Hangers are a must if you want to keep clothes wrinkle free, let a wet garment drip-dry, or if you just want to keep something off the floor. Although some hotels have them, you never know what you are going to find. Maybe they’ll be bolted into a grimy closet or maybe there won’t be enough of them to accommodate your needs. The Bumps Be-Gone Travel Hangers are a great option because they are completely bendable making them easy to pack and a cinch to mold into a shape that will work for you. They are also padded so they won’t leave bumps in delicate or wet fabrics.

$10.85 for a pack of 4 Magellan’s

American Airlines is accusing airfare search engine Kayak of leading consumers to their affiliate Orbitz to buy plane tickets instead of directing them to the AA site. As a result of the argument and failure to come to agreeable terms, Kayak will no longer be allowed to display airfares from American Airlines as of August 1st.

I find this really annoying for a number of reasons. For one thing, Kayak almost always provides links to the airline websites alongside those to other booking engines. Also, like most people, I use Kayak fairly exclusively and this is going to ruin my ability to one stop shop. Finally, AA is still allowing their fares to be displayed on other airfare search engine sites like Mobissimo and Farecast that literally do the same thing as Kayak, only not as well.

Remember the post I wrote about “Walking With Dinosaurs-The Live Experience”? Will and I saw the show over the weekend and it was amazing! The production is done so well and the creatures are so lifelike that you feel as though they are real. The audience was full children, but a hush fell over the arena from the moment the first dinosaur appeared…until he roared! That said, it’s a great show for the whole family and isn’t at all frightening. If you’d like to check it out, there are still dates remaining on the North American tour in New York, Chicago and on the west coast.

Walking With Dinosaurs – The Live Experience

Many people suffer from allergies severe enough to affect them when they stay in hotels. Whether they require completely dust free rooms or special bedding, it can be tough for them to find a place to get a good night’s sleep on the road. Thankfully, many hotels are catching on and accommodating this group. Wyndam Hotels has announced plans to reserve at least 25 rooms per hotel as allergy friendly. Nylo Hotels are designating an entire floor at each of their properties. Manadarin Oriental, Four Seasons and Peninsula are also getting in on the act by setting aside rooms with special air filters and hypo-allergenic bedding.

If you have special needs because of allergies, always call your hotel ahead of time to see if they can accommodate you. If they can’t, I suggest calling or e-mailing their customer service and letting them know about your issues. The more requests a hotel gets, the more likely they’ll be to address them.

Source: Travel and Leisure

I just updated Alena’s Favorites with the most current information on the websites I use to find the best deals when I travel.

Last weekend I discovered the most offensive fee yet that airlines are sticking to customers: seat selection fees. Now some airlines are charging you to select your seat in advance!

Spirit Airlines is charging $15 for a window seat, $10 for an aisle and even $5 for the dreaded middle seat. Canadian Airline WestJet will tack on $10, Air Canada’s Tango class will add $15-$22 and AirTran will run you $6 to select any of the above. Meanwhile, Icelandair won’t allow you to choose seats in advance at all if you book their lowest fares. If you choose not to pay, the airline will assign you whatever is left when you check in, but you should expect the worst seats and to be separated from any travel companions.

My advice is to figure out what fees an airline is going to charge before you purchase tickets and decide if their “lower” fare is in fact better than that of an airline not charging all these fees. Personally, I’m going to fly the airlines that aren’t so fee happy as much as I can. Continental, Delta and Jetblue are still checking passengers first bags for free and offering regular seat assignments at no charge, at least for now!

The REI Backpack Cooler is perfect for car trips, hikes or day at the beach. It will keep your drinks and perishable foods chilled and also has a loop at the bottom for a towel or blanket and non-insulated side pockets for additional storage. Of course, the main feature is the bag’s backpack design making it much easier to carry than a traditional cooler.

$49 REI.com

Come November, USAirways will begin removing their 500 pound in-flight entertainment systems from domestic flights. That means no more movies on about 200 of their airplanes. They say the weight reduction will save them $10 million in fuel costs. They hope to add lighter, seat back TV screens at some point in the future, but no date has been set.

Right about now I’m appreciating my iPod and Gameboy a whole lot more!

Summer is in full swing and that means amusement parks are in peak season. Everyone loves a good roller coaster, but real connoisseurs look for more than just a fast ride. Here are some coasters that offer something extra:

Maverick at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio has the only twisted horseshoe roll in the world.

Griffon at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia is the first floorless dive coaster.

Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut is the only mountain terrain coaster.

X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Los Angeles, California has the first individual rotating seats.

Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world.

Source: Popular Mechanics

There are too many fees to keep up with these days!

SmarterTravel, Airfarewatchdog and SeatGuru, three sites I like, have teamed up to create the Ultimate Guide to Airline Fees, a chart that gives you the run down of the latest charges from all of our major domestic airlines.

Best of all…it’s totally free!