Gettin’ Carried Away

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a little traveling hiatus since my trip to Pittsburgh in August. FEAR NOT! I will be making my yearly trip to NYC next month. Anyway, when I don’t have the time (or the money) to travel, I’m naturally envious of those who are planning trips. So when a friend of mine says, “I’m dreading my upcoming weekend in Disney,” I’m thinking… are you nuts?

~* Over nine hours to Germany? Let me gear up! *~

What is it about traveling that people don’t like? I find that most people are annoyed with the travel process rather than the trip itself. I’m sure we all wish we could be like Samantha from Bewitched, twitch our noses and be whisked away to a far off place in a matter of seconds. However, we must endure long lines at the airport, frequent stops on a road trip or some 50+ steps up and down subway platforms to get to our vacation destination. But seriously… what’s so bad about that?

Let’s take flying, for example. Usually, even if you factor in the packing, the transportation to the airport, the check-in/security lines and the wait for the departure, you’re going to get to most places a lot faster by plane. If you decide to take a road trip, your vacation should be about the drive and the places you see along the way. Finally, if you arrive in a city and decide to take public transportation to your hotel, keep in mind that you might be saving tons of money on cab fare.

Heck, I’ve been through a lot of crappy times for the sake of a trip. In Italy, we made the mistake of not buying return tickets to Rome when we took a day trip to Florence, so we ended up on a five-hour local train instead of the hour (and some change) express. In London, my 110-minute Tube ride from Heathrow Airport to Canary Wharf cost under £5, when a cab ride could have been about £70-80!

~* THRILLED about our five-hour journey back to Rome! *~

I think that a lot of our struggles with traveling have to do with the fact that most of us live in a fast-paced world that is in a constant state of rush hour. We’re all in a hurry, even if we left the house a full hour-and-a-half before we have to be somewhere. And because we’re in a hurry, we then become impatient. We want it, and we want it now!

Instead of complaining about all the time you spend standing in lines or sitting in a waiting area, you could be doing a lot of other things with your time. Those are the key words here… your time. It is your personal time that you choose to spend any way you want. Listen to your favorite album, read a new book, buy a Sudoku puzzle book, catch up on emails, call an old friend, etc. And yes, I know that traveling can be exhausting at times. But I’m going to leave you with this thought… Out of the 300+ billion residents in America, only about four million will visit the UK in a given year (says Forbes Traveler).

Stats vary around the world, but the point is that only a fraction of the country will see a given historic landmark, unfamiliar country town, famous river, well-known piece of art, etc. You could be one of the few people in your town who has walked atop the Great Wall of China, taken a ride up the Mississippi River in Louisiana or strolled about the Irish countryside. When it comes to that, waiting in a security line for an extra 25 minutes really doesn’t bother me.

If you really want a true Rocky Mountain experience, then you probably shouldn’t spend all your time in Denver, Colorado. You deserve a better taste of the Rockies than a simple swig of an ice cold Coors Light. And that is why my good friend Lindsey took me up to the charming mountain town of Evergreen, which is only 40 minutes to an hour away from Denver’s city center.

The drive from Denver to Evergreen itself is well worth the trip. In other words, keep your camera handy. The somewhat tree-lined highway (I-70 West) passes by open fields where mass loads of buffalo graze like no one is watching. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself pulled over along with other carloads of people, taking post card-like pictures. And even as you continue into the mountains, you’ll be winding your way around gigantic mounds dotted with Evergreen trees.

Because I was only visiting for two days, we headed straight for the most popular spot, the “downtown” area along Main Street (aka Highway 74). Imagine walking into a log cabin. Now picture 20+ log cabins, all connected by covered porches. Essentially, that is what you will find along Highway 47 in the form of jewelers, art galleries, clothing stores, restaurants and cafes, all connected by a rustic, wooden boardwalk. Some of my favorite shops like Unique Boutique–providing quality goods made by local artisans–and The Green Merchant–offering eco-friendly gifts–have yet to develop an online presence. You are sure to find something special that people will only be able to obtain if they make the trip up to the mountains.

Of course, there’s more to Evergreen than shopping and dining. If you want to learn more about the town’s beginnings, take a free tour at the historical Hiwan Homestead Museum. Evergreen Lake offers boating in the summer and ice skating in the winter, in addition to fishing all. year. long. Numerous trails are spread all over the town for leisurely walks (around the lake) or rigorous hiking (in the mountains).

Yesterday, I started my day as I always do, checking my email, Facebook, Twitter and Bloglines accounts. Every porthole was blowing up with news of the seemingly fantastic $599 All-You-Can-Jet pass being offered by JetBlue. Essentially, you purchase this pass, and you’ll receive unlimited travel rights anywhere JetBlue flies in the U.S. from September 8 to October 8. There are terms and conditions, of course, and one of them is that you must sign up to be part of their TrueBlue Rewards Program

The idea behind frequent flyer programs (FFPs) is simple: reward customers for using an airline and promote future customer loyalty. However, it’s actually quite complicated once you read the fine print. Although you do receive benefits as a frequent flyer, every airline has some restrictions, including blackout dates, limited seating availability and possible assessment fees/taxes. Many airlines even state that a reward may not be available at any given time. Especially during these tough times, airlines are not going to give away something for nothing.

Here is how airlines benefit from FFPs:

You may not be using your miles to their full potential.

The actual monetary value is typically $.02 [two cents] per frequent flyer mile, according to the reported airline industry average. So, if you want to redeem the generally required 25,000 miles for a free ticket, the number of miles multiplied by $.02 [two cents] per mile is $500. So before you get all excited about getting a free flight, if you want to fly somewhere for only $300, you might just want to save your miles and purchase the lower cost ticket.

You may end up paying some fees.

When airlines corroborate with hotels and car rental companies, they are essentially selling them the miles that you earn. Say you want to earn AAdvantage miles for American Airlines by staying at the Hyatt. The hotel first needs to purchase the miles from the airline (paying an additional 7.5% tax) before giving them to you. This means that part of the cost, usually the tax, is passed onto you in the form of miscellaneous fees.

A fee may be also charged for mileage redemption. For example, some airlines release seats for frequent flyers closer to the travel date, especially on flights that they don’t think will sell out to regular paying customers. However, you then might be slapped with a late booking fee.

You can actually buy miles.

Delta Airlines sells Gift Miles. They are sold in increments of 2,000 miles at $0.028 per mile, plus a 7.5% tax, costing less than $65. A given rewards member is allowed to receive 60,000 Gift Miles per calendar year. I guess if you’re a few thousand miles shy of earning a free flight, this could be a good birthday gift. You can also just buy the miles yourself. However, it’s really just a marketing tool that earns the airline money.

They capitalize on people belonging to more than one FFP.

People sometimes become member of several FFPs for the sign-up benefits. However, what they don’t realize is that miles do expire. Let’s say you signed up for the FFPs for Southwest, Delta and American. You’ve been flying mostly on Southwest and Delta after awhile, neglecting American. If you don’t fly American at least once in an 18-month period, your miles will expire, and you will need to pay a fee to get them back. You automatically have to pay a $30 fee, plus $50 for every 5,000 miles.

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So are Frequent Flyers Programs really worth it? I think it depends on the airline. I personally think the TrueBlue program offered by JetBlue is a joke. When you sign up for their TrueBlue Rewards Program, which is required to buy the $599 All-You-Can-Jet pass, you will automatically receive 35 points free. However, the points you rack up while you enjoy unlimited travel during that month don’t count towards the program. The program operates on a point system, not a mile tracker:

• You can earn two, four or six points per trip, with two points being a short flight (i.e. JFK to Buffalo), four points being a medium flight (i.e. JFK to New Orleans) and six points being a long flight (i.e. JFK to Oakland).
• You need to earn 100 points for a free flight.
• You only have 12 months to earn the free flight, or the points you acquire will expire. JetBlue does not give any indication that you can get these points back either.

So if you don’t fly a good amount of short, medium and long trips using JetBlue, chances are you’re not going to see the benefits of the rewards program. Have any of you joined a Frequent Flyers Program? What do you recommend?