Fly to every country for free

Fly to every country for free

• Take the travel voucher

A free roundtrip ticket sounds like a good deal, but the travel voucher is totally the way to go. The roundtrip ticket is usually subject to blackout dates and all sorts of other restrictions which greatly limit when and where you can fly. Additionally, free roundtrip tickets are usually exempt from earning frequent flier miles. Travel vouchers, on the other hand, can be used just about any time, anywhere and the flights you purchase usually earn miles.

• Get what you deserve

After making your deal, hang around within earshot of the gate (if you don’t have to run to make your next flight). If you hear another traveler negotiate a better deal, wait until the gate agent is finished and politely request to be offered the same terms. She doesn’t have to say yes, but it rarely hurts to ask.

On a similar note, realize that you are often entitled to extras. If you have a long wait in the airport, ask for a meal voucher and a calling card. If you’re staying overnight, make sure that the airline is paying for your hotel and offering a shuttle to and from the airport. Request an upgrade to first class on your later flight and request a day pass to the airline’s club lounge (where you will often find free drinks, snacks, wi-fi, and sometimes even showers), particularly if your delay is long and inconvenient (such as an overnight stay, a different arrival airport, or an extra connecting flight).

The airline is often desperate and you’re in a good position to bargain, but remember that there are often other volunteers who are happy to take your place, so be courteous in your requests. As the saying goes: You’ll catch more flights with honey than with vinegar.

• A Final Tip

It’s not uncommon to score multiple travel vouchers on a single trip. This can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your level of flexibility. If you’d like to keep your delays to a minimum, ask the gate agent to confirm your seat reservation on your later flight. If your later flight is delayed or canceled, ask to see a copy of the airline’s contract of carriage to determine your rights in the case of an Involuntary Denied Boarding (IDB). The U.S. Department of Transportation requires that a copy of the contract of carriage be made available to passengers at the airline ticket counter.

You may have heard of Rule 240, which originally required airlines facing delays to transfer you to another carrier if another flight with available seats could get you to your destination sooner. This rule is no longer in effect, but many airlines make similar promises to their customers and, if your airline makes such a promise, you should know about it.

                    Fly to Italy for free … get the vouchers here

Fly to Italy FREE - get your voucher

Fly to Italy FREE 

Choose your flights carefully

If you really want to scope out the overbooked flights, check out AOW (Airlines of the Web). Search for your flight of choice and then take a look at the string of numbers and letters on the side. Those letters refer to the class (First, Business, Coach, etc.) from highest to lowest and the numbers refer to the number of remaining seats in the corresponding class. Keep in mind that the highest possible number is nine, so if the number listed is nine, the real figure could be much higher. Ideally, you want to find a flight with zeros (or close to zero) all the way across.

Mornings are better than evenings—airlines are more likely to overbook these early flights, knowing that they have a better chance of delaying passengers to a later flight. Holidays, Saturday mornings, and Sunday evenings are good bets, too. Similarly, popular destinations are goldmines for the flexible traveler. Las Vegas, Hawaii, and major business travel hubs like New York, Minneapolis, and Chicago are common sites of overbookings.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s February 2008 Air Travel Consumer Report, some of the best airlines for overbooking are Delta, American Eagle, and US Airways. If you fly Jet Blue or Air Tran, your chances of being bumped are practically nil.

                        Fly to Italy for free … get the vouchers here

Free airline tickets Vouchers

Free airline tickets Vouchers

Airlines like money and it turns out that the best way for airlines to make money is to ensure that there are as few empty seats on a plane as possible.

When a person doesn’t show up for a flight, the seat is left empty and an empty seat is a lost opportunity for revenue. As a result of this conundrum, airlines employ fancy statisticians to figure out how many seats the airline needs to overbook just to make up for the no-shows.

Unfortunately, those statisticians aren’t fortune tellers and sometimes (ok, a lot of times), their figures are off. When the figures are off, it’s still a better deal for the airline to give you a $300 travel voucher than it is to risk letting a seat fly empty.

So how can you cash in on all of this free voucher? Here are seven tips to releasing your inner Free Travel Royalty:

• Show up early

This may sound like a no-brainer, but the early bird gets the worm. Arrive at the gate at least an hour and fifteen minutes before your scheduled departure and ask the gate agent if he needs volunteers. If he isn’t sure, give him your name just in case. This doesn’t commit you to volunteering, but it might get you first dibs on those choice ticket vouchers.

• Be flexible

Whenever possible, try to let your travel day be a travel day and avoid scheduling meetings or sightseeing trips for your first day in town. This is good advice for lowering your blood pressure on a hectic trip and it’s good advice that can allow you the time for getting bumped.

• Travel light

Sometimes finding volunteers is like pulling teeth, but if the competition is fierce, airlines tend to prefer volunteers who don’t have checked baggage. On a similar note, one of the few downsides to getting bumped is the extra opportunity for the airline to lose your checked luggage. Try to stick to carry-on bags. If you can leave the turbo deluxe hair dryer and extra set of golf clubs at home, do so.

• Be prepared

Before setting foot in the airport, decide how late you are willing to be delayed and the lowest dollar amount you’re willing to take. Similarly, if you’re traveling with a party, decide who will take the later flight if there aren’t enough seats for everyone. Are you willing to be split up? Overnight? For how much money? Once the agent makes an offer, you will need to be ready with an answer or she might just take the next volunteer.

If possible, you should consult the flight schedule so that you can make suggestions to the agent of later flights and even alternate destinations that you prefer. I flew to New York recently to visit friends and was scheduled to arrive in Newark and then take a train into the city. When I was “bumped” the gate agent switched me to a later flight that flew directly to La Guardia, landing me in Manhattan half an hour sooner than originally scheduled.

Fly to Italy for free … get the vouchers here

Go to Rome with 50% discount

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Framed by an immense archway, theGalleria Vittorio Emanuele II opens off the Piazza del Duomo’s northern flank. This glass-and-steel-roofed shopping arcade is shaped like a crucifix, and is home to elegant boutiques, cafes, and, unfortunately, a McDonald’s. More fittingly, it’s also home to a seven-star (!!) hotel, the Townhouse Galleria.

Giuseppe Mengoni designed the Galleria as a showplace for modern Milan. Tragically, he plummeted to his death from scaffolding just weeks before his 14-year tour de force was completed in 1877. Long-standing Milanese tradition claims you can avoid Mengoni’s bad luck by grinding your heel into the testicles of the mosaic bull on the floor (just to the left of the central cross when you’re facing north).

Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

The ground and 1st floors are devoted to some incredibly fine sculpture, including the mesmerising Boxer that dates from the 1st century BC; upstairs there's an exquisite crouching Aphrodite from Tivoli's Villa Adriana, the softly contoured, 2nd-century BC Sleeping Hermaphrodite, and the iconic vision of perfection that is the Discus Thrower. Yet the sensational mosaics and frescoes on the 2nd floor blow everything else away. The layout has been revamped so that the rooms are arranged how they were within the villas, and lighting brings out the rich colours of the frescoes. There are intimate cubicula (bedrooms), which feature religious, erotic and theatre subjects, and delicate landscape paintings from the dark-painted winter triclinium (dining room).

The show-stopping highlight is the frescoes (dating from 30 BC to 20 BC) that once lined Villa Livia, one of the homes of Augustus' wife Livia Drusilla. These, covering an entire room, depict an illusionary, realistic yet paradisiacal garden full of a wild tangle of roses, pomegranates, iris and camomile under a deep-blue sky. These decorated a summer triclinium, a large living and dining area built half underground to provide protection from the heat. The new display includes special lighting that mimics the modulation of daylight and highlights the richness of the millennia-old colours.

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Visiting Rome with 50% discount

Trevi Fountain

This fountain almost fills an entire piazza, and is Rome's most famous fountain, its iconic status sealed when Anita Ekberg splashed here in La Dolce Vita. The flamboyant baroque ensemble was designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732 and depicts Neptune's chariot being led by Tritons with sea horses – one wild, one docile – representing the moods of the sea. The water comes from the aqua virgo, a 1st-century-BC underground aqueduct, and the name Trevi refers to the tre vie (three roads) that converge at the fountain. It's traditional to throw a coin into the fountain to ensure your return to the Eternal City. It's usually very busy around the fountain during the day, so it's worth trying to visit later in the evening when you can appreciate its foaming majesty without the hordes.

Piazza di Spagna & the Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps (Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti)  
provide a perfect auditorium for people-watching, and have been a magnet for visitors since the 18th century. The Piazza di Spagna was named after the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, and consequently the steps were so-named, although they were designed by the Italian Francesco de Sanctis and built in 1725 with a legacy from the French. They lead to the French Chiesa della Trinità dei Monti, which was commissioned by King Louis XII of France and consecrated in 1585. In addition to the great views from outside, it boasts some wonderful frescoes by Daniele da Volterra. His Deposizione (Deposition), in the second chapel on the left, is regarded as a masterpiece of mannerist painting. If you don't fancy climbing the steep steps, there's a lift up from Spagna metro station.

At the foot of the steps, the Barcaccia (the 'sinking boat' fountain) is believed to be by Pietro Bernini, father of the famous Gian Lorenzo

Fly to Italy for free … get the vouchers here

Vacation with 50% discount at Vatican Museums

Vacation with 50% discount at Vatican Museums

Visiting the Vatican Museums is an unforgettable experience that requires strength, stamina and patience. You’ll need to be on top of your game to endure the inevitable queues – if not for a ticket then for the security checks – and enjoy what is undoubtedly one of the world’s great museum complexes.

Founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century and enlarged by successive pontiffs, the museums are housed in what is known collectively as the Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano. This massive 5.5-hectare complex consists of two palaces – the Vatican palace nearest St Peter’s and the Belvedere Palace – joined by two long galleries. On the inside are three courtyards: the Cortile della Pigna, the Cortile della Biblioteca, and, to the south, the Cortile del Belvedere.

You’ll never manage to explore the whole complex in one go – you’d need several hours just for the highlights – so it pays to be selective. There are several suggested itineraries, or you can go it alone and make up your own route.

Each gallery contains priceless treasures, but for a whistlestop tour get to the Pinacoteca, the Museo Pio-Clementino, Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms) and the Sistine Chapel. On the whole exhibits are not well labelled so you might find it useful to hire an audioguide (€7) or buy the Guide to the Vatican Museums and City (€10). There are also authorised guided tours (adult/concession €30/25), bookable on the Vatican’s online ticket office. The museums are well equipped for visitors with disabilities: there are four suggested itineraries, lifts and specially fitted toilets. Wheelchairs can also be reserved in advance – fax 06 698 85 433. Parents with young children can take prams into the museums.

Fly to Italy for free … get the vouchers here

All inclusive vacation with 50% discount in Rome

All inclusive vacation with 50% discount in Rome

Visit Pantheon

Along with the Colosseum, the Pantheon is one of Rome's iconic sights. A striking 2000-year-old temple (now a church), it is the city's best-preserved ancient monument and one of the most influential buildings in the Western world. The greying, pock-marked exterior might look its age, but inside it's a different story and it's an exhilarating experience to pass through its towering bronze doors and have your vision directed upwards to the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.

Its current form dates from around AD 120, when Emperor Hadrian built over Marcus Agrippa's original temple (27 BC) – you can still see Agrippa's name inscribed on the pediment. Hadrian's temple was dedicated to the classical gods – hence the name Pantheon, a derivation of the Greek words pan (all) and theos (god) – but in AD 608 it was consecrated as a Christian church. During the Renaissance it was much studied (Brunelleschi used it as inspiration for his Duomo in Florence) and became an important burial chamber. Today you'll find the tomb of Raphael, alongside those of kings Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I.

Somewhat the worse for wear, the exterior is still imposing, with 16 Corinthian columns (each a single block of stone) supporting a triangular pediment. Rivets and holes in the brickwork indicate where the original marble-veneer panels were removed.

Thanks to its consecration as a church in the 7th century, the building was spared the Christian neglect that left other structures to crumble, although it wasn't entirely safe from plundering hands. The gilded-bronze roof tiles were removed and Bernini used bronze from the portico for the baldachin at St Peter's Basilica. Thankfully, the original Roman bronze doors remain.

Fly to Italy for free … get the vouchers here