Ok..here’s the scenario..my hubby and and I are trying to book a flight, hotel reservations, and possibly a rental on our upcoming trip to Jamaica. There are specific dates that we NEED to be there..the end of Feb/March 2010.

With the short notice of plans…comes money tension! It is possible for us to save and and afford the trip(it’s gonna be tight).

My question is..what are the best ways to ‘save’ money..and be cost efficient? I know that you get great deals and flights when you purchase in advance…but our budget won’t allow us to purchase the ENTIRE ‘package’ up until about 1 month to 2 months before our travel dates.

SO..if we were to buy flight/hotel/rental individually…which should we purchase first? Flight or hotel accomodations?

The flights for Europe are very expensive per person and I know some people find good deals… do any of you know how can I visit Europe at a cheaper price?

I think we have most heard of the story of the 4-5yr old directing planes (two of them) by means on a control tower. He cleared two planes for takeoff (under parental supervision) in a room which undoubtedly had more supervision and flight controllers. You can see the story here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/03/03/air.traffic.child/index.html?hpt=T2

What I want to know is this, "what is the big deal"? This child was not alone in the tower. He was not aimlessly directing flights. And at NO POINT would this child have been able to do anything unsafe (due to parental and outside supervision).

To me this just seems like another case of blowing things out of proportion. Even the pilots involved thought this was fun / cute. We see on TV every single day how parents put work in front of family. Here is a father who is showing his child (who most likely thinks flying is awesome) what he does every day. He is letting his child experience something "adult". Mainly, it is a tender moment with a father and son…nothing more/nothing less.

What do you think? Aside form being a bit "unexpected", what harm or danger did this father/child really put anyone in? To me, I think ti was a noble and cool thing for a parent to do.

My wife and I are looking to go to Tokyo next year for the Sanja Matsuri festival which takes place on the 15th – 17th of May. We would like roundtrip flights out of Portland OR and would like to stay in a hotel that is in the Shinjuku district area. We aren’t looking for the best seats, and flight times; nor a five star hotel (but obviously not something that would be unclean or scary to be in). For us it will be about the experience of being there.

Additionally, we need to find a way to get from the NRA airport to our hotel. I have heard there limo busses which travel from the airport to specific hotels, or hotel areas, but I don’t know if they are the best.

We are looking for two estimates. One with us arriving anytime before the festival (whenever is the cheapest time to fly), and staying one week. The other staying two weeks. In the hope of all hopes, we would like to spend under 00 per person, but we don’t really know what it cost to travel.
I guess I should add on that I know that Taxi fairs are crazy in Tokyo, so I’m attempting to avoid this.