Favorite Travel Stories: Airline Fees, Travel Gone Wrong, September Discounts

Airline Fees
Lately, "what's the next airline fee" is a popular question on on many of the blogs I read. You can read Wendy Perrin's thoughts (and mine) at What's the next airline fee and some unfortunate reality in this article: Air Canada Starts Charging Parents for Strollers and Car Seats It's important to read your airline's checked baggage policy before you book, so that you understand the total cost of your trip up front. We also like to avoid checking bags altogether when we can, and for our recent 9 day trip to New Mexico, we traveled with two carryon bags plus two personal items & no checked bags. Not only did we save the baggage fees (which would have added $60 to the total cost of our trip) but we avoided the wait at the baggage carousel and the risk of lost bags.

Horror Stories
Sometimes I worry that in my enthusiasm for travel, and my desire to inspire people to travel with their kids, I paint to rosy a picture of traveling with kids. It's no secret that there are days when it's practically impossible to get to through grocery store with my two kids, and of course there I don't have any meltown-averting incantations to use when we travel. Here are three great stories about trips temporarily gone wrong: Queen of Spain's Preschooler Thwarts TSA, Film at 11, Minnemom's Renaissance Festival on a Budget (or not) and SoulTravelers3 Crazy Travel Challenges

Offbeat Vacation Ideas
Two things I always love are a) offbeat vacations with kids and b) learning by doing instead of telling, so I was inspired by this story about Rafting the Lower Salmon River in Idaho with Kids Even Vegas with kids can be offbeat if you know where to go. The "Four Go Round The World" family stops off in Las Vegas for a few days, and finds great bargains and plenty of kid-friendly entertainment. In more offbeat travel news, it is corn maze time in many agricultural areas. I've never heard of this before, but it sounds like fun.

News
WestJet got a lot of negative press for (repeatedly) asking a mom to cover up while breastfeeding on a plane. The woman says that she was nursing discreetly, and the only people seated next to were her husband and daughter, so it's difficult to understand why the flight attendant felt compelled to insist that she cover up. This is a sensitive issue though, and if you are planning to travel with a nursing child, you may want to read our tips for nursing and pumping on an airplane

Rome is one of the most baby-friendly places we've visited but the lack of kid-centered attractions has long kept some families from visiting. Now officials want to build a Roman theme park modeled on Euro-Disney outside Paris. Here's my advice: there's no need to wait, Rome's piazzas, welcoming residents and kid-friendly food make it a great destination now. In fact, fares are as low as $599 Round-Trip from New York

September Discounts
September is a great time to travel with young kids. Older kids are back to school, so attractions are less crowded, but the weather is still good. We have our own short trip to Chicago planned this month, and I'm finding some great deals on hotels! MSNBC has a roundup of some other deals targeted at families with preschoolers

4 comments | Posted on August 22, 2008 | Save to del.icio.us

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  1. Michelle D on August 23, 2008 at 5:37 p.m.

    I completely agree with you: Rome doesn't need a theme park!! (http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blog...)

    Good for you encouraging parents of preschool kids to get out there and enjoy the deals on offer through September and October. As I juggle school supply lists, soccer practice schedules and the general stress of getting everyone in my family back into school-time routines, I can't help but daydream about our days of traveling in the shoulder seasons. Enjoy!

    Michelle

  2. Mara on August 23, 2008 at 7:33 p.m.

    I need to write a blog post about our trip to Rome! We were there when my son was sixteen months old and had a wonderful time.

    I also try to be realistic about traveling with children. It's not that there are no hassles - they are just worth it (and like the comment above points out, usually not worse than the hassles of day-to-day life). Thanks for all the great links.

  3. Debbie on August 23, 2008 at 7:52 p.m.

    Thanks for your comments Mara & Michelle. I couldn't agree more :)

  4. soultravelers3 on August 24, 2008 at 5:45 a.m.

    I always enjoy these collections that you find around the internet and how you put them together. Thanks so much for including us!

    Like you, we think traveling as a family is absolutely the best way to travel, but there certainly are challenges on the road...just like at home. Going slow and making sure every family members needs are met is the key.

    We waited until Mozart was 5 to do our world tour so that she could do endless walking on her own and was reading chapter books. That helps a lot on buses, trains, ferries and peaceful dinners out.

    Surprisingly, she is almost 8 now and even though she has visited 4 continents, crossed 11 seas & been to 19 countries, she has only taken 2 planes in her life!

    I don't think Rome should go the theme park route either ( and a family should not miss Pompeii http://www.soultravelers3.com/2008/04... when so close), but if they do I would hope they do it more like Puy du Fou than Disney. The shows there are amazing, educational and entertaining for the whole family.