Nicknamed the Magic City, it’s a robust business setting for growing clientele and cultivating creative interests. The region’s great demand for services inspired Douthit to consider an entrepreneurial venture. Approaching her 21st year as the nutritional administrator for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Douthit is also finding success with Petit Cakes (www.petitcakes miami.com), her line of gourmet cupcakes and miniature Bundt and layer cakes. Launched in 2009, Douthit’s home-based, part-time operation produces orders of roughly 2,000 to 3,000 cupcakes per month to an increasingly supportive group of patrons across industries. “I’m still young enough that I’m going to continue working,” says Douthit of her retirement in roughly 10 years, “and I’d rather be my own boss. My goal is to keep this at a slow and steady pace of growth.”

Here are several recommendations for your Miami experience.

ACCOMMODATIONS
A popular conference location, the Doral Golf Resort & Spa (www.doralresort.com), site of the 2012 Black Enterprise Golf & Tennis Challenge, spreads across 650 acres and offers a range of services and amenities that make it a comfortable environment for business exchanges, including its five champion golf courses.

Premium service is what guests can expect at the Mandarin Oriental (www.mandarinoriental.com/miami) located on Brickell Key. Booking a suite provides car service to and from Miami International Airport. This luxury hotel also offers exceptional year-round specials.

The boutique-style Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach (www.hiltonbentleymiami.com) provides a choice between a studio, one- or two-bedroom suites, and the penthouse, all elegantly appointed in European fashion. The penthouse is 3,500 square feet with a spiral staircase that leads to a split-level rooftop terrace overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

RESTAURANTS
Truluck’s (www.trulucks.com) service extends beyond creative and succulent dishes to its own private crab fisheries and specially selected farms. There is live entertainment, and the after-dinner drink selection is as impressive as the wine collection.

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Rated one of the best Italian spots in Miami, Perricone’s Marketplace & Cafe (www.perricones.com) is open for lunch and dinner, with private rooms and special menus for business gatherings.

ATTRACTIONS
Three major sports teams have homes in Miami: the NFL’s Miami Dolphins play opponents in Sun Life Stadium; the NBA’s Miami Heat takes its talents to American Airlines Arena; and MLB’s Miami Marlins will swing their bats in the New Marlins Ballpark in 2012.

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (www.arshtcenter.org) is the largest performing arts center built in the U.S. in the last 30 years. Located on Biscayne Boulevard, it hosts a range of artistic and cultural engagements. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is scheduled to perform in February 2012.

There are a number of society events, such as the Annual Hat Luncheon in February, that take place at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (www.vizcaya museum.org). The Moonlight Garden Tour, complete with live music and wine, is a favorite for visitors.

(Image: ThinkStock)

Last week was one of those weeks: I left home on a Sunday, before dinner, to fly across the country for work. Proceeded through four planes and three cities in three days, catching a red-eye back. That’s one of the most aptly nicknamed flights around. Of course, it could also be called the sore-back or stiff-neck or totally-wiped-out… But I digress.

In three marathon days of work and travel, it wasn’t actually the overnight flight home that stayed with me. It was the evening flight out, with me in the very last row of coach on a classic 757 that didn’t have a single available seat. I was in row 44, to be exact, with no other option.

With all due respect to the West Coast, I’ve always felt like a six-hour flight should land me on another continent. That is a loooong trip, and being in the last row has the potential to make it feel a whole lot longer unless you employ some serious lemonade-making thought processes to find the good in what is clearly not a good situation. Given the migraine-inducing realities of air travel today, this can come in very handy. So, in an effort to help all of my fellow frequent fliers, here are the results of my efforts to identify the “perks” of a situation that at first seemed to lack any.

Great Service: In the last row, you’re so close to the galley, you can smell everything happening in there (which, since airlines have given up cooking, isn’t much). You’re the first to be served a beverage and the tiniest possible packaged snack ever created. Of course, if you’re a big spender, you can buy something heartier without having to ever worry that the red wine, beer or sandwich you want is going to run out before your row is reached.

Safety First: Not only are you close to the exit without having to bear the heavy psychological burden of sitting in the exit row (are you really equipped to rip that door from its hinges, toss it from the plane, and play hero in a crisis?), you are actually sitting smack under the plane’s emergency medical supplies, including oxygen and a defibrillator. I found this out on my flight when a woman passed out in the aisle and the flight attendants had to climb up on my seat to get the equipment out. Luckily, the ill woman was revived without using any of it. But for my troubles (I had to stand up while the equipment was retrieved and then returned) the flight attendants apologized profusely and offered to give me anything I wanted. Of course, they no longer have anything (ice cream, a nice hot meal, a headset worth keeping) I want on planes, so I humbly declined.

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(Image: ThinkStock)

No Room…But a View: Sitting in the back of the plane, you have a clear view all the way to the cockpit, which means that you don’t have to crane your neck to see if there’s a line for the bathroom. You can sit back (well, not really back, since your seat doesn’t recline in the last row) and relax, not bothering to get up until that little “vacant” sign slides into place.

Congeniality Corner: Not only will you get to know the flight attendants stationed in the galley right beside you really well, you’ll get to overhear all of their conversations, which could easily be more entertaining than the in-flight movie you watched on a previous flight. Also, you’re guaranteed to make fast friends with your seat mates, who will be just as eager as you are to commiserate about your shared seating fiasco.

No-Kick Zone: For anyone who has ever endured a trip with a child kicking their seat from behind, this is a big one! For some, it might be reason enough to actually request the last row! No one is behind you. No little kickers, screamers, coughers, tappers, gas-passers or other junior travelers that only a mother could love.

Better Survival Odds: I read a statistic years ago that said you are more likely to survive a plane crash if you are seated in the rear of a plane than in the front. Of course, this is logical. As to whether it’s actually true, who knows. If you’re stuck in a last-row seat, it’s a good thing to console yourself with nonetheless. Those folks in first class, with their clean blankets and pillows, their hot meals and fresh-baked cookies, their leg-and-butt room and reclining seats, their spacious overhead bins, practically private bathroom, and drinks-on-demand… in a pinch, they’re more precariously perched than you are.

So, you see, there’s a lot to be glad about if you find yourself riding the back of the plane. Of course, this assumes you have a window or aisle seat. Back row, middle seat? The best you can hope for is that you’ll sleep through the entire ordeal.

Bon voyage!

Clockwise, from top left: The Travel Wallet unfolds; revealing the passport sleeve; and the micro pen

Whether it’s for business or for pleasure, international travel can be a chore, especially when it comes to carrying around identification, local currency, hotel key cards and any other items you can’t leave your home away from home without. With that in mind Australia-based Bellroy continues its tradition of producing products that help simplify the bulk that can overpower your pocket—and ruin the silhouette of your trousers.

The brands latest space-saving item is the Travel Wallet. Constructed of the finest leather this oversized wallet is designed specifically for the on-the-go traveler. Measuring in at 13.5 x 9.4cm, the Travel Wallet is big enough to hold your passport, boarding pass, cash and up to six credit or hotel room cards. It even comes with a special slot for the included micro travel pen with refills that will come in handy when filling out customs or any other paperwork. It’s the perfect overlooked accessory for the constant traveler that can appreciate a compact carryall wallet.

Only available in cocoa brown, the Travel Wallet retails for $120 and is available on the Bellroy website.  Check out the wallet in action below.

Bellroy Travel Wallet from Bellroy on Vimeo.

Gotta get away (Image: Thinkstock)

Work hard, play hard—that’s our motto! And whether you’re the busy professional who takes jaunts abroad for business or you’re packing up the family for a quick getaway, you want to know the way to make the best of your trip.

Use our exclusive Out of Office travel guide to get smart, simple and fun travel tips that are just for you!  We give you advice on the best places to eat, stay and play while you’re on the road—from hot new restaurants in cities across the country to the best destinations around the world to chic new places to party and connect. Our Out of Office travel guide puts in all in one place.

Visit blackenterprise.com/outofoffice DAILY for more!

As the summer travel season jumps into full swing, updated passenger rights are going into effect. The initial tarmac delay rule, called Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections, went into effect on April 29, 2010.  Ellis benefited from this rule recently when her flight was delayed for more than two hours, and passengers were allowed to deplane. The latest rule was published on April 25, with the majority of the provisions going into effect on Aug. 23.

“U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood believes strongly that airline passengers have rights and that we need to ensure that airlines live up to their obligation to treat their customers fairly,” states Bill Mosley, public affairs specialist for the Department of Transportation. Some of the new requirements according to the DOT include:

• A uniform tarmac delay limit of four hours for all international flights
• Setting minimum standards for customer service plans filed by foreign airlines
• Requiring airlines to refund fees for checked bags if lost
• Increasing compensation ceiling for fliers bumped from oversold flights from $400 to a maximum of $650 if the airline re-routed the passenger within two hours (four hours for an international flight) of the planned arrival time of the bumped flight. If the airline did not re-route the passenger to his or her destination within two hours, a maximum of $1,300 (up from $800) of the passenger’s one-way fare would be covered.
• Requiring full disclosure of ancillary service fees such as baggage, telephone reservations, advance seat selection, and pillows and blankets.

“Airline passenger rights were introduced when there was tremendous outcry from the flying public after my family and more than 13,000 others were stuck on tarmacs in 138 planes all over Texas on Dec. 29, 2006,” says Kate Hanni, director of FlyersRights.org, a consumer advocacy organization. “Planes sat for hours on the tarmac with overflowing toilets, no water, no food, babies screaming, no air conditioning, and diabetics in shock.”

The new legislation requires airlines to update travelers every 30 minutes if a flight has been on the tarmac for at least 30 minutes past its scheduled departure. After two hours, individuals must be given food, water, and other basic essentials. After three hours, fliers can get off domestic flights.

The newest passenger rights were instituted because consumers suggested additional protections that were not included in the first rule.

If you feel that your rights have been violated or have additional questions about the new rules, go to the DOT’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings website, http://airconsumer.dot.gov. You can also go to www.flyersrights.org.

Travel blogger Kiratiana Freelon.

Taking a vacation can be more stressful than restful. From the cost to the tedious details of planning to finding your way through foreign cities—traveling can be intimidating—especially for the novice adventurer. Despite the hassle, getting “out there” is an invaluable asset to both your personal and professional life, raising your awareness about cultures outside of your own and giving you the opportunity to become more worldly.

That’s why a growing number of black travel bloggers are stressing the importance of travel, especially for African Americans.

Renee King, who writes the travel blog A View to a Thrill, has a few theories on why we sometimes resist the travel bug.

“It ranges from fear of the unknown to fear of flying to fear of interacting with different cultures when they have really been sheltered within their own neighborhoods,” she explains, and adds that for some, fear of people considering them bourgeois could be a factor. But she says that shouldn’t stop people from traveling.

“At some point, you have to decide if you are going to live for yourself or live down according to someone else’s expectations,” she asserts.

Vaughn Richardson, co-author of The Nubian Drifter agrees and thinks taking excursions provide more than a fun distraction from everyday life.

“It gives you a sense of how other people live… and it makes for a richer experience,” he says.

Harvard graduate Kiratiana Freelon, who writes Kiratiana Travels, was thrust into the world of travel in 2002 after receiving a $20,000 fellowship. Her goal at that time was to write a black travel guide. “I wanted to help other people learn about how they could live abroad,” she says.

And Freelon is still on the move. But she doesn’t just pick-up and head to far-off lands without some planning and sacrifice. “It starts with your lifestyle,” she says. Freelon saves an estimated 10 percent of each paycheck, for at least one trip abroad and three to four domestic trips annually, and she also keeps an eye out for deals via Twitter. Her top recommendations:

1. New York Habitat
Freelon says it’s often cheaper to rent an apartment versus several hotel rooms or a suite when traveling in large groups to major cities like Paris, London and New York.

2. Airfare Watchdog
“They are always the first people to know crazy unadvertised deals,” says Freelon. “I scored a $350 round-trip ticket to Paris and my friend in New York City scored three $200 tickets to Barcelona.”

3. FlyFromUSA
Freelon recommends this as another resource to find cheap domestic and international flights. There are also other select cities with FlyFrom feeds, just insert the name of the city after “FlyFrom”.

To get what Freelon calls a “black perspective” on visiting different cities, she’s compiled an extensive list of black bloggers to follow. Between the 68 on her list, a prospective pilgrim can find a post on just about any city in the world.

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Vaughn Richardson speaks to inner-city kids about the importance of travel.

Vaughn Richardson fell in love with traveling after a friend moved to Paris and invited him for a visit. Within the five years that followed, he had been to countries like Japan, Spain and Columbia. Now he wants to inspire kids of color to go outside of their comfort zone.

“I go around to local high schools in Philadelphia and give speeches about the benefits of studying abroad, global travel and also cultural immersion,” says Richardson, who specifically targets inner city students.

“With kids of color, it’s important for us to travel because it’s good to escape the confines of homogeneity,” he says.

Richardson leaves the country at least twice a year and says that he puts away anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of each paycheck for travel, and follows these feeds on Twitter to stay up on the latest deals:

1.  Travelzoo
“They give you kind of the inside deals that travel agents get and that you wouldn’t ordinarily have access to,” Richardson explains. He says followers can luck-up on offers that include flights with an extra perk or two.

“Buy a ticket to New Zealand and get a free overnight stay in Fiji—things like that,” he says. He listed TripAdvisor and Trazzler for similar bargains.

2. Tourists Guild
Richardson says this is good for people looking for things to do upon arrival.

“It gives you an overall sense of what to do when you get to certain places and they also give you an idea of how much things cost,” says the blogger. “If you don’t have a lot of time to do research you can just go on there and see what they have going on.”

3. Lonely Planet
Richarson swears by Lonely Planet and says he aspires to reach their level of expertise.

“Lonely Planet has been around for ages,” he says. “They are the quintessential, go-to people for travelers. They’re so thorough.

Richardson says one of Lonely Planet’s best features is a comprehensive list and accounting of travel in about every country in the world and ideas on what to do once you get there. However, the most valuable information, he says, is the information on cultural norms and conduct in different countries.

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Renee King wants to encourage other African Americans to travel.

Renee King didn’t start travel blogging until late in life. The 52-year-old administrative assistant says she was tired of her friend’s excuses about why they didn’t travel and decided to show them how through writing.

“I kept hearing so many of my black friends exclaim that they couldn’t afford it, they were convinced that it was beyond their means,” she says. “I think we need to get out of the mindset that travel is meant for others,” she argues. “We have to claim this world as our own and know that we have the god-given right to travel wherever our hearts lead us – we need to stop putting limits on ourselves.”

So with a little sacrifice and technological savvy—King provides a window to the world through her blog, A View to a Thrill. She’s shared a few resources she uses via Twitter.

1. Go-Today.com
King recommends using this feed to find package deals to Europe at a moment’s notice.

2. Rail Europe
King uses Rail Europe to get from country to country while in Europe. By following them on Twitter, she can access deals easily from anywhere. It’s also helpful because followers can direct message the business with questions and get an answer back fairly quickly.

3. Other Black Travel Bloggers
Like her fellow blogger, Kiratiana Freelon, King also advises following other black people who travel to get an idea of what it’s like through the eyes of another person of color. “They share first person accounts of their adventures,” she says of other bloggers. “I think a lot of the time people just need to be assured of the possibility.”

Below are a few of her favorites:

@ImBlacknITravel
@jaytravels
@Flybrother
@LolaAkinmade
@browngirlsfly
@ brianepeters

For more summer travel tips, visit blackenterprise.com/summertravel

Fortunately, going overseas doesn’t have to be a budget killer, as long as you travel smart and do some planning ahead of time.

Here’s how to get the most for your travel dollar on your next international vacation.

Score Flights for Less

Airline tickets are likely to be one of your biggest travel costs if you’re heading out of the country. Whether you’re going off to Italy, Brazil, Egypt or elsewhere, try these suggestions to land terrific airfare bargains.

• Travel during off-peak days and times

When you travel and at what time will greatly determine the price of airline tickets. According to Rick Seaney, the CEO of FareCompare.com, the cheapest days to travel are (in this order): Wednesdays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. Also, the first flights of the morning (yes, that’s those 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. flights, so get ready to to get up early) are usually the most affordable, followed by mid-afternoon flights and late evening flights.

• Sign up for alerts and frequent flyer programs

Many airfares offer discounted prices and email alerts first to their most loyal customers: those who sign for a frequent flyer program or who requested to be notified about sales.

• Try different airlines and airports

Many people tend to stick exclusively to the five major “legacy carriers,”—American, Continental, Delta, United and U.S. Airways. But in some markets, discount carriers such as Frontier, JetBlue or Southwest or Spirit Airlines offer better deals. These can be good deals if you must connect regionally before heading out of the country.

Additionally, don’t dismiss the idea of traveling out of or into a gateway that you might not normally use. And be sure to comparison shop the prices at airports within close proximity of one another. For instance, if you’re heading into the Washington, D.C. area, check prices at both Reagan International and Dulles.

By being flexible about your airlines, airports and travel dates, you’ll save a lot of money.

Lighten Your Lodging Bill

Savvy travelers looking for hotel discounts always leverage the power of the Internet. So research the prices of the hotels you may be interested in online and then also call to see if they have any special deals for the time you want to travel.

Also, if you aren’t tied to staying at a particular hotel chain, try your hand at using Priceline.com’s “Name Your Own Price” program to get a deep discount off a hotel in the city you want. Priceline users often report saving up to 50% of the published rates. I’ve also saved a bundle using Priceline over the years.

For adventurous travelers going overseas who are looking to save money during a vacation stay, why not think about forgoing the hotel routine altogether? Services like HomeExchange.com and Home-Swap.com let you enjoy free international accommodations by using someone else’s home during your stay—and letting them use yours at the same time.

You can also save by checking out the summer promotions offered by , the Marriott Hotel has a special Marriott Summer Hotel promotion offering free breakfast, free Internet and late checkout, as well as a discount at Marriott Spas and Resorts that includes 20% off spa services and golfing.

Read more travel tips on the next page

Pay the Right Way

When it’s time to settle up your bill—whether it’s for hotel, food or other purchases you make while traveling, one key thing you’ll need to decide is how to pay: cash, check, debit or credit card?

During an overseas vacation, a credit card is your best option. It’s safer than carrying around a bunch of cash, has liability protections that debit cards don’t have, and more convenient too because your Visa, MasterCard or American Express will be far more widely accepted by merchants than your check.

But not just any credit card will do when you’re paying for a host of items and making purchases out of the country.

Stick to a card that doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees. Otherwise, you’re liable to get a nasty surprise when you come back home and get your credit card statement. Those foreign transaction fees can add 2% to 3% to the cost of your international purchases.

Surprisingly, though, nearly 60% of consumers don’t even know whether they’ll be charged a foreign transaction fee, according to the latest quarterly Capital One Rewards Barometer Survey, which tracks how consumers earn and redeem credit card rewards.

CardRatings.com, which helps consumers comparison shop for the best credit card deals available, named the Capital One Venture card as a best pick for those venturing off to see the world. The Venture card has no foreign transaction fees. Plus, you get two other killer travel benefits that frequent flyers and occasional travelers alike will appreciate: The miles you earn on every purchase don’t expire, and your miles can be used on any airline with no blackout dates.

Get to the Visitor’s Bureau

Lastly, for any city you’re considering traveling to, reach out to the local tourism bureau ahead of your arrival and inquire about whether there’s a city visitor’s card.

These often offer widespread discounts of 10% or more off everything from popular local attractions to restaurants and hotel accommodations. I used a visitor’s card during a summer trip to Stockholm, Sweden in 2009 and I got discounts on local subway fares, museum entrance fees, and more.

Another reason to mosey on down to the Visitor’s Bureau is that it’s likely in town – that is, away from the airport – and may have currency exchange facilities. If you need to convert your U.S. dollars into another currency, exchange rates are usually better in the city rather than the currency exchange windows at the airport.

By implementing these money-saving strategies, and doing a bit of pre-planning, your summer vacation can be both fun and frugal.

Lynnette Khalfani-Cox of askthemoneycoach.com is a weekly Money columnist for Blackenterprise.com

For more travel tips, destinations and best places to stay, eat and play,  visit blackenterprise.com/outofoffice