel, here are some strategies you can use to lessen the chances of being bumped and ruining your entire vacation.

1. Get seat assignments when you make your airline reservations. If you book on the web, go to the seat selection page - and if there is none, call the airline to get a seat assigned, if at all possible. If you come to the airport without an assigned seat, you'll be at the top of the potential bump list.

2. Join the airline's frequent flyer program. Even if you don't fly enough ever to be able to use the miles you earn, doing this gives you a level of status that non-members do not have. Non-members are more likely to be bumped.

3. Check in online 24 hours before your flight. Go the airline's website, click the "check in online" link, and get your boarding passes. If anyone's going to be bumped, it will be the passenger who waits to check in until an hour before the flight.

4. Get to the airport early. If seats are limited, it's first come, first served. The last to arrive are more likely to lose out.

5. Build a cushion into your schedule. Are you flying to meet a cruise? Don't plan to arrive by air the same day that your cruise departs. If anything goes wrong, you'll miss your cruise's departure. Plan to arrive a day (or more) earlier and enjoy the sights of your port of departure. Surely this traveler could have enjoyed Buenos Aires for several days.

6. Insure against trip delays. Had this traveler booked his air through the cruise line, it would have been the cruise line's responsibility to get him to the next port on his cruise's itinerary. Or ... had he purchased travel insurance with a trip delay component, he could have purchased flights to the next port and been reimbursed to the extent of his policy.

Mishaps do occur when we travel, but these are strategies to minimize the possibility that they will happen to you and ruin your vacation.


copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

help for motion sickness

I suffer from motion sickness more than the average traveler. I've had "incidents" off the Napili Coast of Kauai on a small boat, on small planes in turbulent weather, even on jumbo jets at the end of long flights — not to mention sitting in the back of a bus ... or trying to read in a moving car.

My first encounter with Relief Band came during my recent trip to New Zealand. Our group was in a 4X4 truck climbing the bumpy gravel road leading to the volcanic crater at the top of Mt. Tarawera. One member of our group (even more prone to motion sickness than I) was having a particularly rough time of it. Even though she was sitting in the front seat, the bumps and sudden turns in the road caused her an extreme case of nausea. There was no place to let her off, she had no choice but to ride all the way up ... and she suffered every minute of that ride. After reaching the top of the mountain, she stayed in the truck, afraid that she would pass out if she tried to stand up, while the rest of the group went out to explore the crater.

Returning to the truck a half hour later, she was still sitting there. But then, digging through her purse, she found her Relief Band (which she normally kept with her medical supplies). Putting it on her wrist, the symptoms of motion sickness were relieved almost immediately. Within a few minutes, she was totally well and back to her normal self!

I would not have believed that a simple wrist band could be so effective had I not seen it work with my own eyes. Although I have used motion sickness patches (worn behind the ear) with great success, they cause side effects — dry mouth. I have obtained a Relief Band and will try it myself during my next trip. I'll be sure to report on the results of my personal test, successful or not!



copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

what if you lose your passport?

The thought of losing your passport while traveling overseas is frightening, but fortunately there is an easy precaution that every foreign traveler should take. Complete the form on the Travel Registration page at the US State Department website. This will greatly simplify matters should your passport go missing.

I heard the story of a traveler who, while traveling abroad, unfortunately had his passport stolen. He immediately contacted the US Embassy and because he had completed his online Travel Registration, embassy staff were able to access his stolen information and provide him with a replacement passport in 6 hours! The Embassy said that if he hadn't registered online, this process could have taken several days.

This service has been available for awhile, but most people probably don't know about it. Taking 5 minutes to fill out a simple online registration form is such a simple precaution to take!


copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.