Give them airline and hotel points. If you travel for business, you’ve probably racked up a ton of loyalty points. Why not gift a lucky family member a trip to a nice hotel or fly them in for a visit? If you’re leaning in this direction, think about booking well ahead of time to ensure that you don’t hit blackout dates or booked-to-the-hilt properties.

Consider gift cards. Most hotel chains offer gift certificates or gift cards. While you’ll have to buy a dollar amount rather than a two- or three-night stay (as prices vary), you can also take into account the typical cost of a night’s stay when making your gift purchase. Even better, many gift cards entitle the recipient to goodies at the property. You might indicate on the card that you “expect” part of it to be redeemed for breakfast in bed or a nice massage.

Travel with them! If your whole family meets at a resort, on a cruise ship or at a suites hotel, you can enjoy an extended family vacation. Giving such a gift is a present to yourself, too, as you’ll get to spend quality time with the folks you haven’t seen in a while. Need ideas for destinations? Check out sites like familytravelnetwork.com, suiteliving.com and this very site for potential destinations (Ft. Lauderdale, anyone? How about Boulder? Maybe San Diego?). Then hold a planning session by Skype or an online chat site where everyone can discuss and vote.

Help them make memories. Know someone expecting a baby? Maybe someone’s got a big anniversary coming up? You know those folks need to get away for some super-duper bonding time – time they’ll use to refresh and store up energy for the next big stage of life. Giving the gift of travel can also help them make lifelong memories – and you’ll be a part of them.

Give them free time. Maybe the issue isn’t a family’s budget – it could be child or pet care. If someone you love really needs a break, consider giving them the best gift of all by taking little or furry ones off their hands while they enjoy the surf or snow. Even better? You’ll get hugs, wags and snuggles until Mom and Dad come home.

Got travelers on your list? Here are some great gift ideas to get you started.

1. Portable GPS

Most cars come equipped with GPS these days, but the majority of rental cars don’t. That’s why one of the most practical gifts you can give a traveler on your list is a portable GPS like the Garmin Nuvi 265W. If you’ve got people who are passionate about their iPhones, get them a Magellan Premium Car Kit so they can use their favorite navigation app safely.

2. A travel wallet

Why bring every credit card, loyalty card, coupon and school photo you own when you really just need a few of those items? Not only are travel wallets lighter, they also protect you from losing everything if the worst happens. There are dozens to choose from, but our favorite is the Original Taxi Wallet, which comes in fun colors.

3. A wall map

Whether the traveler on your list likes islands, European cities or national parks, you’ll surely find a decorative map to fit their style at PastPresent Gallery. Choose from antique and reproduction maps, prints, engravings and magazine covers. But be careful – it’s all too easy to start shopping for someone else and wind up shopping for yourself.

4. A good road atlas

In this age of Google Earth and GPS, maps and driving directions are everywhere. However, there’s no substitute for a good road atlas, whether you’re planning a trip or just armchair traveling from the comfort of home. Our favorite is the midsize Rand McNally Road Atlas. Unlike its unwieldy predecessors, it fits in most bookshelves and glove compartments.

5. A really good pair of headphones

Earbuds are lightweight and packable, but nothing compares to the comfort and sound quality of really good headphones. Whether the traveler on your list uses them to go to his happy place on an airplane or to watch movies in his hotel room after the kids have gone to sleep, he’ll think of you fondly every time he takes them out. If money is no object, pick up the Bose QuietComfort 15s. For slightly less, try the Koss PortaPros.

So how can you prepare for the event of a lost bag?

First, it’s important to pack smart. Any valuable or fragile (non-liquid) items should be packed in your carry on. This goes for laptop computers, cameras, cash, jewelry or any electronics. If you would like, you can get a luggage lock for your bag, though the TSA technically has the right to remove it if they see fit to search your bag.

Second, when you check in, keep and eye out for the baggage tag and receipt that the ticket agent prints out. Your tag will obviously be stuck onto your bag (keep an eye out to make sure that it says your destination airport,) but your receipt will usually be stuck to your boarding pass or the jacket in which your boarding pass rests. Make certain that you hold onto this bar code –  it’ll be the reference that you use later in case things go awry.

Alternatively, if you’re carrying your bag onto the aircraft, make sure that it’s small enough to fit into the overhead compartment, especially for the equipment on which you’re flying. If your next-generation Tumi bag with anodized, Calphalon wheels, carbon fiber handle and cashmere lined interior fit barely in the overhead of a 767, for example, it’s not going to fit into an RJ-45. Double check your specific aircraft online before departure to ensure you bring the right size luggage.

Once back on the ground, if you find yourself as the the last person at the baggage carousel, pull out that baggage receipt. Most airports have a luggage services counter, and once they scan that bar code they can check to see if your bag was scanned prior to being loaded on your (or another) plane. If there isn’t a baggage office, check with the ticket agent upstairs.

Should your bag have wandered away from its destination, the airline is legally required to get your bag to you by any means possible. You’ll have to leave a forwarding address and hope for the best, but don’t feel bad demanding overnight courier service to your front door. Also make certain to get the baggage office’s phone number so you can call back daily (if not hourly) to check on the status. You can also contact the airline directly, give them your reference number and check on the status.

Depending on the contract of carriage, you’re entitled to fair value compensation for your bag if it doesn’t reappear. Make sure you make an itemized list of its contents and share it with the airline – it’s their responsibility to reimburse you properly.

And if all else fails, small claims court is an arduous but last-resort option. We’ve heard stories of passengers successfully taking the airlines to court over a lost bag here and there, but it’s a time consuming and potentially costly exercise. Make sure you only do this as a last resort.

If you’re lucky enough to own one, here are eight iPad apps for kids with enough replay value that you won’t mind the sometimes higher price tags.

1. Fish School HD
Age rating: 1 and up | Price: $1.99

A simple educational app disguised as a fish tank of fun.  Your toddler will have so much fun they won’t realize their learning.

2. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
Age rating: 2 and up | Price: $0.99

A playful monkey cheers your kid on as he counts fruit, puts puzzles together, and matches cards.  Right answers earn stickers and who doesn’t love stickers?

3. Fruit Ninja
Age rating: 3 and up | Price: $1.99

A fruitastic game with all the action and none of the violence.  Using their finger as a blade, kids swipe various pieces of fruit that fly up in the air, chopping them in half.  The sound effects and graphics are awesome.

4. Chuzzle
Age rating: 4 and up | Price: $4.99

Kids slide google-eyed chuzzles across the iPhone screen trying to place 3 like-colored chuzzles together. When they succeed, the chuzzles pop with a giggle, sending fur and eyeballs flying.

5. Cake Doodle
Age raging: 4 and up | Price: $0.99

Real baking is messy.  Cake doodle is not.  Choose a cake, assemble the ingredients, decorate, and eat.  Yum!

6. Soozis HD
Age rating: 5 and up | Price: $1.99

Save your cute planet from cute bad guys by hopping around rescuing your cute friends.  With seven worlds and 66 levels, this app will keep kids busy for a long, long time.

7. Doodle Jump
Age rating: 5 and up | Price: $0.99

This is the most downloaded app of all time, and it’s not hard to see why.  Guide your trumpet-faced alien as he hops ever higher from platform to platform.  Jet packs and trampolines make the journey easier.  Monsters not so much.

8. Bookworm
Age rating: 5 and up | Price: $2.99

A very addictive word search game in which you link letters left, right, up, and down to build words and earn points.  Make too many short words and the tiles catch on fire.  Good for wordsmiths, new readers, and everyone in between.

It’s important to remain objective when analyzing airport performance, however, as with enough queries, anyone can find a single traveler that despises a particular terminal. And that’s why we’ve got the Department of Transportation to crunch numbers for us. The Aviation Consumer Protection Division’s 2009 report just came out this month, detailing the performance of airlines and airports across the country. Lets use their December data to pick out the bad apples.

If you’re looking to arrive on time, Newark (EWR) and Fort Lauderdale (FLL) have the worst scores in the country, with only 61.9 and 64.9 percent of flights arriving on time to each respective airport. Seattle performed best at 82.1, in case you’re wondering.

Traveling during rush hour? If you’re leaving at the most delayed time of the day (between 7 and 8 p.m.,) avoid Chicago’s Midway airport, where a shocking 29.8% of flights leave on time. Newark again scores low with 48.1% of flights leaving on time, while St. Louis isn’t doing much better at 50.1%.

What the ACPD doesn’t analyze in this study is relative quality of the airport. The airport at Deadhorse, Arkansas, for example, can have an excellent on-time performance, but still have an awful, cockroach infested terminal and mean gate agents.

For those sort of data we turn to the public for general voting. And the winner? New York’s John F. Kennedy airport. Situated 45 minutes east of Manhattan in Queens, this popular international airport is famously hated among travelers, many complaining about confusing signs, late flights and dirty terminals.

Luckily, like many airports in the above list, there are often alternatives to the crowded, congested airports. Passengers flying out of JFK or Newark can also consider LaGuardia (LGA), White Plains (HPN) or Islip (ISP), while those out of Chicago can try Milwaukee (MKE). Fort Lauderdale is in the proximity of Palm Beach (PBI) and Miami (MIA) while St. Louis, well, has an excellent train system.

In the worst case, you can use the data to prepare well for your trip. If you know that your airport is going to be congested and maybe dirty, bring extra snack items and sanitizer. Do your homework and prepare for the worst, and with a little luck, you might get the

Photo by Catherine Boley

Like many families who visit home for extended lengths I go with the kids first…alone. And then, The Husband will often follow for a shortened amount of time. He then departs after about a week to head back to work, while I enjoy some more time with my family. Finally, I get dropped off at the airport and head home with the kids…alone.

Bottomline: Traveling with kids isn’t a picnic and can be something akin to that scene in The Exorcist where the little girl’s head spins around 360. You know you’ve hit CRAZY when your kids look at you like you’ve turned into a Kraken from the sea.

So, let’s talk about how to avoid turning into Crazy, Scary mom when traveling alone with the kids. The MOST important tip when traveling alone is to prepare ahead of time and to not be afraid to ask for help. Here are a couple more tips base on the school of hard knocks.

Photo by Catherine Boley

Preparing for the Trip
•    If your destination is less than 5 hours away try to book a non-stop flight. Do not book a red-eye flight if you can help it.
•    Check out the map of the airport the night before. Try to scope out where you might like to eat, a kid’s play area if the airport has one, and family bathrooms.
•    Dress in comfy clothes and easy to pull on and off shoes for all involved.
•    If there is no one to help you with your luggage when you arrive at your destination, pack only what you can’t purchase there. Pack LIGHT!
•    Save time and print your tickets at home. Got baggage? You can pay for that in advance too.
•    Have your IDs easily accessible.
•    Charge all necessary electronics.

What to Pack
•    Bring the car seat onto the plane since there’s nothing quite like a kid who keeps running up and down the aisle annoying everyone in his wake.
•    Always bring extra diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes (you never know what might happen).
•    Snacks are important, but pack only what you can’t purchase at the airport.
•    Bring the stroller. My toddler can walk, but we use the stroller as a make-shift trolley in the airport. We throw backpacks, car seats, etc on it. The gate people will check it before you get on the plane and bring it back out before you get off.
•    Patemm Pads are your friend…airplane bathrooms are gross!
•    Lollipops tend to crumble even the most obstinate wails.
•    My favorite trick is to pack a bag full of small tissue wrapped toys and treats. The un-wrapping takes a little time and the new toy provides a bit of distraction.
•    Ipods, portable DVD players, and handheld game systems can offer some needed distraction. Don’t forget some headphones, so you don’t bother those around you.

Photo by Catherine Boley

At the Airport
•    Help your younger kids burn some energy. They’re going to be sitting for a long time.
•    Pick up food to eat on the plane if you’ve got a long flight.
•    When you arrive at the gate ask if the flight is full. If not, ask if your seat can be changed to accommodate a little extra breathing space.

On the Airplane
•    Sit towards the back of the plane which is closer to the bathrooms and flight attendants, and gives you plenty of time to gather you stuff when the flight is over.
•    Buy the person sitting in front of you a drink or snack, and make a concerted effort to keep your kids from kicking their seat the whole trip.