They offer detailed baggage allowance information on all routes and ticket classes for over 100 airlines! All of the information you need to avoid expensive airline luggage fees is provided along with helpful airport specific links.

Using Luggage Limits is simple:

• Select an Airline
• Select departure and arrival airports
• Hit Search

Search results by ticket class include:

• Weights and dimensions permitted for checked and carry-on baggage
• The number of free bags permitted
• Fees for oversized, overweight & excess baggage
• Maximum weights and sizes permitted
• Route embargo information
• Possible online discounts
• Special baggage policies
• General airline information

I know that at some point in time, you seasoned travelers take your children with you on your flight. I work for a major airline, and have a few tips that may make your airport experience a little bit easier.

First and foremost, bring snacks on the plane with you for your child. The snacks that you can bring from home will be much healthier than food the airline serves. If there is any kind of delay, due to weather or worse, a mechanical problem with the aircraft, you have some food to satisfy your child. Remember, anything that you purchase once you pass security can be carried onboard the aircraft with you. So pack the grapes, the apples and the peanut butter sandwich, but buy the drinks on the other side of security.

Secondly, if you are using a car seat on the aircraft, it MUST be a full car seat, not a booster seat. The booster seat can’t be used during takeoff or landing, so it is better and safer for the child to sit in a standard car seat. The car seat must be placed in a window seat for safety reasons. If you are checking your car seat at the gate, be certain that it is inside of a bag, these bags are only at the ticket counter, so ask for one before going to the gate. If you have a cover for the seat, that is even better.

If you and your child are not seated together, go to the gate one hour prior to departure and see the gate agent. The gate agents arrive at the gate podium to open up the flight one hour prior to the departure time. They can often page other travelers to switch the seats around to help families with small children. Do not expect them to help you after the flight has started boarding as it is almost impossible to ask anyone to switch their seat at that time.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Mickey Mouse helium balloons will burst in flight. They have to be fully deflated to go on the aircraft with you.

If you won a stuffed Shamu at Sea World, he needs to be checked at the ticket counter, or get a bag for him and he can be checked at the gate. He is too big for the overhead bins on the aircraft!

Families with children under the age of four are often boarded after First Class customers, so be ready to board five minutes after the gate agents starts boarding the aircraft.

I hope these tips help you folks with small children. I work in Orlando and one flight can have up to thirty or more children on it. The more prepared you are the better your flight experience will be with your children.

End up with a greasy spot on the front of your blouse after eating out at a restaurant? Try this solution: Lay the garment flat, stain facing up. Dab the stain with a little water. Shake a generous amount of baby powder on it and pat it down. Let it dry and then shake off the powder. If it still looks greasy, pour more on and wait. Later, when you’re back at home, launder as usual.

Be more comfortable in your shoes! Sprinkle baby powder into your shoes, or right onto your toes. It’ll help keep your feet dry and smelling nice, and it will prevent your shoes from sticking to your feet.

We spend valuable hours on a plane that we’ll never get back. So what are ways we can make the most of these hours so that we feel it was time worth spent?

Here are a few ideas for productive plane time:

• Read a few magazines that you’ve been collecting at home. Toss the magazines into your laptop bag with the goal of leaving them behind at the end of the flight.

  Scan the pages and read the articles most important to you (you don’t need to read every article). Rip out any articles, recipes, tips, etc. that you want to follow up with later. (I’ve heard of people who have complained about a ‘ripper’ on a plane who was ripping articles out of a newspaper and making too much noise. So I try to consciously rip quietly, but then I’m over it. I’d rather be a mad-ripper than to be a clutter-queen with too many magazines weighing down my bag.) Then hand the magazines over to the flight attendants when you’re finished with them. Chances are the flight attendants will be grateful for something to read or they’ll recycle any magazines they’re not interested in.

• Write thank you notes or other greeting cards. Finding the time to write a thank-you note after an important meeting, interview or event is a challenge, so do it on the flight home. To keep your writing stable, write a few note cards before take-off and then wait until the plane has reached its maximum altitude to avoid the bumps. Bring along stamps so that the note cards are ready to be mailed once you’re off the plane.
• Pay bills. Bring along the checkbook and get your bills paid while in-flight. Get the envelopes stamped and ready for mailing. Look for a mail slot in an airport terminal or ask your hotel desk to mail them for you.
• Write up your to-do list and day-by-day agenda for the upcoming days. I find that my time on a plane is very valuable for giving thought to tasks, business ideas, my schedule, etc. when I am uninterrupted by emails and phone calls. Though I usually end up with more to-do’s than I have time in my life for!
• Clean up email. If you’re not connected with inflight Wi-Fi, yet can still get into your email (Outlook, Lotus Notes users), then take advantage of the time to respond to emails, clear out the clutter of old unnecessary emails, and send a few quick hellos to contacts you’ve been meaning to keep in touch with. Cleaning up email seems like a never-ending task, so my goal is to always end the day with a few less emails in my inbox that when I started the day.
• Meditate. We rarely make time to get in touch with our feelings, be relaxed and calm, and be mindful of what our feelings are telling us. Meditation can be extremely powerful in answering our questions and giving us direction. Have some meditative music on your iPod and just let your mind and conscious breathing take over for 20 or 30 minutes. When you rouse yourself, write down any feelings, ideas or other things that came up because these can be very inspiring thoughts.
• Take a nap. You’re either beginning several days of meetings or conferences or just wrapping up from jam-packed days. Take some time to relax and let your eyes close. I’m usually asleep before the wheels are up, and a 15-minute cat nap does wonders for my productivity.
• Meet your neighbor. Some of your seatmates may seem like people you’d want to meet, so say hello. If you’re both interested in talking, then relax and enjoy the conversation. I’ve met some amazing people sitting right next to me on the plane and some I’ve done business with. Always have business cards handy if you want to share your contact information.

Obviously you’d need a four hour flight or longer to do all of these things on one flight. Even if you get two or three productive items done while in-flight, you’ll feel a big sense of accomplishment and know that the flight time was time well spent.

I may be one of the crazy ones, but I really look forward to international flights. I have enough to-do’s in my laptop tote, along with my Kindle stocked with great books, my neck pillow for napping, and my iPod loaded up with podcasts and music. I keep myself busy, the flight time goes fast, and I get off the plane feeling wonderful about what I’ve accomplished.

Look around the airport and you’ll see luggage of every shape, color and style imaginable. Which style is right for you? And how do you tell the difference between a $90 bag and a $200 bag?

First determine the type of travel you’ll primarily be doing. Will it be for business use, or vacation? Will you be traveling by air, car or train? Are you packing for a weekend, a week, or more than a week? By answering these questions you will probably be able to determine whether you need to focus on carry-on pieces, luggage that needs to be checked on airlines, or tote bags that carry a laptop. You will most likely develop your own collection of luggage that fits your personal needs.

Second, give consideration to the features, materials and ‘carry-ability’ of the luggage. Traditional luggage, including roller bags, comes with two wheels or four (aka ‘spinners’). The extra wheels add weight, but also give more maneuverability, a key feature when trying to squeeze you and your luggage into a tiny airport bathroom. Speaking of weight, pick up the bag when it’s empty and see if it feels heavy. If it feels heavy and there is nothing in it yet, chances are you’ll struggle to get the bag in the overhead bin on the plane. Know what features are important to you and which are nice-to-have. For example, if you travel with suits and dresses, you’ll probably want to fold-out garment holder. Shoe holders, jewelry holders, large inner or outer pockets all need to be considered. My husband likes a small outer pocket where he can keep his airport parking documents and other easily-accessible items; I prefer a large outer pocket to hold a few magazines or folders.

Soft- or hard-sided styles are another choice. This choice may be a personal preference, but the decision may be influenced by what you intend to pack. For example, if fragile items and breakable equipment are frequently packed, hard-sided luggage may be the better choice. Soft-sided luggage is very durable and made in puncture and tear-resistant fabrics, such as ballistic nylon.

When it comes to luggage on wheels, here is where I see an obvious difference in quality luggage vs. lesser priced bags. Select a bag with wheels that matches the type of travel you’ll be doing. If you do frequent air travel, you will want strong wheels for running through the terminal, traipsing through car rental lots, and lugging in and out of hotel rooms. If you primarily have driving trips, or fly only once or twice a year, you’ll usually be able to get away with a lesser wheel quality. Just think of a grocery cart with wheels that want to go their own way or keep sticking vs a smooth-rolling cart. That to me is the difference between fair-quality wheels and good wheels. You grocery shoppers will know what I’m talking about!

Third, consider the size of the luggage. If you primarily are a carry-on traveler, you’ll want to look for lightweight bags that do not exceed 22″. Check with your primary air carriers to get their size limits. If you can you fit everything you want in a carry-on bag, which I can for a 4-day, 7-day, even a 10-day trip, then a 22″ may be just fine. Otherwise look for a larger piece of luggage and know that you’ll always be checking that bag when flying.

Fourth, consider whether your bag should be dual-purpose. Business cases on wheels with room for one change of clothes, a laptop tote/handbag, a backpack on wheels, are all items that do double-duty based on the type of travel you do and the features you’re looking for.

Fifth, enlist the help of the pros. Go to a specialty luggage store when looking for your luggage. Their sales people are knowledgeable about the broad selection of luggage available and they can do product comparisons for you when it comes to features and prices. They’ll also be able to show you the differences between various price points. I’ve had buyer’s remorse when I bought luggage on my own. I’d select a bag because of a few features and the very next week see a different bag that I want more. I buy better luggage that matches my style when I enlist the help of a luggage pro.

If you’d like to experience a part of the city that isn’t on the Top 10 list of places to go, to experience the heartbeat of the city or town, learn from the locals.

How do you learn from the locals when you don’t live there? Here are a few ideas:

Before Your Trip

Most cities and towns have a visitor’s bureau. Go online and request their information several weeks before you travel. After selecting a few of the hotspots, look for neighborhoods, restaurants, venues and other goings-on that seem interesting. Fall festivals are coming up in many locales and these can really be fun!

Twitter: Search and follow people who live in the city you’ll be visiting and ask them for recommendations of great non-touristy spots that they like to go to. If you can’t find a few people to ask, then post a tweet and ask others to post your message to their followers. For example:

“Looking for unique, fun & interesting places to go in #Orlando that aren’t in a guidebook’s Top 10 list. Please RT”.

The hash tag (#) in front of Orlando tags this word for others who may be looking for anything Orlando-related. The Please RT asks your followers to re-tweet your message to their followers. I’m always amazed at how many great answers I get and new friends I meet in Twitterville. And if you haven’t yet jumped aboard the Twitter train, this is one very good reason to do so. The world has become a very small place indeed with the easy access to so many people around the planet.

When You Arrive

Start with your flight. Ask your flight attendant if he or she is based in the city where you’re heading and if so, ask them for ideas from their local perspective.

Hotel desk personnel and concierges, along with cab drivers, are also good sources of info. I don’t ask the typical tourist question of “What should I see or what should I do?” but rather ask “What do you and your family or friends do when exploring your city outside of the top tourist attractions?” The answers will be very different just by asking the question a different way.

Head to the Visitor’s Center office once you arrive in town. Not only are the staff in these centers very knowledgeable about where to go, but they know the best days and times, off-the-beaten-track things to do, and insider secrets on great inexpensive restaurants, traffic issues to avoid, free days at local museums, and more.

Local newspaper’s travel section (you can usually find this online) or a city’s local magazine. Our Orlando magazine is chock-full of amazing restaurants and has a long list of upcoming events. I like their “Best of … ” lists because it’s locals who submit and vote on the venues. I could spend a month on vacation just in my own city of Orlando and never get near Disney World as there are so many other things to do. Pick up either of these at a newsstand or bookstore. Email me if you’re ever coming to Orlando and I’ll share some of our city’s great offerings with you!

Websites

There are tons of websites where you can get local opinions and input, even photos, of things to do, where to stay and places to eat. Some popular sites are Tripadvisor.com, cruisecritic.com (this site is great to find out what to do while in port), citysearch.com and virtualtourist.com. There are so many more, but these will get you started. Add in iPhone apps, and there are a ton more ways to find local happenings.

While I love guide books and order travel books from AAA before a big trip, I also love learning from the locals on ways to really experience the best that a city or town can offer. These off-the-top-10-tourist-track places are where I experience the most special feelings about the place I’m visiting and some of my best memories.

Smart Women Travelers on Makeup Travel Bags

Smart Women Travelers on Travel Shoe Bags

We’ve made some updates to the Smart Women Travelers Media Page, including Carol’s appearance on Better.tv. Make sure to watch the videos on Keeping Romance Alive on the Road and Packing Right!

So to help me make my decision, I thought I’d pretend that you’re asking me questions and I’m giving you the answers. It makes the writing so more interesting than just talking to myself.

Q: So why in these days on online booking of everything should I use the services of a travel consultant?

A: Online booking of travel may be the best way to go if you have a simple flight to book, have no long list of special needs, and know what you’re doing. I like to go to Travelocity or Expedia and search out my options and prices, but then I book my ticket on the airline’s direct site. I just trust that if I have any issue with my ticket that their airline will be more helpful to me.

I’ve only ever booked a ticket on one of these online sites when I needed a flight that had one airline on the outbound and another airline on the return.

Because I routinely fly to the same city, I just jump on that airline’s site and can have a ticket booked within seconds.

But when my husband and I are both flying and we’re originating in different, then a travel consultant makes much more sense. I spend an excessive amount of time searching multiple airline sites trying to get us to arrive and depart at somewhat the same time.

If you have special needs (allergic to peanuts, pets, people, etc.), then a travel consultant can help ensure that your seats and/or flights are suitable for you. If you’re traveling internationally and are concerned with connecting flights, tight connections, passport or health requirements, go to the expert on your team.

Q: What can a travel consultant really do that I can’t do myself?

A: Besides what I just mentioned above, they can also:

Scout out lower prices than you may be able to find.

Help you with recommendations and prices on cruise bookings and most other forms of travel packages (guided tours, all-inclusive resorts, safaris, etc.) based on YOUR needs and desires.

Keep you in the know about luggage fees, luggage limits, TSA, travel rules in other countries, best times to travel based on weather and more.

Help resolve travel issues (cancelled flights, oversold hotels) and complex travel itineraries.

All with personal service and expert knowledge.

Q: What does a travel consultant charge to use their services?

A: The fee depends on the consultant. While some of the more luxury agencies have higher fees, the average fee is quite marginal. Some travel consultants will even drop the fee or offer a discount once you have finalized your trip with them. Plus, you can always ask an consultant upfront what their fees are and decide for yourself if it’s worth it. Your time is valuable also … so consider the value of the hours that you’re searching for your own travel and the fee for the travel consultant then looks very reasonable.

Q: So what are the requirements for a travel consultant to become part of your ‘team of experts’?

A: Just a few minor requirements to fulfill:

• They recognize who I am when I call and say “Hi, it’s Carol.” I do not want an agency where I speak to someone different each time I call.
• They know my preferences and my type of travel. When I say “Bruce and I both want to get to New York City around 6pm on a Thursday,” they’ll know to put me on Continental, him on Delta, and get us both aisle seats (exit row for me, any row with a power outlet for him).
• They know our 1,000 places to see before we die, know where we’ve already been, and call us when they see a great deal to a place we’ve yet to go.
• They book our cruises and our hotels and airfare. No more cruise-only people that leave the rest up to us.
• They provide recommendations for places to see, things to do, restaurants, etc. because they’ve already been there!
• If they’re not an expert in a certain area, such as finding us a house to rent in Santorini, they’ll find someone who is.
• They offer reasonable fees and throw in a freebie now and then because we use them so much (is that too much to ask??).

Q: So are you still going to book all of your own travel?

A: Heck no! I’ll take resumes starting today from any travel consultant who can meet my requirements! — I’m interviewing!

- Google Earth

Research places to see before you go. Google Earth doesn’t just show you where the museum is, but also displays pictures, videos, websites, reviews and phone numbers all relating to your place of interest.

See the sights in 3D. One of the great advantages of Google Earth is that they allow others to render buildings and terrain in 3D. See the Grand Canyon, the White House, or all of New York City rendered in 3D and get a glimpse of the scenery before you arrive.

See public transportation stops. If you’re visiting a city and plan on using the public transportation to get around, this feature is priceless. See all of the stops near your hotel or see what lines stop near that monument.

Browse pictures. The rise of photos tagged with the location they were taken at has allowed you to see almost an endless amount of pictures taken all around the world. Above, all of those blue squares are different photos taken in a few blocks of Mexico city. Below that, a closer look at a Tokyo fish market.

- Google Maps

If you have Google Maps on your phone, a good idea is to take a screenshot of your hotel location. This came in handy when my son went to Spain alone. If he got lost and could not find a wi-fi spot, he always had a picture of a map to show him exactly where his hostel was. Like above, try to get major cross streets, public transportation spots, and major landmarks all in one shot and you will always find your way back.

Don’t forget that Google Maps has walking and bicycle directions, as well. They may be safer or faster than your regular driving directions. Just remember that they are in beta and always trust your better judgement if you feel they are unsafe.

Just like Google Earth, Maps can give you more information about particular hot spots. See pictures and get a link to Wikipedia pages of interesting landmarks and attractions.

Just in case you’d like to gunk up your arteries with a Fried Mars Bar, do a Google Maps search on ‘fried mars bar Aberdeen Scotland’ and you’ll find The Carron … the site of my sinning when I visited Stonehaven, Scotland. It’s amazing how Google Street View shows the building so clearly!

Google Earth is a free download, and you can find Google Maps here. Use these tips and get the most out of your travels.