Travelsmartplanet

The Meet and Greet Service are airport experts at Vancouver International Airport. They make the airport experience efficient for both corporate and leisure travelers – whether it’s navigating through the airport formalities, security lines, check-in, handling of baggage, shopping, or restaurant dining – eating in or to go, they offer impeccable attention. This is  the first  official meet and greet service in North America.

Some of their services: check-in including boarding card help, getting through security, departure and connections, assistance including gate to gate escort, chauffeured mobile cart, baggage handling, baggage claim, assistance during flight delays or cancellations, delayed arrival, delayed baggage, claims. You can all access to the Plaza Premium Lounge (applicable fees may apply). Prices start at $95.

http://airportbutler1.reachlocal.net/airport-meet-and-greet

VA Exit 177B: The movie, “12 Years a Slave”  has a connection to a slave site, now a Virginia museum, called Freedom House Museum. In 1808, a US law outlawed the importation of slaves. Still so necessary for plantation life, clever entrepreneurs did not let this stop the sale of slaves – they simply bred them! The slaves were encouraged to have as many children as possible so they could be auctioned off.

The last slave trader at this site, James H. Birch, was the same dealer who, in the movie,  paid kidnappers $250 for Solomon Northup of Saratoga Springs, NY; They then sold him into slavery in Louisiana. “What is unique about this building is it’s one of the few remaining buildings that the slave trade actually took place in.” said curator Julian Kiganda” who designed the exhibits here.

This building was once headquarters for the Franklin and Armfield Slave Pen, the largest and most successful domestic slave trading firm in America. “We will give Cash for one hundred likely YOUNG NEGROES”, read one of their ads in the Alexandria Gazette in 1828. “Persons who wish to sell, would do well to give us a call, as the negroes are wanted immediately. We will give more than any other purchasers that are in the market or may hereafter come into the market.”

Between the 1830’s and 1860’s Virginia exported more than 10,000 slaves a year to the Deep South, and the total may have reached 300,000, tearing families apart forever. The FREE museum is a must to absorb the personal stories of this black mark on the country’s history. “Everyone who comes through there, they feel moved.” says Kiganda.

Location: . 1315 Duke St., Alexandria, VA
Tel:  703-836-2858
www.freedomhousemuseum.org

When you hear the words “Ellis Island“, you think of the immigrants pouring in from Europe yearning for a new life. The flip side of the North American tale of immigration is now on display at the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, Belgium. The brand-new museum presents the experience of the over two million people who emigrated from Europe between 1873 and 1934 aboard the ships of the Belgian-American company Red Star Line.

Visitors of the Red Star Line Museum get a glimpse of what an immigrant’s journey was like – from the docks of Europe, across the churning waters of the Atlantic, to starting a whole new life in North America.  You can read personal tales of present and past immigration as well as view the plates used on the ships, smell the scent of the disinfecting showers, and try your hands at a puzzle once used to assess newcomers’ intelligence. Anyone can search the genealogical database, or even add personal comments and family history.

Among them were famous passengers such as Albert Einstein and Golda Meir. The museum lets you trace their travel across the ocean. When you sing “God Bless America” or “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” you’re paying tribute to a Red Star Line immigrant named Israel Baline (better by his Americanized name, Irving Berlin). By the time of his death, his songwriting included 1,500 songs, 19 musicals and 18 feature films.

www.redstarline.be/en

Allegiant Air flies from America’s favorite small cities to world-class destinations. Allegiant makes leisure travel affordable and convenient by offering low fares, nonstop, all-jet service. So you get great value and without all the hassle of major airports. The savings can be up to 72% on your flight.

If you sign up for their e-mails, you will get location specific sales – only deals pertaining to your closest airport. Besides flights, there are specials on hotels, car rental and show tickets. You will only get information on Tuesdays, so it’s easy to check then.

Allegiant flies to to warm winter destinations like Florida, Las Vegas, California, Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii.

www.allegiantair.com