Cheapest Day to Fly – Wednesday
We did an in-depth study of our proprietary historical airfare database (world’s largest) and pinpointed the cheapest day to fly is Wednesday for domestic travel (gory details at the link).
Wednesday is one of the three cheapest days, the others are Tuesday and Saturday (Friday and Sunday the most expensive days to travel). The cheapest day to travel internationally are a bit different — we are working on this research and it should be up shortly.
The cheapest time to fly is typically the first flight out in the morning – yes, that means you have to get up at 4am. Next best times are flights during/after lunch and flights at the dinner hour (of course the absolute cheapest time to fly is on those limited routes with red eyes).
Link to the original article
Time is money … we’ve all heard that before, but few people truly realize that they can save heaps of time in airports by looking at what they carry on to a plane; they can also save a few bucks at the same time.
All these airlines, now levy an extra charge for checked baggage, but this is only the start of what’s fast becoming a textbook example of how to nickel and dime consumers. Blankets, pillows, headphones and — believe it or not — bathroom access are all becoming pay onboard now. Welcome to the ”Great Ass Raping at 30,000 feet”. Since I travel from Monday – Thursday to the client site, I have a simple strategy: pack once and then reload, so that I never check luggage again.
For all trips under 5 days, I am a single bag traveler – which I define as one personal bag and one carry on piece. I pack strategically and fit every item I need into a well-designed and well-packed carry-on bag. If it won’t fit in a reasonably sized carry-on, it stays behind.
As a guy, you generally need the following for a 5 day trip (You only need the essentials … embrace it!)
- One pair of underwear/socks per day (5 pairs)
- One pair of jeans that you’re wearing with belt
- One pair of shoes that you’re wearing with socks
- Two pairs of dress pants
- Three shirts
- Two T-shirt
- One pair of shorts
Everything else is optional - in fact I know travelers who will even cut this minimum down to half – but this is my comfort level. You can buy travel sized stuff in any pharmacy on the road. It isn’t worth the hassle to carry this stuff through customs. Here are a couple other tips to become a single bag traveler:
- Find the right bag
Know the limits of the carry-ons and know that you can “jet-bridge” anything as long as you’re comfortable with it. I always use the jet bridge for my one carry on item, since I know it almost never fits in the overhead compartment. You’re allowed to do this and it is free.
The right bag is something that is about twice the size of the large gym bag or one duffel bag size. You can pack everything I listed above and more without the extra charge or weight.
- You aren’t just a vessel of knowledge but can also be luggageWhat you wear for your flight is part of your travel wardrobe. Choose these clothes strategically — your one pair of work shoes and jeans and t-shirt is part of your trip wear, but they’re also fine to wear on the flight – make that one outfit count. To minimize the tech gear you carry in your bag, consider a travel vest … you won’t need a tech bag or maybe even decrease what is in your tech bag … if you’re a traveling blogger/consultant like me.
- Liquids aren’t necessary, but if you must, travel size itSeriously, all that conformity to the TSA’s 3.4 ounce rule for liquids. Do you really need soap, shampoo and lotion. Most hotels you go to will give you this for free and if they don’t, you really need to find a better hotel.
- Learn the secret packing techniquesThere are no secret packing techniques – use common sense. If you pack shoes, ensure that you stuff the sock inside the shoes. Roll your shirts together etc.. if you don’t know how to pack a bag/suitcase, learn how
If you think that having pods of 10 cops on every street corner downtown is more security, then Toronto Caribana ’10 must be one of the safest places in Earth. I mean seriously, it is one thing to have security, it is entirely another thing to have group of 10 cops “eyeing down” every group of black males that are walking on the streets.
Last night, while driving through downtown Toronto to see the madness that engulfs the city on the start of the August long weekend – I was amazed at the overall police presence in downtown Toronto. I’ve never seen so many cops on each corner of the sidewalk or riding bikes or or horses or on top of buildings with sniper rifles (ok, the last part I made up).
I’ve also come to the realization that I truly hate being in Toronto for Caribana weekend – not because I hate Caribana – I mean why should I … a small island of 1.2 million people gave rise to this festival here – I don’t care what Jamaicans, Bajans or Guyanese have to say – Caribana is a Trini/Caribbean thing! I dislike Caribana because I don’t like when any festival overruns the city and causes me inconvenience (although I love being in any other city for their festivals – I’m good like that), hence I’ve disliked the following things in the city:
Back to the cops … yet another reason to avoid the Caribana madness … although I always wonder why the Pride parade never seems to see this type of overwhelming police presence.
Travel photography tends to be a lot easier, if you have an eye for space, vista and colours. That being said, I generally hate looking at other people’s travel photos, especially if they are not really travelers because the photos typically border on the mundane, boring and regurgitated shots that everyone else seems to take. I have a couple personal guidelines that I use when taking travel shots, that have prevented from always falling into the boring travel photo shot trap. I’m not perfect but since I do get a number of compliments on my eye for travel shots, I thought I would list my tips to avoid travel photo disasters
- Stay out of the picture
I can’t repeat this enough. You know what you look like … you see your tired ugly, mug everyday … your friends know what you look like, they know what your tired, ugly mug looks like – why spoil a lovely view point or great shot by injecting yourself into it? Travelers are cliche in their photography because they have an overwhelming urge to insert themselves into the landscape, perhaps to prove that they were really there, and they looked good…
Do you need to prove that you actually went to <insert location>, by standing in some god awful pose with your hands up or some forced smile at the aforemention location. People seem to like the shots I take, because I’m never in them.
My gut and pose ruined a perfectly good picture here
- If you are in the picture, please stand to the side
It’s not a portrait shot. If you are in the middle of an icefield in Greenland, your picture is a snapshot of the icefield not you with an icefield behind you. Standing to the side also gives your subject more of the frame and in some instances, the perspective of you on the side will actually enhance the picture.
- Taking pictures of other people taking pictures is always cool
It tells a story and frames the other person in the shot without making them the focal point of the shot.
- Contrast and colour is always great
Photos are meant as snapshots of time, location and memory. Taking snapshots of things that you can see everyday is never interesting, however taking a snapshot of an everyday travel scene infused with a specific time of day event or color is always a talking point
- When you’re in the shot, have a picture of something memorable.
This should be a no-brainer tip, but I’ve seen too many pictures of people just standing around when there is all this goodness and wonder around them. For instance, how many more tired pictures of Niagara Falls can I look at without thinking “Holy crap … couldn’t you at least make a funky pose or something?”
Of course, holding a sting ray, always makes a good picture!!
- Be original
Another no-brainer tip. Going to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and doing the same tired shots, using perspective to make it appear that you are holding the tower up is tired, boring, contrived and over done. Why have the same shots that everyone else has?
You then end up looking like these morons…
- Good food shots while traveling are always awesome.
Note the use of the word “Good”. Learning how to use light, angle and perspective in taking a good food shot is a skill that takes practice and time. Food shots are great because they elicit discussion, especially if someone has never eaten <insert cuisine> food from that country.
For instance, I took a picture of plate in Brazil at Casa de Feijoada and I remember getting about 20+ compliments from friends and other people on that particular shot because it made them go research the word “Feijoada” and “Casa de Feijoada”.
- You can only fix, what you measure; so compile a list of “Cheese” and try not to repeat it.I have a personal list of “cheese”, that I keep in mind when I am taking a shot. We’ve done it time and time again … I have been guilty on numerous times of a cliche pic – the difference is that I tend to bury my cheese among 1000′s of pictures.
Cheesy photo clichés: sunsets, beaches, famous road signs, the couple standing on the beach at sunset, villagers, famous sites, children in the village, people working the rice fields or some other field, cafes, people kissing on park benches, and water fountains.
Background: Landmark/Sunset/Hillside
Foreground: Me or someone else standing with their arms up, “OMG!” face with mouth wide open, sometimes jumping. It’s past cheesy, it’s like soft cheese. The Camembert/brie/feta of photos.
leave your house at 2pm on a July Sunday and in the next three hours, do a mini World tour consisting of the following activities:
- Pass through the Beaches Jazz Festival and get inundated by the crowds
- Snacking on some Steak & Potato, Veggie and Tandoori Chicken Samosas at Sultan of Samosas.
- Head down to Harbourfront Center to check out the crowds and the people coming back from Center Island
- Then attempt to grab chocolates at Soma in the Distillery District. Doesn’t matter that we failed at this, but that we passed through the district
- Finally grab some Hakka food (Manchurian Mixed Fried Rice, Kan Shue Green Beans and Extra Spicy Chili Chicken) at Federicks in Scarborough
Although Montreal will always remain my first love of Canadian cities, Toronto is finally getting some love from me – it only takes access to a car and about 8 years – but it mostly hinges on the car. Toronto is a city that you really need a car to find the best food around – Montreal is compact and lovely but comes in second to the Asian food you can get in Toronto.
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