Hawaii Vacation Gifts by Double Brush-Hawaiian Gifts & Blog

How to Avoid Possible Hotel Key Card Rip Offs

My Uncle forwarded the following information to me in an email today. I thought it was important information for all of my blog readers who travel and stay in hotels to know about. Please forward this blog post to all of your traveling family and friends.

HOTEL KEY CARDS

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card?

Answer:
a. Customer's name
b. Customer's partial home address
c. Hotel room number
d. Check-in date and out dates
e. Customer's credit card number and expiration date!

When you turn them in to the front desk your personal information is there for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner. An employee can take a hand full of cards home and using a scanning device, access the information onto a laptop computer and go shopping at your expense.

Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on these cards until an employee reissues the card to the next hotel guest. At that time, the new guest's information is electronically "overwritten" on the card and the previous guest's information is erased in the overwriting process.

But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually is kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

The bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home with you, or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in the room or room wastebasket, and NEVER turn them into the front desk when you check out of a room. They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) and you'll be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal information on it that could be easily lifted off with any simple scanning device card reader.

For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and discover you still have the card key in your pocket, do not toss it in an airport trash basket. Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially through the electronic information strip!

If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything on the card.

Information courtesy of: Pasadena Police Department

PLEASE FORWARD to friends and family.

Tape this Fruit to Your Navel to Prevent Motion Sickness

My husband and I were watching Jimmy Kimmel Live and Marilu Henner was on. She was the actress from the old tv series "Taxi" and is also an author of several health related books. (We rarely if ever watch this show but my husband was waiting to see the man with the longest leg hair--which was 6 inches by the way!)

Marilu was talking to Jimmy about the best thing for motion sickness. She said to tape a umeboshi plum directly to your navel. I couldn't find a video or transcript of the show but did find this interview with Harris Online where Marilu Henner talked about it.

Henner: ...But do you know what the best remedy is for seasickness? I know you're going to laugh, but this really, really works. Do you know what an umeboshi plum is?

Harris: No, I have no idea.

Henner: An umeboshi plum is a little Japanese salt plum. You get it at a health food store. The best thing for motion sickness is to take one of these plums -- which is great for anything, for balancing, for hangovers, for any time you're feeling out of sorts, you take one of these plums and eat it -- but for seasickness, you actually tape it to your belly button.

Harris: [laughs]

Henner: I'm not kidding you! This really, really works.

Harris: And the idea being, if they see you with the plum taped to your belly button, they don't let you on the boat, and that way you can't get seasick?

Henner: No, it really works. If you're going to have motion sickness on an airplane or anything, just tape that old plum to your belly button.

A word of advice I would like to add is to buy the natural colored (kinda brownish green) pickled ume or umeboshi plum and not the traditional dyed red colored umeboshi plum--you usually see them on musubi or onigiri (Japanese rice balls) like our original handmade beeswax musubi candle pictured above. I love Japanese rice "balls" which are never round (unless it is for a funeral service), and usually hand shaped into a triangle shape that fits into the cook's palm of her hand.

Anyway, the red dye used on the ume plum stains rice red, so you would look strange if you developed a radiating red ring of color around your navel.

If you are intrigued enough to try this natural remedy for motion sickness, please come back and share your results!

I posted earlier about another fruit that you can eat to prevent jet lag, and it is not recommended that you put it in your belly button. Click here to find out what fruit it is.

Should You Be Afraid of Flying During a Lightning Storm?

I was watching 20/20--the ABC television show last night and they did a story called, "Lightning Can Crash an Airplane: Myth or Truth?"

Do you know if it is safe to fly in an airplane during a thunderstorm with lightning?

It turns out that lightning has crashed many planes, but that happened during the 1940's to 1960's. Thanks to scientist at NASA who worked on a project to study lightning strikes on airplanes, NO commercial airline has crashed in the United States because of a lightning strike since 1963!

The NASA Storm Hazards project had scientists purposefully fly into nearly 1,500 thunderstorms and experience more than 700 lightning strikes so they could study the effects. Due to the project's discoveries, engineers that design airplanes were able to make improvements and develop new methods to diffuse the destructive force of lightning strikes.

Read more details at ABC News: Can Lightning Take Down an Airplane?

Read our other related lightning post, "Did You Know You Could Lose Your Computer from Lightning?"

Avoid Holiday Traffic While on Vacation

With the holidays fast approaching, many people will be driving to their holiday destinations or driving around once they arrive to their holiday destination vacation. To make your travel trip more pleasant and avoid car traffic jams, accidents, and road construction--I will tell you where you can get the best up to date information on the web.

Go to maps.yahoo.com It is the only site with live traffic updates, and live construction updates. It is fairly easy to use and figure out. Fill in the address, city, state, or zip code than click on the "go" button. A large area map appears with a window of detailed map which you can move around. You can also zoom way in or way out.

Look for the color coded alert icons for minor, moderate, and severe incidents.

I think the yahoo maps work for most major cities in the world.

Hope this bit of information will save you time and make your holidays that much more enjoyable!

View and Share Travel Videos from around the World

Are you interested in viewing travel videos from other travelers across the globe?

At Travelistic videos for travelers you can explore more than 5000 travel videos from around the world. You also can share the travel videos with your friends or upload your own.

It is a very user friendly site with a clickable map of the world on the home page, and how many videos are from each country. The most travel videos are from the United States with 1565 videos, followed by Europe 929 videos, Asia 740 videos, Canada 272 videos, and other places have a less amount of videos. There is also a search feature.

Currently there are only 44 videos about Hawaii which is surprising considering that over 7 million tourist visit Hawaii annually!

You can view these places in Hawaii:

Haleiwa (1 video)
Hana (2 videos)
Hilo (1 video)
Honokaa (1 video)
Honolulu (23 videos)
Kailua (6 videos)
Kailua in Hawaii County (2 videos)
Kapaa (1 video)
Lahaina (5 videos)
Naalehu (1 video)
Poipu (1 video)

Find the Best Last Minute Travel Deals

If you want to or need to travel soon, check out the last minute travel deals at Smarter Travel. You can find a wealth of information on last minute travel deals for airfares, hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, and cruises. The Smarter Travel staff posts up to the date deals such as the new Aloha Airlines Hawaii fares from $159.00 one way, with a review on the pros and cons of the offer.

It is a dense site with numerous ways to search out travel information and travel deals. You can see deals at a glance, compare prices, read travel guides, news and advice, check out specialty travel for seniors, students, frequent flyers, weekend getaways, and much, much, mucho much more.

Bed and Breakfast Locator for Hawaii and the World

If you find hotels and resorts can be a bit impersonal or too large, maybe a bed and breakfast or b & b place would be more to your liking. However, many of these establishments are small and run by the owner, so finding one could prove to be more difficult.

Bed and Breakfast has come to the rescue! This site is a wonderful resource for finding and researching bed and breakfast places in countries across the globe! Each place is presented with extensive information covering the type of establishment, property details, and room rates. There are also maps, photos, contact info and website links.

BedandBreakfast.com is a comprehensive worldwide listing of bed and breakfasts, B&B homestays, country inns, urban bed and breakfasts, guest houses, lodges, cabins, historic hotels, small resorts, guest ranches, farmhouse accommodations, and working farm and ranch vacations. B&B database searches allow you to find the ideal bed and breakfast inn, whether you are looking by location, amenities, online bookings, recipes, special packages, last-minute availability, or BedandBreakfast.com gift certificate acceptance.

I checked the Hawaii bed and breakfast listings and there were quite a few for Oahu, Hawaii island, Maui and Kauai. However when I checked their Lanai and Molokai bed and breakfast listings, they were all for b and b's on the island of Maui!

Spend Your Hawaii Vacation in a Green Hotel

Consider staying at a "Green" hotel on your next vacation to Hawaii or anywhere else in the world.

Whether it's a weekend getaway or a week-long stay, make sure your hotel has the same green habits as you do at home. Since hotels are such large consumers of resources--the hospitality industry spends $3.7 billion a year on energy and typical hotels use 218 gallons of water per day per occupied room--it is especially important to support environmentally conscious businesses whenever possible.

The Green Guide to Finding a Green Hotel list several sites which offer searchable eco international directories based on different certification programs for the travel and tourism industry.

If the Hawaii hotel or any hotel you want to stay at is not listed in any of these directories, you can ask them directly about how they handle different environmental issues such as how do they handle their trash and recyclables.

If more hotel guests let their hotels know that being green was important to them, I am sure that more hotels would make a greater effort to be environmentally friendly in their practices.

Take Your Whole Family on Vacation -- Pets Included

If you are planning to go on a family vacation, you no longer have to leave your beloved pets at home or in a boarding kennel. Times have changed and many hotels and bed and breakfast places now welcome you and your pets.

At the Pets Welcome site, you can find more than 25,000 hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, campgrounds, cabins & cottages and other places that can accommodate pets.

You can make reservations directly through their site for discounted pet friendly accommodations, but they recommend that you call the hotel to double-check on their pets policy as things sometimes change before information gets updated to the site.

At Pets Welcome there is even a list of pet friendly hotel chains such as Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn, La Quinta, Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Motel 6, Quality Inn and more.

Pets Welcome also has a travel tips section -- the category on traveling by air with your pet has the rules and guidelines from several different popular airlines posted.

If you are planning to bring your pet to Hawaii with you on vacation, you have to read our post on the STRICT Hawaii Animal Quarantine Laws.

Have you ever travelled with your pet, and where did you stay? Can you offer any tips on travelling with a pet?

Keep up with the Latest Passport Requirements

If you are confused or frustrated with the changing passport requirements, help is a click away.

The Travel Industry Association and the Travel Business Roundtable are the sponsors of an informative site called Get A Passport Now.

In an effort to enhance security and efficiency at U.S. borders, the U.S. government is now enforcing new passport requirements for all travelers entering or re-entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. Travel between the U.S. and U.S. territories (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) will not be affected.

There are links for U.S., Canadian, and Mexican citizens on how and where to obtain a passport. For U.S. citizens only, there are links for "How to get a passport quickly" and "For additional assistance expediting a passport."

If you are an American reading this blog post, just come to Hawaii! You do not need a passport to visit the 50th state of the United States!!

Will It Rain on Your Wedding Day or Special Event?

Most people just hope for the best that it won't rain on their wedding day or special event, but did you know that you can plan ahead so that the odds are more in your favor?

Visit Weather.com to get average temperatures, rainfall and more weather facts about the area for your event before you set the date. Weather.com also has lots of other free helpful features such as "my Wedding Weather" where you can track the weather as it draws near to your big day, and planning tools and tips such as how to weather-proof your outdoor wedding to timing a sunset ceremony (hopefully in Hawaii).

Don't forget, if you are looking for "China Free" quality handmade in Hawaii wedding favors or Hawaii party favors for that special touch, check out our site for Hawaiian Gifts, Candles, Soap, Tropical Flowers and Leis from the Big Island.

Don't Let Your Stuff Get Confiscated at the Airport

Have you had to give up your favorite body lotion or shampoo or make up or deodorant or... at the airport check in terminal? Who can keep up with the changes for what is and is not allowed anymore?

And just for your information, it is not only at large mainland airports that they are really strict about following the rules, my sister-in-law got in trouble at our little local Hilo, Hawaii airport! She had some really expensive lotion that airport security told her she could not bring with her because it was not in a zip lock bag. (Her luggage had already been checked.) Then she remembered that I gave her some of our handmade Hawaiian soy candles in a quart size zip lock bag, so she was able to save her lotion by replacing it in the bag with the candles. She was really happy because it happened to be the correct bag -- the only size and kind of zip lock bag currently allowed.

To save yourself some grief, check out the Transportation Security Administration site for the official and complete list of permitted and prohibited items.

Check Your Flight and Avoid Delays

On July 30, 2007 1,996 flights were delayed -- according to the FFA.

Spend the time online checking out your flight, instead of in line as you wait for your delayed flight to take off.

At Avoid Delays website, you can actually check on your airline flight and get detailed information about a particular flight and compare flights based on their on-time performance.

On the home page you can find the Top 10 most delayed departure airports, top 10 worst times to fly into most delayed airports, and top 10 most delayed flights -- all from one year ago. Since air traffic activity follows cyclical patterns, the same month last year is often a better predictor of performance than using last month’s data.

There is also some advice about how to choose an airline flight such as; whenever possible, book non-stop flights. flight listed as “direct” is not a non-stop. It will stop en route, but continue on with the same flight number. In the event of severe travel disruptions, even a direct flight may have a portion of the route cancelled.

If anyone used the information at AvoidDelays.com and it helped you to have a smooth flight, please share your story with everyone via a comment.

Also read our previous post Insider Tips For How to Avoid Flight Delays.

Insider Tips For How to Avoid Flight Delays

If you have ever been frustrated at an airport waiting for your flight to depart, and want to avoid repeating that experience...read on.

Get inside tips from the people who are really inside and in the know -- the air traffic controllers themselves! At their website National Air Traffic Controllers Association, air traffic controllers from across the country have joined together and share insider tips for how to avoid departure delays, and the best time to arrive and depart at some of the busiest airports in the U.S.

Read their insider tips for these specific airports:

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL)
Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI)
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
Charlotte International Airport (CLT)
Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW)
Denver International Airport (DIA)
Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS)
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Memphis International Airport (MEM)
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
Portland International Airport (PDX)
Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU)
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
San Jose International Airport (SJC)
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Tampa International Airport (TPA)
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Washington National Airport (DCA)

After you visit their site to figure out the best time to fly, don't forget to come back and use our handy and free travel search box from Kayak. Easily and conveniently fill in your travel plans once, and then compare travel deals all at one time from the top online travel companies.

What fruit prevents jet lag?

Want an all natural way to prevent jet lag? Next time you fly to Hawaii or elsewhere, eat some cherries. The cherry fruit is one of the richest known sources of natural melatonin. Melatonin has been proven to hasten sleep and ease jet lag.

According to Russel J. Reiter, PhD, a nutrition researcher at the University of Texas Health and Science Center and one of the world’s leading authorities on melatonin, try eating dried cherries one hour before desired sleep time on the plane. After arrival, consume cherries one hour before desired sleep each night for at least three consecutive evenings.

Dried cherries are the most convenient to take on your trip. One serving is a 1/2 cup of dried cherries, 1 cup frozen cherries or cherry juice, or 2 tablespoons cherry juice concentrate.

For more information visit Choose Cherries.

Never Lose your Paper Airline Ticket Again

Soon you will never have to worry about losing your airline ticket again because most of the airlines will do away with paper tickets. As things stand today, a paper ticket cost an additional $50.00, and soon will only be available in rare circumstances.

At American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, almost 99 percent of its tickets sold worldwide are electronic, said Tim Smith, a company spokesman.

The Fort Worth-based carrier won't even allow you to buy a paper ticket if you buy directly from the airline. The only way to get a paper ticket is to buy it through a travel agent and pay $50 extra, Smith said.

And the $50 actually buys you a less-secure ticket, Smith said, because losing a paper ticket can be extremely inconvenient and expensive. "The irony is electronic tickets are not paperless," he said. "You do have a printed itinerary and a boarding pass. They are much more secure in terms of theft or abuse."

This information was obtained from the Star Telegram today.

Travel Search Made Easy

If you find it tedious entering your same travel information over and over and logging in to travel site after travel site when searching to find a flight, hotel, car, or package deal online, try our handy booking wiz search widget. It's easy, enter your information once and the top deals from the major online travel search sites come up for you.

Saves you time and waiting as you can compare all of the offers at one time, from usually three to six top well known travel companies. Travel search sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, HotWire, Priceline and Cheap Tickets, will each open in a separate window display so you don't have to toggle back and forth between browsers. And who opens up six browsers at one time anyway?

Try it now! It is free and and it easy. Also available are up to the minute top travel deals. Compare Travel Sites and Save Big!

And don't forget to bookmark the page.

Best Guide to Airports around the World

We want to share a site featuring the best guide to over 250 major airports around the world on five continents, and some islands, for example Honolulu International Airport on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

Feel more confident when you get to your airport with maps, transfer options, nearby hotels, driving directions, parking, rental car companies, facilities for disabled travelers, shopping, dining, and more at the World Airport Guide.

Also don't forget to check out and bookmark our handy dandy free travel search feature for great travel deals.

Snakes on a Plane - I meant Seats on a Plane

This post is not about snakes on a plane, but seats on a plane--namely how to get the best airline seats. How would you like to know in advance (for free) exactly what your airplane seat will look like and what amenities are offered when you fly on any of the major airline carriers? Also what seats are considered good, the ones to be aware of, and which seats are considered poor.

Cabin diagrams (listed by aircraft for 30 carriers) show the seating arrangements, galley, exit locations, lavatories, power port and more. Also a icon list of amenities such as audio, video, AC power, internet, food and if there is a baby changer available for infants. Bookmark Seat Guru before you book your next flight.

Don't miss our next post, the one site for the most complete info on all of the world's major airports.