As everybody knows, the H1N1 virus is causing travel delays, and flights to cancel.
If you haven't read my earlier post called "TRAVEL WARNING" I suggest you do so, as it regards Air Canada flights that have been cancelled until June 1st, 2009.
What is The H1N1 Virus?
The H1N1 Virus (more commonly known as Swine Flu) is an airborne virus that is essentially just like the flu, only there is no "cure" for it.
It will go away as it truly is just influenza, but has killed many in Mexico where it originated.
How can I protect myself?
Essentially you can do the same thing you would do during flu season.
Wash your hands or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (but remember not to wash too terribly often as you may wash off the "good bacteria" on our hands that fight off illnesses).
Cough and sneeze into a tissue, your sleeve or your elbow.
If felt necessary, a face mask (such as doctors masks) may be worn.
Avoid travelling to highly infected places such as Mexico and the Caribbean.
Look at a news broadcasting website for updates.
How do I get it/if I get it what should I do?
The H1N1 virus can be contracted by somebody sneezing or coughing on you, or by simply breathing in an infected area.
If you do feel you have contracted H1N1, please see your medical professional.
They will more than likely put you in quarantine, and you get the week or so to just lay around and be lazy in your pajamas. That's not so bad is it?!
Young children and the elderly, or those who's immune systems are low should seek medical attention right away just to be safe.
Why was the name changed from Swine Flu to H1N1?
The name was changed to a scientific name as there is no connection whatsoever of eating pork and catching the virus.
Please, eat all the pork you would like without fear!
Happy Travels!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tour Group or Lone Ranger?
All prices listed are in Canadian Dollars unless otherwise mentioned.
So you want to see the world firsthand, but don't know how you should do it.
Do you travel with a tour group and risk losing cultural aspect, or do you travel by yourself and possibly be vulnerable for overpaying, or maybe even being robbed or getting lost?
There are many advantages and disadvantages for travelling with a group.
What if you do not get along with other members on vacation?
What if your tour guide has this raspy nasally voice that drives you nuts just thinking about it?
What if you're only 18 and the rest of the group are in their 60's!
Travelling is welcomed for everybody to participate in, by themselves or with a tour guide,
it just really depends on what the tourist wants to get out of their trip.
Travelling is very expensive, and nobody can deny that, so price factor also comes into play when deciding to travel alone or with a group.
When you travel by yourself, you have to pay for everything, and I mean everything!
Your transportation costs, taxis, rental cars, every meal, tourist attraction costs, accommodations, souvenirs, tips, and anything else you can think of.
When travelling in a group, a lot of these costs are eliminated.
You usually have one major cost, your group fee. This typically covers transportation while at the location and accommodations. Other things may be included in this cost, such as a few meals, tourist attraction fees and tips.
But does travelling with a group ruin the cultural aspect?
It can and it can't. The activities that take place in the group often times depend on the group itself, and the companies motto. They also depend on if the group's target audience is a younger crowd, a general crowd, or a more mature crowd.
Lets look at a few tours, shall we?
Contiki (http://ca.contiki.com/)
Contiki's target audience are young enthusiasts for travelling between the ages of 18 and 35.
This specific company holds tours in most sought after destination spots in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Russia, Asia and many other spectacular places.
Tour times vary from under 1 week, to over a month. Prices all reflect where you want to go and for how long. Additional packages for things such as stop-overs are available, including a 5 nights stay in Munich for Oktoberfest, starting at just $450 CDN. What a deal!
Let's break down a tour to Russia, just for price comparison.
The tour being dissected is the "Russia & the Baltic" tour, which visits Russia, Finland and Sweden.
First off, this tour is 12 days. The starting cost of this is $2,249 (plus the $200 fee to secure your spot) which breaks down to costing about $187 a day, which may seem a little pricey, however it is considered a "Superior" destination, which means that all accommodations are real hotels and nice boats rather than sleeping in your sleeping bag in a canoe! This tour will stay in hotels and on an overnight cruise, and will be travelling by a coach bus and obviously a cruise ship. With this cost also comes 10 breakfasts and 6 dinners. This cost does not include flights.
The tour breaks down in 12 days, with tons of amazing locations: (remember, the admission to all of these places is included in your initial cost! Deal!)
Moscow
So you want to see the world firsthand, but don't know how you should do it.
Do you travel with a tour group and risk losing cultural aspect, or do you travel by yourself and possibly be vulnerable for overpaying, or maybe even being robbed or getting lost?
There are many advantages and disadvantages for travelling with a group.
What if you do not get along with other members on vacation?
What if your tour guide has this raspy nasally voice that drives you nuts just thinking about it?
What if you're only 18 and the rest of the group are in their 60's!
Travelling is welcomed for everybody to participate in, by themselves or with a tour guide,
it just really depends on what the tourist wants to get out of their trip.
Travelling is very expensive, and nobody can deny that, so price factor also comes into play when deciding to travel alone or with a group.
When you travel by yourself, you have to pay for everything, and I mean everything!
Your transportation costs, taxis, rental cars, every meal, tourist attraction costs, accommodations, souvenirs, tips, and anything else you can think of.
When travelling in a group, a lot of these costs are eliminated.
You usually have one major cost, your group fee. This typically covers transportation while at the location and accommodations. Other things may be included in this cost, such as a few meals, tourist attraction fees and tips.
But does travelling with a group ruin the cultural aspect?
It can and it can't. The activities that take place in the group often times depend on the group itself, and the companies motto. They also depend on if the group's target audience is a younger crowd, a general crowd, or a more mature crowd.
Lets look at a few tours, shall we?
Contiki (http://ca.contiki.com/)
Contiki's target audience are young enthusiasts for travelling between the ages of 18 and 35.
This specific company holds tours in most sought after destination spots in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Russia, Asia and many other spectacular places.
Tour times vary from under 1 week, to over a month. Prices all reflect where you want to go and for how long. Additional packages for things such as stop-overs are available, including a 5 nights stay in Munich for Oktoberfest, starting at just $450 CDN. What a deal!
Let's break down a tour to Russia, just for price comparison.
The tour being dissected is the "Russia & the Baltic" tour, which visits Russia, Finland and Sweden.
First off, this tour is 12 days. The starting cost of this is $2,249 (plus the $200 fee to secure your spot) which breaks down to costing about $187 a day, which may seem a little pricey, however it is considered a "Superior" destination, which means that all accommodations are real hotels and nice boats rather than sleeping in your sleeping bag in a canoe! This tour will stay in hotels and on an overnight cruise, and will be travelling by a coach bus and obviously a cruise ship. With this cost also comes 10 breakfasts and 6 dinners. This cost does not include flights.
The tour breaks down in 12 days, with tons of amazing locations: (remember, the admission to all of these places is included in your initial cost! Deal!)
Moscow
- Guided tour of The Kremlin
- Red Square, and Lenin's Mausoleum, St. Basil's domed Cathedral
- Travel on the Moscow Metro
- Performance by Moscow Circus
Klin
- See Tchaikovsky's house
Novgorod
- Guided tour of the old town
- See the Millennium Bell
Petrodvorets
- The garden and fountain of the Tsar's Summer Palace
St. Petersburg
- Guided tour of the Hermitage
- St. Peter and St. Paul fortress
- Church of Spilt Blood and the Admiralty
Vyborg
- Orientation of the town
Helsinki
- Sibelius Monument
- Olympic Stadium and Senate Square
- "Church of Rock"
Stockholm
- Gamla Stan (the old town) and the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace
All of those cool things over 12 days is pretty cool if you ask me.
Lets get a breakdown of the same trip, with prices, if travelling by yourself:
The cheapest flight I could find from Toronto to Moscow was $609 (USD) per person/one way on Orbitz.com
The average was $1,700 and up. $5,732 (CDN) was the most expensive.
So far we're at $1,218 without taxes just for flights.
Accommodations:
2 nights in a Moscow hotel (Superior Hotel): $236/night = $472 before taxes
1 night in Novgorod(Superior Hotel): $136 before taxes
2 nights in St. Petersburg (Superior Hotel): $258/night= $516 before taxes
2 nights in Helsinki (Superior Hotel) =$221/night= $442 before taxes
Overnight Cruise to Stockholm = $174 (USD) before taxes(http://www.scantours.net/products/ship.php5?id=42&poptype=pc)
2 nights in Stockholm (Superior Hotel)= $156/night =$312 before taxes
Overall accommodation cost before taxes, in Canadian Dollars: $2,068
Accommodation ($2,068) plus Flight ($1,218) = $3,286 before taxes.
Next, add in costs for meals, transportation, souvenirs, tourist attraction fees and other essential costs (We'll say this is approximately $2,500 even though it would be more)
CONTIKI:
flight
accommodations +
_______________
$3,467
SELF:
flight
accommodations +
_________________
$3,286
Planning yourself may look cheaper here, but watch when we add the estimated other costs like food, transportation, attraction costs and tips:
Contiki: $3, 467 Self: $5,786
$5,786
$4,467 -
______
$1, 319
This may not seem like a lot of money, and it might not be worth it for anybody, but put it this way:
-Somebody else does all the planning and booking
-You meet new people
-You still see the culture of the location
-You save money
Overall, if you want to save money and still keep the cultural, nightlife in the little towns and big cities, and keep most of your money in your pocket, ask yourself one question-
Is a tour group really such a bad thing?
Happy Travels!
Ps, if you are interested in the Russian tour mentioned above, check out the link http://ca.contiki.com/tours/185-russia-and-the-baltic-start-moscow for more information.
A list of the complete itinerary can be found here: http://ca.contiki.com/tours/185-russia-and-the-baltic-start-moscow/itinerary
TRAVEL WARNING!
If you have a vacation to Mexico booked with Air Canada, please check out the following link, as well as your flight information to see if you still have a vacation planned:
http://www.aircanada.com/en/news/trav_adv/090426.html
Happy Travels!
http://www.aircanada.com/en/news/trav_adv/090426.html
Happy Travels!
Travel Tip of the Day!
Compare prices at big hotel chains with websites like http://www.hotwire.com/, http://www.orbitz.com/, http://www.expedia.com/, http://www.travelhero.com/ and the hotel website itself. Don't forget to call and see if there are special discounts being offered (most hotels offer CAA or AAA discounts)if you know where you are staying!
If travelling by car, don't forget to stop off at Welcome Centers! Often they will have coupon booklets ready for you to take!
Happy Travels!
If travelling by car, don't forget to stop off at Welcome Centers! Often they will have coupon booklets ready for you to take!
Happy Travels!
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