It's a Woman's Prerogative to Change Her Mind!

...and that's just what I did today.

When I opened my email inbox this morning there was a "fare alert" email from Kayak.com.  Many times I just scan and delete these emails, especially if I'm not particularly looking to plan a trip.  So, why did this email command attention?  Well, it had the city of Rome in the subject line.

I'll admit, I cannot pass any mention of Rome without looking into it, and I'm glad I didn't pass this up because it lead me to find the 72 hour fare sale Delta Airlines was having.

When I saw a round trip fare from Savannah to Rome for the end of November and it was under $800 I had to explore this option a little more.

But I had a dilemma, I had already booked flights to San Francisco in early November.  But Rome is ALWAYS calling my name, so I put my dialing finger to good use and called Delta reservations to see what the cost would be to change the San Francisco ticket to a Rome ticket and change the dates.

Not having done this before I prepared myself for sticker shock for the cost of the change, but I was pleasantly surprised and bit the bullet and made the change.  So now instead of Sonoma County, California in November, mom and I are heading back to Rome!

Once I had the flights changed it was time to cancel the California hotels I had already booked, and fortunately I had reservations that could be cancelled without penalty.  When those cancellations were complete it was time to turn to my discount code for the Albergo del Senato which the hotel sent me after my March stay with them.  A 10% discount in this extremely well-located Roman hotel was a good deal and now, a week at Thanksgiving in Rome is set...that is unless I change my mind again!

Hallelujah it's here!

It's Here! It's Here! It's HERE!!!!

My Russia visa arrived today!

I know, I know, I'm being a wee bit melodramatic, but I was the happiest girl on Hilton Head Island today when the package with my passport and Russia visa was delivered to me this morning.

It's not that I doubted the visa would be issued (ok, maybe there was just an ounce of doubt).  But I have to admit I did breathe a sigh of relief when it arrived.  Now that there is a Russian visa beautifully stuck on one of the pages in my passport it all seems much more real...I'm really going.

And now it's time to bust out my Google Translate App and learn a few basic words in Russian...hello, thank you and please are probably three good ones to start with...Wish me luck!

What's A Gal To Do When Looking For a Hotel Deal?

Although I am taking off for Russia next month, I've also now booked two trips to NYC, one in September and one in December, and a one week trip to Sonoma County California in November.

With my Russia trip plans in order (well, there is the Visa issue to contend with), I have turned my sights to booking accommodations for the rest of my trips this year.  Some may think it's a bit too early to book for the fall, but for the travel planner I am, it's not.  Well, at least in my mind it's not too early!

For the December NYC trip I turned to my Intercontinental connection and got a Friends & Family rate at the new-ish Intercontinental near Times Square in NYC, for a not too bad price of $220 per night. 

For the Sonoma County trip in November I turned to a California friend for a hotel recommendation.  She whole-heartedly advised Healdsburg is a terrific town to use as a base location in the area and gave me a great lead on the Healdsburg Inn. When I contacted the inn directly, they couldn't have been nicer and since I'm traveling with my mom, I was able to secure the senior citizen discount for our 6 night stay.  So for about $275 per night we will be staying right in the heart of Healdsburg where we can walk to wine tasting rooms and a variety of restaurants without having to deal with who drives after enjoying wine with dinner!

My last hurdle was finding a NYC hotel for the September trip.  It's a quick weekend trip and I was looking for 2 nights accommodation.  I'm pretty sure at this point at least one Broadway show will be on the agenda that weekend and I wanted to stay somewhere with easy access to mid-town Manhattan and specifically close to Times Square, but not necessarily in Times Square.

I went back to my trusty Friends & Family option with Intercontinental and either the rates for the locations I wanted were no bargain, or the rate was good but the location was farther than where I wanted to be.  So, I started trolling the websites Hotwire, Room Key and TravelZoo for any great deals that might pop up.

For about a week I was not having much luck, rates were not super astronomical by NYC standards, but in the back of my mind I knew something better would pop-up.  Then it did, a TravelZoo deal for the Paramount Hotel on West 46th street.  I could book the first night for $220 and the second night for $189 and free wi-fi was thrown into the deal.  So I booked it, knowing if I found something even better that the cancellation policy allowed me to cancel without a penalty.

The Paramount deal was good, but after reading some of the comments on Trip Advisor I started having misgivings.  It's an older property which can mean "wonky" issues with rooms (size, lighting, bathroom issues). 

Zoom forward one week from when I booked the Paramount deal and I receive a new TravelZoo email deal for the Millennium Broadway Hotel, a hotel I've stayed at before, which is significantly more modern than The Paramount, and I liked (alot!).  And the Millennium Hotel deal was even better!  I quickly booked the two nights I needed for $189 per night.  A slight savings over The Paramount Hotel deal.  With the new hotel booked I cancelled The Paramount reservation and now I am set for an autumn full of fun and travel adventures!

Now I can start looking for restaurants, sites and activities to occupy my time in these terrific destinations!