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Tags: Volunteer Travel / Airport News / Travel Help / Tips / → All Tags
Volunteer At Your Local Airport For An Altruistic Staycation
It's great to be able to take a volunteer vacation, see somewhere new and feel like you're doing good, but not everyone who wants to take such a trip can actually afford it. For those of you who are on more of a staycation budget, there is a way to combine altruism with your love of travel without having to leave town.
It's called Travelers Aid International, and they're located in airport terminals across the country, providing travel information, crisis intervention and general help for vulnerable or at-risk travelers. Their information booths are also located in several train and bus stations. With airports and other stations combined, they served more than 6 million people last year alone.
Tags: Recession Restaurants / Restaurants / Food Travel / Tips / → All Tags
Where To Avoid Check Trickery In NYC
Now that fewer people are eating out, some New York City restaurants seem to be adopting the fee-happy policies of your least favorite airlines. The New York Post reports that a few upscale joints have been sneaking formerly included items like bread and butter onto the bill to squeeze their remaining patrons of a few more dollars, like a 10 percent delivery charge at Nobu in Tribeca and a $2.50 supplement for cocktails made with ice at Morton's steakhouse.
Tags: Los-Angeles-Parking-Guide / Parking / Jaunted Parking Guides / Los Angeles / Tips / → All Tags
Money for the Parking Meter in West Hollywood Goes High Tech
A while back Hertz banned us from renting their cars because of excessive parking tickets, no joke. We are fighting back by trying to help give visitors a clear view of the entire parking scene in a particular locale. We have put together our guide to parking in LA, and an accompanying map. On the map, we have plotted six LA public parking spots where we have had the most luck. Send along LA parking tips, tricks, and advice and comment here so other folks don't rack up steep parking fines, or worse yet, get towed.
The tips are still rolling in after we released our Los Angeles parking guide into the wilds of the internet earlier this week. While we didn't cover West Hollywood on our map, a tipster lets us know that should you venture here, the city offers visitors and residents a debit (prepay) parking system, called Cash Key that is designed for use in parking meters. From the city's website:
Cash Keys are pre-programmed between $10.00 - $100.00 in increments of $10.00. When you fully insert the Cash Key, it displays the value remaining on the key. Since the meter cannot display decimal points, the screen indicates the current dollar amount rounded down to the nearest dollar. The meter then deducts $.25 from the programmed amount and adds that amount of time on the meter. To register an additional time on the meter, just re-insert the Cash Key.
The only catch is that when you purchase a cash key you are charged a $10 deposit fee in addition to the amount you put on your card. Of course, you get that fee back when you are finished with your card. So if you plan on driving around WeHo for a few days or months, this should save you from having to dig up quarters out of the seat of your rental car.
But if you're in West Hollywood for a quick stay, then consider this parking garage on Santa Monica and West Flores. The price is about $12 for 24 hours, meaning you can park your car overnight for a reasonable fee. It certainly beats the $30+ valet fee at area hotels and of course, that $35 parking ticket from the City of West Hollywood.
[Photo: Rock Insider]
Related Stories:
· Jaunted Parking Guide: Where To Park In Los Angeles [Jaunted]
· Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills [HotelChatter]
Tags: Airports / Airport Rides / Tips / Getting Around / → All Tags
How to Hitch a Ride Through the Airport
We've told you about hitching a ride to the airport, but today we are teaching you how to hitch a ride through the airport.
Now, we've had the misfortune of having a layover in Houston's gigantic airport several times and each time, our connecting flight was in a terminal that was at least a mile away, walking. Or it felt like it was and it took us about 15 minutes to walk it.
On the third time we had such layover in Houston, we decided to hitch a ride on one of those airport trams that go zooming by. Yet when we asked the driver for a ride, he looked at us and fiercely shook his head. This happened to us--no joke--twice.
Recently, we had another layover there and right in front of us the tram stopped to let on some old people and a man with crutches. So we quickly hopped on the back and caught a ride to our terminal.
This video we shot here was actually taken at Newark International Airport and again, we hitched a ride when some grandparent-types stopped the tram.
So if you want to hitch a ride, find some old people or people on crutches and in wheelchairs and you should be able to swing it. Also, the drivers expect some sort of tip after the ride is over, so make sure you have some ones handy.
Insider Tip: Despite what our passenger on the video says about "gliding on air", make sure you hold on tight as these drivers go pretty fast. We almost fell off the back twice.
Tags: Tips / → All Tags
A Night at the Palms
There's been a wealth of articles on tipping in the past few months. How much, who, when, in what countries, you name it; there's always a situation where a few bucks grease the wheels. NY Times business travel columnist Joe Sharkey reveals a new person to tip: the hotel maid.
You don't actually get to see them receive the cash--just leave an envelope with a note on the pillow--but it is fast becoming the standard for business travelers, who are apparently at the forefront of tipping. In part, this is due to the new complexity of hotel beds--with duvets and sheets and all-around fanciness, the maid's job has increased in difficulty.
Joe doesn't mention what to tip a sexy French Maid, though. C'mon, Joe, that's crucial information!
Related Stories:
· What About the Maid? [NY Times]
· Tipping Points [T + L]
Tags: Tips / Holiday / → All Tags
Holiday Hell Survival Tips
Just back from Thanksgiving and already dreading Christmas at the homestead? Don't worry, you've got some time. But first peruse some handy holiday hell survival tips from Daily Candy. They include the obvious like don't check bags and bring your iPod fully loaded. But there are also some fun, not-so-obvious ones that will have you painted out to be the golden child in no time at all:
Tell everyone you'll be arriving an hour later than expected. That way, no one will call to ask "Are you here yet?" but all will be very impressed by the good time you made.
and have answers prepared ahead of time...
Rehearse your answers for the dreaded "You look tired," "Are you dating anyone?," and "How's the job hunt going?" ("I'm doing a detox thing," "Not since the stalker stopped calling," and "The Hooter's management position looks like a sure thing.")
Keeping a sense of humor is always a good idea.
Related Stories:
· Travel: Greetings from Holiday Hell [Daily Candy]
Tags: Tips / → All Tags
NYT Times' Guide to Europe
Thanks to Gadling for pointing us to what the New York Times calls, slightly grandly, its "Correspondents' Guide to Europe." It's well worth clicking through, if only to find out what Times folks consider over-rated and worth seeking out in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, and Rome. The page itself it in always-frustrating Flash, but at least the picks can also be saved or printed out as PDFs.
