Schwiet Co. Travel

Travel Spotlight: Helsinki, Finland

If you know us, you know we have a special place in our heart for Finland and the Finnish culture. This country is so beautiful and has such a rich and fascinating history. The people are kind, the food is delicious, and the reindeer are so adorable that's somehow all I walked away with on my camera roll!
Things we did while in Finland:
- Fed Reindeer at the Nuuksio Reindeer Farm (about an hour north of Finland)
- Enjoyed the Helsinki Christmas Market
- Explored Downtown Helsinki
- Visited UNESCO Heritage site: Fortress of Suomenlinna

We cannot wait to return to Finland and try Lapland next! For now, enjoy the reindeer!

GREECE | ALL-INCLUSIVE | FLIGHTS INCLUDED

Check out this deal for May 3-11, 2023

Stay at the beautiful Atrium Prestige Thalasso Spa Resort on the island of Rhodes
You will be staying in the Deluxe Room with a Private Pool!

Only $4,348 from Toronto or
$4,162 from Kansas City!

*prices subject to change

Still needing to make your Summer Vacation Plans? Here are some great cruise deals!

7-Nights Mediterranean Cruise for only $955.10 for 2 adults or $1999.20 for 2 adults and 2 kids in June!

7-Nights Bahamas Cruise featuring MSC’s private island Ocean Cay and Oceanview rooms for only $1249.60 for 2 adults or $1999.20 for 2 adults and 2 kids!

Included in the cost of your cruise:
- Room
- Food (some restaurants may have an additional charge)
- Many activities (some may have an additional charge such as the spa, arcade, etc but many options at no additional cost)
- Unlimited Relaxation

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! Personally, we love cruising! It’s a great way to get away and relax while trying multiple destinations!

*prices subject to change

Travel Spotlight: Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn is straight out of a fairytale with gorgeous medieval architecture and quiet cobblestone paths.
Did you know the Christmas Market in Tallinn is rated as one of the best in the world?! When we visited, we were able to go while the market was open and had an absolute blast.
We also walked the city walls and visited some historical sites.

Tallinn is a must-add to your bucket list!

Tip #5

Priority is key!

It is so so easy to get caught up in all the things you can do when planning a great trip. It's best to prioritize what your absolute top things to do are so that you do not go over budget/get to do what you are most looking forward to.

Tip #4

Budget out all of the details.

Let's say your budget for a 10 day trip is $5,000
You may be able to find a great price on flights and hotels, coming under budget by $1,000, but here are some things people often forget about that will easily put you over your budget:
- Airport Parking
- Baggage Fees (especially international baggage fees)
- Seat selection on your flights
- Gas for a rental car/any tolls/parking
- Food
- Transportation (like airport transfers or taxis)
- Boarding pets
- Souvenirs

Tip #3

Plan for an experience, not a destination.
What do we mean by this? We'll give you an example!

Say you want to spend the summer in the Mediterranean. While the popular well-known destinations may include places like Greece or Italy, a more affordable option may be to go to Croatia or Montenegro. There is also always the option of a Mediterranean cruise as well if you want to try several different locations.

Tip #2

Plan for a season, not specific dates.

One of the great things about planning in advance, is being able to find the cheapest prices for a specific season that you want to visit.

Here is an easy step-by-step way to do this:

1. Go to Google Flights
2. Choose your most affordable airport and the location you want to travel to
3. Adjust the amount of people
4. Adjust the amount of days from 4 days to however long you want your trip
5. Click through the months and look for the green numbers to find the cheapest dates to fly to your destination.

We will make a video on this shortly so stay tuned!

Tip #1
Book things in advance, but not everything.

We always like to stick with planning trips 12-18 months in advance. We do this so we can track prices to see when the best time to book things is.
We also do this so that instead of paying for the full trip up front, we can spread it out over the months. This makes it feel more affordable-even though it's the same price.

So what things do you want to book in advance?
- Flights
- Car rental
- Hotels/Resorts
- Cruises

What can wait until closer to time:
- Excursions/Things to do
- Metro Passes/Public Transportation
- City Passes/Museum tickets/Etc.

Now, we will say that when it comes to cruises, some last-minute cruise deals are truly amazing. However, typically if you see your cruise for a lower price you can call the cruise company and get the difference added on as onboard credit (this is how we got over $1000 onboard credit for our Iceland + UK cruise last year)!

5 Tips for Saving Money when planning a trip!
We will be doing a more in-depth post on each one of these items.
Let us know below if any of these surprised you!

Money Saving Travel Tip - Be Flexible
So how did we save over $1,000 by being flexible?
We decided a little bit ago to change our trip to Alaska and go to the Mediterranean instead for our summer trip.
When we originally decided to switch, we had chosen an all inclusive resort in Montenegro. With flights and an 8-day stay the total came out to $3,800.
When Chase and I travel, we try to maximize our budget as best as we can, so we began looking into ways to make our trip more affordable. We found that we could fly into Dublin and then fly from Dublin to Dubrovnik and rent a car and save quite a bit AND add two more destinations to our trip!
When we had finalized our plans with how long we wanted in each destination and decided to book, the flights from Dublin to Dubrovnik had skyrocketed. Therefore we decided to look at what other close airports we could fly into for around the same price we had originally planned.
We found Split, Croatia was the cheapest near our original destination of Montenegro. However, it was going to be about a 7-hour drive and we HATE driving. So, we pivoted again to look for All Inclusive resorts in Croatia. That is when we discovered the most gorgeous, small resort with great reviews on an island off the coast of Split.
Not only was this resort perfect for us, but it was also significantly more affordable than the resort we had planned on staying at in Montenegro.
All that to say, we went from an 8-Day All Inclusive stay in Montenegro (which we still want to do at some point), to a day in Dublin, All Inclusive stay in Croatia, two excursions (Guinness Storehouse & All Day Boat Tour), and we're saving over $1,000!
We cannot wait to document and share our adventure when we go this summer, but here's just a story how being flexible saved us money while also creating a trip that we are even more excited for!
Have a trip you are wanting to take soon? We would love to help you plan it!

If you had a plane ticket and could go ANYWHERE, where would it be?

Let us know below!

Have we found the perfect spring/summer trip or what?!

⛱6 Nights at the BEAUTIFUL Sunrise Zante Resort in their top room with PRIVATE pool access
⛱ ALL INCLUSIVE & Adults Only!
⛱ Just a short 5-minute walk from the closest village
⛱ RT Flights included

Oh and did we mention it's in GREECE?!

This amazing vacation will take place on the island of Zakynthos. Zakynthos is lesser known compared to Mykonos and Santorini, making it the perfect destination to experience Greece in a less crowded area.
Still want to visit Athens and see historical sights? Don't worry! You can pop over to the airport and take a short flight over to Athens for a day trip to visit Ancient Greece! (additional cost)

Below we've included two quotes, one leaving from Toronto and one leaving from Kansas City.

*Note: prices may vary. Prices are determined by the number of people, dates, and airport of origin.

Summer will be here before you know it!
Which kind of vacation packages are you looking for?
Relaxing All-Inclusive? Or Adventurous?

*For adventurous, think sight-seeing/hiking/on-the-go type travel

Another travel deal for you!

Have you ever wanted to go to some of the top Christmas Markets in the world?!
If you’re like us, the answer is yes! This is the perfect itinerary to enjoy a few days in some of the top Christmas/Holiday destinations in the world!

Message us today to plan your perfect trip!

*Note: prices may vary. Prices are determined by the number of people, dates, and airport of origin.

Who needs to get away from the cold with this great all inclusive deal to Punta Cana?

This sample search is from 1/11-1/17 2023 and includes round trip flights from Buffalo to Punta Cana on Southwest Airlines to the beautiful All Inclusive Live Aqua Beach Resort

If you’ve never done an all inclusive vacation, this total means that basically EVERYTHING is covered! It’s such a great way to relax and recharge!

*Note: The total cost will vary depending on dates, airports, airlines, etc. This deal is not just from Buffalo, that is just the sample itinerary we pulled.

Or any theme park in general!

Your footwear MATTERS when you are walking 12+ miles a day at the parks! Especially if you don’t typically walk that much.

These are all of our park approved shoe brands that we love!

Did we miss any?

3 of our top tips for traveling to help save you money:

1. Try to plan your trip 12-18mos out. This will help you narrow down the best time to travel to your destination and will end up saving you money on flights. Not only can it save money on travel, but it helps you research and build your itinerary and pay things off over a longer period of time.

2. Create a budget that includes EVERYTHING. We mean everything: Food, Travel, Souvenirs, Things to Do, Accommodation, Pet Boarding, Parking, Transportation in your destination, etc.

3. Create a Master Packing List. Personally, we love packing at least a week in advance for our trips and we usually plan out our list a few months ahead of time. We then go through and color code what needs to be purchased (including any special outfits or clothing items). Then we buy them overtime and usually when we find a good deal on them.

Now, I'm not saying you have to do everything this way, these are just a few things that we've noticed help us when we travel.

Do you have any tips to share? Let us know below!

Let us know what your Dream Vacation destination is below!

One of my favorite things about Universal is their handy-dandy app!
What can you do with this app?
✨ Keeps your ticket for you so no need to carry around the paper one (after you add it to your account of course!)
✨ Never get lost again with the interactive map!
✨ View ride wait times and even add your favorites to a separate list to view!
✨ Mobile order food and skip the lines!

There’s so much to love about the Universal app, making it a must have for your next Universal Orlando vacation!

Have you been to Universal?
If so, what are your favorite rides?

Did you know that we ourselves love going to Universal and are annual pass holders?
This is why we know we’ll be able to help you plan the perfect vacation!

Here are 3 of our top tips!
💧Hydrate (and no, we don’t mean with butterbeer 😉). Drinking water throughout the day is super important, be sure to bring a collapsible water bottle and refill at any drink station for free!
🎢 PLAN! This is so important if it’s your first time going, or if you’ll only be there for a day or two. It’s best to prioritize which rides, shops, and shows you want to see before you go so you can maximize your time.
🎫 Get the Park-to-Park ticket (especially if you’re a Harry Potter fan!). The Park-to-Park tickets are the ONLY way you can ride the 🚂 Hogwarts Express 🚂
By the way, it’s different each way! So be sure to ride it both ways at least once.

We hope you found these tips helpful, we can’t wait to share more!

We have big news! Schwiet Co. Travel is coming soon to help you plan your perfect vacation!

Travel is something we have always been passionate about and we are so excited to start this journey and help others!

Stay tuned for our official launch!