10 Most Common Travel Booking Mistakes

Even the savviest of travelers can always use a refresher course, especially in light of travel’s new realities—fees aplenty, confusing regulations, and endless fine print. Read on to see the 10 most common travel booking mistakes, and how to avoid them.

1. Booking Too Soon

When it comes to making travel reservations, is there such a thing as booking too early? In the cases of peak seasonality and special events (such as festivals or big games), the answer is most likely no—high demand increases prices, and the earlier you book, the better. For standard vacations and weekend getaways, however, booking way in advance (e.g., three months or more) or before you’ve done your research may not get you the best price.

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15 Travel Scams to Avoid

Forbes has come up with an interesting & comprehensive article about things we need to be cautious about while traveling, especially luxury travel.
Often we are ignorant to look beyond whats in front of eyes or understand the intricacies of a trade and thus end up falling victim of it. Worst is that we don’t even realize it.
From Unscrupulous Parking Valets to ‘Free’ Vacations with hidden costs, Beware of these tricks before hitting the road

Read through this forbes article completely to know the unknowns of travel.

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Marriot International to Introduce its Moderately Priced Courtyard – in Vietnam

Marriott International will introduce its moderately-priced Courtyard by Marriott brand in Vietnam, under a management agreement announced today with CY – Ham Tan Resort Limited Company. When opened in 2012, the property will be the first high-quality, internationally-branded mid-tier hotel in the area.

via hospitalitynet.org

The 200-room hotel will be located on a pristine beachfront site boasting natural sand dunes in the area of La Gi, near the town of Ham Tan, about a three-hour drive along Vietnam’s southeastern coast from Ho Chi Minh City. It will be part of a mixed-used development that will be built in phases. The project will initially include a residential component and will later add additional hotels, more residential units, a golf course and golf villas.

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Thailand Tourism Tumbling as Bangkok Protests Mount

As political protests spiral in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand’s tourism industry is suffering.

Some luxury hotels in the commercial center have been under virtual siege since Saturday with thousands of anti-government protesters camped out in the heart of the capital city. Upscale malls, popular with Thais and foreign tourists, have had to close, as have office buildings and bank branches. Local merchants say the demonstrations have cost them millions of dollars.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok, giving the army broad powers to restore order. The government blocked an opposition TV station and dozens of Web sites Thursday, trying to use censorship instead of violence to control the anti-government rallies.

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Thai PM Declares State Emergency

Thai Government declared State of Emergency in the evening of Wednesday 7th April.  This was due to a brief attempt of the anti-government protestors “Red Shirts” entry to the parliament compound.

Prime Minister Abhisit emphasized that the use of the Emergency Decree is intended to enable the Government to carry out the afore-mentioned tasks more efficiently. There is no intention of using the law to suppress or harm people, particularly innocent ones. The Government’s aim is to restore normalcy and ensure the sanctity of the law, and all actions to be taken will be in accordance with the law and international standards.

Areas covered
The emergency rule covers Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, and Nakhon Pathom.

What it means
In declaring the severe emergency situation, certain regulations and directives have been issued in accordance with the relevant law. It must be emphasized that in general the measures taken under these regulations and directives do not affect the normal way of life of people or their activities, nor do they affect foreigners residing in or visiting Thailand.   To travel to all other parts of the kingdom has not been affected. Tourism activities in all other areas continue as normal.

Main points in the Declaration:

1. Limit of gathering for political purpose.
2. Limit of travel to and out of certain areas.
3. Limit of propaganda and news which may cause fear or altered information to the public.
4. Limit of movement to certain areas.

Note to tourists and foreigners
For tourists visiting the Kingdom, it should be stressed that foreigners have not been targeted in the on-going political conflict. However, foreigners are advised to be vigilant, and avoid areas where crowds may gather.

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New Delhi Gearing Up for Commonwealth Games 2010!

Major changes are happening in New Delhi to prepare for Commonwealth Games this October. This is the first time India is hosting a sporting event on this scale which led to massive ongoing preparations since past 4 years, including the fast paced extension of Delhi Metro.

The National Capital Region, Delhi is gearing up for the upcoming commonwealth games from 3-14th October 2010. Most of the hotels in the regions are adding the capacity, some to the tune of 100 rooms plus before the event is scheduled to start. The NCR now leads the country in terms of room rates; thanks to the increase in demand because of huge number of sports enthusiasts and tourists who are likely to flock the country apart from the participants.

The entire region including the Lutyen’s Delhi is being cleaned up and experiencing a resurgence. The monuments and the main shopping areas are being revitalized. The authorities are talking to the other states in the country like Rajasthan and Kerala to prepare special packages for the tourist coming in the region at that time. Further Indian Railway which is the sponsors for the games will run a special train between New Delhi and Kerala publicizing the game. It is expected more than 100 thousand tourists will reach the country during the games.

How Travel Insurance Works

The question of whether or not to purchase travel insurance isn’t easily answered. Some people throw caution to the winds and never get any insurance at all, much less travel insurance. Of course, these same folks may end up in debt for life if they’re ever in a disabling accident. Travel insurance poses some new questions — some vacations are low risk and cost very little money and therefore probably aren’t worth insuring. A vacation that includes hang gliding on a remote island during hurricane season, on the other hand, may be worth insuring. If you’re prone to injury, illness or flat-out bad luck, you might want to consider insuring your trip as well.

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