Budget Airlines

Hey peeps,
It’s been a while since this space was updated but that was because too many good things were happening for us at Your Travel Beacon. In between planning itineraries over the world for friends and clients, we welcomed a precious new life as well! (hi baby ng!!)

With the launch of budget airlines scoot, we have been getting a number of request and questions about flying via budget airlines. While budget airlines are a great way to save money,  there are many factors you should consider when selecting your budget flights.

Read the fineprint carefully
The advertised price of $50 to your dream destination might sound like a great deal. But the addition of a list of hidden expenses can ensnare the unsuspecting traveler. For example, most budget airlines require you to pay for your check-in luggage. Also, they slap on a hefty charge for every extra kg above the weight limit. Some budget airways require you to check-in online and penalizes you if you did not do so. For example, somewhere within the mambo jambo of Ryanair’s Travel Itininerary email is the following

IN ORDER TO TRAVEL YOU ARE REQUIRED TO CHECK-IN ONLINE AND PRESENT AT THE AIRPORT YOUR ONLINE BOARDING PASS AND VALID ACCEPTED TRAVEL DOCUMENT, PASSENGERS WHO DO NOT PRESENT A BOARDING PASS AT THE AIRPORT WILL BE CHARGED A RE-ISSUE FEE OF EUR40/GBP40(each boarding pass must be printed and presented on an individual A4 page).

Eur40 is not a pricey sum to pay for not reading and following their very specific instructions. Sometimes, the extras that you pay might add up to  be more than your ticket price!

Confirm your travel dates

Changing travel dates would most definitely mean that you would be paying way more than your advertised prices. In most cases, heavily discounted tickets do not allow changes to the itinerary. One way to overcome this problem is to buy travel insurance so that you are compensated for any unforeseen changes to your travel dates.

Click carefully when you are booking your flight

Booking a budget airline ticket can be quite a chore. Sometimes the process of buying a budget airline ticket is like navigating a minefield of potential charges. One has to read each and every step carefully in order not to purchase something unnecessary. Some of the budget airline websites have selections pre-set for you. Things like priority boarding at a fee, seats with extra legroom are usually selected by default.

Nothing is included in the flight, but the seat on the flight!

Budget airlines offer few cabin amenities. The typical budget airline offers a basic seat and anything else a passenger wants in-flight can be had for an additional fee. Be it earphones for $3, blankets for $5, bottled water for $5 etc. Make sure you bring your own essential items to avoid paying for these items.

Reliability of the budget airline carrier

Some budget airline carriers change their flight schedule at the very last moment, often neglecting to inform their customers. Sometimes, flights are cancelled or merged because there are too few people on the flight.

While budget airlines offer great savings on a flight, sometimes their fares are not as cheap as one would think. Before booking your flight, be diligent!

Your Travel Beacon,
Cindy

Galapagos Islands Part 2

Continued from the previous post….
We landed on Santa Cruz on the second day of our Galapagos tour. A large island with a variety of geology, wildlife and vegetation, all of the Galapagos life zones are present on Santa Cruz. We proceeded to a saltwater lagoon where many pink flamingos were quietly minding their own business as we trekked past them.
We also saw many land iguanas on our way up to Dragon Hill. Santa Cruz is a nesting site for these reintroduced land iguanas. 

Land Iguana and me

 For the avid bird-watcher, Santa Cruz also offers the opportunity to spot the various types of finches, doves, mockingbirds etc.

Finch

Mocking Bird

Galapagos Dove

In the afternoon, we cruised to Floreana, also known as Cormorant Point. This island features endemic plants such as Scalesia villosa, Galapagos daises, to name a few. The most memorable activity on this island was snorkeling with the sealions. We were snorkeling a few meters off the beach and a family of playful sealions decided to check us out. It was a surreal moment as a sea lion stopped right in front of me for a few seconds, seemingly inviting me to swim along with him.

Making friends

Swimming with the sealions

I was remarking to myself that the day could not have been any better when a school of Galapagos sharks gathered around our boat at night. Attracted by the lights on the boat, these sharks circled both sides of our boat. The waters were so clear, the sharks so near the surface of the water that you could make out the features of the sharks quite easily.

Galapagos sharks

On the third day of our Galapagos tour, we went to Espanola. Espanola is the oldest and the southernmost island in the Galapagos chain. Wildlife is the highlight of Espanola and the star of the show is the waved albatross. The island's steep cliffs serve as the perfect runways for these large birds which take off for their ocean feeding grounds near the mainland of Ecuador.

Albatross

A large colony of marine iguanas, lava lizards, and sally light foot crabs greeted us as we trekked around the island.

Marine Iguanas

Sally light foot crabs

In the afternoon, we proceed to San Cristobal to learn more about the Galapagos National Park’s breeding problem with giant tortoises. The fifth largest of the Galapagos Islands in terms of size, Isla San Cristobal has the second largest human settlement of this volcanic island chain.

Galapagos National Park

Galapagos Tortoise

I ended my short cruise of the Galapagos on day 4. We were snorkeling at Carrion Point before returning to the airport for our flight out of the Galapagos. Snorkeling at Carrion Point was probably the only downside of the entire trip. I have snorkeled in various places of the world and Carrion Point was disappointing. Not only did I not see much marine life, I was bitten by sea lices even though I had taken the precaution to wear a long sleeve rash dive shirt. Then again, you can never outsmart wildlife – the fishes may all be there on one day and gone the next. I did not let this dampen my entire experience though.

The entire Galapagos trip was the most wondrous experience. To be so close to nature was a great privilege. It was awe-inspiring and gave me a renewed appreciation of the wonders we have in this world.

This is a vacation I would recommend to everyone.

Your Travel Beacon,
Cindy

Galapagos Islands

I recently went on a 4D3N Galapagos cruise trip and enjoyed every moment of it.

I arrived in Quito and spent a relaxing day exploring the capital of Ecuardo before taking a domestic flight to Baltra airport in Galapagos. Nestled amidst colossal Andean peaks at 2.800 meters above sea level, Quito is the world’s highest legal capital city in the world.

On September 1978, UNESCO described the city of Quito as "a harmonic connection between human actions and nature that together create an exceptional and transcendental piece of art in its category", declaring it the First World Cultural Heritage Site.

Statue of Sucre in front of Iglesia de Santo Domingo

Day 2. Flight to Galapagos. UNESCO declared the Galapagos Island a World Natural Heritage this archipelago is unique and one of the wonders of world. The Galapagos archipelago is located in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles, or 965 km, off the Ecuadorian mainland.

USD 100 Galapagos National Park Entrance Fee

After landing at Baltra island, we cruised to North Seymour island. I stepped out the panga and almost immediately stepped onto a sealion lazing on the steps of the dock!

Injured Sealion attacked by shark

The poor sealion was injured by a shark and was lying helplessly on the steps of the dock. I walked a short distance to the shore and was greeted by even more sealions. The sealions were wild, playful and totally unafraid of us, humans. Our naturalist, a Galapagos native, proceeded to explain to us about the vast number of endemic species on the island. I imagined myself as Charles Darwin and how his observations and collections contributed to his theory of evolution by natural selection. 

North Seymour Island is a major nesting site of the blue-footed boobies. The name booby comes from the Spanish word ‘bobo’, which means stupid, because the blue-footed booby is clumsy on land. I was fortunate enough to be witness the mating dance of the boobies. It was with great delight as I watched the male booby whistling at the female, lifting its legs and flapping its wings, with the female booby honking in approval and mimicking every move the male makes.

Blue Footed Booby

Blue Footed Booby and me

As I walked to the other end of North Seymour Island, I saw many frigate birds. Fridgate birds are large birds, with iridescent black feathers and long wings. The males have inflatable red throat pouches, which they inflate to attract the females during the mating season.

Frigate Bird soaring in the sky

My first day at the Galapagos and I was totally awed.
Day 3, 4 and 5..to be continued….

America Road Trip before Heading Back To Singapore

A month has passed since I returned to Singapore. It has been 6 years since I left Singapore. To assimilate to Singapore’s lifestyle after being away for such a long time was not an easy feat. The overcrowded public transport, the heat and the long working hours made it difficult for me to spend quality time with my husband. It is during moments like these that I yearn for a vacation to take us away from the mundane routine.

I am glad that we took a 6 week long America road trip before making our way back to Singapore! Whenever we feel worn out and exhausted, we would look at the pictures we have taken. As we browse the photo albums, we reminisce the wonderful moments we spent together. The memories are priceless and unique to us.

Mt Washburn, Yellowstone National Park, USA

I would urge family members and friends to take a short getaway vacation before major lifestyle changes occur. These major lifestyle changes include first job, career change, marriage and the arrival of a new born baby. Before each major milestone in life, we should take the opportunity to spend quality time with our friends and / or family members. The time we spend together form an everlasting memory that will bond us together.

Arches National Park, USA

 

Big Horn Sheep, USA

My husband and I love food, cultural experience and the great outdoors. In view of our interests, I drew up an itinerary that took us to French speaking Canadian cities (Montreal and Quebec), the Canadian capital city Ottawa and countless National Parks in USA. Whilst enjoying the sights as we drove towards our destinations, we also came up with random conversation topics. These random topics enable us to understand each other better. Moreover, it helped us shaped our new goals and expectations. A vacation does wonder, and it is therapeutic. Additionally, we marveled at the numerous natural wonders that no words can quite adeptly describe.

Mules, Grand Canyon National Park, USA

Bryce Canyon National Park, USA

On a final note, while I was picking photos to complement this post, I saw many photos that we have taken. As I looked at them, my heart felt warm and a smile was on my face. Happy memories are precious. Quality time spent with a loved one is meaningful.

Your Travel Beacon,
Joanne

Your Travel Beacon's favourite travel apps!

 When travelling, your phone can make for a great travel companion.

There are so many apps these days, from those that help you pack your pack, navigate through cities, translate a foreign language, book hotels etc. These are some of our favourite apps.

PackTM

Great app for creating packing list for your trips. This app allows you to create separate packing list for separate trips. You are able to create new lists with essential items automatically added, or copy items from previous list. My favourite part of the app is how the app automatically counts how many items you need based on the length of your trip. For example, if you need 2 sets of undergarment a day, the app will tell you that you will need 10sets for a 5 day trip.

FlightTrack

This is by far the best flight tracking app. This app is updated with real time flight status – you are able to check for gates, delays and cancellations. My very tech-savvy dad uses this app to keep track of the flight that I am on, and often sends me SMS informing me of gate changes and delays even before the ground staff at the airport makes the announcement!

FlightBoard

Turn your phone into the departure and arrival board of any airport in the world! 

Currency

This app provides up to date currency information for over 100 countries. Perfect when you need to calculate the latest rates.

 Accuweather

This app gives hour by hour update of the local weather condition. It is fairly accurate in the US, and you can rely on it to determine if you should be carrying an umbrella as you tour New York.

Google Translate

Can’t speak the local language? Fret not, with Google Translate you can type or speak in your language and Google Translate does the rest.

Frommer Series

You can download the entire Frommer’s guide into your phone. This saves you weight by not having to lug your travel book along.

Yelp

Hungry but do not know where to have dinner? This app allows you to look for a place to eat, drink , shop , relax and read reviews from the locals on where the best places in town are.

Skype

Call, video call, instant message to anyone in the world at a cheap rate. Skype is a good way to keep in contact with your loved ones when travelling.

Your Travel Beacon,

Cindy

Travelling with Elderly Parents

Last month, our parents made a visit to USA. My husband and I planned a self-drive USA / Canada trip for them. In this vacation, we took them to the east coast of the America continent. The destinations include Niagara Falls, New York City and Quebec City. We had also made a trip to the national parks of America West. The national parks include Yellowstone National Park, Mt Rushmore National Monument and Grand Canyon National Park.

In our original plan, my husband and I had intentions to savour the French influenced cuisine in Quebec City. We had also intended to explore each national park in great detail. To fully appreciate the beauty of the national parks, the best way is to hike the numerous scenic trails.

Yellowstone National Park

However, when we embarked on our great vacation, things did not go as planned. We had to make special arrangements to accommodate to the needs of our elderly parents. Our ideal plan to savour all the authentic local dishes went out of the window. Our elderly parents have a limited palate for western cuisine. Our French influenced cuisine in Quebec City turned into Chinese stir fry in an unknown restaurant picked up by our GPS. The quest for New York styled cuisine turned into a trip to a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown.

Laksa, Chinatown New York City

Nasi Lemak, Chinatown New York City

But the food was great, and everyone enjoyed the dining experience very much. While searching for Asian cuisine we unexpectedly found Singapore/Malaysian food in various cities. This satisfied our craving for home food, especially since we have not had Singapore food in a while.

Our dream to hike the scenic national park trails for a complete experience became impossible too. Our elderly parents do not have the stamina to go on these trails. The sulphuric stench in Yellowstone National Park is too strong. The heat in Grand Canyon National Park made it very exhausting from them. It was near impossible for the whole group to go on a long trail. Once again, we made special arrangements to accommodate to their physical condition. We chose easier trails that gave us the best national parks experience. It was not an easy feat to accommodate to everyone's wishes, however it is important to try to understand everyone's abilities and needs. For a family vacation involving elderly parents, it is crucial to make special considerations for them. An altered itinerary can be made equally enjoyable and adds a touch of spontaneity. They have enjoyed the vacation and have had as much fun as we did!

Your Travel Beacon,
Joanne

Eating around the world Part II

More food from around the world….continued from previous post

An enjoyable part of travelling is that you get to try the different cuisine from around the world. Admittedly, I am rather picky with my food and my palate is not as adventurous as I would like it to be, but I have made it a point to at least taste the different cuisine from different places.

Streetfood in Finland. These small fried herring found at the Market Square in Helsinki, paired with reindeer meat soup, was my lunch on one cold finish afternoon.

What do you eat when you are in Frankfurt? Frankfurters! I must have ate at least 3 frankfurters everyday when I was in Frankfurt.

Freshest catch at 4am at Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo! Love it. Awesome.

Another fresh catch.  Succulent lobsters on the island of Maldives. Great food, great location, an experience I definitely want to relive.

How can you not eat Fish and Chips in London?

The original Sacher Torte from Hotel Sacher in Vienna.  Vienna is a really nice place with lots of mouth-watering pastries. This small piece of chocolate cake with apricot under its icing is something everyone should try when they are in Vienna.

 

Polish food at Krakow.

Czech cuisine borrows the tastes of Germany and Hungary's schnitzels, strudels and goulashes, but adds the culture's own unique twists. This plate of Roast chicken with Czech’s cabbage (slight difference from the German’s sauerkraut) was one of my best meals in Prague.

Quesadilla in Mexico. This corn tortilla filled with a savory mixture of cheese and other ingredients, then folded in half and fried is common dish you can find in a typical Mexican’s eatery,

In a Costa Rican meal, one would expect black beans and rice (gallo pinto). This simple, standard dish, often referred to as comida tipica, is the backbone of Costa Rican cuisine.

In Guatemala, many traditional foods are based on Maya cuisine and prominently feature corn, chiles and beans as key ingredients.

I enjoyed Peruvian food a lot.  It was in Peru that I tasted al paca meat, guinea pig meat and chicken hearts. I loved Peruvian cerviche  and its Chicha Morada – a purple drink made with the ears of purple maize. It is no doubt that Lima was declared gastronomic capital of Americas.

These are Coxinha - Brazilian Chicken Croquettes, a common Brazilian street food typically enjoyed for lunch or as a mid-morning or afternoon snack. I was initially quite surprised to find them in Brazil as they reminded me of something you would find in a HongKong DimSum place. They  tasted pretty yummy as well.

Bowls of Pho which our Vietnamese host cooked and delivered to our room every morning. We did not have much of an appetite in the morning but forced ourselves to eat at least half the bowl so as to not hurt her feelings.

Your Travel Beacon,
Cindy