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Promo Code for Air Canada December 24, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Event, Geography, Shopping, Travel, saving money, weather.
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My heart goes out to all of you who are stuck at the airport. Wherever you are, have a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for the holidays. Be safe and keep warm if you’re among the millions who are travelling home for the holidays. 

Before I sign off for Christmas, I like to share with you, a promo code for Air Canada. It’s only good until boxing day, December 26th that is. You know that our American friends don’t know what Boxing Day is?! It’s true. Chock up another one as 5-pin bowling is an alien sport in the US as well. The promo code is GF6V9EW1. Enter this on their website for an extra 15% off. You can travel up until May 2009 so you have plenty of time to use it but you have to book it before the 26th of December.

Also, follow this link and get $1 off your next $20 purchase at Rexall.

Until next time, take care and have yourself a very Merry Christmas!

Get Stiffed Free December 4, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Geography, Shopping, Travel, coupons, gadgets, golf, money, weather.
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It’s cold out there today! How cold is it? I went out to scrape the frost off my windshields and noticed that it was -22 degrees. I read yesterday on Yahoo! that the weather forecasters in the country think that’s the coldest Canada will get this winter. I doubt that very much, considering this is the coldest day yet and a long winter is ahead of us.

I would think that everybody is thinking of the same thing, get away this winter to Jamaica, Barbados, Cayman Islands or Phoenix. For those of you who are thinking of packing your golf clubs and going away to a place where they just overseeded the fairways, let me suggest that you take advantage of a free stiff arm when you buy a travel bag from Golf Town. A stiff arm is a gadget that resembles a ball retriever with a telescoping arm. It is used to prevent vertical impact to your golf bag or in plain english, prevent the top of your bag from bending and breaking your shafts.

There are soft and hard travel bags to choose from. If you check it out at Golf Town, you will see a dizzy array of bags. If you choose a soft bag then a stiff arm is highly recommended. Soft bags have the advantage of being lightweight and giving travellers the extra storage space to put dirty laundry or golf shoes in. Hard bags tend to give less room for extras but provide the greatest protection. Choose accordingly then enter the coupon: 08LB01 online to get your free stiff arm (valued at $34.95).

Save 50% off the Beach November 26, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Geography, Travel, beach, saving money, weather.
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Until midnight, book with WestJet and save up to 50% off to locations including Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Nassau, Florida, Jamaica and more. And enter the promo code: BEACH to save an additional 15% off tickets to Montego Bay or Nassau, Bahamas. Some great fares include Calgary to Maui for only $259 one-way, Vancouver to Las Vegas for $124 one-way, Toronto to Orlando for $129 one-way. 

My friend in Montreal is itching to get away for Christmas, however she doesn’t know whether she can get a week off. If she has the Dec 15th week off, she can take advantage of the four day deal for $225 that includes airfare, accomodations and taxes. That’s cheaper than a roundtrip flight to Vegas alone. 

My cousin in Vancouver has to work through Christmas because she is in retail so she is taking the $99 return flight to Las Vegas for only $99. She flies on January 1st and has to return on January 8th, 2009.

Last but definitely least, here’s a flight for you, Afsaneh who lives in Toronto. For only $22, you can fly via Air Transat to Orlando, Florida to visit Mickey and his friends on December 7th. This incredible deal is for one-way only but you can be in balmy Orlando and escape the snow.

Around the World… November 25, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Activities, Geography, Sightseeing, Travel.
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My friends just got back from visiting London, Paris and Greece. I want to see their photos but as private travellers, they don’t want to post their pictures on MySpace or Facebook. I can understand their concerns but at the same time, I want to see what they saw in their travels.

One of the most impressive websites around is the Arounder. Here for instance is the one for Athens and surrounding area. If you take a look for yourself, you can rotate your view 360 degrees around as though you were there. Click on any of the green balloon markers and an image will appear. Once pinned, you can move your mouse pointer to the image and it will start to rotate. Or start at the map and navigate your way around Europe. When you locate the city of choice, see if there are any landmarks to where they have arounder images associated to it.

New on their site is Verona. I remembered visiting Verona when we toured Italy. Verona was where Juliet’s balcony is located. There is a statue of Juliet in the courtyard and a line of tourists waiting to rub her breast for good luck. Other landmarks to check out is the Arena di Verona, a better preserved Roman fight stage than the Colloseum in Rome.

Another destination to visit is Barcelona where you can apply the Arounder at the Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell or Anella Olimpica. It’s the next best thing to being there.

Free Traffic Service GPS November 18, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Accessories, Car, Electronics, Free stuff, Geography, Shopping, Travel, freebies, money, saving money.
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Don’t you just hate it when the exit ramp you need to take is on the left side of the freeway? And to make matters worst, you are trying to get there fast and during rush hour? I used to get fustrated on LA freeways when driving on I5, 55, 57, 91, 134, 210, the notorious 405 and the US101. Freeway signs don’t help neither. Some of these signs are positioned too far from the place where you need to turn into or some are positioned right at the ramp entrance. I have turned too soon and end up driving through a residential area, just to see the freeway running parallel to the road you are on. Or I would have caused a scene, rolling my SUV over just to turn right angles onto the ramp.

It took me a good couple of months to navigate through the Los Angeles area. To make things easy for myself (the out-of-town driver), I started memorizing the lanes on each freeway so that when I needed to exit, I knew exactly which side the ramp was on.

Navigon 5100 GPS Navigator w/ FREE Real-Time Traffic (10000130)Thanks to technology, this feature is known as the Lane Assist on the Navigon 5100 GPS which is the one I would buy if I was in the market for a GPS. As you are driving down the freeway, the Navigon 5100 will display the green signs above the lanes on the display, showing you which lanes lead to where. The left lane exits towards Barstow, Las Vegas and the right lane exits towards San Diego, Indio. Once the signs appear on the GPS, you can start planning to merge left or right, depending on your destination.

Another great feature that the Navigon 5100 has is the real-time traffic service which zeroes in on traffic incidents, accidents and tie-ups. If traffic is going to be a bother for your trip destination, the Navigon 5100 will recalculate an alternate route for you. That way, you don’t enter a void where you can be stuck in traffic for hours. Most of the newer GPS’ have this feature but on a subscription basis only. That means, to enable it, you would have to pay a monthly charge. Not this GPS, the Navigon 5100 has a subscription-free traffic service that works right out of the box. (It is industry’s only GPS with free service)

For a limited time only, you can get a recertified Navigon 5100 GPS for as low as $109. (Check out our links to the right but you will have to hurry – 62 hours, 34 minutes and counting).

Luggage Clubs November 7, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Biking, Business, Celebrities, Geography, Lifestyle, Sports, Travel, camping, coupons, money.
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Most of the time I blog about deals, specials and the BBD. That’s why alot of you keep visiting me because of the BBD. But today, I am going to blog about something that is definitely not the BBD because I think uPay2much for this service if you use it.

Have you heard of the Luggage Club? It is for travellers who don’t want to fuss with lugging their sports equipment all over the world. You pay a fee to transport your golf clubs, surfboard, kayak, skis, boots, racquets, duffle bag, etc. to a destination of your choice. It’s a door to door delivery, I think.

I was curious to check out the prices to transport two golf bags to Orlando, Florida from Seattle, Washington and back. The fee is $1,040 for next morning delivery. Next afternoon delivery will save me $33 and if I’m willing to wait 6 days for it, I can get it for $686. The prices to send my clubs to Orlando is almost the price of an air ticket. 

I can see if you’re a sports professional and don’t want the hassle of carrying your gear onboard but if you get paid to play sports then you can afford this service. Or if you planning a kayak trip or a cycling trip then paying to have your equipment delivered may make sense. But sending a duffle bag, stroller or even golf bags is a little ridiculous.

I’ll gladly pay $25 surcharge to US Airways to bring a second bag than to pay a luggage club to deliver my goods. If you’re interested, check out Luggage Club and here’s a coupon for you to save some money: THRIFTY.

Free GPS October 27, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Accessories, Car, Electronics, Free stuff, Geography, Travel, car rental, freebies.
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If you heard of the news about a driver in Warsaw who drove into a neck-deep lake after following instructions from his GPS, let me take back the word ‘foolproof’. Driving with a GPS is not completely foolproof unless you are a fool who ignores warning signs. This man ignored three road signs until his car was submerged in a lake. Even Hertz’s NeverLost system is not foolproof. We followed Hertz’s GPS to Jamba Juice in Palm Springs and never found it because someone moved Jamba Juice from Palm Canyon to Ramon and Sunrise.

Without regular updates, your GPS cannot keep up with construction, new roads, new detours and new lakes. I stumbled upon a Mio site where owners of the Mio GPS can obtain a free map in 2009. To get yours, you must register now and when it is available, they will send it to you by email. If interested, click here.

Some people are using their cellphone as a GPS but let me warn you that it is not safe to use a cellphone while driving. If your cellphone can give you voice directions then fine but if you are relying on a visual cue then forget it. Here’s the software download for a free GPS.

If you’re looking for a free Garmin, Magellan or Nuvi – forget it. Remember, nothing is for free. There are lot of scams out there for a free GPS. Most of them end up getting you to sign up for something that you don’t need.

Sail RT Barcelona for $43 per night October 26, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Event, Fall 2008/2009, Geography, Sightseeing, Travel, cruise, museums.
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Of all the ports in Europe that we sailed to on our Mediterranean cruise last year, we were most impressed when we arrived in Barcelona. The city is pretty hip with historic districts, unfinished masterpieces such as the Sagrada Familia church by Gaudi and the shopping district along Passieg de Gracia.

Sailing this fall is RCCL’s Brilliance of the Seas and at $43 per night, the December sailing will surely sell out. It sails from Barcelona to Malaga then to Funchal, Portugal before visiting Las Palmas and the Canary Islands for 14-nights. After a day at sea, it stops at Casablanca, Lisbon and Cardiz before cruising back to Barcelona. When it sails to Lisbon, the ship stays for two nights, allowing passengers to visit Lisbon at night and enjoy live music, discos, bars and clubs.

Two of the most beautiful squares of the capital, Praça do Rossio and Praça da Figueira, are surrounded by some of the most elegant shops of the city, from Rua Augusta to Praça do Comércio. The best thing to do is to treat yourself to a panoramic view of the city by taking the Santa Justa elevator. It will take you directly to the “Convento do Carmo”, an ancient church of which only the walls remain today. It is a pleasant museum to wonder through.

Learn some Spanish before you go. Exchange for some euros and pack light.

I’m sure the drinks onboard will be Sangria.

Life After 20 days September 25, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Fall 2008/2009, Geography, Lifestyle, Sightseeing, Travel, cruise.
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For those of you who work for Encana, please accept my sincere regret that you cannot leave town for Christmas nor New Years. If you could, imagine getting on Holland America’s 20-day South American Holiday Explorer and Antartica Experience on December 15, 2008. Your ship departs from Santiago, Chile at 5pm and sails to the tip of South America before reaching Antartica. Long before seeing icebergs and whiteness across the horizon, you will visit Darwin Channel and the Chilean Fjords. You will marvel the glaciers, each one of them ranging from Francia, Italia and Romanche, Alemania and Amalia before sailing to Cape Horn and Drake Passage.

After sailing for 7 days, you begin to relax. After 14 days, habits begin to form. What would life be like after sailing 20 days? I think it would be heaven if you were sailing the Mediterranean or the Orient but I heard it can be hell and back, especially when the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. This happens to be around the tip where there is no landmass to level the swells and the wind whips the sea into the worst water passage on earth.

It may sound like a deal at only $1,789 for an inside cabin but if you get seasick fast, I would skip this one. On the other hand if you always wanted to see Patagonia, this may be your chance, even if you work for Encana.

Cruise 13-nights for less than $50 per night September 16, 2008

Posted by yp2m in Geography, Shopping, Sightseeing, Travel, cruise, money, saving money.
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It’s almost time to shop for a cruise. First off the presses is the 13-night South American cruise that departs from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Believe it or not, with the right connections, you can get on for as low as $649. Unfortunately, get ready for an all day ordeal as you fly south to catch your cruise. Our friends took this cruise last year and enjoyed it immensely but they didn’t care for the 14-hour flight that took them from Calgary to Seattle to Washington, D.C. then to Buenos Aires.

If you are going to take a repositioning cruise, you might want to consider a transatlantic cruise that takes you from this side of the world to somewhere in Europe. Leaving April 19, 2009, RCCL will sail from Santo Domingo to Harwich, England. Again with the right connections, you can get onboard for as little as $899.

I’m still in favor for a European cruise. Something in the vicinity of Venice, Italy or Athens, Greece would interest me right now. There a 7-night sail roundtrip leaving from Venice and sailing the Dalmatian Coast. It includes a stop in Dubrovnik where the Cravat were invented, a historical name for a tie. Also it sails past Santorini before landing in Epheseus where the Temple of Artemis stands. If you are interested in this cruise, you can get an interior cabin for as low as $699.

All of these cruises are from RCCL and you can call Enid Hey directly at (800) 859-7225, ext. 30800. Just tell her you read it here.