Planning a Trip? Two Travel Sites Recommended by a Former Flight Attendant

Working the airline industry for nearly four years taught me a lot. From knowing how to calm frantic travelers  during turbulence to serving the likes of Robert Redford in First Class, I came away with lots of stories.

And you know what else? I have loads of insider traveler knowledge. Lucky you: I'm feeling like sharing. Let me unveil two travel site gems with you, from a former-flight-attendant-turned-marketer:

Need a place to stay on your trip? Check out airbnb.com. 

Hotels are overrated! Why get just a hotel room when you can have your own place?

We've used this site this year to rent private flats in Paris, Venice, and tonight I booked our own private apartment for an upcoming visit to Chicago. Why? It's cheaper than a hotel, more spacious, and gives more of a "local" experience. For example, in Paris, we were only three Metro stops from the Eiffel Tower. In the City of Bridges, we felt like locals staying in this lovely Venetian getaway, going to the market each day to buy fresh food. Not to mention, we were serenaded by gondoliers outside our window (see Ryan below.) I honestly don't want to travel any other way to a foreign land!

Looking for a sweet airfare deal? Airfare Watchdog, my friend. 

Find yourself something to bow wow about at this deal-finding site. I know there are tons of them out there (Priceline, Travelocity, Kayak, etc.), but I find the simplicity of the site and low overhead costs (they don't worry about being too fancy) yield better airfare results. I have the Salt Lake City Flight Deals emailed to me once a week, often with round-trip deals at $98. Granted, if you live away from an airport hub, it's more difficult to round up deals, but if anyone can sniff it out, Airfare Watchdog can!

I'm really not kidding. Here's a snapshot of a recent Airfare Watchdog email:

Any travel sites you can't live without? Do share.

New Year's Eve at the Eiffel Tower

Paris for New Year's Eve? Check it off the bucket list, baby. 

The glorious thing about being a flight attendant is the ability to jump on an airplane on a last minute whim. While I didn't know if we'd be able to pull it off, we did get on the plane stand by, and had an incredible long weekend in the City of Lights to ring in 2013. It wasn't our first time abroad at the cusp of the new year - two years ago we went to Sydney. Yeah, I know: We're pretty dang lucky.

If you're working two jobs while going to grad school (I raise my hand here), then you better use your flight benefits while you can! 

What's it like under the Eiffel Tower when the clock strikes midnight for the new year? Check out what we experienced.  

And then come along as I take you on a little tour of what we saw in one of the most romantic cities in the world. Oh yeah...and I'm now officially 27 years old. 

The view when we got off our metro stop

Cambronne is just three stops from Tour Eiffel!

I saw these lovely flowers

Naturally, the flower shop is named "happy"

How cute. He got me a flower. I love him!

Such lovely bakeries everywhere!

I liked the Australia sign next to the Eiffel Tower

Ryan picked the Pompidou - lots of funky modern art