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The lyric in
an old holiday song “Over the river and through the
woods to grandmother’s house we go ...” reminded
me that with holidays fast approaching, many readers may
be expecting guests or in a reversal of the lyrics, may
themselves be making holiday travel plans. In either event,
some ideas and thoughts which may be helpful in saving time
and money:
For Travelers
The more flexible you can be, the better the airline rate.
Time your flight to avoid the crowds: Tuesday, Wednesday
or Saturday are usually less congested. If you can get up
with the birdies, you’ll avoid long lines and waiting.
The best “on-time” records are held by Southwest,
U.S. Air, Northwest and Delta, so if arriving at a certain
time or close connections are important, book one of these
airlines. If you can book online rather than by phone, you’ll
save up to $35, and if you can fit everything into a carry-on,
you’ll save an additional $15-$30.
For longer flights where seat comfort is an important consideration,
I always check seatguru.com, which will give you details
about the configuration and seat comfort of all seats on
different airlines. Bestfares.com will give you price comparisons
for your destination.
When booking hotels, check travel sites like hotelscombined.com,
but check also directly with the hotel. They may offer to
beat the site price or give you an upgrade. Consider priceline.com
or hotwire.com, but you probably won’t know where
you will be staying until your bid is accepted. Before you
bid, go to www.biddingfortravel.com. Don’t forget
to check on taxes or other fees.
Most hotels will give an age-related discount to members
of AARP and some Marriott properties will give you 50 percent
off the regular rate if you are able to make a pre-paid
nonrefundable booking well in advance. Radisson Hotels will
take off 10 percent at most hotels and in their restaurants,
and all you need is proof of age. Hilton’s Senior
Honors program gives major discounts at participating hotels,
but there is a yearly fee to join. Check www.hilton.com
for details.
If you are renting a car, save money by taking other transportation,
such as the airline bus from the airport and renting from
a car agency outside the airport location. Independent agencies
are often less expensive. Try carrentals.com and carrentalexpress.com,
or type in the name of a car rental company and “coupon
code” into Google and see what discounts turn up.
If you are taking a cab, know what the fare should be.
If You Are the Host
Remember that you are entitled to an enjoyable holiday
that doesn’t leave you worn out and frazzled. It’s
OK to look for labor-saving shortcuts. You might want to
plan ahead to buy and freeze some of your side dishes from
one of the many food service places such as Pasta Vita in
Old Saybrook.
Relatives can bring a side dish or the appetizers.
Place mats and everyday silver look just as festive when
set off by a seasonal flower arrangement and pretty candles.
Save on having to load the dishwasher several times by
using colorful plastic plates and glasses for drinks and
hors d’oeuvres or dessert.
And by all means, get your guests into the act. Children
can pass the appetizer dish, help with hanging up coats
and clearing the table.
I also like to have Christmas gifts for my Long Island
family wrapped and ready for them to take with them at Thanksgiving
... saving me the trouble and expense of mailing them later.
As for gifts, I’ve always been an advocate of buying
during the year when I see “the very thing”
for someone on my list, but for business gifts or gifts
to others with whom I’m not very familiar, I like
to find one good choice and send that to everyone. This
year, especially, it makes sense to buy less expensive,
useful items and to find ways to lessen your workload and
create a happier, more relaxed holiday for yourself and
your family.
Jean Cherni is founder of Senior
Living Solutions, a retirement advisory service. Contact
her at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds, Branford
06405.
H. Pearce Company REALTORS®
is a full-service real estate company with more than 100
agents and branch offices in greater New Haven and the Shoreline.
Corporate and & Commercial offices are located in North
Haven, where the company was founded in 1958. All listings
can be found in color on the web at: www.hpearce.com. |
