Category Archives: Travel

Tips to Finding the Best Travel Deals

It is good to book a sale to get the best travel deal. People travel during their honeymoons or just to get away from the drudgery of working life. They need to be refreshed and get a taste of what other countries can offer. From beautiful sights, alluring beaches to monumental and iconic buildings, they make a splendid attraction to bring in the tourist dollars.

For instance when you travel to Thailand, you get to taste spicy tom yum soup, visit temples, ride on elephants’ backs and watch kickboxing. You get the experience the culture and way of living of the local people. After all, the exchange rate to Thai currency, the baht, is very attractive and makes Thailand one of the most affordable places to visit.

Or you can visit China and walk on the Great Wall of China, taste the local fried food and dishes, watch cultural shows, famous acrobats, visit Tiananmen Square and buy silk pajamas and comforters. The Chinese are also famous for their embroidery work and carvings. You can also buy jade bangles, jade pendants and the list goes on when you visit a jade factory. You can also purchase fridge magnets with cultural designs to bring back as souvenirs. The exchange rate to the remimbi is also very good from your local currency. China is a place for you to bargain to get the best deal from your money.

If you have extra money, you can make a visit to the land of freedom, USA, and take photos with one of the wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon. You could also try seafood with big crabs in San Francisco and see the Golden Gate Bridge. Or stay in Las Vegas and experience the colorful neon lights at night that are lighted up in the various hotels like MGM, Riviera, The Sands, Caesar’s Palace, and so much more. Even if you don’t gamble, you can take a peek at the casinos and many jack pot machines. Las Vegas used to be a desert, which was transformed into one of the world’s greatest man-made attractions ever conceived.

So, it is always wise to look for travel deals either in the brochures or on the Internet listed in the websites. Most travel deals can save you marginally a lot of money. You could choose to travel within the country by express bus to a nearby popular tourist destination and stay in moderately cheap hotel. There will certainly be many types of packages for you to choose from. If you are traveling with your spouse and kids in a group, it makes economic sense to choose travel deals that are much cheaper.

Since these packages have been worked out and arranged to save you the most money for popular trips to selected destinations, it is wiser to choose and pay for them. That is why, when people have the extra cash or savings, they normally would love to spend it on traveling places that they have never been before. You can find travel deals from newspapers, brochures, from the Internet or during travel fairs held once in a while.

 

Planning A Trip Outside Canada? A Travel Tip You Simply Can’t Afford To Ignore

Your holidays are booked, your bags are packed and you think you have everything you need–money, passport, tickets, and clothing for every occasion. What more could you possibly require?

For almost 41% of Canadians who do not always travel with it, the answer is emergency medical travel insurance. Whether simply forgotten or deemed unnecessary, the fact is that travel health insurance should be a must-have before you leave the country.

When you are away from home even the most minor injuries or illnesses can become a major expense. So while an accident or illness can happen anywhere at anytime, emergency medical travel insurance helps to protect you from the unexpected costs that can come with a visit to a doctor or hospital outside of your home country.

Consider for example the following estimates: A stay in a US hospital typically costs about $2,500 Canadian per day. Even more shocking is that if your condition is serious and you require intensive care, it is not uncommon that you would end up paying about $10,000 per day.

If you’re not worried about the costs, because you believe your province’s health insurance plan will cover it, make sure you look into your province’s coverage first. You may be surprised to learn that if your province’s health coverage does extend outside of Canada it will likely be limited.

For example, if you are an Ontario resident travelling outside of Canada you will be covered for emergency care from a physician but only for as much as that service would have cost in Ontario. And, if you need to stay in a hospital to receive emergency services you are covered up to $400 per day for intensive, complex care. If it is less intensive, the maximum is $200.

Why risk it, when emergency medical travel insurance is so inexpensive?
There’s a good chance you’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on your trip. For a few extra dollars, you can protect yourself by ensuring you get the attention you need, when you need it while not having to worry about how your emergency treatment will get paid.

The following travel health insurance quotes can be found easily online and show how little emergency medical travel insurance actually costs:

o For travellers aged 16 to 40 years, emergency medical travel insurance is available for as little as $15 for a 2 week trip–or for as little as $26 for an annual travel health insurance policy that covers you for every 2 week trip you take in a year.

o For travellers aged 41 to 55 years, emergency medical travel insurance is available for as little as $15 for a 2 week trip–or for as little as $27 for an annual travel health insurance policy that covers you for every 2 week trip you take in a year.

o For travellers aged 56 to 59 years, emergency medical travel insurance is available for as little as $21 for a 2 week trip–or for as little as $28 for an annual travel health insurance policy that covers you for every 2 week trip you take in a year.

Quotes are for single and annual trip emergency medical insurance for a resident of Ontario travelling overseas or to the US.

Without emergency medical travel insurance, an illness or injury could not only ruin your vacation but would likely have financial consequences for years to come. Why risk it when emergency travel health insurance costs so little and can save you so much? Not to mention the peace of mind it will give you knowing you’re covered.

Don’t leave home without travel health insurance. Compare emergency medical travel insurance quotes online today and get the coverage you need for your travels. It is a travel tip that could save you thousands of dollars.

How to Manage a Business Travel Tender

Stage1

First, undertake an analysis of your current business travel purchasing. Expect to make savings of between 5%-10%. Additionally, look at ways of making improvements to processes and procedures. A travel tender review is a great opportunity to instigate change.

Your recommendations should be written into a “Business Case” for undertaking a travel tender.

Stage 2

Prepare a supplier prequalification document containing the recommendations made in stage 1. This will save you time as it eliminates the business travel suppliers who are not suited to servicing your travel tender requirements.

Most travel suppliers will extol their capabilities whilst ignoring the risks to the business travel buyer. The prequalification stage helps to mitigate your risk.

Stage 3, involves the design of the main business travel tender document. It must cover financial and service aspects. Most business travel suppliers or travel management companies (TMC’s) offer similar services.

You want only the best fit for your own company requirements. This could be a global travel management company or a smaller niche operator. There is not a one size fits all approach and only by asking insightful and revealing questions will you confidently source a supplier best suited for your needs.

Stage 4

The evaluation of a travel tender requires in-depth analysis and we recommend you use a weighting system. The weighting helps to remove any subjectivity and represents the value and importance to your own company needs.

The evaluation is supported with a final report highlighting the key differentiators from travel suppliers. The entire process is transparent and can be verified for auditing purposes.

Stage 5, focuses on the negotiation of contract terms and conditions, designing a service level agreement containing key performance indicators, and helping with final implementation.

In Summary

The above is a simplified version of a business travel tender project plan. It can be undertaken in a few short months. Using this structure will ensure that travel tender projects are delivered on time and within budget.

If you’re thinking about tendering your travel account, we can help you by either undertaking the entire project for you or coaching you through the process.

If you would like to discuss how the process works in greater detail then why not get in contact with us. You’ll find our contact details at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, if you’re only thinking about a business travel tender and it’s still some way off, why not subscribe to receive our free report “Planning a Successful Business Travel Agreement”.