Travel - Tips to prevent holiday travel disasters

By Liz Fleming

There’s nothing more wonderful than spending the holiday season with your family - it’s just the travel planning involved that can be a little less than fun. If your festive season celebrations are going to involve some relocation, you might want to take a peek at some of our holiday travel tips.

n Ship your gifts to your destination ahead of time. Allow at least two to three weeks for your package to arrive, if you’re using a courier company. This is their busiest time of the year.

n Don’t give burglars the gift of an obviously empty house. Before you head off for the holidays, set the alarms and lock all the windows and doors. Ask neighbours to park in your driveway and collect your mail or have the post office temporarily cancel delivery. Use light timers and never leave a message on your answering machine saying that you’re away on holiday.

n Plan your flights to avoid peak travel days, such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. This might seem so obvious as to be hardly worth mentioning, but the huge crowds at the airports on those days mean that a whole lot of people just don’t get it. The more travellers, the greater the likelihood of delays, lineups and general travel hassle. Avoid it if you can.

n If possible, don’t drive to the airport. Bad weather can cause delays that add stress and subtract fun from your trip.

Take an airport shuttle that will leave in plenty of time to get you to your flight - and let someone else worry about the driving. The cost of a shuttle trip is often equal to a week of parking at a big city lot. Another good option is to stay at a hotel the night before your trip and take advantage of what is often a lower fee for storing your car there while you’re away.

n Give yourself extra time for checking-in at the airport. Bigger crowds mean longer lines and you don’t want to miss your flight because you’re stuck, trying to get through security. Two hours is the minimum you should allow for domestic flight and three, for international.

n Pack gifts unwrapped and bring along the gift bags and tissue. The security folks aren’t keen on packages they can’t identify and may just ask you to unwrap them.

n Plan for delays - they’re going to happen. Bring water (but drink it before you get to security) and snacks as well as a great book, earphones (so you don’t have to pay for a set on the plane), and a deck of cards. Boredom is the true enemy in these situations, so be prepared to conquer it.

n Driving? Have a mechanic give your car a checkup the week before you leave. Make sure your fluids are topped up, your snow tires have been installed and are in good order and your brakes are in good shape. There’s nothing more frustrating than being stuck at the side of the road, waiting not for Santa, but for the tow truck.

n Keep an emergency box in your trunk, filled with a first-aid kit, flashlight, heat-reflective blankets, drinking water and snacks, flares, jumper cables, an ice scraper and kitty litter to toss under the wheels in case you get stuck on ice. We may all love a white Christmas, but it makes the driving tough.

n Highways are busiest on the days right before and after the major holidays, so if you can travel a day earlier or later, you’ll save yourself a lot of grief. Drive with care and patience and extend the holiday spirit to all those around you, whether you truly love them or not.

n If you stay at a hotel or motel en route, don’t leave valuables in your car. A thief doesn’t have to be a genius to guess that a parked car in a motel lot during the run-up to the holiday season might just have a few presents in the trunk.