Sunday, November 22, 2015
Vacation from your vacation
Spending time with extended family can be one of the best parts of the holiday season, but it also can be one of the most stressful.
While traveling should be relaxing and refreshing, according to a recent Travelocity survey, 63 percent of Americans surveyed find that spending time with extended family during the holiday season actually creates stress in their lives.
With many reports showing that, on average, Americans use only about three-quarters of their allotted vacation days, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the perfect time to take advantage of those unused days and take “a vacation from your vacation.”
Travelocity data show that during the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, fewer travelers head to popular international beach destinations such as Cancun, Punta Cana and Cozumel than most other times of the year. This translates to more choices, smaller crowds, and with the average Dec. 15 high temperature being 37 degrees in Chicago and 82 degrees in Cancun, perfect weather for a winter beach escape.
Geography quiz
Q. Which state is home to Bandelier National Monument?
A. New Mexico. Known for its ancient rock paintings, Bandelier was once home to the Ancestral Pueblo people. It is northwest of Santa Fe.
Facts about fees
If you hate finding an unexpected resort fee added to your hotel bill at checkout, you are not alone.
A national survey found that 80 percent of Americans believe that mandatory resort fees should be included in the daily room rate that is advertised to potential guests.
The survey findings should be no surprise. Resort fees have become one of the biggest frustrations for hotel guests, after expensive or unreliable Wi-Fi.
U.S. hotels are expected to collect a record $2.47 billion in resort fees and other surcharges this year, a 5 percent increase over the record $2.35 billion collected last year, according to an estimate by New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism.
Busiest airport
If you are flying through Los Angeles International Airport for the Thanksgiving holiday, be prepared to slog through the busiest airport in the nation.
Based on booking data, travel website Orbitz estimates that LAX will draw the biggest crowds, followed closely by Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The website didn’t offer passenger totals, but LAX officials estimated that the airport served 1.97 million fliers during last year’s Thanksgiving holiday.
This would make the third year in a row that LAX tops the list of busiest airports for the holiday weekend.
LAX ranked 12th worst in the nation in delays last year, with 37 percent of its flights arriving late during Thanksgiving.
Combined dispatches