Advance boarding passes for US to Canada flights

Q. Can I get my boarding pass in advance for international flights going from the US to Canada?

A. Yes, you can do that, 24 hours prior to flight departure online.

note: This question was posed on 4/28/06 in regard to Air Canada. As always things could have changed by the time you read this message.

Stand by for an Earlier Flight

for the same day on a nonrefundable ticket. Where do you go to accomplish this. I was advised that *IF* the passenger checks in for their ticketed flight at the e-ticket kiosk, they will get a boarding pass for the flight in which they are confirmed on and their *checked* luggage will then be routed for that flight, however if it's carry on luggage and that darn line for the ticket counter is super long (which many times it is on a Friday afternoon) you can check in at the kiosk, go through security, proceed to the boarding gate of the flight you'd like to *stand by* for and request standby at that time as you tote your luggage along with you. And if you must check your luggage, the best place to put yourself on standby for a flight (according to Miss Personality at the reservation center -tongue in cheek on that one- ;-) is at the ticket counter.

The real trick here is, if you don't have to check your luggage and you want to stand by for an earlier flight, then don't check your luggage. You will save yourself alot of hassle getting your luggage back if you try to check it.

OK, so the passenger asks me a brilliant question and the airline rep at the reservation center has nothing but negative things to say, but I continue with my lovely telephone smile and positive attitude and wishing her a WONDERFUL weekend. UGH, you know, sometimes it's like pulling teeth with some of these unhappy people. OK, I feel better now.

United Airlines - Earn Upgrade Certificates

Did you know that after you have flown 10,000 miles with United Airlines (not on the partner airlines) but specifically United, the United Mileage Plus program will credit your mileage plus account with four/500 mile upgrade certificates. These upgrade certificates do have an expiration on them, so if you travel frequently on United, you might have upgrade certificates attached to your account number. So be sure to check your account number and take advantage of these promotional deals. Just let your travel agent know that you will be redeeming 500 mile upgrade certificates and they will be able to put you on the "upgrade list". Just make sure you know how many mileage credits you have and that you have enough. If you don't have enough, United will want you to purchase the additional you may need at the airport.

International Flight Requirements

When flying internationally, you will need to provide your travel agent with the following information from your passport.

PASSPORT NUMBER:
EXP DATE:
COUNTRY OF ISSUE:
DATE OF BIRTH:
FULL NAME (as it appears on your passport):

Need Help with your next Meeting or Convention?

Ask me. I am an experienced, highly motivated, corporate travel agent, willing and able to help you with your next small or large meeting or convention. Are you searching for an experienced travel agent to help you with air travel or coordinating hotel requests. Are you a meeting planner or travel planner in need of an experienced, thorough, cheerful corporate travel agent?

It's all about team work and I am a team player. I'm ready, willing and able to assist you with your next meeting, to coordinate airfare for your meeting attendees, to obtain special requests from your attendees at your conference, to add their airline frequent flyer numbers to their travel reservations, to let them know if I'm not able to pre-assign their preferred seats, to email them, as well as anyone who needs to have the flight information, to advise of any schedule changes which might impact their travel arrangements, to secure the very best airfares which are available, to be in constant communication with the meeting planners, especially when needing approval for exceptions and/or deviations. To take as good care (or better) of your attendees as their own travel agent would provide. Jaguar Travel Group can also provide you with a spreadsheet which will include all of the attendee's flight arrival and departure information. I have had over 20 years experience helping companies coordinate air for their meeting and convention attendees.

Here is a list of information which is helpful for me to have, prior to phone calls and emails coming in from the attendees. I like to provide your important guests and clients with a smooth and pleasant transaction as one step towards attending a successful conference.

1. Conference dates/start and end times. What are the dates of the conference, please include start and end times of your meeting. A copy of the agenda would work out just fine and I will pick out what I need from that.
2. Do you require all traveller's stay for the entire meeting? I realize that sometimes if the attendee's are presenting or speaking, that they will know their schedule and I'll just go with what they advise me of.
3. Preferred arrival airport. I'll always check for lower airfares if your city has many airports to choose from.
4. Airline or car rental meeting discounts? Please provide me with any airline or car rental meeting discounts you might have established for this conference.
5. Maximum airfare budget for this conference (I don't make any more or less either way and will be in communication with you if there are any exceptions which might need to be made.)
6. Spreadsheet? Would you like a spreadsheet sent to you periodically which will include the flight information for the attendees? Just let us know as we're happy to provide you with that summary. Amber at Jaguar Travel Group will be creating the spreadsheet.
7. Hotel name? Which hotel have you established for your conference? It's helpful for me to know due to distance from the airport vs. end of meeting time. How much time a person should allow, etc. What about attendees to the conference which your organization won't be paying for their airfare. How are they supposed to make their room reservations? Through a website, the hotel direct, a housing bureau?
8. Rooming list contact. Who in your company is handling the hotel reservations or rooming list? Many times an attendee is interested in extending their hotel stay, knowing that they will be responsible for paying for any additional hotel nights? I usually add any special requests or deviations at the bottom of their flight itinerary.
9. Hotel confirmation number? Will you be sending out a final hotel confirmation to the meeting attendee's prior to the conference or will their names be put on a conference rooming list based on the emails which I'll send to you? Attendees ask me that question all the time.
10. Email contacts from your organization: Please provide me with a list of email contacts, if you would like for me to email any/all of the travel itineraries to those involved in the planning. When I do the ticketing for your attendee's travel, you might want to know immediately who has made their arrangements so that you can finalize their hotel reservations and keep a watchful eye on their itinerary and the cost for budgeting purposes? I'm happy to keep everyone posted.
11. Project number, ID number or password? Do you have a project number or ID number which I should attach to the invoices. Will the traveller's have this information to be used as a password of sorts?
12. Attendee List? Do you have a pre-approved list of attendee's whose airfare is being paid for by your travel account?
13. Travel Agent contact: Feel free to advise the attendee's of my phone number as well as my email address. luanne@jaguar.agencymail.com
14. Ground transportation: will you reimburse for cab fare or is transportation provided. If transportation is provided, where should they go to meet the transportation? Is there a maximum amount which you'll reimburse for taxi fare?
15. If the attendee is driving to the meeting vs. flying, will you need a "fake" itinerary print out showing what the cost would have been if they had flown to give you a guideline as to how much mileage they should be reimbursed? Just let me know and I'm happy to email as well as print one out for you to as backup for your accounting records.

If you're searching for a travel agent, whom your meeting attendees will have a positive experience booking their airfare with "a stranger", I can guarantee (yes, guarantee) that they will be treated with the utmost respect and professionalism, along with a pleasant personality and over the phone smile. I will take very good care of them and provide them with top notch corporate travel service. What better way to begin a conference, but with a travel agent who makes the first part of their conference a pleasant experience. I look forward to helping arrange airfare for your meeting attendees.

Keep in mind, that I'm very good at "winging it" as well, so if calls start coming in prior to having all of the pieces, I'll be sure to find out before finalizing their travel arrangements. The bottom line is, I love what I do and I enjoy working with people and they enjoy working with me as well.

If you need references, I am happy to provide them. Email me for additional information and we can discuss your upcoming meeting. luanne@jaguar.agencymail.com I look forward to working with you and your associates. You can also call me at 703-684-9830.

Corporate Travel Agent Resume

Note to current clients: Your comments are welcome on my weblogs.

Amtrak using Quik Trak

Can I get my round trip ticket at the Quik Trak machine or do I need to check in twice at the machine to collect my return ticket?

Whatever is on the ticket reservation, is what the kiosk will spit out. So if you have the ticket issued as a round trip, then you will get the full ticket data printed out, ie: round trip if you purchased round trip.

Amtrak and security check in procedures

What? Amtrak Security? What in the world is that? Does Amtrak check each passengers official government issued photo I.D.? Amtrak doesn't have a set procedure to check all passengers prior to boarding Amtrak or Acela trains. When the passengers board the trains, the conductor does a random check based on the passenger's ticket number series. Apparently it's a random check which they do on board the train. The reason they don't have a steadfast rule for checking in is because many of the Amtrak stations are unstaffed and there is no way to do things on a consistent basis. In the larger stations, there is a large police presence as well as bomb and drug sniffing dogs located throughout the stations. I was personally surprised by this. Guess it's been a while since I took the train and automatically assumed (tsk, tsk, tsk, must not do that they tell me) that security procedures had been heightened for Amtrak as well as the airlines since 9-11. FYI, Amtrak is owned and operated by the federal government. Go figure.

Internet scam? or Legitimate?

I found this link through my google alerts system "travel agent nightmare" and when I check it out, it's a closed Ebay sale and after having done some research on this website, everything about it says scam, but maybe it's because I am a legitimate travel agent and pessimistic about "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". My dad taught me well. I would be super cautious. Sounds to me like someone is trying to sell a book and in my world, I believe that the only way to get deeply discounted hotels is to barter at the front desk, which I do believe does happen and why not, heck, even if they get 100.00 out of a room, it's better than nothing at all, but who wants to gamble their vacation like that? You know what they say, "you get what you pay for". When I find websites like this, I really cringe in that I would only trust it if a known friend of mine had participated. Is it really just a time share maybe? I wouldn't be surprised and certainly sounds logical to me. If that's the case, I can "just say no" :-) Here is there frequently asked questions page, which again, sounds to me like you're totally on your own and they're selling you an e-book. Again, chances are, there is alot of bartering involved and again, yes, if you enjoy bartering and begging, then knock yourself out and have a wonderful vacation. They are somehow linked to this organization: Cascade Mission which also bothers me. It sounds so much like an MLM to me the more I dig into this organization. Who knows. I'd be interested to hear from real people about the validity of this group. Feel free to share your comments.

It will cost you 24.99 per month (3 month minimum required) and you will receive the Penny Pincher's Super Fun Guide to Walt Disney World 2006. Their purchase page is a dead link. hmmm interesting, verrrrrrry interesting. I'll stick with Walt Disney World Travel Company, thank you.

Montana Dude Ranches

What are the recommended dude ranches in Montana. Why a dude ranch? What types of things do you at a dude ranch.


Yellowstone Valley Ranch - 800-626-3526 - Paul Robertson, great guy, says his property is great for couples who want to get away, do a little fishing but pretty much want to do things on their own. For Dude ranches, he highly recommended a place called H.F. Bar which is actually located in Wyoming and is approximately 5 hours from Yellowstone. They come equipped with a kids program, nannies, great food, 9000 acres, and features high end clientele. Paul from the Yellowstone Valley Ranch says that H F Bar "has it all". He says that H F Bar is the second oldest dude ranch in the history of commercial dude ranches.

Being the second oldest dude ranch in the country means the HF Bar Ranch style of taking care of our guests is time tested. For decades, families have regarded the HF Bar Ranch as a place on which they can rely for the atmosphere they want on a vacation.

Montana High Country

Big EZ Lodge, located in Big Sky, MT - upscale, with suites, fireplaces, 3 gourmet meals per day, horseback riding, fishing. Check out Trip Advisor reviews for Big EZ Lodge

Papoose Creek Lodge, 1 hour drive from Yellowstone, fly fishing, swimming, hiking, massages. This place is offered through Abercrombie and Kent, so it must be fabulous. Located in Cameron, MT and has a 5 star rating. Three night minimum stay required for Friday arrivals and four night minimum stay required for Monday arrivals. They offer lodge accomodations as well as cabins. Restrictive cancellation policies apply. If interested, feel free to email Luanne at Jaguar Travel Group for reservations.

Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, rated 4 diamond by AAA, with swimming, fishing, horseback riding, located in Immigrant, MT 40 miles from Yellowstone National Park.

There are no dude ranches located directly within Yellowstone National Park.

The towns near Yellowstone which have dude ranches are in Livingston, Bozeman, Big Sky and Gallatin Gateway.

Lone Mountain Ranch and Trip Advisor Reviews for Lone Mountain Ranch, located in Big Sky, MT

320 Guest Ranch is also located in Big Sky, MT. Trip advisor reviews for the 320 Guest Ranch.

El Dorado Seaside Suites in Tulum

This is an all inclusive, adults only, gourmet resort located in the Mayan Riviera. Approximate ground time from Cancun International Airport is roughly one hour south. Most vacation packages include round trip transfers to and from the hotel. I've personally never been to this resort, but it certainly sounds like the perfect spot for a Mexican/Caribbean honeymoon getaway, filled with lots of pampering and privacy.

Read the Trip Advisor Reviews:

Another website for the resort:

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All 196 rooms are suites, with lovely décor and romantic four post beds and all are just a few steps from the beach. Beach beds line the shore. The 24-hour room service is included, of course. As are the beverages and many other activities, amenities, and services.


All rooms are smoke free friendly. Frequently asked questions.

source:

If you're interested in reserving this fabulous property, feel free to email me and I'll check out rates and availability. Oh how I wish I could go too :-)

Jaguar Travel Group

Vacation Express Reduces Charter Service to Cancun from BWI

I have used Vacation Express many times in the past and it's unfortunate that what Mother Nature and the hurricane's have done to Cancun and Cozumel.  These destinations have always proven to be an affordable family summer getaway vacation.  I totally appreciate though, their reasoning for cutting back.  It's still unfortunate because it is a great service and deal for those in the Metropolitan, Washington, DC area.

Vacation Express announces that it will not resume its seasonal flights from Baltimore to Cancun scheduled to start up May 25, 2006.

"Despite the very successful rebuilding efforts of Cancun and the recent completion of the beach project, this market has been slow to embrace this destination in the past few months. "says Rene Jongmans, President of Vacation Express. "We had expected customers to be comfortable booking their Cancun summer vacation at this point, but forward bookings for this destination have been disappointing and has made it difficult for us to justify offering three flights weekly for this upcoming season."

Clients currently scheduled on a Vacation Express charter for the summer, will be re-accommodated or offered a full refund.

Even with this recent news, Vacation Express has announced the launch of an exciting new program adding 12 new destinations to its scheduled air program and a new scheduled air booking engine that will be launched prior to May 1.

"We have seen the major air carriers add leisure destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico for at least a year now", says Cliff Phillips, Director of Sales. " It made a lot of sense to us to focus on this opportunity by adding several very popular destinations to our product line. These new scheduled air destinations combined with our current destinations will allow agents to offer their clients complete vacation packages at the lowest prices to 22 destinations. That's the most destinations Vacation Express has ever offered."

Scheduled air packages will now be available to Aruba, Antiqua, Barbados, Grand Caymen, Jamaica, Nassau, St. Martin/St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Turks & Caicos, Mexico destinations of Acapulco, Ixtapa, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and the US Virgin Islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John.

These new destinations are in addition to Vacation Express' existing destinations Cancun, Riviera Maya, Cozumel, Punta Cana, Puerto Plata and Costa Rica. Most importantly, agents will be able to book these new destinations by April 30 on the new scheduled air booking engine. This new booking engine gives agents access to all fares from all carriers, guaranteeing the best fares at all times.

"Adding these opportunities will satisfy the demand of all agents", says Rene Jongmans. "Whether clients want to depart from Baltimore or Washington Dulles, we will now be able to service all their needs and we are looking forward to a successful launch of these destinations in the next few weeks."

source:

Is it a Frequent Flyer Number or Account Number with Southwest

Today, I had a Southwest agent tell me something odd, which seems to be cropping up more and more these days with them.  The gal told me that apparently the number which the passenger and I believed to be her Southwest frequent flyer number in fact is not and she has not been accumulating any miles on her account???  Apparently this has been happening a bit lately and Southwest is aware of the snafu, so they're being good about fixing it and crediting the miles.  I recommend though that before you re-enroll your passenger, to make sure Southwest has their story straight.