The 2009 Holiday travel has begun! Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years see’s the biggest tourist crowds in the Orlando airport. Many from Florida are flying out to spend a white Christmas with loved ones up north. While many more are flying in for a Disney or other theme park Holiday vacation.

The biggest hassle will be at the Orlando airport. Expect long lines both at the baggage check-in area and also at the security points. These two spots will give you the biggest headaches and cost you the most time. Many people flying in or out for the Holidays don’t travel often and may not be up to date on everything.

So here’s a few refresher tips and tricks for you. Many airlines now charge for checked baggage, or checked bags over one per person. So remember that when your in the baggage line. But since they charge per bag anyway, and the baggage line is the longest wait at the airport, why not ship them instead?
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Well everyone, today I take off on my own vacation! Since I’m from Vermont I’m flying up for two weeks to see the family. I also have a friend that I will get paid to help with a project, so it’s a bit of a working vacation too. The fall foliage in the northern part of Vermont is almost over, and that’s where I’m going.

So maybe I’ll take a trip down to the southern part and try to get some pictures of the fall leaves. It’s really beautiful in the fall in Vermont. But, cold weather is right behind it, which I hate and is why I’m in Florida! Anyway let me tell you what I packed and how I do it for some travel tips.
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Meteor 4-Piece Luggage Set

Well everyone, I now have a new page of quality travel luggage you can buy from eBags! On the net for years, ebags has thousands of luggage, bags, backpacks and briefcases to choose from. They also have the lowest prices around, yet are high quality. You can find the page in the top left sidebar under “travel luggage sets”.

Once you see a luggage set you like, click on the picture and you’ll be taken right to that item in the ebags website. All their luggage sets come in different colors, so if you like the style but don’t like the color displayed chances are it comes in the color you want.

You can pick from 2, 3, 4 or 5 pieces of luggage per set. Hardcase or soft, rolling or duffel style, you can find it all at ebags. So check out my new luggage sets page and see all the styles. Of course you also can go right to eBags and see everything they have right there.

Many people who go on a dream vacation to Walt Disney World or any theme park in Orlando often don’t travel very much. Because of that, they are confused about tipping. Seems like everyone wants you to tip them, even the girl getting your coffee! But one place that tipping is always expected is the taxi cab driver.

So for this post I’ll just explain what you should tip a taxi service. Now, chances are if you don’t rent a car your going to take a cab from the airport. Because they are use to big families and parties the taxi service there often has mini vans and full size vans along with the more standard taxi cab.

When I first took a cab from the Orlando airport they got me a mini van cab. I was confused about if I should pay a bigger tip because they used a van just for me. The answer is NO, you do not. Normally if it’s a single rider or a couple they will use a car. But sometimes they just have a van available at the time, so that’s what they use.

They also have nice big sedans that don’t even look like a taxi cab. It all depends on the cab company. Again what they use for a vehicle has no bearing on what the tip should be. 15-20% of the fare is the right amount for tipping. Now if you get a private limo that is different, and I would tip 20-25%.

No matter what type of vehicle is used, the standard tip for a taxi cab driver in the Orlando area is 15-20% of the total fare. It also does not matter where you have them take you. Dropping you off at a rental house, Disney or a 5 star hotel the rates are the same.

Now what if you have lots of luggage? Well it depends. If all he does is pop the trunk and stand there as you load it all in, then I would not tip him any more than the normal 15-20% of the fare. But if he helpfully and cheerfully stuffs your 10 bags in the cab and helps get them out, I would throw in an extra 5 bucks or so.

Just on a side note, you never tip a public bus driver, nor any driver of any Disney bus service. You also don’t tip any driver that drives the rental car shuttle bus from the airport to the rental car lot. I hope this helps you a bit to know what to tip for Taxi cab services in the Orlando area!

Click picture for more info on this item

Hi everyone, I wanted you to know I just added a new page in my site here. Since this is a tourist site and many come here by plane, I figured it makes sense to have a little store with luggage, bags and laptop computer cases in here. So I made the first page, which you can see in the pages selection in the top left sidebar.

This first one has just laptop computer cases. Wheeled ones, briefcase styles, computer bags and so on. Since I travel with a laptop I know how hard it is to buy one you really like. All of these are from Luggage Pros, a quality luggage and bag company.

Clicking on any of the item pictures in the laptop computer case page will take you right to that item on the Luggage Pros website. They have hundreds of styles, colors, sizes and brand names of luggage and computer cases. They have a nice price range too, from lower cost models that are still high quality, to the high end items that cost quite a bit more.

In time I will add many pages for all types of luggage, bags, briefcases and laptop computer cases. Anything I sell here is quality products you can trust that will last and has a good return policy. I hate junk, and I will not sell any of it in here! So check out my new page if your in need of a good laptop computer case, or go right to Luggage Pros and see all their items!

Click here to open larger map in new window

One of the most asked questions I get is how far from the Orlando International airport is Walt Disney World, Sea World and all the other attractions. So I’ll give you a quick run-down in this post on the distance in miles from the Orlando airport to Disney and many other attractions and areas around the central Florida area.

The Orlando airport connects to major interstates and toll roads that gets you right to all the major attractions. You can pretty much stay on only one or two roads all the way to where your going. Reading all the road signs can be tricky, but for the most part it’s pretty simple to drive from the Orlando airport to where your going.

Now for the number one question I’m asked: how far is Walt Disney World from the Orlando airport? Disney itself is 44 square miles big, so it depends on what part your going to! But in general Disney World is about 22 miles from the Orlando airport.
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I’ve got a long way to go as far as making this site filled with all the Orlando information I want to put in here. But today I finally made a new page all about the Orlando International airport. For most tourist the airport is where they will be coming in, renting a car or talking a bus or taxi, and flying out.

So it’s nice to know where everything is once you get there! The Orlando airport is much more compact than most major airports. You can walk from one end of the main terminal to the other in 5 minutes. That’s because the gates where you board the planes are located in four different “hubs” connected to the main terminal by automatic running monorail cars.

In fact they look just like the monorail at Disney! You HAVE to take one of the cars to get to the gates, there is no other way. Two hubs are at one end of the main terminal, the other two on the other end. So make sure what your gate number is and take the monorail car to the right gate section. You have to pass through security before you can get on board the monorail. Continue reading this post…

Most people think that they can hop into any type of rental car right at the Orlando airport. For most of the rental car companies that is true. Almost all the rental car booths are on the first floor of the main Orlando airport terminal. BUT, for some like Hertz, you then need to take the rental car shuttle van or bus to their rental car lot located a mile or two from the airport.

The reason for this is that up until now there just was not enough room at the airport to hold all the rental cars. With around 6 major rental car companies operating out of the Orlando airport, each one with hundreds of cars, they take up lots of space! So large ones like Hertz had to get car lots just outside of the airport.

But now the Orlando airport is making some big construction jobs, one of which is to make more room for rental cars. So by next spring of 2010 all the major rental car agencies will have their cars ready to pick up right inside the airport terminal garages. That also means you can drop off your rental car right at the airport and be on your way to catch your flight.

More than 2 million rental cars are used a year by Orlando airport guest. So now it will be that much easier to grab your car and take off as soon as your plane lands. If you like Hertz rental cars, look for them to be operating out of the Orlando airport by spring of 2010, like all the other major rental car agencies!

One of the things I hate the most when traveling by plane is having to take my laptop out of the case. My laptop is my whole job, so I am very picky about it. Seeing it dumped into a dirty plastic tub and smacked around while I hurry up with my other items is very stressful. Well now there is good news, at least at the Orlando International airport.

They now will let you keep your laptop in the case,,, IF it meets the checkpoint friendly laptop bag requirements. Which brings up the question, just why do you need to take it out anyway? It all goes back to a plane bombing about 18 years ago. The bomb was inside a boom box. So they now X-ray all laptops to make sure there is no bomb inside of the case.

The screeners know what the inside of a laptop should look like and if it has been tampered with. So they need a very clear view of the laptop. If there are pockets full of pens, papers, wires and so on over it they can’t get a clear view of it. So that’s why they need to view it outside the laptop case. But now they have decided your laptop can stay in the case as long as the case gives a clear view of the laptop.
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Nothing ruins your Orlando vacation faster, or makes you more embarrassed, than pulling into a parking garage at the Orlando airport, downtown or the one in Universal Studios and hearing your new car top luggage carrier getting ripped apart because it’s too high! I’ve seen that happen; I’ve been right behind someone who was having that type of bad day.

So let me tell you where you will run into these parking garages and the height requirements. Luckily there are only 3 places you might park inside a parking garage in Orlando. One is right at the airport. They have two main sections, part A and part B on each side of the main terminal. The rental cars are in these also.

The next place you might decide to park inside a parking garage is downtown Orlando. They have several right in the heart of downtown. It’s hard to find a parking spot downtown, so you might very well have to use one if your going to see what the main city is like. It can be very confusing for visitors trying to find the damn things however!
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More and more flying the friendly sky’s means paying for every single thing you carry. With airlines cutting cost they are now resorting to charging for more meals, drinks, little niceties and luggage. They also are not letting you get away with that over-sized carry-on bag like they use to. More and more airlines are charging per item of each checked bag, or after the first one.

Which means all the more reason to learn how to pack light! I must say over packing for trips is a pet peeve of mine. When I see a couple with no kids check in 5 bags plus 2 carry-ons each I have to shake my head and roll my eyes. True, I don’t know anything about them. Maybe they are going on an Brazilian expedition and they have a rubber raft in that luggage, but likely not!

Most people always over pack way too much stuff. When I go on a vacation I take just two carry-ons. One is my laptop, as I am always working on it of course. That’s how I post all these great articles even while on a trip! The other one is a soft bag with all my other stuff, small enough to fit any airlines carry-on bag size limits. That’s it!
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Rental cars, how we love them and hate them! I could make 50 post about rental cars in Orlando, and I’m sure I will. So I’m going to just talk a little bit about them in each post. Today I’ll just give you some basics about getting a rental car at or near the Orlando International airport. Orlando is one of the biggest rental car cities in the world.

As you would expect, there are many rental car companies that have an office and cars right there at the airport. There also are many others very close to the airport, around 1 to 5 miles. Almost all of them have regular bus and van services to and from the Orlando airport many times a day. So lets say you decide your going to get a rental car, truck or van for your Orlando vacation.

The biggest thing you can do for yourself is MAKE A RESERVATION FOR A RENTAL! Please don’t wait until you get there and figure you’ll just pick out whatever is cheapest. Your going to be tired from the trip and if you have kids they will be hungry and tired also. You want to grab your car and get the heck out of there, not wait in another long line! Continue reading this post…