In the Know and On the Go!
Thomas P. Wright
CTC
Vice President, Travel Agency

AAA offers great hotels at great rates
Many AAA members have used the services of AAA to make hotel reservations. As you might know, AAA takes pride in their hotel recommendations and we strive to place you in a hotel that will be comfortable, clean and meet your specific needs.
Now, you can use AAA.com to make hotel reservations from the comfort of your home or office. Rates shown on AAA.com offer the best initial rate 61% of the time. Visitors to our web site are six times more likely to find a better rate than on Orbitz and four times more likely than on Expedia. Findings of a recent survey are shown below.

Site	Best Initial Rate
AAA.com/CAA.ca	61%
AARP via Travelocity	41%
Hotel Websites	36%
Travelocity	25%
Expedia	16%
Orbitz	11%

More Passport confusion
It seems that the U.S. government cannot come up with a final solution to the new passport regulations. Recently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it will allow children 15 and younger, with parental consent, to cross land borders and sea entry ports with a certified copy of their birth certificate as an alternative to a passport. U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 16-18, traveling with school groups, religious, cultural or social organizations, sports teams, also can cross borders, with adult supervision, with only a certified copy of their birth certificate. Children arriving by air are required to show passports. Presently it is unclear whether this provision will be extended to other countries.

More Disney to ‘sea’ soon
AAA partners at Disney recently announced expansion of their very successful cruise business. They have signed agreements for construction of two additional ocean liners; the first will launch in 2011 and the second in 2012. Each vessel will be in the 122,000-ton size range, two decks taller than the current Disney ships. The yet unnamed ships and their itineraries are under development and will be announced at a later date. In May 2008, the Disney Magic will sail 12 consecutive seven-night cruises from the Port of Los Angeles to Mexican Riviera ports. Your AAA Travel Professional has complete details.

Royal Caribbean introduces the Liberty of the Seas
Royal Caribbean Cruises will introduce the beautiful Liberty Of The Seas into the cruise industry in late May. This is the sister ship to the Freedom Of The Seas launched with great fanfare and television exposure in 2006. All features of her sister ship will again be featured including an ice skating rink and show, rock-climbing wall, WaveRider surfing experience... all in all, there’s something for every family member to enjoy on a Royal Caribbean cruise vacation. Ask about exclusive AAA member benefits when booking a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Is there a spa in your future?
The spa trend is clear with four out of 10 luxury U.S. hotel properties now offering spa facilities. That compares with 27 percent of existing luxury and upper-scale hotels offering spas, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers research. This study found that 1.9 percent of all existing U.S. hotel projects had spa facilities compared to 0.6 percent of all existing hotels. This is a dramatic trend reflecting the lifestyle appeal of hotels to an increasing number of both business and leisure travelers.

Getting ready for a road trip?
Parents should pile the kids into the car just before a serious nap time. They’ll soon fall asleep and you’ll be able to drive in peace and quiet - at least for a while!

Until next time... happy travels!