Cheap Travel to Europe - NOW is The Time to Find it!

If you've always fantasized about traveling to Europe, then start your search right away! You'll find prices are so low that NOW is the time to take that dream trip!

Why are prices so low right now?

They're low because this is generally the time to find deals and discounts because we're heading into the off-season. The reason why you can find more and even better cheap travel to Europe is because of the terrorist threats that happened in the UK on Aug. 10, so you'll find airlines are offering better than usual prices. They want people to keep right on traveling and that is just what people are planning to do!

For the same price as what you might pay for a week in Disney World, why not jump on over to Spain, Italy, France or whatever your dream destination you have in mind for Europe!

Traveling in the fall is a GREAT time to travel to Europe. You're going to find smaller crowds, a multitude of cultural activities, fantastic buys and good weather. Some people will only travel in off-season times because of all these great reasons.

Want to see just what kind of deals you can find for cheap travel to Europe?

Just click on our resources page and have a look at our booking wiz, one quick search under the packages section will bring you the top deals from the best online travel booking engines.

Happy travels!

Business Traveler News - Speed up Customs Border Control and Simplify Your Travel Using Pre-clearance

If you're a US bound traveler, why not speed up the customs and border control process by doing it before boarding your flight? You can do this by using a US pre-clearance facility.

What is a US pre-clearance?

US pre-clearance allows non-stop US bound passengers to go through customs and border protection BEFORE departing for their flight. This means that when you arrive in the US, you'll arrive as a domestic passenger and don't have to wait in line to clear customs.

What are the benefits of using U.S. Pre-clearance?

It can mean easier and more convenient connections and can also open up routes to US airports that don't currently have customs facilities. Here's an added bonus. By having these new routes to choose from, this could mean even cheaper airline tickets for you! Sometimes making a simple switch of which airport you want to travel to can mean a significant price change.

Going through a pre-clearance check is exactly the same as going through one at any US entry point except it's conducted in a foreign country. If you've got ongoing connections or are a business traveler, needing to be somewhere in a hurry - it's really beneficial. It also means that your luggage is going to arrive at your destination city rather than having to pick it up as you normally would in the place of your customs inspection.

So just which airports can you find US pre-clearance facilities?

In Canada, you can find them in:
* Toronto Pearson International Airport
* Vancouver International Airport
* Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
* Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
* Calgary International Airport
* Edmonton International Airport
* Winnipeg International Airport
* Halifax International Airport

In Europe:
* Shannon Airport
* Dublin Airport

In the Caribbean:
* Aruba - Queen Beatrix International Airport
* Bahamas - Grand Bahama International Airport
* Bahamas - Nassau International Airport
* Bermuda - Bermuda International Airport

If you're planning to use a US pre-clearance facility, you'll be happy to know most of them have the same amenities that you would find in your current departures area such as restaurants and gift shops. I would also reccommend double checking the times that the pre-clearance facility is open, just on the rare chance that your flight operates outside the current hours.

Happy Travels!

Luxury Condos That Sail Around the World - Welcome to the Next Generation of Home Ownership! Part 3...

The new wave of real estate development...luxury condos that sail around the world on converted cruise ships. We've already had a look at The World and Freedom ship, so what's next? Most everyone would love to own their own beach front property but nowadays, space is getting limited. There's only so much prime land property left. To compensate for this, companies are popping up all over to jump onto this new wave of development to pick up the slack. Take Condo Cruise Lines for instance.

Condo Cruise Lines scours the globe for older, mid-sized cruise ships that are no longer being operated but still have another 20-30 years of life left. These ships are taken and for every 2-3 cabins, a luxury suite is designed. They are sold to investors and these ships are able to accommodate several hundred people. Now here's the kicker with these condos; they're actually priced to be comparable with a regular beach-front property that you would purchase in the US.

Condos are priced between $349 000 - $529 000 and upwards depending on what kind of a suite you're looking for. Owners will only pay a standard condo fee of $7000- $10 000 a year, now get this because if you're looking for a great ROI, it's going to be pretty hard to beat this one. These ships will be just like any other cruise line; it includes meals and cleaning, it's got shops, boutiques and casinos, etc. You can choose to go live on your condo as much or as little as you want and are free to rent out your suite at any time. In fact, there are even travel agents there to help you do this. These suites are rented out for a cost of $3000 - $6000 and up, per week. That's not too shabby.

Now, in order to purchase one of these, a reservation fee of $10 000 is required, which is refundable with interest, minus a $200 escrow fee; this however, doesn't guarantee you a suite because in order for the company to purchase a ship, it requires 80% of the required suite reservations. Currently, Condo Cruise Lines has 5 prospective ships and have found their niche in this market. In the first 20 weeks, they sold their 80% of reservations and the first ship is ready to start renovations which will be complete and ready to start voyage this coming January.

Now you might be wondering how the ROI could keep giving in the long term, given a ship only has 20-30 years of sailing time. When your condo is ready to retire from sailing, it will be converted to a floating luxury hotel to continue giving a return to it's owners for many more years to come. So considering the fact that you can rent your condo out 52 weeks a year if you choose to, the fact that it pays a significant amount more in rental fees than what a regular beach-front property would, that you don't have extra expenses occured such as gas and electric, it sails around the world and then turns into a hotel; i'd say that's a pretty smart investment!

Condo Cruise Lines is not the only company out there jumping on this bandwagon. This is something that you will see and hear more and more of; companies that will have condos ranging from affordable to the, you need to be extremely rich to even dream about a condo on certain ships! Either way, I think this makes for an extremely interesting turn in real estate development and quite exciting when you think about it! If you're thinking about investing in vacation rental property, you might seriously want to consider something like this...it is sure to be the 'next big thing!'

Happy travels!

Luxury Condos That Sail Around the World - Welcome to the Next Generation of Home Ownership! Part 2...

This new world of condos that sail around the world is truly mind boggling! For instance, check out what is soon to be the newest monster of ships set to start construction in '07. The freedom ship is set to be almost a mile long, 750 ft wide and 25 stories high!! The vision for this ship is not just to be floating condos but an entire city set at sea and an offshore destination in itself.

It will have 18 000 residential suites, 10 000 hotel units; allowing it to accommodate more than 30 000 people! Freedom ship will cirlce the world every 3 years and will spend 70% of its time docked at major cities and allowing day trips on-board for others to be able to experience it. The plans include a school system - set to be the best in the world, the only one whose students are able able to learn about new countries as they visit these countries personally and interact with students from around the world. It will have world-class healthcare, with it's own hospital and facilities. It will include an international trade center, shopping centers, restaurants, banks, casinos, offices, entertainment buildings and even 100 acres of outdoor parkland!

What Freedom Ship - the city at sea, is trying to create is essentially a new kind of lifestyle. It's not a cruise ship, instead it is set to be a unique place to live and work, vacation or retire in. Literally, a community at sea. What is proposed, is truly fantastic and so out of this world, that what you are reading here, can't even compare to your understanding of it after you visit their website. If this has even remotely caught your attention like it has mine, then make sure you visit at:
www.freedomship.com

Unlike The World, you aren't going to need a net worth of 5 million, the size of your bank account isn't an issue. If you've got the money to buy a unit, then you can have it! Prices are set to range anywhere from the $180 000 area all the way up to 44 million. Residences of 300 square feet have price tags of approximately $250 000, while 5000 square feet are the ones that you find priced in the high millions. So far, the majority of inqueries are coming from business people. People who are looking to "sell products in different countries" and looking to embrace the uniqueness of life aboard a floating city.

It is an opportunity unlike anything else that can be found in this world! I'm blown away and I'm sure you're feeling the same, so stay tuned for part 3 tomorrow. I have yet another vision to present to you, though not on the same scale as Freedon Ship; it too is a unique idea!

Happy Travels!

Luxury Condos That Sail Around the World - Welcome to the Next Generation of Home Ownership! Part 1...

Condos at sea, talk about the ideal location! It's the ultimate mobile home, considered to be the 'next frontier' of luxury living and one of the most unique investments that you could ever make.

For a lot of people, this would be the ultimate dream come true! I mean think about it, sailing around the world in your own private luxury condo, visiting the most spectacular destinations on a daily basis! Think this can't possibly be a reality?

Think again!

You may have already heard of The World, aka ResidenSea's World - the world's first condos at sea aboard a 644-foot vessel the length of two football fields. His idea was presented just 5 years ago and today, all 110 apartments are occupied by owners and completely debt free at that! It is the world's largest private yacht. It was originally designed as a floating resort community that would attract the richest of the rich. So much so, that just to be considered as a tenant, you needed to have a net worth of at least $5 million dollars!

Many years ago, condos at sea were considered laughable, today though a much different story is arising. There are many others who are now jumping on-board the new 'wave' of real estate sales.

To me this is such a facinating topic and it is just the beginning. If you're as facinated as what I am, then you'll need to join me for part 2! We'll talk about what's coming next and no, while you won't need to have a net-worth of $5 mil this time around, it certainly won't be a venture for the poor. What is coming though is going to blow your mind and to me, it's like a grand introduction to the seemingly impossible yet, just around the corner future of housing and much more!

Happy travels!

Travel at Expedia - The Ultimate Protection Plan?

When you are traveling, it is always a good idea to have travel insurance. You never know what could arise between the time you book, to the time you go and what happens on the actual trip itself. The problem is that when buying insurance, you need to make sure that you've got a good comprehensive plan that covers anything that could arise; from hurricanes and natural disasters, to lost baggage, trip cancellation and delayed flights. So when I heard about Epedia's comprehensive Package Protection Plan, I thought that I would check it out for you guys.

It is one of the best plans that I have seen and for a really reasonable price. If you do your travel at Expedia, I would highly recommend purchasing their Package Protection Plan. You can actually change or cancel your trip for ANY reason whatsoever. Even if it's because something all of a sudden came up at your work or it's just a personal reason, you could cancel and recieve your full payment back! The Expedia policy will reimburse you for everything except airfare. You can rebook your airfare depending on the airline's policy and Expedia will cover the change fees.

Here's a tip though. Be aware of the fine print! When you're booking your vacation package, look to see whether it contains "merchant air" or "published air." Merchant air can't be reimbursed whereas Published air can. If you're not sure which yours is, you can always call their agents and they'll help you to book a fully refundable flight, although even if you purchase a non-refundable flight, your ticket will be good for up to a year and remember, Expedia will cover the change fees.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic policy, one of the best that I've seen, especially for the price. For the continental US, you are looking at about $49 per person and for international about $69 per person. I think that's a very small price to pay, when you consider the fact you can be totally rest-assured, and never having to wonder if your policy will cover anything that could arise, because it does! So if you're planning to travel at Expedia, I think it's well worth the extra cost for their Package Protection Plan.

Happy travels!