Lisa’s Travels

Back in March of this year, United started charging for baggage, and for the customer, it has been downhill since.  Below I have listed different airlines and their new fees:

AirTran

First Checked Bag:  Free
Second Checked Bag: $10 online, $20 airport
Third Checked Bag: $50

Overweight bags 51-70 lbs: $29
Overweight bags 71-100 lbs: $69

Oversized Bags 62-70 in: $29
Oversized Bags 71-80 in: $69

Carry-on limit: 55 inches

American

First Checked Bag: $15
Second Checked Bag: $25
3-5 Checked Bag: $100 each
Sixth: $200

Overweight bags 51-70 lbs: $50
Overweight bags 71-100 lbs: $100

Oversized Bags 63-115 in: $150

Carry-on limit: 45 inches and 40 lbs

Continental

First Checked Bag: Free
Second Checked Bag: $25
Third Checked Bag: $100

Overweight bags 51-70 lbs: $50

Oversized Bags 63-115 in: $100

Carry-on limit: 51 inches and 40 lbs

Delta

First Checked Bag: Free
Second Checked Bag: $50
Third Checked Bag: $125

International :
First and Second Checked Bags: Free
3-10 Checked Bags: $150 - $600 each

Overweight bags 51-70 lbs: $90
Overweight bags 71-100 lbs: $150

Oversized Bags 62-80 in: $175

Carry-on limit: 45 inches and 40 lbs

JetBlue

First Checked Bag: Free
Second Checked Bag: $10
Third Checked Bag: $75

Overweight bags 51-70 lbs: $50
Overweight bags 71-100 lbs: $100

Oversized Bags 63-80 in: $75

Carry-on limit: 50 inches for Embraer 190 planes, 56 inches for Airbus A320s

Northwest

First Checked Bag: $15
Second Checked Bag: $25
Third Checked Bag: $100

Overweight bags 51-70 lbs: $50

Oversized Bags 63-80 in: $100 (International varies)

Carry-on limit: 45 inches

Southwest

First Checked Bag: Free
Second Checked Bag: Free
Third Checked Bag: $25
4th and additional: $50 to $110 each.

Overweight bags 51-70 lbs: $25
Overweight bags 71-100 lbs: $50

Oversized Bags 63-80 in: $50
Oversized Bags 71-80 in: $69

Carry-on limit: 50 inches

United

First Checked Bag: $15
Second Checked Bag: $25
Third and additional Checked Bag: $125 - $250 each (International varies)

Overweight bags 51-100 lbs: $125

Oversized Bags 63-115 in: $125

Carry-on limit: 45 inches

US Airways

First Checked Bag: $15
Second Checked Bag: $25
Third and Additional Checked Bags: $100 each

Overweight bags 51-70 lbs: $50 - $150
Overweight bags 71-100 lbs: $100 - $200 (based on number of bags)

Oversized Bags 62-80 in: $100
Oversized Bags 71-80 in: $69

Carry-on limit: 51 inches

Now if your head isn’t spinning yet, I will definitely make it now. You can get multiple charges on the same piece of luggage if it is too large, too heavy, or one too many!  This list defenitely makes you rethink how you are going to pack for your next plane trip.

The Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  It is a 700 acre urban wildlife refuge.  The Sanctuary is open to the public year round and is a great place to take your kids.  Not only is it free, it is a ton of fun too!  It was started in 1935 as a waterfowl rehabilitation site.  It continues to receive over 3,000 injured, orphaned, and sick animals each year.  Their goal is to return as many animals back into the wild as possible.

There is a three story building there called Nature Education Center.  There are hands on animal pods, discovery rooms, and even an estuary room.  As you can see from a few of the pictures below, my kids truly enjoyed it!

The adults even got involved:

The Observation/Rehabilitation building has a conservation wing, live prey and waterfowl exhibits, animal nursery viewing, wildlife rehabilitation area, and shelled corn for sale to feed the waterfowl.  My kids love feeding the waterfowl.  At 50 cents a bag, you can’t go wrong!

If you are in the Green Bay Wisconsin area, this is a great place to take your children.  Besides the cost of the corn to feed the waterfowl, it is free.  There are 6.5 miles of trails you can hike besides the two buildings to check out.  You can picnic there too.  It is a great place to check out!

As a user of Twitter, I often see people reaching out and asking one another who they should use for cheap flights, cars, airfare, etc.  I know I am always looking for the best deal out there for my family.  With four of us, it can get quite pricey.  I recently came across a cheap discount holidays site that if you are looking for vacation in the UK and want to save a few bucks, you should check out.  They have several links to sites that will give you quotes on everything you will need for the perfect vacation.  They have some links for places here in the United States like Las Vegas and Orlando too.  I think I even saw a link for Mexican vacations (we almost went to Mexico instead of Arizona this last Feb. but Arizona was cheaper).  They make it super easy for you to compare and for you to get the best deal since you are cutting out the middleman.  The site is super easy navigate and find what you are looking for so check it when researching your next vacation.

Jason’s Deli is available nationwide.  However, this review is being done on the Jason’s Deli in Oak Lawn, IL. (This review is also being posted over at Lisa Cooking.)

I went with my two kids on a Thursday night about 6 pm by myself.  (Needless to say, my hands were full).  I found that staff there the most helpful.  When you walk into the door, there is someone there to greet you and let you know how this all works (since this was my first visit, I was pretty clueless).  She got me a highchair for Will (my one year old), so I didn’t have to hold him while we were standing there trying to figure out what we wanted.  The high chair had wheels, so I was able to roll him around quite easily and get him where we needed to go.  I was able to take a menu, sit down with the kids, decide what we wanted, and get back into line, so we could order (which is what I did).   Ordering was painless.  After you order, they give you a number and your drinks, so you can go sit down.  They then bring your food to you when it is done.  The restaurant is a very open concept.  You can see where they make the food.  Another thing that impressed me was that the apples and apple juice that I ordered with the kids meals were organic.  Also, everything that they serve is free of artificial trans fats and MSG!  I personally found the prices quite reasonable.  Granted, it would have been cheaper to take the kids to McDonalds, but we would have been hungry an hour later (and this was not all that more expensive either!  Maybe a couple of dollars is it!)  They have an excellent kids menu too!  If you can’t find something for your little one off their kids menu, they are too picky.  They even have a dessert menu!  Madison (my 4 year old) wanted an ice cream cone, but since she didn’t finish her food, she didn’t get one, so I can’t comment on how good their ice cream is.  Our food came quickly and it was good.  The sandwiches were much bigger than I expected!  There was always somebody walking around cleaning off tables or checking on how you were doing, so you could definitely get help when needed (for example, 2 napkins just doesn’t cut it when you have 3 people and 2 of the 3 are under 5!).  I easily was able to get more napkins for us.

The food was great (and healthy!).  The service was great!  Jason’s Deli also has a blog which makes them stand out even more for me!  If you are looking for a great alternative for fast food, you definitely need to check out Jason’s Deli.  It is a five star place in my book!

If we ever go back to Arizona, I have heard that we should check out rocky point rentals. It is located about an hour drive from the Arizona border. These condos and house rentals are located on a beach in a resort town also known as Puerto Penasco. I have heard that they have some great fishing (for the boys) and great shopping (for the girls). It is a resort town, so there really is something there for everyone. I also heard that the gas prices there are more than a dollar cheaper per gallon (which makes it worth the drive)!  Who wouldn’t want the view above from their room?  This will be a place we are going to check out if we head West again.

Even though its still summer here in Chicago, I like to think about how I would love to spend our winter vacation. While its below zero here, I would love to go to a place like the French Polynesian islands. Tahiti sounds absolutely wonderful. Did you know that there are 2 volcanoes there (which I would love to go see) and that by car it takes about 6 hours to go from one end of the island to the other (and this is without stopping)?  You could easily spread out traveling the island over a week or more. There are several places to stop like their colorful market, art and history museums, botanical and flower gardens, animated nightlife, and cultural exhibitions. The picture to the left is one of the three waterfalls that can be found here too.  The resorts are spectacular.  I was not sure what I was expecting when I was checking out some of the amenities, but a lot of their resorts have high speed internet, babysitting, currency exchange, etc.  Pretty much, they have every kind of hotel that will fit your needs.  If you want fancy, they have it.  If you want one that just has a bed for you to sleep in at night, they have that too.  I can definitely see my family and me spending a few Tahiti Holidays here.  How about you?

Did you know that if you are traveling abroad, Visa and MasterCard charge issuing banks a standard fee of 1% percent of the total price for items purchased outside the country. This “currency conversion charge” is then passed onto you the customers.  For ATM cards, there is the same currency conversion fee.  However, they also charge you a transaction fee of up to $5 per withdrawal.  Some countries have have low withdrawal limits, so you will be having that charge on multiple transactions to get the amount of money out that you want.  There are ways to minimize foreign transaction fees or eliminate them altogether. It all depends on where you bank, which ATM you use, and where you are when you use it.

Citibank customers traveling in 46 countries can use Citibank ATMs and pay a 2% conversion charge but no transaction fee.  At other places in the world, customers still pay the 2% conversion charge, but the transaction free is $1.50.

Bank of America belongs to the Global ATM Alliance. Their customers can withdraw local currency from ATMs in eight foreign countries and pay absolutely no transaction fees. The alliance includes Barclays Bank (United Kingdom), BNP Paribas (France), China Construction Bank (China), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Santander Serfin (Mexico), Scotiabank (Canada) and Westpac (Australia and New Zealand).  At banks not listed, their customers pay a $5 ATM withdrawal fee and 1% currency conversion charge.

Now, if you have a Capital One card, you are in luck.  They don’t charge you the currency conversion fee.  You still however have to pay $1.50 per transaction fee.

American Express is another alternative. Cardholders can walk into any of 2,200 American Express Travel Services locations worldwide. They can then write a personal check for as much as $1,000 per card. This service is free.

Before you travel abroad, make sure you contact your ATM and credit card company. You don’t want to be surprised on vacation after you have run out of cash.

Not everyone stays in a hotel when they go on vacation. I know several people who look into vacation rentals by owner when they are heading out on vacation. Instead of staying in a stuffy hotel, they get to be comfortable in someone else’s house. The owners sometimes use their second home for this or if you live near an event (like the Olympics) will give up their primary home. I know if Chicago gets the Olympics that I will definitely be looking into vacation rentals. We will find someplace else to live for that month! The cool thing about home rentals is that they are available all over the place: you can find Florida rentals all the way up to Alaska rentals. Pretty much anywhere you want to go, you can find a rental property.

When you use Vacation Home Rentals, you are able to see exactly what you are getting.  There are pictures, a list of what the house has, and how much they are wanting monthly, weekly, daily, etc.  For example, the house that I have pictured above rents for $700 a night, $3,100 a week, or $15,000 a month.  It has 4 bedrooms and 4 bath.  It has full listing of all the amentities like high speed internet access and the activities that are located in the area.  Now, if this is little above your price range, there are tons of other listings you can choose from.  They have houses, condos, and apartments that you can choose from for your rental.

Next time you go are planning a vacation, check out Vacation Home Rentals.

How can you travel without luggage?  You really can’t.  Bill and I have starting looking at possibly getting some new luggage since I think we got ours when we got married (which was 7 years ago).  We have taken several trips with it, and it is starting to show its wear and tear now.  One of the suitcases doesn’t even zip up anymore!  With having 4 of us needing suitcases now, we definitely need some that close and look up to the task.

While checking out Luggage Online, it definitely looks like Travelpro Luggage is the way to go. With 851 reviews, they score 4 stars on all the important categories such as durability, design, buy again, overall, etc.  The picture you see to the left here is one of the Travelpro luggage sets that I really like.  at a sale price of $152.96, it is a great deal.  You can get it in black or blue (and honestly, I would go with blue.  Everybody has black luggage, and it makes it incredibly difficult at the airport to figure out which luggage is yours!)  I love all the extra storage pockets.  I like to be organized and this would allow me to do so.  All these suitcases also fit into one another, so they are a spacesaver once you get home.  Besides this cool luggage set, Travelpro does have several other kinds of luggage — from duffle bags to computer briefcases on wheels.  There is a little something for everyone here, so make sure you check out Travelpro Luggage the next time you need luggage.

Bill and I have been struggling this whole summer so far trying to decide where to take the kids on vacation this year.  With my kids only being 4 and 1, it is a hard call.  I do not want to be spending a ton of money on a trip they are not going to remember.  That being said and with gas prices being so high, we have decided to stay home and vacation.  We live right next to Chicago, and never have any time to enjoy it!  Being that Bill hates to drive downtown more than he has to, we are looking at staying maybe one night (maybe even two) with the kids downtown.  There is a ton of stuff to do in Chicago like Navy Pier, Children’s Museum, The Museum of Science and Industry, The Aquarium, and The Field Museum.  This is just a few things that are just a few blocks away from one another.  On top of there being a ton of things to do, there area also a ton of hotels to pick from.  I personally think we need one with a pool and continental breakfast if we have the kids with.  I love that Hotels Combined has the ability to search on the very parameters that I want.  It makes it so easy to find exactly what I want.  Our plan is to become a tourist in our very own town and visit all the places we never have time for!

Where are you going on vacation this summer?