9 Travel Tips That Will Save Your Holiday Season

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Avoid the rush by knowing when to travel.

Hitting the road, heading to the airport, or even booking a trip during this time of year can be a headache—but it doesn't have to be.

Why does every holiday season feel like a montage of scenes from Home Alone? Family members running around frantically, eating your pizza, oversleeping, and sprinting to a flight: It's enough to make you want to skip the holiday altogether. Arm yourself against the mania this year with these nine tested travel hacks.

BOOKING IT

• Be bold—fly on Christmas Day. Christmas Day is, indeed, one of the most popular holidays, which makes it one of the least popular days to travel—and airlines know it. If you're willing to fly on December 25, you'll find significantly cheaper fares. If you don't feel like opening gifts in the air, keep in mind that heading out December 26 and returning January 3 are the most popular travel days; consider leaving December 27 and returning January 2. Even this slight tweak will make hotels and flights cheaper.
• Get sneaky. Online travel sites like Expedia, Priceline, and Orbitz may not have the same listings as airlines, and vice versa. Do your part by searching both, signing up for fare alerts, and following sites like Travelzoo and Airfarewatchdog on social media. If you're feeling sneaky, try hidden-city airfare sites like Skiplagged, which can save travelers money by booking their final destination as a layover. While it's not illegal, there can be drawbacks—airlines see it as exploitation, and may restrict your future travel if you're caught repeatedly using this strategy.
• Delete, delete, delete. It's happened to the best of us: We see a cheap flight, promise to come back later, and when we do, the price has skyrocketed. It's typically because airlines and travel websites track your visits to the site through cookies and cache information, and hold your searches against you. Clear both, and you're more likely than not to see lower prices; this will make it appear like you're a first-time visitor to the site.

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Wrapped presents in your bag can be seen as a risk.

UP IN THE AIR

• Follow gift guidance. Mike McCarthy, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration, says that travelers can bring wrapped gifts in their luggage, but that pretty paper may have to come off if the gift looks like it's been tampered with or poses a security threat. His suggestion? Consider using a gift bag instead of traditional wrapping paper so that you're able to take items in and out with ease. If you're a planner, you can always ship gifts to where you'll be celebrating, so you don't lose precious luggage space.
• Use tech to get ahead. Not only can you tweet the TSA and ask if you're allowed to bring that pie onboard, but contacting airlines through their social media channels has proven remarkably effective in the past. Waiting in line? Fire off a tweet, or hop on the phone with a customer service representative from the airline. They're looking at the same database as the staffers behind the counter, and will probably be able to move much quicker. Pro move: Have all of these numbers entered into your phone before you head to the airport, so you'll be able to pull them up if necessary.
• Pack like you know what you're doing. This goes for carry-ons and checked luggage. Should you be forced to check a bag unexpectedly or—knock on wood—the airline lose your suitcase, you'll want to have valuables and fragile and crucial items with you. Have your items separated before you get to security, and if you find yourself in an interminable queue, empty your pockets before you're asked to do so. Wear shoes that are easy to slip on and off (we recommend the Chelsea boot), and don't pack wine in your carry-on unless you want to throw it out. Worried about wrinkles? Fold your clothes using tissue paper. Worried about saving space? Roll your clothes.
• Just leave early. Seriously. With holiday travel, the early bird doesn't just get the worm—it gets to savor it. And while none of us wants to spend any more time at the airport than we have to, adding 45 extra minutes on top of your usual pre-flight timing will give you the flexibility to get through security, and adapt to any delays or changes, without feeling rushed. (It'll also help you feel sane when faced with slow-moving families making their once-a-year trip.) Apps like GateGuru can also come in handy by giving you real-time updates on security wait times, flight delays, and gate changes.

HITTING THE ROAD

• Avoid traffic jams. This year, Wednesday, December 23 is anticipated to be the busiest on the road. If you absolutely cannot leave any other day, leave early and plan ahead: The busiest window will be 3–6 p.m. As far as returning goes, heading back Monday, December 28 after noon.
• Beat the weather. Being prepared goes a long way. And with inclement weather striking anywhere and anytime, it's best to manage what you can control. A day or so before you're slated to leave, check the tire pressure, oil, washer fluid, windshield wipers and all of the lights in your car. Pack an emergency kit, or update the one you have: bottled water, non-perishable snacks, jumper cables, and warm blankets are just a few of the items you should have.
• Written by Katherine LaGrave
   www.cntravelrer.com

Travelore Tips: 9 Rules Westerners Should Remember When Visiting Japan

Contributed by Scott Norvell

In many ways -- to Western eyes anyway -- Japan is as baffling as Bill Murray's facial expressions made it seem in Sofia Coppola's brilliant 2003 Oscar-winner "Lost in Translation." The sea of black suits streaming down Tokyo's sidewalks. The young female barkers dressed like schoolgirls outside Akihabara's maid cafes. Multi-story towers of pachinko machines or computer games emitting ungodly noises. It truly is overwhelming.

It's outwardly disorderly in many ways, but underneath is anything but. There are rules, both written and unwritten, that everyone seems to know and follow. Everyone, that is, except the casual visitor. As a first-time traveler to Japan recently, I quickly learned those lessons the hard way. Not that there are consequences to ignoring them, other than the stoic stares that pass for admonition in Japan, but knowing them ahead of time would have made settling in a little easier.

I give you, then, nine things that every traveler to Japan should know before they get on a plane. I wish someone had shared them with me ahead of time.

1. You must remember this from the moment you get off the plane: on escalators, stand on the left and walk on the right. It seems simple enough, but this is the opposite of everywhere else in America and Europe and is exceedingly hard to get used to for some reason. And escalators are everywhere in Japan.

2. Everyone smokes. And smoking is highly restricted. But then it isn't.

It's a major digression to smoke while walking down Tokyo's crowded sidewalks. There are designated smoking areas even out of doors. I gather that's so people don't get brushed by 700-degree flaming sticks on crowded sidewalks. Or have to wade through clouds of exhaust. Eating and drinking while walking is also verboten. Maybe it's the same principal, but there are good aesthetic reasons as well. The sight of someone wolfing down a slice of pizza or burger while strolling down Fifth Avenue always makes me cringe back home.

But, curiously, people still smoke prevalently indoors. Don't be surprised to see people smoking at the adjacent table in a restaurant. Strident anti-smokers just have to deal with it. It's not going to kill you. That, or learn enough Japanese to ask whether the restaurant has a non-smoking section.

3. The threat of being scorched by someone's cigarette may be lessened, but the prospect of being plowed into by a bicycle is another matter. Despite the orderliness that guides everything else in Tokyo, bikes get a free reign on just about all the city sidewalks. But just try to ride a cycle into some of the many parks and you will be met by a yellow-gloved guardian in a blue suit with a stern face and and a wagging finger. Those gorgeous, wide sidewalks winding beneath exploding cherry trees have to be enjoyed on foot instead of bicycle.

4. Tipping is a no-no. It's insulting. And it actually makes for a less stressful dining experience. Grappling with gratuity in strange surroundings is always off-putting anyway. Despite this, service is spectacular. A cry for "sumimasen" never failed to attract a polite server in any restaurant we entered over the course of several days.

5. There aren't any trash cans around, so if you generate much in the way of rubbish over the course of wandering then be prepared to lug it around. Despite this, the city sidewalks are relatively spotless. Never did figure that one out.

6. One doesn't hand money directly to cashiers in either restaurants or retail outlets in Tokyo. There is always a small tray near the register into which the money is placed and any change will be deposited for you to retrieve. If you are faced with the prospect of handing anything of value directly to someone (a credit card, for example, or a business card), clutch the item with both hands and deliver with it a subtle nod. It's actually dignified. It demonstrates that both parties are exchanging something of value and they respect both the item and each other enough to entrust it to the other.

7. Eating and drinking on trains -- wholesale picnics, in fact -- is perfectly acceptable on the marvels of modern travel that are the shinkansen, the famed bullet trains. Loudly yammering on one's phone, however, is not. Every car is a quiet car in Japan, and one rarely even hears the chimes or wretched techno ringtones of mobile telephony on either the long-distance trains or the subways in Tokyo. Most people seem to keep them on vibrate. Those who must take calls on the shinkansen usually do so in the depopulated zones between cars.

8. Agoraphobes should probably avoid Tokyo subways, especially during the rush hours, and stick to taxis (but be prepared to take out a second mortgage when you get home to pay for those taxis). One will get pushed around on subways. Count on it, and expect to have to do the same yourself if you plan on getting anywhere. There are, as always, rules, though. Only push gently when you have to, and never with your hands -- only your body. Remove backpacks and clutch handbags close to the body to make yourself as small as possible and learn the most useful phrase in the Japanese language: "sumimasen," or "excuse me." The same "sumimasen" you use to summon waiters in restaurants.

As always, a caveat to this rule: the shinkansen. People waiting for the bullet trains queue in orderly lines while impeccably attired cleaners, down to the white gloves, sweep each car during turnarounds.

9. And, lastly, more of a handy tip than a rule. Tokyo department stores have the most magnificent food halls I have encountered in the world. Better even than Harrod's and the grand magasins of Paris. Anything and everything is available and displayed in the most lavish fashion possible. This is the land of those mythical hundred-dollar melons. And they do actually exist. At one depachika (literally, "department store basement"), as they are known, in Shinjuku we found a pair of muskmelons wrapped in tissue and boxed, offered for the tidy sum of 16,800 yen, or about US$170.

These food halls also sell beautiful bento lunch boxes with sushi, sashimi, pickles and cordoned off delicacies of all sorts. And some, at a rack rate in the $12 to $13 each range, are not that expensive by local standards. An even better deal awaits those who visit the food halls at the end of the day, however. Those same bento boxes and loads of other items made fresh that day go for half-price or less. We wandered into one at closing time and fought through throngs of young office workers snatching up everything they could get their hands on.

It's not a bad way to close the day. Grab a bento and pick a bench near a busy intersection and watch the busiest city in the world go about it's business in a fashion that is orderly beyond belief considering you are in the middle of the largest city on the planet.

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12 Things You Don't Know About Amtrak

Contributed by David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com

12) Amtrak serves full, cooked-to-order meals served on real dishes aboard all long-haul routes. These always include a vegetarian selection and often feature regional specialties. No airplane food zapped in a microwave in their dining cars.


The full service kitchen on Amtrak's Empire Builder. Elevators are used to send the entrees up to the dining room so every dish is fresh and piping hot. 

11) The Empire Builder and Coast Starlight host wine and cheese tastings. The samplings are always from farms and vinyards along the route.

10) Snacks, quick meals and beverages are also available in the cafe car... or if your timing is just right, we have seen a pizza get delivered to the train while we were stopped at a station.

9) There are really nice passenger lounges in most larger city stations with comfy chairs and couches, wifi, drinks, TV, and priority boarding for sleeper, first class, and top rewards club passengers. Feel like a VIP.

The sleeping car lounge in Chicago's Union Station


8) Coach seating is WAY more comfortable than other modes of transportation. More legroom, bigger seats, and usually a power outlet for every passenger. Wifi is showing up on many routes. Some trains have quiet cars where no cell phones are allowed and music or games must use headphones. Shhhhh!

7) There are different types of private rooms in the sleeper cars. Roomettes, provide for up to two passengers, while the Family Bedroom allows room for the kiddies. Some configurations have private bathroom and showers and features for passengers with disabilities are available. The ingenious designs make for both riding and sleeping comfort.

6) For those in the sleeper car without a private bath, there are showers.

5) You are not stuck sleeping on the train station floor if you miss a connection. We asked a wonderful lady -- traveling with a group of Red Hatters -- what happened when she was five hours late getting into Chicago.

4) You can get breakfast in bed. All meals are included (even the ones brought to your room!) in the sleeper car and Auto Train fares. Be nice and tip your attendants!

3) Many of the routes that pass through National Parks feature guides holding talks as a part of Trails & Rails Partnership Program with the National Park Service.

2) Bikes are welcome. Bring your bike aboard on several routes or check it as baggage on others. Unfortunately, no riding in the aisles or between cars is allowed.

1) Amtrak is environmentally friendly. Train travel is the most energy efficient mode of long distance transportation, 14 percent more efficient than domestic airline travel and 31 percent more efficient than auto travel on a per-passenger-mile basis. Plus, Amtrak recycles.