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Kaleel Sakakeeny's Blog (344)

Chasing The 30K Airline Ticket

From From Kaleel

The Thirty-Thousand Dollar Airline Ticket

It's a price sensitive… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 19, 2010 at 10:01am — No Comments

Blog Inn Review: Rabbit Hill Inn, Vermont-with Video Review

The Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, Vermont, right over the New Hampshire border, is one those rare destinations with hundreds of reviews and not one that doesn’t give the place outstanding ratings.

Mobil has given it Four Diamonds, and Rabbit Hill belongs to the cluster of "Select Registry" inns.

OK, so what?

Well, so plenty. The bucolic setting (compete with white-steepled church across the… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 17, 2010 at 8:42pm — No Comments

Guns 'n' Airports: What Is Georgia Thinking?

From From Kaleel

Guns ‘n Airports: What is Georgia Thinking?

Last month… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 16, 2010 at 12:19pm — 2 Comments

CityPASS Helps Travelers See Their Own Cities: Staycations

From From Kaleel

Travel Tip: The Stay At Home Vacation: Staycations

A weak economy… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 15, 2010 at 11:09am — No Comments

Happy Airports Make More Money

From Blogger Pictures

Happy Airports Make More Money

It’s basic… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 13, 2010 at 10:30am — No Comments

Dumping the 3-1-1 Rule

From Blogger Pictures

It’s not official, and the… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 11, 2010 at 3:39pm — No Comments

Travel Recipes We Found and Loved

image credits: Wendie Hansen

Travel Recipes We Found and Love

Travel is… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 8, 2010 at 10:08pm — No Comments

How Not To Travel With Bed Bugs

A few heads were scratched at AOL Travel’s recent story about bed bugs.

We weren’t scratching from the bugs, but from curiosity: Why would author Libby Zay do a piece on the nasty critters?

A comment from a reader actually suggested she needed “to get a life.”

Well, the reality is that the bed bugs infest places that are part of travel, like motels. hotels, planes,… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 6, 2010 at 4:38pm — No Comments

How Safe Is Your Airline?

The question everyone is afraid to ask: So how safe is this airline?

For better or worse, there is no real answer.

The Virginia-based Flight Safety Foundation which prides itself on being independent and impartial, candidly admits that since there are so few U.S. airplane fatalities, there really is no recognized way to determine which airline is safer than another. The statistical… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 5, 2010 at 4:48pm — No Comments

Today's Innkeepers Embrace the Social Web. Will They Ever Be the Same?

Innkeepers Meet the Social Web: Will They Ever Be The Same

Brian and Leslie Mulcahy work very hard for their accolades and consistently outstanding reviews by always being there for their guests.

"It’s not easy,” say the innkeepers of the quintessential New England inn, Rabbit Hill Inn, in the Currier and Ives town of Lower Waterford, Vermont.

But Leslie is reading Groundswell ("winning in a world transformed by social… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on May 2, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Travel Superstars I'd Like to Have a Drink With

From time to time I need some help in keeping up with the twists and turns of travel, so I thought of a few travel "heroes" I'd like to have drink with and talk travel.

I’d first set a date with Travel Weekly's Editor in-Chief, Arnie Weissmann, a terrific writer whose editorials always leave me wanting more.

TW is the travel industry’s publication of record, and Arnie’s one of…

Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 30, 2010 at 12:00am — 1 Comment

Single Parent Travel: Second-Class Travel Citizens

Travel’s Second Class Citizens

Can you imagine the travel industry, limping along in this sclerotic economy, not catering to the needs of an important travel niche market: Single Parents?

This travel cohort feels like second class citizens.

They’re not swingers.

Not looking for wild parties.

They want quality vacations that let them connect with other single

parents, and they want attention paid to them and their kids.

They want the travel…

Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 29, 2010 at 11:30am — No Comments

Buttocks, Beaches and Breasts: Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism: Beaches and Buttocks

People travel for many reason.

They travel to see the ocean, to meet people or to shop…

and now they’re shopping for a new nose or bigger breasts all while seeing the sights.

Medical tourism is the latest trend in the search for the perfect body or a money saving medical procedure like replacing a hip or getting your teeth straight.

Or for costly medical procedures for the uninsured and… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 28, 2010 at 2:00pm — 2 Comments

What’s the Difference Between a Kid and a Carry-on Bag?

What’s the Difference Between a Kid and a Carry-on Bag?

Judging by the new round of airline fees, probably not much!

Southwest Airlines opted not to charge for carry-ons (other airlines opted out too), but then announced it was doubling the fees it charges unaccompanied kids to fly.

There has always been a fee for “UM’s aka/Unaccompanied Minors, as they’re called in the biz, but Southwest’s jump from $25.00 to… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 25, 2010 at 5:30pm — 2 Comments

Will Travel Insurance Cover Volcano-related Travel Snafus?

No sooner do we do a piece on Travel Insurance, and a volcano blows, stranding thousands of people and ruining hundreds of vacations.

But don't worry, you read our post, bought insurance and you're covered.

Well, it seems that your claim could be denied, depending on whom you bought the insurance from and whether the company views the disaster as "weather related," usually covered, or "natural disaster,"… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 20, 2010 at 7:13pm — No Comments

Travel Fees Make Pet Owners Dishonest

From Blogger Pictures

Airline Fees Make Pet Owners… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 19, 2010 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Boeing Says “No” To Ryanair’s Pay-to-Pee Plan

From Blogger Pictures

You have to admire the gall.

Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary,… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 18, 2010 at 3:46pm — 8 Comments

Nicaragua: Now Open to Curious Travelers

After the Revolution: Nicaragua Opens its Doors to Curious Travelers

By Kaleel Sakakeeny

In a ramshackle yet proud artisan studio in the dusty town of San Juan de Oriente, a young boy about 15 casts pots using his feet for power on an old throw wheel. The wheel hums, the clay spins and the pottery that evolves is astonishingly intricate yet elegantly simple.

His younger sister tends to a new littler of seven puppies, and his even younger brother… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 16, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

Banning Kids from Flying...at least First Class

No Fly Zone for Family Travel and Kids

Most Americans are not anti-kids, just some mean-spirited, presumably well-heeled ones who fly first class.

As part of a thread on kids and families flying first class, one guy (maybe a woman) said:

“ If I paid money for first class, I WILL GET FIRST CLASS. I don't want any ROTTEN CHILDREN anywhere near me…Or breathing MY FIRST CLASS AIR, THAT I PAID FOR.” (sic)

Whoa!

And… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 11, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Nude Travel Vacations (Nakations): Big Business

The Naked Traveler: Nude Holidays

Jaws dropped (and pants too) a couple of years ago when German Travel agency OssiUrlaub.de said it would start taking bookings for a nudist day trip from an eastern German town to a popular Baltic Sea resort.

Apparently the 55 passengers will remain clothed until they board, undress during the flight, then dress before disembarking.

The crew remains clothed throughout the flight for, well obvious reasons, I… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 11, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments