Low Cost Airfare - By: Jacky Uy

By: Jacky Uy

1. Comparison shopping is the first tip for finding low cost airfare. Purchasing tickets online, through airfare consolidators, and through travel agents are the most common sources for purchasing tickets. If you have time, shopping through all of three of these is the easiest way to get a lower priced ticket.The time of day, company you are flying with, the destination city, and so many more factors need to be considered in getting low cost airfare. Here are some factors that affect the price on an airline ticket.

2. Purchase tickets in advance. Usually, you can get low cost airfare fourteen days or more before the date of the flight. Typically, you will pay higher prices if you book them within fourteen days and the prices progressively get more expensive the longer you wait to purchase the airline tickets.

3. Another method for finding low cost airfare is by choosing an airline that will fly you close to your destination city by not directly into it. Airlines that fly to smaller cities have no choice but to offer cheaper price. Otherwise, the smaller cities would have no use for airports, which is where a lot of imports and exports take place for local businesses. So, you can take a plane to a smaller city and rent a car to take 30 or 100 miles to your destination. You will still be saving money, as most people rent cars when they reach their destination. You may even get a cheaper rate on the rental car for the same reason. Smaller cities, cheaper prices.

4. Flying during the evening and early morning hours will help acquire low cost airfare. Most late night and early morning flights have a few available seats and offer them at discounted rates for these hours. Not very many like to travel during these hours, so it makes perfect sense.

5. Try not to fly on important dates, such as holidays, and don't fly on the weekends. Holidays and weekends mean money for the airline industry, so they have a tendency to mark up the prices. It is difficult to receive low cost airfare on any holiday or on any weekend day. So, try to go to your destination well before the holiday or well after and try to fly in the middle of the week, Tuesday or Wednesday.

6. Flying to destinations, when the destinations spots are not in demand is another way to find cheap airline tickets. For example, you would probably want to look at tickets to Florida destinations in the middle of summer for Northern states because the tickets to Florida are not in demand. In order to keep the airplanes flying there, the airlines have to offer discounts to the customers.

7. Frequent Flyer miles are a wonderful way to save money on airfare. If you know that you will be traveling by airplane frequently or even once a year, you may want to pay a higher price for the tickets that offer frequent flyer miles. You can purchase the airlines tickets to your destinations until you have acquired enough miles to get a ticket or pair of tickets free. This costs more upfront, but if you add up the costs over time, you will see that overall you receive lower prices by doing this. Low cost airfare is much easier when you travel frequently and frequent flyer miles offer another advantage to travelers.

8. If you allow your flight to have a layover, you will find low cost airfare. Layovers, while mostly inconvenient to the traveler, offer a much cheaper price to that same traveler. Major problems with layovers include loss of baggage, too short of a layover could mean missed plane, and separation from family member that could result in one person or two being left behind. This can also be a problem if you are traveling with small children. You have to make sure you allot extra time to get your family from the arrival gate to the departure gate to make sure you do not miss your flight.All of these tips will help you save money on airline tickets. The main thing to do is to weigh out your options and chose the right tickets and flight for you. The tips above should help guide you if you are looking to make a great trip without paying a lot out. Hotels are expensive enough, take as much as you can from low cost airfare

About The Author:

Jacky Uy writes for http://www.cheapairfareguide.info where you can find out more about cheap airfare guides and other topics.

Article Source: http://articlecity.com

New Pinterest Board!

Started using Pinterest today! My first board is pictures of some of my favorite subjects... cities from the air! Check them out here: https://www.pinterest.com/samsworldwidebl/cities-from-the-air/

Tips for Better Vacation Photos - By: Valerie Goettsch

By: Valerie Goettsch

Photos are a great way to share your travel experiences with family and friends. Here are a few suggestions to help you capture vacation memories you will treasure for years to come.

PLAN AHEAD

Make sure your digital camera is in good working order before you go, and keep it in a water- and shock-resistant case. Bring two sets of rechargeable batteries and don't forget the charger and relevant cords. Make sure your camera has enough memory. Packing an extra memory card is wise, as there is nothing worse than running out of room for pictures halfway down the Grand Canyon. It may be tempting to lower the resolution so you can store more pictures, but you will regret this later as it may result in poorer quality prints, or you will be limited to smaller size prints. Set your camera at its highest quality JPEG setting and get more memory if you have to. You will appreciate this when you're viewing and printing your photos after your trip.

TAKE LOTS AND LOTS OF PICTURES.

With a digital camera you can always erase the photos you don't want. Take pictures of anything you find interesting and try to focus on some of the details such as an attractive doorway or a colorful market, not just panoramic scenes or major landmarks. Let your pictures tell a story by creating a visual diary of your trip. Include street scenes, interesting signs, people you see along the way. For variety take both vertical and horizontal pictures.

READY FOR YOUR CLOSE-UP?

When taking people shots, don't make the mistake of standing too far away. You want to be able to recognize the people in your photos. Get close enough so you can see the expressions on your subjects faces. Zoom in on individuals or capture them from the waist up. Pictures are often more interesting when you can catch people at candid, un-posed moments. In posed photos, try to incorporate some of the background into your shot. Try snapping from interesting angles rather than simply head-on.

USE YOUR FLASH

When photographing in bright sunlight, setting your camera's "fill" or "forced" flash is very helpful, particularly when photographing people. Brilliant sunlight often makes people's faces look harsh, casting dark shadows under the eyes and accentuating wrinkles. The daytime fill-in flash will soften the lighting and make the images more flattering. Your family and friends in the photos will thank you!

EDIT AND ENHANCE YOUR FAVORITE SHOTS

When you get home you can edit, crop and enhance your favorites using photo editing software such as Foto Finish, Ulead or Photoshop Elements. Consider adding drama to your images by turning some of your color photos into black and white or sepia tones and then upload all your images to an online photo printing service like Ofoto or Shutterfly for fast and convenient prints. You can take your best snaps and use your photo editing software to create a photo calendar or make photo cards for personal notes, or to email your favorites to family and friends.

Most of all have fun with your camera!

About The Author: Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website
http://www.digitalphotos101.com featuring reviews of photo editing and album software and digital photo printing services.

Article Source: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/travel_and_leisure/article_119.shtml

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

I just want (one thing) for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true oh

All I want for Christmas is... FOOD!!!

Hope y'all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Got My International Driving Permit!

(UPDATE ON 05-14-2019: Some of the information in this post is no longer accurate, so a new post on the topic of applying for and obtaining International Drivings permits has been made.

Please, click here!)

After getting the immunizations mandated for my YWAM DTS yesterday, we went up to AAA's (American Automobile Association) Bay Hill office up in Orlando to get my International Driving Permit (IDP). Originally I was going to mail-in the AAA application (found here) but, I needed 2 matching passport sized photos. So after a couple phone calls, we decided that it was best to just go and apply in person; no waiting period and I could pay with a credit card.

AAA charges $10 for passport photos on-top of the standard $15 fee for the IDP itself. Now if you are a premier AAA member you get this fee waived.

The IDP will good for one year from date of issuance. However, you can ask them to date it to a future date as I did but, not more than 6 months in advance.

To be honest, I am not sure that I will be using my IDP at all but, for such a small fee I wanted to be safe than sorry. I doubt that I would want to drive in NZ as they drive on the left; not sure how I would adapt to that. But, maybe if I visit Europe next year! :P (Check-out my GiveSendGo page: https://www.givesendgo.com/ywamnz)

Though I got my permit through AAA you can also get one through the National Auto Club (NAC). They are the only two private entities in the United States authorized to issue them to holders of US driver's license. So, if you see another entity offering them it is probably a scam. For more up to date information on IDPs, please visit: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/go/safety/driving.html

Note: While I do try to make sure all the information I provide is accurate, I will make no guarantees. Please do your own research. Also, I am NOT affiliate with AAA, NAC or USDOS. The links provided here will take you to other websites, click responsibly.