Stephanie Serino's Travel Blog

The Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma is closing in two weeks, effective May 26. The Development company that owns the resort has been in receivership and a new owner could not be found.   There are many lessons to be learned here about traveling in a weak economy: 1. Use a travel agent, preferably one who has a preferred relationship with the hotel company. 2. Don't assume that the hotel brand actually owns the property. Licensing agreements are the norm in the travel industry. 3. Buy travel insurance with financial default coverage (and check the list of suppliers included) 4. Use your credit card for all travel purchases (most cards offer some additional protection for travel purchases but check with your bank for details)   Here's an excerpt from the Press Release: " PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the receiver, has worked diligently to identify a new owner for the development, which includes the Hotel. PWC announced some important developments today regarding the status o...

The Miami Herald posted a travel horror story today with some good tips about airline policies for travelers. Unfortunately, the article missed the most important lesson to be learned from this couple’s bad experience. Here’s the story: http://www.miamiherald.com/986/story/486308.html Travel agents know the dangers of flying with two tickets for one trip. In the trade, we call this “split ticketing,” and it is not the safest way to fly. As the couple in the story learned, the airline’s responsibility to the passenger ends at the ticket’s final destination regardless of the passenger’s actual final destination. Best practice: Buy one ticket all the way through to your final destination. Then the airline is legally required to get you there and re-accommodate you at no charge if necessary. There are several airlines that fly from L.A. to Rome avoiding a change in airline. This couple also could have purchased a ticket on Alitalia from L.A. to Rome that included the American flight to JFK...

Flying from Central New York is always a gamble, but in winter it’s especially so. With very few non-stop flight options and smaller commuter aircrafts more prone to delays, its no wonder flying can feel like a crapshoot sometimes. Here are a few tips to improve your odds when flying in winter. 1. Book the earliest departure of the day. This is always true regardless of the weather because the plane should be ready and waiting to depart from the night before. Subsequent flights must arrive from other cities and turn around for your departure, increasing the possibility of delays. 2. Avoid booking the last flight of the day whenever possible. Unless you don’t mind spending the night at the airport, only book flights with back-up options. 3. Book sufficient layovers. Give yourself an hour or two to change planes so there’s a cushion to accommodate delays due to de-icing aircraft. Avoid 30-minute connections (regarded as ‘legal’ by the airlines) at all costs. 4. Choose your routing caref...