Book Your Next Trip on BezLu and You Could Save $100!

You can now book flight, hotel, and car rental deals directly on the BezLu site using the Orbitz booking widget available in the right column on every page! We use Orbitz frequently ourselves and have used it to find and book excellent travel deals. In addition to great deals, we also find that Orbitz is the only major online travel booking service that displays the total, real price on the first page of results, including all fees. The competitors often tease you with just the base price of the airfare or hotel and only reveal the fees involved later in the process. It also doesn't hurt that Orbitz does not charge any booking fees on flights either... forever. So, please keep this widget in mind and make BezLu the first place you go when you are planning your trip.

As an added bonus, use the code "PRIDE2009" and get $100 off your trip! Book a qualifying hotel or flight + hotel package between by September 7, 2009, for 5 or more nights for travel between May 1, 2009, and November 15, 2009, via Orbitz and instantly receive $100 off your booking.

Air Travel for Pets

Pet Airways launched its inaugural flight today from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York. It is the first of its kind; an airline dedicated to transporting pets in comfort and safety (see our earlier post for more details). Until now, anyone with a pet too big to fit under a typical commercial airplane seat, would have to settle for transporting them in the cargo hold with the baggage, where temperatures can vary drastically, and pet carriers, are handled by the baggage handlers (and we know how 'gentle' those guys are with the rest of your baggage!).

Now, for about the same price as subjecting your pet to the bowels of the cargo hold, pets can travel in comfort, and under constant care and supervision on Pet Airways. A one-way ticket from New York to Los Angeles will run about $250 and pets are given a bathroom and exercise break before boarding. The airline was started by a pet-loving husband and wife team who were struck by the idea after a terrible experience transporting their pet terrier, so the comfort and safety of their "pawsengers" (as they call them) is paramount.

Even the most domesticated and pleasant pets, can be highly disturbed by air travel. If you're not lucky enough to be in a city serviced by Pet Airways here are a few tips that can make travel more comfortable for your pet:

**Pets are particularly susceptible to motion sickness, so even the ride to the airport can begin to upset them. Avoid feeding pets within 3 hours of heading to the airport. You can allow them to have water (and should travel with some as well), but try not to leave home until they've had a chance to relieve themselves.

**Pets' upset often manifests itself with vomiting; another reason not to feed them beforehand, and certainly don't feed them during travel in an attempt to calm them. Last weekend, at the Houston Airport, I couldn't believe when I witnessed a pet owner feed her cat an entire can of food right before boarding a 4 hour flight to New York. It was going to be a long time before that kitty would get a bathroom break!

**Avoid medicating pets with sedatives, which can make them frightened and disoriented. Rather, exercise your pet with a good walk or run, shortly before heading to the airport.

**If you're lucky enough to have your pet in the cabin with you, opt for a carrier that you can easily reach into and assure them with a loving stroke when needed. Avoid the instinct to take them out if they become agitated; cats especially, actually feel more secure in an enclosed space, and feel very vulnerable and nervous in wide open, unfamiliar spaces.

Sometimes it Pays to Be a Slacker

Anyone planning a trip to Europe that will include a visit to any of the major museums, has probably gotten all sorts of advice about arriving super early so as to get a good spot in the queue. Same for major local attractions such as Pearl Harbor, the Empire State Building, etc. The length of these queues is the stuff of legends: 3-hour waits to see the Sistine Chapel, or the view from the top of the Empire State Building are not unheard of.

Consummate late-risers that we are, we never arrive anywhere before 10am, especially while travelling, unless it's for a flight (for some reason, all our flights seem to depart before sunrise!) But it seems to work out to our advantage and I think I've stumbled on a rarely discussed travel secret. There's no need to get to the Louvre or the Uffizi Gallery at 7:00 am to get a good place in line. Rather, show up shortly before noon (or even later), as is our habit, and you will find all the conscientious and very self-disciplined visitors have already cleared the line!

This straggler approach has rewarded us with an almost solo visit with David at the Accademia Gallery in Florence, a closeup one-on-one with the Mona Lisa, and a mere 10 minute wait at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when naysayers told us not to bother trying to go there after 10 am. In addition to missing the line, in European locations, our timing usually means everyone else has run off for lunch so we get the double bonus of experiencing almost empty halls.

So for those who have the resolve to obey the 6 am alarm while on vacation, and are willing to spend half the day lining up for a single attraction, more power to you, but we prefer to stay up all night watching funny foreign language tv, trying to figure out what they're saying, while we share a bottle of local wine and review the day's adventures, and we know we can count on you to have the queue cleared for our noon-time arrival after our luxuriously late breakfast.