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INsider Advantage Expert Travel Advice
By Margo McClain

Whether you are going in groups or traveling in pairs, I have a few travel related tips that I can share with you from my own personal experience in booking travel. Your first goal is to get together with your group or travel companion, and come to an agreement regarding your destination. Believe me, nothing can put a damper on a vacation more than people who are not in agreement with where they want to go or the activities they want to participate in when they get there!

So I suggest that you have a group meeting (in the case of couples have a one-on-one) with a pen and paper in-hand and ready to talk about the best possible vacation you can take for all concerned. Friends and couples should map out something about 6 months or more for a vacation. And I cannot stress enough – please try to agree upon a price range that is within everyone’s budget. How many vacations or excursions for that matter, have gone bad because someone had to be left out or didn’t have enough money to cover the cost of the vacation. Whenever I have a group I have to have all information up front but I am also open to listen and make suggestions for my clientele. Let’s say depending upon the group that you have and there are six of you and most are basically bookworms who do a huge amount of studying at all times but their parents (or in some cases the students) will spare no expense for a nice trip. I say take a combo vacation such as a China or Morocco tour (they have great tourist sites but are also rich in culture with historical value).

On the other hand, if you have the same amount of people who hit the books hard but most of them are hard party people with the same budget as the bookworm crowd, you may want to consider places like Cancun or San Cabo or even other island paradises like Jamaica or the Caribbean… all of these place offer some great sun and exquisite villas that you can have all to yourself on an all inclusive resort. Also if you want to stay in the good old USA if you or your group decides that an exotic location is not in someone’s price range. Examples of these would be take the group for a good taste of the night life in Vegas (my favorite of all) or hoop it up in New Orleans (have you been since the Katrina renovations?) which seems like Disneyland compared to Las Vegas! Some really awesome deals are available now for combos on air-fare/hotel/car rentals. Just do it!

Now for a bit of the older crowd (23-25+) may choose a more mellow vacation where they get to party and be pampered at the same time. They will also choose an all inclusive resort with surrounding night life like clubs and casinos, etc. Costa Rica, Puerto Rico & Aruba would be the names of such places to consider with their excellent scenery, beautiful ocean and excellent spa services. I help all of my clients with all of these decisions so that it comes up to be the perfect vacation for all involved.   Just as an FYI… here are a few travel tips that I know of personally as a travel professional and you can find out when you do any amount of research and you and your travel companions can check these things out:

•    Day pass to an airline lounge:
While entrance is typically limited to first- and business-class travelers, anyone can purchase a day pass to a lounge which lets you sit back and relax like a VIP before your next flight. The newly remodeled 32,000-square-foot, 504-seat American Airlines Admirals Club inside Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, for example, offers a range of amenities including a walk-up cyber café, free Wi-Fi, spa-like shower facilities, and complimentary coffee, tea, soft drinks, juices and light snacks—all for just $50. (Get there a more than a couple hours ahead).

•    Helicopter transfer:
Those visiting The Big Apple can arrive in style with the help of companies such as Flyush.com, which offers helicopter rides every hour to central Manhattan from JFK and Newark airports. Though the cost of the eight-minute service is around $170, consider this a unique opportunity to not only get from the airport in minutes, but also to experience an unforgettable mini-tour of the city. (With a similar helicopter tour running about $135 and a cab from the airport about $50, treating yourself to this luxury is a comparable value.)

And last but not least these last couple of tips:

1.    Search for fares throughout the day, several times a day.
Fares go up and down throughout the day, so if you don't like what you see at 10 a.m., come back later and search again. Seat availability can also change throughout the day, so check often.

2.    First class upgrade:
Some carriers offer last-minute upgrades to the first class cabin for as low as $25 on some flights, so it’s worth finding out if the option is available when checking in. In addition, you may also be able to get yourself to the front of the plane by redeeming frequent flier miles.

Until next time, ciao and have a blowout of a vacation…