AAH Travel Advice

San Francisco is a city that has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to places to take children to. What other city in the world can have two aquaria, one for older children and another for young ones, and have one of them go for free once a month? For children who are slightly older, the aquarium in the Exploratorium provides hours of fun observation. To  parents of the little babies though, a visit to the California Academy of Sciences in the Golden Gate Park offers the chance to visit an exciting aquarium for little babies. Admission here is rather expensive at about $25. But on the third Wednesday of every month, you get in for free. This is one of the best San Francisco attractions ever for young children. Wherever you turn, the most beautifully colored fish surround a visiting baby peering through ceiling high glass tanks, looking like so many bejeweled angels – gentles sea horses, nonchalant sea bass, octopuses and starfish with their suckers wobbling about and ethereal looking  jellyfish wafting by. It’s practically baby heaven.

Another cool and great place to take the baby would be the Cartoon Art Museum. The price of admission is $6, unless a child is younger than six. In that case, they get in for free. The museum goes back through history to look at how the traditions of the modern cartoon and the strip comic book arose. They have comic history from Japan and the Far East and trace the history of this art form through England and America. The museum isn’t exactly popular, and children can have a great time peering at what children have laughed at for ages before. They can have free computer animation screenings every now and then, of classics like Grinning Evil Death. San Francisco attractions can be perfect for children in this way – highbrow and fun all at the same time.

And finally, the Exploratorium is as great place to visit as the name promises, even if young children may find most of the attractions a little above their heads. They can try their hand at a hysterical attraction called Painting with Light, and they can look at plants trying to trap insects.

As you can see, San Francisco is a city where you can easily have a child feel completely entertained without ever having to go near one of the traditional child friendly attractions that other cities have  – zoos, circuses or regular museums.

When USAir advertises fares at $100, but when they balloon to $300 when you try to take advantage of them because of the taxes and fees, does that count as advertising fraud? When at any miserable dive in America, they feel free to add on a resort fee to the advertised room rate, are they really allowed to do that? When in the papers they have air travel deals advertising flights to Europe starting at $129, should they be forced to make good on their promise?

Travel articles that dispense advice on how to save money traveling, always tell you to sign up for e-mail alerts from all kinds of travel services for discounts and deals there might be on offer. The question is though, how do you know that those deals are real and not just teases? The language used in those offers are always about caveats like ‘available for certain destinations’ or ‘offer subject to availability’.

Jet Blue Cheeps are its offers put out on Twitter. They usually advertise a handful of seats, and announce the deadline. As time goes on, the available seats run out. But JetBlue offers are usually advertised for the number of seats available clearly shown.

Most travel deals advertised will be available on certain dates alone. Where companies try to make it look like their deals are available for a longer time than they really are, that is where they cross the line. If those dates are listed at all, they’ll usually be buried in fine print at the bottom of the page. If a company doesn’t make it clear without sending you to the fine print section the dates on which a deal is available, youI should probably leave it alone. Consumer forums around the Internet are rife with complaints over how travel websites refuse to publish taxes and fees, and how they refuse to make it easy to find out the timeframe air travel deals are available in. They do this because it’s cheap advertising for them this way.

In general, offers on hotel stays, unlike air travel deals, are likely to be more worthwhile looking into. And that would be especially true of advertising done by a particular hotel as opposed to advertising done by a travel website for all hotels in the destination. Advertising by a travel website usually is less reliable than advertising by a specific airline, hotel or anything else. For instance, when a travel website advertises a car rental rate of $15 a day over a weekend, that usually doesn’t include major destinations like LA or NYC. When a car rental agency like Hertz makes such a claim, it usually includes every single major city.

The only consolation here is that bait and switch ads are nothing new to us. We have had these on flyers and newspaper ads forever. It’s just that e-mail and the Internet make it much easier for them to go back on their word.

African vacations are exciting in their own way, which is unique and adventurous as compared to other countries. Having over 50 countries to choose from is tricky and people must get confused over where to get to first. Nevertheless, whichever African country people settle for they will definitely have a time of their lives. Africa is a wonderful continent and her breathtaking wildlife and tantalizing topography make the vacation even more exciting. People will have an opportunity to experience the different cultures, the flora and fauna as well as the languages that make the African continent so unique.

An African vacation may take people all they way to Egypt, Cairo which is an ideal haven to indulge in outdoor activities that include wildlife and nature. Outdoor activities such as bird watching and golf, and watching natural wonders will be a favorite pass time on this vacation. Egypt is a beautiful land with a rich history and culture and it will be great watching the phenomenal pyramids, which characterize her heritage. Sightseeing will also be a great idea as well as visiting the museums to sample the best in this magical land. Entertainment and amusement will warm up this vacation with Egypt’s tantalizing nightlife.

Mauritius is a beautiful African country that gives people a thrilling African vacation experience. Mauritius is home to beautiful islands, nature, reefs, zoos, and museums. She also has wildlife parks where people can enjoy watching the exotic wild. Sports make this vacation even more exciting as people play golf and engage in water activities such as canoeing, water rafting, and scuba diving. Her beaches will provide vacationers with a load of fun as they swim in the magical waters. Scenic places like the Trou aux Cerfs make Mauritius the best destination ever and people will be thrilled by the wonders of Mother Nature.

Kenya is a must visit while on that African vacation and her fascinating world known wildlife will definitely steal the day. Kenya has the famous five animals that include the lion, elephant, cheetah, buffalo, and the rhino and these make her a favorite among animal enthusiasts. Kenya is also home to beautiful beaches along the Kenyan coast, which are awesome for a swim and water sports. The culture of the Kenyan people stands out and they are so hospitable making this vacation one of a kind. Other attractions include the famous wildebeest migration along the Mara River that traverses the Masai Mara.

South Africa is top on the African vacation destinations having recently hosted the world Cup 2010. She is beautiful and well endowed with beautiful parks where people get to watch the wild animals and nature. She has a rich history that is preserved in her museums. She also has a tower that acts as an observation deck to her frequent visitors. The gold reef city is home to a magnificent casino, an amusement park, and a historic village and this is necessary visit while in Johannesburg, South Africa. Other attractions here include the Bunny Park, the Johannesburg Fort, art galleries, and aquariums among others.