Expert: Stephen Tanenbaum - 12/7/2004

Question
helo stephen,
i am a single parent in the uk and desperately want to travel with my two children,5 and 7. I would love to hear any money saving travel routes.
costa rica is a particular dream,poss. to relocate.
regards
mandy


Answer
Greetings Mandy:
I recall visiting the UK and watching a travel channel on a friends TV. My envy was evident as I viewed deal after deal on trips to Greece, Spain, Paris etc. etc. All offered at prices we in the States 'dream about.' Many such world class destinations are in your 'back yard'
whereas we must fly over oceans east and west.

Aside from mention of Costa Rica you did not 'hint' as to other desired destinations. It is not so much a matter of money saving 'routes' since we've been traveling the globe, from Rio to Australia, Africa, Hawaii etc. FREE.

Our books, so far as they help readers follow in our fly the globe free footsteps, are geared to U.S. airline programs and use of frequent flyer related Visa/Diners/Mastercards though we have used local promotions to pump up our British Airline acct. to over 200,000 miles as well.

If you have similar programs, that is let us say British Airways related credit card that permits you to build up miles then I can offer good advice, especially since British Airways sister airline is our favorite American Airlines.

We have readers check out our major newspapers the NY and LA Times Sunday travel sections for current best deals. Often times offered in 2 inch square small ads by smaller but reputable vendors.

Sorry if I'm going off in 'directions.' My close friend just visited Costa Rica. If you send me any specific questions I'd be happy to forward them to her for reply, assuming you provide an email address.

To sum up, what are your preferences, destination wise?
Do you pursue 'free' airline travel through avaialble programs? (Note: our years of free travel is NOT related to miles we obtain from flying)
Let me know about Costa Rica.
Do you in fact use your  local deals on smaller UK airlines to easily reachable destinations like Spain, Greece etc.
Steve T.