Rick Seaney is the CEO of the airfare news, research, and tracking resource FareCompare. This website is always my first stop before booking tickets as it provides instant price and route information through multiple channels at once to easily compare and contrast options.

Rick is an incredible source of industry information and insight. I interviewed him earlier this week for his take on the important airline industry happenings that will impact family travel in 2012.

Despite living in Europe for the past 5 months, I still get confused when I’m trying to figure out where and how to best buy train tickets. Given that every country has their own train websites, when and why should you use aggregate distribution sites like Rail Europe?

I asked Rail Europe for an e-interview to answer some of the critical questions for families.

At home we covet the latest tech gadget and are frustrated by anything that seems arcane – but drop us in Italy for a vacation and suddenly we’re waxing poetic about how delightfully romantic and old-fashioned it is to chug around the country by train. Until, that is, something doesn’t go according to plan at the train station.

Getting around Italy by train can be just as delightful and romantic as you imagine it will be if you know what to expect and you’re willing to improvise.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas is waiting silently in the wings. Are you headed to Grandma’s to get your fill of turkey and cranberry? Join the crowd. Best to fly armed with my Thanksgiving travel tips in mind. It will make for a better trip and help your wallet cope with the ever growing list of airline fees.

Turn on the news and it seems like every other day there’s a story about another charge being imposed by one of the big carriers.

Flying business class on a long-haul flights may be the difference between a somewhat enjoyable ride over the ocean or misery, particularly if you are stuck with bad seats in economy. We flew on KLM and Delta last summer to France and we were stuck in the middle seats next to the bathroom there and back.

Not good.

Those are the flights where you literally count each painful minute until the plane lands, only to subsequently arrive shattered.

Renting a car is Italy can be seamless and pleasant. Moreover, if you plan on seeing the countryside, i.e. Tuscany and Umbria to name a few, it’s necessary to have your own car.

I can’t tell you how many people email us saying that they never rent cars in other parts of Europe and don’t think they need one when visiting the Tuscan countryside. Trust me, you do! The trains do not cover the small towns you want to see in order to fully experience the best of this region.

Get your goodies

If you’re flying a U.S. carrier, you might be lucky to get water in flight. But many foreign carriers will supply you with helpful items in flight such as baby food, infant formula, toddler snacks, and possibly even diapering packs if you contact reservations in advance. (See the airlines comparison chart in Travels with Baby for more details.)

Let’s face it—toddlers are not the most easy going travel companions you can have. They are stubborn, lack independence, and have the patience of, well, a toddler. Luckily they are also excited about everything, eager to learn, and absolutely adorable. Traveling with little ones, while not always easy, is a great way to teach your children about the world around them and bond as a family.

This past summer I took a 24-day road trip with my two-year-old twins.

Two years ago, our local news station came out to my house to interview me for a story on rented car seats. Why? Thinking ourselves clever, we had arranged to rent car seats with our rental car rather than lugging them through the airport.

Instead we found ourselves stranded at the rental agency sorting through a scrapheap of aged, damaged and dirty car seats to find two that could be used to transport our tired kids to our hotel.

Thanksgiving is approaching fast. ‘Tis the start of the season for travel nightmares with bad weather and crowds. I recently wrote an article for Peter Greenberg on holiday travel tips and deals. The key to stress reduction is meticulous planning at every point in the process.

Here’s a quick summary of the travel tips discussed in the article. I know it is impossible to follow all of the flight tips—what is best of the schedule, is often not best of the wallet.