Sicily Italy – Savvy Euorpean Vacation Destination
Sicily Italy – Savvy European Vacation Destination
Recently Peggy Wood a travel consultant with James TravelPOINTS recently vacationed in Sicily Italy.
Americans are just beginning to discover what savvy European travelers have known for years–which Sicily is one of the great vacation spots in Europe.Sicily is small enough that you can conquer it by car in a week although two weeks would be better. Happiness is driving through a world of vineyards and citrus groves, ancient Greek towns and temples while dining on incredible Sicilian fare. Below is the route I choose to travel and would gladly arrange for you.Fly into Palermo, Sicily’s major port and capital, and pick up a car at the airport. Palermo boasts some of the greatest sights and museums in Sicily. Make sure to visit Monreale and its mosaic-laden cathedral and the Catacombe dei Cappuccini. Spend a day or two exploring Palermo and then head east to Segesta, one of the best-preserved ancient temples in Italy. Continue on to the enchanting medieval hill town of Erice. This once heavily fortified and walled mountain town, is suspended 2,478 feet above sea level. You can wonder its cobblestone street and peer into flower filled courtyards along its twisting lanes. After a night in Erice, drive to the coastal fishing village of Trapani for a morning visit. After taking in its sights, head south for an afternoon exploration of the wine-producing city of Marsala: over night here. From Marsala head along the southern coast to the jumble of classical ruins at Selinunte. Since there are few good accommodations in this area continue to Agrigento, one of the most memorable and evocative sights of the ancient world. On your first evening in town, wander around the illuminated Valley of the Temples. You can spend the entire next day exploring the wonders of Agrigento. Its Valley of the Temples constitutes the best preserved remains of “classical Greece” Peggy Wood has been a travel consultant with James TravelPoints for the past 15 years. She has extensive personal travel experience throughout Europe and has been recognized by American Express as an Italy Specialist. Peggy has traveled to Europe many times exploring various destinations with an eye on Boutique Hotels and Villas. She has participated on many walking tour adventures with “Back Roads” and has great advice for clients seeking walking and sightseeing tours. Peggy is also a South Pacific specialist and recently returned from a 2 week vacation to New Zealand. In additional she has traveled to South Africa, Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica and the Caribbean. She also very adept at domestic and international airline reservations. Her service specialties are luxury vacations, romantic honeymoons, customized boutique hotel journeys and intimate getaways to exotic destinations along with adventure travel. You can contact Peggy at 303-442-2340x 237 or email her at: If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Andys – Travel Tid-Bits – Dec. 23, 2009
Date: Dec. 22, 2009 From: Andy James – James TravelPOINTS
2010 Travel Outlook
As 2010 approaches, what is the travel outlook for the new year. Are there still going to be great travel offers and deals, and what travel opportunities do we foresee. The key components to great deals in 2010 is the availability of travel supply in the market place. At the moment, there are a lot of great travel opportunities in the next 6 – 8 months, demand has not caught up with the supply in the market. Over the past 10 years, the cruise ships, hotel resort companies, and airlines have been building and adding inventory for a growing U.S. travel market. In 2009, the industry took a sharp dive in travel demand which resulted in excess inventory and not enough demand to fill the void. Hence, you begin to see discounted travel offers by suppliers to step up their marketing efforts to fill lagging inventory and entice travelers to book. Some of these travel offers are “Last Minute” and some are discounted offers to persuade travelers to commit for travel later in the year.
So what should be your plan of attack? First thing to do is to call us; we see and hear about all the deals that are flying around on a daily basis from cruises to vacation packages all over the world. Next, be patient and flexible, if you are planning on traveling during a “peak period”. The deals are not going to be as grand as travel during the shoulder or low season. Airline seats are going to the key factor, if the carriers cut back on lift into your destination, seats will be tight. Watch the fares and inventory, don’t wait until the last minute to book because the seats won’t be there. (James TravelPOINTS online booking Tool)
Travel offers and deals into Mexico and Central America will be in fairly good supply this year again along with many of the resorts offering great amenities. Cruises deals are going to be in large supply this coming year, with some of the best deals available into Alaska, Europe and the Caribbean. Many of the cruise lines have added new ships into their fleet in 2009 and many others are expecting to take possession of more ships in 2010. With an increase in cruise berths supply, the cruise industry has made a concerted effort to fill their ships, once filled, they plan to make up any revenue short fall with on-board purchases i.e. gambling, on-board shopping, shore excursions, signature dining, drinks etc. If you are planning to visit Europe this year, a cruise is a very effective way to see the sights and save. Call us; we have blocked space with many of the cruise lines that offer extra amenities on top of great pricing. In 2010, we don’t see a lot of change compared to the deals offered in 2009. The travel offers and savings are going to be abundant during the year. Our outlook for travel in 2010, steady with modest gains over 2009. Until employment and the economy starts to turn around and more of the traveling public starts traveling again, demand for travel will creep along in small strides. I don’t see a reduction in inventory, especially when all these new cruise ships are coming online in the coming year and there is an over abuntant of resorts and hotels to be filled. Are You Receiving “Last Minute Travel Offers” If you receive a cruise or tour offer in the mail or email, call us, we can help you out and it won’t cost you anymore money. Every day we receive phone calls and emails from our clients asking if we can help them out by booking travel offers they have received in the mail or email from travel suppliers, yes of course we can. In many of the situations, we are able to find a better value for the price, because our staff work with these suppliers on a daily basis, they know which companies are offering sub-standard deals and which companies are offering really good deals.
Many times we can find better cabin categories and up-graded room allotments by using different travel suppliers for the exact same itinerary and travel dates. Many of the travel suppliers we work with are on a preferred relationship with us, therefore in many situations we can offer other up-graded amenities that might not be offered directly from the travel supplier. Call us and compare, you will work with a dedicated travel agent whose interest is your vacation satisfaction. We can help you compare and make choices that are in your best interest, not the travel suppliers. A cheap vacation deal does not always translate into a good vacation, call us and we can help you with advice and options to make the most of your vacation, at the price you want to spend.
Airlines Waiving Advance Purchase Rules
Thinking about last minute travel during the Holidays, many of U.S. airlines have decided to waive advance purchase restrictions for domestic travel during the holiday season. Effective today through January 04, 2010 travelers can buy airline tickets for travel within the 48 contiguous states and Canada at last minute prices without paying more, all of this is subject to availability. Many of the major airlines have waived their advance purchase requirement such as United, Delta, Northwest, American, Frontier, US Airways, AirTran, and Midwest.
Keep in mind that the current airfare sale prices in 2010, will be much cheaper than the premium fares paid for traveling during the holiday period. As an example Frontier Airlines RT Denver to New York City for travel Dec. 26-Jan 03 was available today for $469.00, as compared to travel Jan 07 – 14, 2010 for $239.00 with connections. Holiday flights to Cancun from Denver RT are still available for travel Dec. 28 – Jan. 05, with connections on America for $589.00 vs. waiting a week and traveling on a non-stop flight on United for around $438.00 p/person. Waiving the advance purchase rules during the Holiday season is not an exceptional motivating concept for the leisure traveler, since they usually purchase their airline tickets months in advance, but for the business traveler it has a bigger impact since most of their travel is booked within a week.
Deals Before and After the New Year
Mexico Vacations Offers in 2010
Caribbean Vacation Offer for 2010
Hawaii – Get out of the Cold Vacations for 2010
Holiday HoursOur office hours over the next week are as follows:
Thur: Dec. 24 – 8:00am – 1:00pmFri – Sun: Dec. 25 – 27, 2009 – All offices closedMon-Wed:Dec. 28 – 30 – 8:00am – 5:30pm Thur: Dec. 31 – 8:00am – 1:00pmFri – Sun:Jan. 01 – 03, 2010 all offices closed.
If you have an emergency, please call our After Hours reservation service at 1-800-358-1389, there is a fee of $15 for this call.
Agent Profile – Peggy Wood
Peggy has been a travel consultant with James TravelPoints for the past 15 years. She has extensive personal travel experience throughout Europe and has been recognized by American Express as an Italy Specialist. Peggy has traveled to Europe many times exploring various destinations with an eye on Boutique Hotels and Villas. She has participated on many walking tour adventures with “Back Roads” and has great advice for clients seeking walking and sightseeing tours. Peggy is also a South Pacific specialist and recently returned from a 2 week vacation to New Zealand. In additional she has traveled to South Africa, Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica and the Caribbean. She also very adept at domestic and international airline reservations. Her service specialties are luxury vacations, romantic honeymoons, customized boutique hotel journeys and intimate getaways to exotic destinations along with adventure travel. You can contact Peggy at 303-442-2340x 237 or email her at: Sicily Italy – Great Vacation Destination
Americans are just beginning to discover what savvy European travelers have known for years–which Sicily is one of the great vacation spots in Europe. Sicily is small enough that you can conquer it by car in a week although two weeks would be better. Happiness is driving through a world of vineyards and citrus groves, ancient Greek towns and temples while dining on incredible Sicilian fare. Below is the route I choose to travel and would gladly arrange for you. (Click here to read more about Peggy’s Trip)
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A Real Family Business-11/15/2009
My name is Don James and together with my brother Andy and my sister Ann, we own and operate James TravelPoints. Our father, Don James, Sr. started the business back in 1957 and the three of us siblings became involved in the business in 1981. With 28 years of working together, we are extremely proud to consider ourselves a successful family business. And the family tradition will continue, two sons this past year have joined the business for the third generation!
Travel Updates
Much of our business today is done by phone, email or website and we do not have the chance to meet many of our customers face to face. In an effort to let you know who we are and what we do, every week or two we will send out a brief update on current travel industry news. In our updates, we will also share with you a few of the outstanding travel bargains that we come across which are simply too good not share with our customers.
The Next Generation of Mega Ships
The big cruise news this week is the announcement of Royal Caribbean’s new mega cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas. The new ship has been six years in the making and is the largest cruise ship in the world. The mega ship can accommodate up to 5400 guests at double occupancy in 2700 staterooms. At full occupancy, the ship will have more passengers than the population of many small towns! The ship features seven themed “neighborhoods”. The inaugural departure is scheduled for December 5, from it’s home port in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Trans-Atlantic On Sale!
Every fall the Trans-Atlantic market goes on sale and this year is no exception. British Airways this week announced some fantastic fares from various U.S. cities to London and Paris. One of the sample fares listed is $236 from New York to London round trip! It costs more than that to fly round trip Denver to Casper, Wyoming! Of course the New York/ London fare does not include taxes, fees and surcharges, and terms and conditions do apply. The fares are good for travel from Nov. 17, 2009 through March 28, 2010, and tickets must be purchased by Nov. 19, 2009.
Apple Vacations “Super Sale”
We are seeing some fantastic bargains for Mexico this year! This week Apple Vacations announced their annual “Super Sale” packages and there are some great values. For example, in the Riviera Maya for departures on Jan 3 and 10, 2010, five nights at the all inclusive Iberostar Paraiso del Mar, prices start at $799.99 per person based on double occupancy and that includes RT air from Denver, transfers to/from Cancun to the Iberostar Paraiso del Mar, all meals, drinks and more! Taxes and fees are not included and restrictions apply. If you would like to learn more about this trip or other “Super Sale” packages, please give us a call at 303-442-2340 or 800-538-7461.
Don James
James TRavelPOINTS
American Express Rep Office
1750 14th Street
Boulder, Co. 80302
PH: 303-442-2340
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Vacations in Mexico-is it safe for travelers?
James TravelPOINTS – Travel Tid-Bits 12/02/2009
When the snow starts to fly, Americans like to head south for warm sun and ocean breezes, but this past year, Mexico has seen its name in the headlines across America for its border incidences and H1N1 Flu issues. Here’s what you need to know to stay safe on your vacation into Mexico.
*** Check the U.S.Department’s web site for security travel alerts at http://www.travel.state.gov/travel.
The U.S. State Department recommends you stay in areas where tourists usually reside. They don’t recommend you go off the beaten path and explore remote areas that are not typically ventured into. Carry a working cell phone and tell others where you are going if you are out on an adventure out of the ordinary. If you feel inclined register with the State Department e-mail notifications at: https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui.
*** H1N1 Flu Advice for Travel into Mexico.
Get a H1N1 vaccination, especially if you are prone to the Flu or you have a chronic health disorder or compromised immune system. Mexico received a lot of attention over this and the risks are no different than staying home, you are susceptible of getting the Flu in the U.S or in Mexico, the advice is, get a flu shot, wash your hands often, take sanitary wipes. Like traveling anywhere in the world, common sense decisions are based on your experiences of where to stay and where to go.
Contact us. At James & Aggie TravelPOINTS we have A good sense of balance for our client’s safety and well being. Our Travel Agents are kept abreast of current situations based on personal experiences and the constant communication between our client experiences and our relationships with the tour operators. The information gathered provides the basis for making recommendation on the destination and allows our clients to make decisions based on these details. Our tour providers and cruise ship up-date our agency on a regular basis regarding any situation that may pose a possible safety risk. Tour operators and cruise lines tend to avoid destinations that pose a major risk associated with the well being of their passengers. Over the past year, we have sent 1000’s of clients to Mexico and to our knowledge, no one has reported back to us that they contracted the H1N1 flu.
Andy James
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