Travel Advice

Surf Bus Oahu North Shore Tour Review and Tips

If you’re in Honolulu or Waikiki beach area and are looking to do a day trip to the North Shore area, be sure to check out Surf Bus.  They hit up all the main spots with a choice of activities and in the morning and the afternoon included in the price.  Below is a general review and tips to get the most out of your day.  If you can, be sure to ask for Mike as a drive as he’s quite the comedian and will entertain you during the drive.

 

General Schedule

8am – Hotel pickup.
9:30am – Macadamia shop stop for a washroom break and souvenir shopping (15 minutes)
10:30am – Arrive in the North Shore area.
11am – Beginning of your morning activity.   Choices include:
– Snorkling
– Hike + waterfall swim (see above video)
– Bike ride
1pm – Lunch time!
2pm – Beach hangout
3pm – Beginning of your afternoon activity.  Choices include:
– Surfing
– SUP (see above video)
– Kayaking
5pm – Turtle viewing at the beach
5:15pm – Head back to hotel
6:30pm – Arrive back at hotel.

 

Tips

– Make use of the cooler.  Bring your own snacks and water to tide you over for the whole day (and save money).
– Bring your own towel (a quick dry one if you can) and a change of clothes as it can get cool at times.  Wear your swimsuit from the start to save time.
– Try the garlic shrimp hut during your lunch stop (delicious, but very garlicky!) for around $16USD.
– Don’t forget to tip your driver (approx. $10USD).

Travel Advice

How To Turn 20 Days Of Annual Leave Into 47 Days Of Travel in 2017.

If you’re in Australia, you’ll love this!  Awol/Contiki has put together a chart that shows how to turn 20 days of annual leave into 47 days of travel.  By strategically planning your leave days (book them before your colleagues!), you can enjoy up to 47 days of travel if you combine weekends, holidays and your annual leave days.

contiki-47-days-of-travel-for-20-days-leave

So what are you waiting for?  To see the latest deals from Contiki go here. #NoRegrets

 

Travel Advice

Free WhatsApp Roaming with KnowRoaming

Get 30% off instantly here. Promocode RAITA00.

KnowRoaming, a Toronto-based player in the international mobile roaming market just introduced a game-changer.  By simply signing up and having one of their international SIMs, users get free and unlimited WhatsApp usage.  And that’s not just messaging, but also pictures, videos and calls so long as it’s through the WhatsApp app.

So how does one get on the KnowRoaming network?  Simply order one of their SIM stickers ($29.99USD) or SIM cards ($9.99USD) to get started (HINT: Use promo code RAITA00 for a $9/$3 discount).  The main difference between the two is that the sticker allows you to use your existing SIM at the same time so there’s no need to switch between two SIM cards.  On the other hand, the SIM card option is great if you have an old phone lying around that you want to use exclusively for travel.  Both options require your phone to be unlocked (well worth the cost!).

As for savings, aside from the free WhatsApp usage, unlimited data is available for $7USD/day in most countries.  This option is ideal for business people and bloggers that need regular connection to the internet and since it’s unlimited, it really is worry-free.  For other reasons to go unlimited and forget about wifi, see my other post here.

Finally, if you’re already with KnowRaoming, the unlimited WhatsApp option is already available to you.  No changes needed!

Travel Advice

Berlin Beaches – Strandbad Wannsee Beach Area

Berlin, although a landlocked city, has a great beach area on the outskirts of the city.  The Strandbad Wannsee area is very family friendly with full washrooms and change rooms.  It also neighbours a marina with plenty of boating options, including sailing.  From central Berlin, it is about 30 minutes by train and another 15 minutes of walking (from the station to the beach area).  Access to the beach area is roughly €5.50 depending on your age and student status.

Travel Advice

Contiki Greek Island Tour Review

Are you considering doing a Contiki Greek island tour?  You may have heard of Mykonos and Santorini, but Ios?  Although not as popular as the other islands, Ios is a pleasant surprise for those who have the privilege of visiting it and there’s a reason why it’s the last island of the tour.

Ios is a smaller greek island only accessible by boat.  Since it doesn’t have an airport, you’ll notice a big different in how quiet the island is.  Also, being less popular, Ios has many untouched beaches and lots of nature.

contiki greek island

Overall, the island offers the perfect balance of relaxation and parties, while maintaining environmental balance and sustainability.

During your stay, one must-do is a visit to Pathos Lounge.  During the day it is an amazing pool hangout, while at night it is an unreal party spot with world-class DJs.

Contiki Greek Island Ios

So what are you waiting for?  YOLO! #NoRegrets

Travel Advice

Toronto Airport (YYZ) Showers

If you arrive early or have a stopover at Toronto’s Pearson Airport (YYZ) and feel the need for a shower, there are some available in the international departure Plaza Premium Lounges in Terminal 1 and 3.

Although there is a fee to get in, the price includes food and drinks (alcohol too!) and a relaxing place to wait for your plane.

For a full review of the Plaza Premium Lounge in terminal 3, see the video above.

Can’t get enough of airport lounges?  Consider a Priority Pass.

Termina 3 Showers
Termina 3 Showers

Travel Advice

Using Mistake Airfares to Increase Tourism.

How Tourism Boards and Airlines Should Work Together to Increase Demand by Leveraging Airfare Tracking Websites (ATWs).

An Introductory Report by Rain Digital Inc. and RainTravels.com. PDF available here.

With the rise of Google Flights, ITA Software and other similar tools, it is now significantly easier to search and compare airline pricing. This has lead to the rise of Airfare Tracking Websites (ATWs), which originally shot to popularity for publicizing mistake airfares. Some are listed below:

Canada:
http://www.yyzdeals.com
http://www.nextdepature.ca

U.S.:
http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/
https://flightfox.com/
http://www.secretflying.com/

These sites crawl the web for airfares that fall below its moving averages. For example, if a flight from New York to Tokyo averages $900 during off-peak season, but one becomes available for $650 or less, this would trigger an alert to the above ATWs who would then post it to their sites as a flight deal. This in turn gets seen by thousands of the sites’ followers through email and social media.

Mistake Airfare Websites
An example from NextDeparture.ca

 

Getting Posted

It goes without saying that in order to get posted on these sites, the airlines simply need to reduce their airfares enough to get noticed; a tactic already employed by airlines (hey, at the end of the day it’s free advertising).

 

The Other Player

Taking a step back, let’s take a look at the role of Tourism Boards. Most countries or regions have one that are usually funded by its respective Tourism Ministry or government body. The Board’s goal? To increase awareness and ultimately increase tourism to the country/region. This ‘awareness creation’ can take the form of advertising, PR, sponsored events, and conventions to name a few. The problem with most of these tactics is that it’s hard to measure its effectiveness and to track back the results to a specific campaign.

 

The Board Math

Although not a perfect science, the effectiveness of a Tourist Board can be measured by the below.

X = Total visitors for the period (usually yearly)

Y = Number of estimated visitors that would come regardless of the Board’s efforts

$ = Total board budget

Therefore, the average cost of ‘acquiring’ a new visitor = $/(X-Y)

Once this figure is known, it must be compared against the estimated economic benefit of an additional tourist to determine the return-on-investment (ROI) generated from the respective Board’s efforts.

Read more