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Backpackers need to add another item to their travel list, a Gap Year Card, a prepaid Mastercard designed for backpackers by backpackers that protects you against fraud and theft.

It also works with a large number of international businesses to provide users with travel discounts. Receive between 10 and 15 percent off your ticket prices for Greyhound tickets, hop-on hop-off passes, attraction fees and more.

In addition to those benefits a Gap Year Card offers you a degree of control that other cards do not: You can arrange to have your paychecks directly deposited onto your card; transfer money to your card online from anywhere; or use it to withdraw money from more than a million ATMs worldwide.

There are fees associated with a Gap Year Card, but the fees are similar to those you would incur with a traditional credit card used overseas. Expect to pay for ATM withdrawals and a foreign exchange charge. You’ll also pay a membership service fee, a start-up fee and a small monthly charge. But these charges are relatively small and will be recouped in discounts by the vigilant traveler. From now until the end of the year you can sign up for the card for only £9.95, half the usual purchase price.

Doing business in Vietnam? Consider booking a room at the Sheraton Hanoi hotel, voted “Vietnam’s Leading Business Hotel” in the World Travel Awards for 2007. The hotel was also praised as a good location for holding conventions.

With it location on the shore of West Lake, the hotel offers guests a sense of tranquility unavailable on Hanoi’s busy streets. But it’s only 10 minutes from downtown.

For eating and drinking, there are several restaurants and bars. Members of the Sheraton Club can also have breakfast or a drink and snack in the Club Lounge. There’s a tennis court and a fully-equipped gym where you can unwind. Internet access is provided throughout the hotel - although there is still a charge to use it, unless you’re staying on the Club levels or in a suite. There is a desk and telephone connection in each room of any standard.

As a business traveler, the usual hustle and bustle of Vietnam can be quite exhausting, so finding a good home-away-from-home is vital to a successful trip.

(Photo via flickr cc)

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A recent TripAdvisor poll asked tourists to pick the world’s public transportation system. While I was thinking that the perfectly punctual Japanese railways might be near the top, it turns out that London is the city with the best public transport, at least according to the impressions of thousands of tourists.

London was also voted to have the safest system, the best subway and the best taxis. Personally, I’d also add an award for the cutest double-decker buses, too. The London public transportation system is also the most expensive.

In the United States, the New York public transportation system came in second to London for the best system, and was also runner-up to London as an expensive system. But it does seem clear that tourists at least are prepared to pay higher costs for their transport if it takes them where they want to go.

At the other end of the scale, Los Angeles was voted as having the worst public transportation system. Other awards were for the cleanest system, which was won by Washington DC. Tokyo came in second second to DC for the cleanest public transport.

(Photo via flickr cc)

When you’re booking your hotel room for business, what services and amenities do you want? Must you have in-room desks with fax machines, or are you more concerned about  conference space thanin-room features?

Here are some of the things business travelers commonly want at their hotels:

• Wi-Fi connections. Business travelers usually bring a laptop with them and they want to be able to connect as easily from the pool as from their rooms.
• Advanced phone systems. You don’t just want to be able to make calls. You want to be able to make conference calls, retrieve voice mail and pick up a second line if need be. Hotels are starting to add VoIP services, decreases calling costs and streamlines productivity during business travel.
• On-site meeting spots. Whether it’s a big conference room for hosting a presentation or just a nice lounge for drinks with a client, business travelers usually keep an eye out for where they can do business on site.
• Fitness centers and/or spas. Sure, it’s a luxury. However, the person who is frequently away on business still needs to keep in shape. And the spa helps travelers stay rejuvenated enough to do their jobs.

What other services do you want as a business traveler?

(Photo via flickr cc)

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If you’re doing business in the Asia Pacific region, tipsters saychecking into a Hilton is the way to go. The recent Asia Pacific Hotel Business Guest Survey found that Hilton hotels were the most popular from a list of 50 chains frequented by business travelers in the region; 34 per cent of business travelers said they had stayed in a Hilton recently.

Hilton hotels weren’t just considered the best places to stay, but they also had the highest brand recall rate. And the Hilton HHonors loyalty program was also the number one of all the hotel frequent guest programs in the Asia Pacific region. Almost 6 per cent of the business travelers surveyed belonged to the Hilton HHonors program, which offers free hotel nights and other rewards to loyal guests.

Business travelers within and to Australia were the most strongly in favor of the Hilton brand: and Hilton’s been on top there for the last three years, too. Whether you like staying in a big chain hotel or prefer the uniqueness of a small boutique hotel, there is definitely something to be said for choosing a chain like the Hilton while you’re on a business trip. No matter where you are, you can reliably predict what your experience will be like, and no unpleasant surprises will get in the way.

(Photo via flicker cc)

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Travel around Europe may be a little difficult tomorrow, thanks to a 24-hour strike by members of France’s public transport unions. The strike will effectively shut down major parts of the French transportation infrastructure, but its effects will ripple outward and no doubt affect other parts of the European mainland.

The French national railway stated that train services will be almost crippled with nearly 90 percent of trains being canceled. The Paris Metro is a looking like it may be totally shut down, which will cause major problems for commuters and visitors.

Even the cross-channel link Eurostar will be affected. Paris to London journeys have been reduced by six trains out of 50 so far, so the delays will be minimal if the situation remains the same. But if more unions join the walkout then more trains will be canceled or delayed. The company has already canceled four more trains from Friday’s schedule because when workers return the trains will have to be moved to their rightful locations.

Source [IHT]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/16/travel/16strike.php

If you find yourself traveling to Detroit for business, consider combining a little business and pleasure by staying at the newly opened Detroit MGM Grand Resort and Casino. The much-anticipated $800 million luxury resort hotel opened October 2 on Third Avenue in the heart of downtown Detroit, adjacent to the previously constructed casino.

What’s New
The new complex includes 400 hotel rooms; three restaurants, created by culinary stars, Wolfgang Puck and Michael Mina; a full-service spa; several bars and nightclubs; and a concert stage.

Rooms are appointed with luxury linens, a marble bath, and a 42-inch plasma TV. Concierge level rooms also feature a private elevator, a private lounge complete with complimentary food and beverage offerings throughout the day, and wireless Internet access. Suites, located at the corners of the hotel, feature floor-to-ceiling windows with 9o-degree views of the city.

The 24-hour casino features more than 4,500 slots, including the latest video poker machines; 90 table games; and a poker room.

The MGM Grand Resort and Casino offers valet parking as well as complimentary self-parking. Hotel rates and reservation information may be found at the property’s website.

(Photo via flickr cc)

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Treasure Island used to be one of the Vegas hotels that was known as a family place back during the days when Vegas was trying to market itself as a destination for all ages. The city eventually realized that its appeal was in its adult activities and Treasure Island followed suit by entirely revamping its style. Re-branding itself under the name TI, it added more adult entertainment and better grown-up amenities so that it could appeal to the travelers who really spend time in Vegas. And since business travelers are a major part of the Vegas hotel traffic, TI made sure to pay attention to what its business travelers might want while staying in the hotel.

TI offers a number of different kinds of rooms for different business travelers. The Executive Suite is a favorite since it has a living room that you can use as an office and enough space for entertaining guests when office hours are over. (There are also two marble bathrooms for people who want to do some serious entertaining!) But there are also rooms with views of the Strip and rooms with panoramic views so that you can enjoy looking out at Vegas while you’re busy working late into the night.

Of course, since its Vegas, you’ll be able to go enjoy the nightlife no matter how late you get off of work. TI has 6 bars that you can enjoy including a tequila bar and the classy Mist lounge. It’s also home to the Mystere Cirque du Soleil show and the sexy Sirens show. And there’s always the slot machines and gaming tables where you can see just how lucky you are during your business trip to Vegas. It’s so fun, you won’t want to leave the hotel! That’s okay, you can have the rest of the office come join you there since TI also has multiple rooms to host business meetings and conferences of all sizes.

(photo credit flickr cc)

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Vegas is an adult’s dream playground, filled with spectacular sites, images, and recreations of the world’s most famous landmarks. Located on the famous Las Vegas Strip at 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, the New York New York Hotel & Casino features one of the largest casinos owned by MGM Mirage.

The incredible New York New York Hotel, whose New York theme is so realistic that its architecture resembles the New York City skyline, boasts a half-scale Statue of Liberty, replicas of the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Terminal, and the Whitney Houston Museum of American Art, as well as a functioning roller coaster. The hotel’s main casino area is modeled after Central Park and the “Village Eateries” food court strikes a startling resemblance to New York’s own Greenwich Village.

Perhaps one of the most unique and amusing aspects of the hotel is “The Roller Coaster,” formerly known as the “Manhattan Express,” which winds its way through the hotel’s interior and exterior. The coaster cars have been painted to resemble traditional Checker Taxi Cabs, but at 203 feet tall with a maximum speed of 67 mph and a heart-pounding 144-foot drop, The Roller Coaster is anything but traditional.

The New York New York Hotel is also host to Cirque du Soleil’s famed Zumanity show, the only Cirque show to restrict admission to 18+. The Zumanity theatre was created to resemble an old-time cabaret, with bar stools and sofas liberally sprinkled throughout the theatre seating.

All this, starting at $89/night promises to inject some fun into your next business trip to Vegas, so if you’d like some East Coast flavor on your West Coast trip, book the New York New York Hotel.

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If you’re taking a business trip to Las Vegas then there are definitely worse places to stay than the Wynn Las Vegas. With both 5-star and 5-diamond ratings (and a justifiable pride about this), you can still choose whether you’ll spend up big on an executive or parlor suite or do your boss a favor by staying in a resort room or a panoramic view room. You can also choose from a number of dining options including casual buffet dining, Japanese cuisine at Okada or steak house style at The Country Club, among many others.

The Wynn is also a good venue for conferences and meetings, with 200,000 square feet of meeting space and all of the latest technologies. Wynn advertises that every meeting room has floor to ceiling windows so you can look out over the golf course or the pool: I’m not sure that’s such a good business strategy, as my mind would definitely wander quickly from the main purpose of the day.

Of course, when the business end of the day is over, there’s plenty to do at Wynn’s, so you can choose from a game of golf, a flutter in the casino, relaxing in the spa or taking in a show - the choice is yours.

(photo credit flickr cc)

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