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Newsletter Archive
Published by e-mail every other month and posted here. I try to keep
it to two pages. I've removed
content from the archives that is no longer relevant or valid. I welcome questions
(they often become part of my newsletter).
Internet Travel Tips
Newsletter 7/1/08
For many years, I have compared and reviewed different air fare
search sites for travel within the USA. Over the past few months,
I have concluded that the battle for the site that most quickly
and easily provides the most useful information and best fares has
been won by Kayak. That conclusion was further solidified last
week by a significant enhancement. I've always believed in the
philosophy of "no surprises" and "full disclosure" and Kayak added
travel alerts/warnings about regional jets, tight connections,
long layovers, baggage and other fees. They have added more
filters to allow you to eliminate red-eye flights, turbo-props,
regional jets, etc. They also have a very complete (but
continuously evolving) list of airline fees and policies. I must
humbly admit that I have made these recommendations (and others)
to Kayak and will continue to offer suggestions. They have
listened and responded quickly to the requests of the flying
public. In the future, I will watch the other major air fare
search sites and note any significant changes or competitive
offerings.
With airlines reducing flights and using smaller planes,
getting a good seat is more critical. Thus my multi-step options
for getting a good seat (doesn't apply for Southwest):
Web sites like SeatGuru
offer great advice about which seats are good and bad. However the
real challenge can be obtaining a seat assignment if your
reservation was made within a few weeks of your flight. Most
airlines stop issuing seat assignments when a flight is 65% to 75%
booked. At that point, you are at the mercy of the gate agent who
issues seat assignments based upon seats that were held in reserve
and no-shows. Most airlines sell tickets at least 11 months in
advance but only allow specific seats to be claimed within 90 days
of travel. When you hit the 90 day window for each flight segment,
go on-line or call your airline for seats and have SeatGuru
available at that time. Even if you have a seat assignment, there
are a number of steps you should take. The longer your flight, the
harder you should work to get good seats. Want to see the inside of
any type of aircraft or airline? Check
Airliners.net.
The site has excellent photos that can be easily searched.
Call the airline as soon as you have a reservation: if you have a
valid reason for them to make seating available such as handicapped
or unaccompanied minors.
On the first of the month of your flight: airlines may change the
type of aircraft and the number of seats may vary from your original
reservation. Check on-line.
On specific days prior to your flight (7, 5, 3 and 1): some
"elite" flyers are moved to first class and coach seats become
available. Check on-line on each of these days.
Exactly 24 hours prior to your flight: attempt to check-in via
the airline's web site. Do not complete the process if you can not
get seats or are unhappy with your seat assignments and better seats
are not available. Keep checking on-line throughout the day to see
if seats become available but do not complete the process unless you
are satisfied with your seat assignments.
When you arrive at the airport: use the airline's ATM to attempt
to check-in to see if seats are available or can be improved.
At the ticket counter: speak with a ticket counter agent to see
if there are any passengers who have missed their connecting flights
and whose seats are now available. If unsuccessful, ask for
boarding passes (without seat assignments) that will be required to
get through security. Skip this step if there is a long line to
check luggage. Use the ATM to get boarding passes so you can go
through security.
At the gate: speak with a gate agent to see if there are any
no-shows or passengers who have missed their connecting flights and
whose seats are now available. This is a better option than waiting
for a randomly assigned seat once others have boarded and overhead
space is full. Dressing nicely and acting professionally can be
helpful. Be nice to gate agents, they never hear good news and
have the power to help you a lot!!
When to board: for regional jets (2x2 or 1x2 seating), board
last. You can take any open seat or your assigned seat. For all
others, get on board ASAP to claim overhead space.
On board: see if the flight attendant can find other passengers
to switch seats so that your family can sit together or just ask
near-by passengers.
Take a "bump:" if you are flexible, tell the ticket counter and
gate agent that you're willing to relinquish your seat for a later
flight. However, ask for a voucher worth money-off rather than a
"free" ticket. Free tickets are often restricted to flights where
frequent flyer seats are available. Check
BumpTracker to see what
airlines are offering. Be sure that the gate agent "protects" you
for the next flight. You may also get a first class upgrade, meal
voucher, hotel room, etc. It never hurts to ask.
TripIt gets even better: TripIt generates a very
comprehensive itinerary for your trip. Forward your email
confirmations and it's done! They have expanded the number of
airlines, hotels and now also include cruises, shuttle vans,
events and more. Manually entering trip information is also
easy. I use TripIt for every trip and share the plans with others
who will be joining any part of the trip.
Check and double check your reservation: Airlines
(except Southwest) are eliminating routes and using smaller
planes. Don't wait for them to contact you. It is critical that
you check (every week) to be sure that the flight is still
operating and that you still have your assigned seats. In most
cases, there are few good options. The airline may offer
alternate routing, a partial or even a full refund. The best
leverage that you have for a full refund is through your credit
card company because the airline could not provide the flight.
However, you may have serious difficulty finding reasonably priced
alternate flights.
YAPTA price alert for a refund/credit when prices drop:
Unfortunately prices are not dropping very often, never-the-less I
recommend using YAPTA to check. YAPTA is now available without
downloading a small program to "tag" flights, just visit their web
site. YAPTA is another company to whom I've offered suggestions
(like Kayak) and I'm optimistic. Orbitz just announced their
Price Assurance but it's so full of loop-holes that it's
worthless. It's like a duck hunter pointing a gun out the window
and pulling the trigger just in case a duck is flying past.
Hyatt's Best Rate Guarantee didn't work for me:
Hyatt claims they offer the best rate via their web
site. If you find a lower rate for the same night, room type,
etc. they will give you a 20% discount. I did find a lower rate
using Kayak (at Skoosh.com) and called Hyatt. Hyatt told me
that their guarantee was not available because "Hyatt can not
make a reservation at Skoosh." My advise: don't automatically
reserve at any airline, hotel or rental car without checking
Kayak (and/or others) just because a "lowest price guarantee" is
offered. Remember that "frequent guest" credit is usually
available only when you reserve directly at the hotel's web
site. In most cases, frequent guest credit isn't worth paying
the extra money. I also noted that Hyatt charges for a day plus
taxes penalty for checking-out a day early. How can they get
away with charging taxes for a room-night you didn't use? Do
they really remit the taxes to the city/county for the services
you didn't receive?
Multi-segment flights: I recently spoke to a
conference of college recruiters who take "road trips" that
involve flying to many cities before returning to their "home"
airports. These road trips have very specific times for travel.
When researching multi-segment airfares, all of the well known
travel sites (including Kayak) attempt to keep you on one
airline. This will probably cause you to spend a lot more
money and time (both researching and traveling) than necessary.
Finding flights for this type of trip is one of the services of a
good travel agent. The best way for the "do it yourselfer" to
make multi-segment trips is to use
ITASoftware's
multi-segment search. Buy your tickets at the airlines' web
site. Send your email confirmations to
TripIt to get a complete
itinerary. Register your flights with
YAPTA to monitor for price
drops and use SeatGuru to
identify the best seats. I have a comprehensive tutorial (with
graphics) in the "comparisons" section of my web site. If you
make multi-segment trips, I offer an on-site educational program
and demonstration for your specific trips and travelers. Please
contact me if you are interested.
EDITORIAL: stop the taxes for local pork! I can
not count the local taxes and fees that are placed on travelers'
backs. If you want a stadium, convention center or highway
interchange, pay for it yourself! Some of the fees and taxes are
even paid to private businesses and sports teams. Next time you
see the bill for your airline ticket, hotel or rental car, examine
and calculate the total amount and percentage of the bill that is
taxes and fees (even taxes on top of taxes). "Visitors can't vote
so let's tax 'em." is the philosophy. It's enough to make me want
to dump tea into the harbor. If you are arranging meetings or
conventions, examine the total taxes and avoid
cities where they are high. Tell your elected officials to stop
taxation for local pork.
Top of page
Internet Travel Tips
Newsletter 5/1/08
This months newsletter covers car rental
search web sites. Which site should be used to quickly find the
lowest price and make reservations for car rentals within the US.
Comparing Expedia, Hotwire, Kayak, Orbitz and Travelocity.
Recommendation: Use Kayak, it finds
excellent prices and has fast & easy filtering of results, just
un-check the car types that you do not want. Hotwire may be worth
checking for short notice rentals but once you reserve your car,
it's not cancelable and you can not earn frequent rental points.
Hotwire uses Avis, Budget, Hertz and National so it's tough to go
wrong with them.
I recommend joining frequent renter
programs of Alamo, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise and Thrifty (the
usual low cost winners) to eliminate waiting in line at the
counter and the pressure to upgrade or purchase insurance, gas,
etc.
Check any special pricing that has been
negotiated by your employer or association. You may have discount
codes that can lower the price (AAA, AARP, etc.). Some codes are
mentioned at various discussion threads at
FlyerTalk and
BiddingForTravel.
However, the code that produces the lowest price in Boston may
produce a higher price elsewhere. Most coupons that are included
in your airline's frequent flyer mailing and credit card
statements require a multi-day rental that usually includes
Saturday. From my limited testing with various coupons and
promotional codes, they did not provide a value.
Lower prices may be available at Priceline
but you must do your homework first. Find the lowest price as
suggested above and then visit
BiddingForTravel
for excellent advice.
You may be able to avoid local airport
taxes and fees if you arrange to get to the rental car lot outside
the airport without using their shuttle. This technique has
greater benefit for longer rentals.
When renting in Europe or the UK, check
the wholesalers that are listed in my "Travel Links" web sites
section.
Don't pay for the upgrade:
often rental car companies have more reservations for small cars
than they can accommodate (they plan on some no-shows). When you
go to the counter, you are told that you can have a bigger car for
only a few dollars more. Politely decline and you may be given
the upgrade anyway. Being a member of their frequent renter
program will improve your upgrade chances but also consider that
bigger cars will use more gas.
Check to see if the price
went down: I recently saved $18 on a two day car rental
by re-searching a week after my original reservation. There is no
penalty for canceling a reservation so it pays to keep checking.
While there are lots of web sites that track air fare price
changes, there are none that track car rentals or hotels. I'd be
happy to help with the design and testing an automated rental car
price alert service provided it would be available free of charge
to the public.
Migration of cars: Florida needs
rental cars for tourists from late November through April. The
rest of the year, cars are needed in the northern states. The
major rental companies offer significant discounts if you pick-up
a car in a northern state and drop it in off in Florida in the
fall or pick it up in Florida and drop it in a northern state in
the spring. The discounts allow you to have a car at a very low
daily rate. The prices for moving a car are not posted until very
near the time they are needed, so sign-up for the newsletters from
the major rental companies such as Avis, Budget, Hertz and
National. When combined with a one-way ticket from a low-fare
airline, it's a great way to save and have a car to drive during
vacation.
Finding low priced gas:
If you are a member of Costco or
Sam's Club, use their "locations" button to view stores along your
route. Also check
GasPriceWatch, the site has a "My Route" tab that is helpful
but incomplete.
Check for damage before you leave
the lot: It's a good idea to take pictures of your car
with your cell phone camera. If there is any damage, get a
different car before you drive off the lot.
YAPTA
(monitors price changes for you): Last November I wrote
about YAPTA (Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant). Since then,
it's expanded the airlines that it monitors and offers more
notification options. Use it to watch for air fare changes after
buying a ticket.
TripIt: Another very helpful tool that provides a
very nice itinerary for you and adds maps, weather and more. It
also allows you to be notified when and where your friends are
traveling.
Kayak air search upgraded:
Kayak now offers the ability to search for flights "segment by
segment" in addition to their complete round trips.
Always carry snacks: a short
flight can become a long flight due to weather, air traffic,
mechanical delays or for any reason. Airlines don't offer food
and some charge even for water (Spirit Airlines). I always carry
granola bars. They become flattened in my laptop case but it's
better than being hungry. Also carry an empty plastic water
bottle. Fill it after you go though security.
Top of page
Internet Travel Tips
Newsletter 3/1/08
This newsletter's comparison is for hotel
searches: Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, Travelaxe Pro and Travelocity.
The challenge: Which web site
should be used to shop for hotels for travel within the US? Where
do you quickly and easily find the lowest prices? I took some of my
hotel stays in the US and compared prices for trips over the next
few months. I included AAA, AARP as well as corporate discounts,
and priced a room for one or two people for trips of one to seven
nights. If you really don't care about the specifics of your hotel,
give Priceline or
Hotwire
a try. There are very helpful message boards that are a "must read"
before bidding, so visit
Bidding For Travel and
BetterBidding first.
Bottom line: Use
Kayak
and Travelaxe Pro in
combination. Both Kayak and Travelaxe Pro have excellent user
interfaces with lots of filters to make searching easier. They
sweep other sites for prices and then take you to the site with the
lowest price. Kayak has the ability to remember your prior searches
(if you login) so hotels that you examined or reserved before are
listed first. Even if you know where you want to stay, it pays to
shop around because the hotel's web site provided the lowest price
in only 60% of the inquiries.
Kayak and Travelaxe Pro rarely take you
directly to the hotel company's web site to make the reservation.
So be prepared to forfeit your frequent guest credits unless you
want to do extra shopping or pay more. This is because most hotels
give frequent guest credit only when you make reservation directly
on their web site. Never the less, present your frequent guest card
when you check-in, it may increase the chances of a room upgrade.
For domestic airfare searches, Kayak usually takes you directly to
the airline's web site (something you want to do in almost all air
travel situations).
Travelaxe Pro is a program that you download to
your PC (no Mac version). It updates itself when necessary and does
not include any "spyware" or malicious code. The only "downside" is
that it takes a few minutes to complete a search because it depends
upon other web sites for prices. Some of those sites can be slow to
respond and until all sites have returned results, the lowest price
may not have been found. A few of the sites searched by Travelaxe
Pro do not have "real time" prices so you may find that a rate is no
longer available. When that happens, go back and select the next
lower price and try again.
Tips to save more: If the
hotel that you prefer is priced too high, you may find a cheaper
hotel near-by. The mapping feature of these sites can be very
helpful in finding something next door or across the street.
Join their frequent guest programs:
Although I don't usually stay in the same family or chain of hotels,
by joining frequent guest programs, I've been upgraded many times.
It's worth the time and effort.
If you are looking for advice about which
hotel is best for your trip, I suggest the forums at
TripAdvisor and
Fodors. There have been articles written that suggest some
reviews have been authored by hotel employees. I suggest that you
check both sites for the most complete story.
Full payment for your reservation is often
required to get the lowest prices. Severe cancellation penalties
and charges for changing a reservation are the norm for the lowest
prices. If your hotel allows you to easily cancel your reservation,
it may be worth checking at least once a week to see if the price
has dropped. If it has dropped, cancel and re-book at the lower
price.
When calling reservation centers, you MUST
ask for their lowest available price, not just AAA or AARP.
Resort charges may be buried in the
reservation at "resort" hotels or properties. You may discover them
only when you check out. I strongly object to resort charges
because they are usually "mandatory" but not included in the results
during initial inquiry and comparison. If there is any doubt about
them, call the hotel before you make a reservation and inquire. Ask
about resort charges when you check in. When I encounter them, I
speak to the agent or the manager and ask them to be removed.
How to get a hotel room when they're
all booked: Trying to leave Chicago O'Hare, it was 4:30 PM
and snowing heavily. The airport was closing; very few flights were
getting in or out. I called our corporate travel department and
asked them to find a hotel room for me. There was nothing available
within 20 miles! I remembered that most non-guaranteed room
reservations are canceled at 6:00 PM. I went to the luggage area
and viewed the board that displays all of the local hotels. I
started calling the hotels (using my cell phone because the attached
phones were in use) and asked how many non-guaranteed reservations
they had. The first hotel I called was on the airport property and
while they were officially full, they had more than enough
non-guaranteed rooms to assure a room for me.
How to get a good hotel rate when
you're stuck due to weather: Very few airlines will pay
for hotels unless you have elite status or unusual circumstances.
Most "walk-up" hotel rates are near the maximum even if you try AAA
or AARP. However, if you use the words "distressed passenger rate"
and are kind/courteous at the check-in counter, you may get a lower
rate. That translates to "take pity on me, please." Don't try this
if it's 80 degrees and sunny.
Hotel's lowest rate guarantees:
many hotels are claiming that the lowest prices are available on
their web site or through their reservation centers rather then via
various other web sites. The fine print often stipulates that group
discounts (AAA, AARP, etc.) can not be considered in the low rate
guarantee. I find that this exclusion makes the guarantee
worthless.
$20 or free upgrade at Las Vegas hotels:
For $20, you may receive a room upgrade. Check the results from
others and learn how it works at
http://www.TheTwentyDollarTrick.com/. Have you ever called a
Las Vegas hotel and been asked "what brings you to Las Vegas?" This
is the time to mention your anniversary, birthday or other special
celebration. When you check in, the agent will look at the notes
taken during your earlier phone call and may offer a no-cost
upgrade.
Hotels have reduced the number of rooms that
they sell at a discount to other web sites and consolidators. This
poses real challenges for these sites; their best option is to
promote packages of airfare and hotel to mask the individual
component prices.
Details are in the "comparison" section of
my web site.
Renting a condo: Vacation
Rentals By Owner (www.vrbo.com)
is a great web site for finding rentals. However it lacks a
calendar thus makes searching more difficult than necessary. VRBO
has excellent links to other sites that specialize in certain types
of properties or locations.
You must become a better shopper:
The airlines have begun to "unbundle" their services and are adding
charges that do not appear when comparison shopping. AirTran
charges $20 for advanced seat assignments on their lowest fares,
United and USAir now charge $25 for checking a second bag, Spirit
Airlines charges $10 or $20 to check any bag as well as charging for
drinking water. Many airlines are using cramped regional jets for
flights longer than 90 minutes (cruel & unusual punishment). I urge
the major airfare search sites to alert shoppers to these facts so
that they can make better decisions. The NYTimes travel section
points out that Travelocity now lists "fare notes" that alerts
travelers. I tested Travelocity and it did not warm me that AirTran
charges for advanced seat assignment or that Spirit charges to check
a bag but I was told that United & USAir charge $25 to check a
second bag and that Delta offers free curbside luggage check in.
They didn’t tell me about other airlines charging $2 to check
luggage at the curb. So, did Delta pay Travelocity? They missed
most of the other “surprises” that travelers don’t like, so beware.
Warnings are for your own good:
ITASoftware has excellent warnings about flights that may have long
or short connections as well as flying prop or even small prop
planes. Equally important are "great inconvenience" warnings that
alert you to the fact that missing a connection could be a great
inconvenience. There is a lot of very well thought-out logic to
this type of warning (i.e. you might miss the last flight of the
day). My suggestion is to heed this type of warning.
Trouble finding & keeping a Wi-Fi
signal with your laptop? Take your laptop out of "battery
conserve" mode when running on your battery and using Wi-Fi.
Revised "Do It Yourself Travel
Guidebook" available: If you purchase my travel guidebook,
an updated version is available (free). Buyers are entitled to free
updates for up to two years after date of purchase however, I've
been offering it to all customers regardless of when it was
originally purchased. All buyers should have received an email, but
there are a few bad email addresses. Please let me know if you
would like a copy but have not received an email from me. You can
read the first 17 pages of my guidebook and see the table of
contents for free before deciding to buy it on my web site.
This newsletter is intended to provide
practical advice based upon what "reality" is at the moment. Others
may tell you the problem; I will tell you what to do about it. The
newsletter is not the place for my personal opinions either. My
personal thoughts are in the "editorial" section of my web site. I
have recently added my thoughts about airline mergers and the
proposed passenger bill of rights. Here is a link if you're
interested in them:
http://home.netcom.com/~rcowen/editorials.htm
Top of page
Internet Travel Tips
Newsletter 1/1/08
This newsletter's comparison is for air fare
searches: Expedia, ITASoftware, Kayak, Orbitz, SideStep,
Southwest and Travelocity. I conducted 10 simulated trips for two
time periods (short notice trip and advanced planning trips) within
the US.
The challenge: Which web site
should be used to shop for airline tickets for travel within the
US? Which site quickly and easily displays the best flight options
and allows you to easily determine the trade-off between total time
of travel and cost?
Recommendation:
Use Kayak. Whether you have specific
departure or arrival time constraints, want to explore savings by
using alternate cities and flexible dates or are just looking for
the lowest price, Kayak is the easiest to use and includes a link to
Southwest. If your travel dates are very flexible, I
recommend using ITASoftware's Month Long Search, it's a great way to
view multiple date options with one inquiry. If your cities are
served by Southwest, I recommend that you subscribe to Southwest's
Click 'n Save fares.
Kayak's filtering capabilities (slide-bars &
check boxes) provide the best user-interface for quickly finding the
flights that offer the lowest price and the most convenience. You
can quickly see all of the trade-offs: total travel time vs. cost
(non-stop vs. connecting), long or short connections. Kayak easily
accommodates alternate cities and up to three days before and/or
after for departure and arrival.
Don't confuse shopping with buying.
The primary purpose of my tests is to determine the best shopping
site. Once you've found the lowest price or most convenient
flights, I recommend that you use the airline's web site to book
your ticket. In many cases, Kayak takes you directly to the
airline's web site so Kayak is often both a shopping and a buying
site. The reason to buy directly from the airline is that ticketing
fees are avoided and finger-pointing is eliminated in case of a
schedule change, an aircraft or price change or you miss your
flight. There are only a few instances where it is advisable to buy
a ticket for a web site other than the airline's.
Frequent flyer miles? Is it
worth paying more for or taking a less convenient flight to earn
frequent flyer miles? Due to the increasing difficulty in redeeming
miles (without paying double miles) and that there are fewer first
class seats available for upgrades, the answer is a resounding "NO."
I recommend that you select your flights based upon price, comfort
and
schedule.
Almost all flights are full and with the
exception of a few airlines, coach seating is equally uncomfortable
and amenities are almost nonexistent. A few airlines have generous
coach seating, free in-flight entertainment and even offer snacks or
meals without charge. The bottom line when it comes to airfare
shopping is to shop for the best price that fits your schedule.
Kayak buys SideStep: Kayak announced
at the end of 2007 that they are buying SideStep. They will be
maintaining the two separate brands and web sites but incorporating
the user interface from Kayak into SideStep. They will be adding
the best features to both sites. There are many enhancements that I
would like to see at Kayak. I hope that the efforts to integrate
and upgrade SideStep will not detract from these efforts.
Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity will no
longer be tested for air fare searches: Having included Expedia,
Orbitz and Travelocity in my comparisons for many years, I will no
longer include them in tests after 1/1/08. Their user interfaces
are not competitive. While it is also possible to find the lowest
priced and most convenient flights at these web sites, it takes too
long and too many mouse clicks. In addition, trying to save by
using their versions of near-by cities is much more difficult than
on other sites. I will watch for improvements and re-evaluate them
for inclusion in the future but at this time, they're not worth the
effort.
Is a near-by city better for your
trip? If you consider the total travel time, total cost,
opportunity for missed connections and comfort, you should consider
flying from or to a near-by city rather than your original departure
and destination cities. As an example, I've found that when
visiting relatives who live near Tucson, I prefer to fly to Phoenix
and drive to their home near Tucson (under two hours). This is
because there are no non-stop flights between Detroit and Tucson.
Making a connecting flight to Tucson adds the possibility of a
missed connection as well as a high probability of flying in a
regional jet (which I will not do for more than 90 minutes) versus a
non-stop, full size plane to Phoenix. Public transportation may be
available between the near-by city and your actual destination (or
close to it). Using the Tucson example, The Arizona Shuttle has
frequent van service between the Phoenix Airport and the Tucson
community. There may be a practical near-by city for your
destination. Some airlines (Southwest and AirTran) list their
"alternate cities" on their web sites. The elements to consider are
total time in transit, total cost, the risk of missed connections
and the hassle & comfort factors.
Comparing prices is getting more
difficult: Many airlines now charge for seat assignments
and checked luggage (what's next). There is no display or warning
when searching most of the major search sites or even the airline's
site.
Details are in the "comparison"
section of my web site.
An example of the limitations of
"near-by" city searches: I must travel to Montgomery,
Alabama in March. There are very few alternate airports within the
approximately 90 mile distance that most search sites limit their
searches. Birmingham, Alabama is served by Southwest and most
airlines offer fares lower fares when they compete with them. The
cities are 96 miles apart via Interstate highways and it takes about
90 minutes to drive it. Gas for the extra distance would probably
cost $35 (20 MPG, 200 miles, $3.50/gallon). ITASoftware allows you
to control the distance (air miles) for alternate airports up to 300
miles. No one allows you to search alternate airports by "drive
time" but they all should do so.
Better maps: Yahoo Maps now
has the ability to drop & drag changes to their maps. It's very
handy and easy to change your route and see the result. Google Maps
has taken photographs of many streets in the US and incorporated
them into a "street view" option. You can literally "drive" your
route, turn your head, zoom in and out. If you are traveling to an
unfamiliar location, it's a great way to familiarize yourself with
how it looks. Not all cities and streets are mapped.
Too good to be true: Over
Thanksgiving, T-Mobile (wireless phone company) offered a "fly free"
promotion when you signed-up for a two year subscription to their "myFaves"
program. This sounded very similar to the "fly free" programs that
I've investigated before. In those cases, I was able to get actual
availability and prices and discovered that availability was very
limited and the actual "out the door" cost was higher in 80% of the
cases than air fares that could be purchased on your own.
Unfortunately, in the case of T-Mobile, my requests for specifics
from the company and the company administrating the program (TLC
Marketing of Boston) went unanswered. My recommendation is to
ignore promotions like this when making a buying decision. I think
very poorly of companies and their products (like T-Mobile) that use
these types of promotions.
Southwest misses a huge marketing
opportunity: Southwest is one of the few airlines that does
not require you to pay a "change fee" when modifying a reservation.
They should remind travelers that reservations can be changed
without penalty, but you must pay the currently available fare (if
there is a difference). With snowstorms causing huge disruptions
across the country, other airlines issue "weather waivers" so that
customers can change flights without paying the "change fee."
Southwest offers the ability to change a reservation at
any time without paying a "change fee."
Top of page
Internet Travel Tips
Newsletter 11/1/07
This newsletter's comparison is for car
rentals: Expedia, Hotwire, Kayak, Orbitz and Travelocity. Rent an
intermediate or mid-size car with unlimited mileage for the lowest
price while taking the least amount of shopping time.
Recommendation:
Use Kayak, it finds excellent prices and has
fast & easy filtering of results, just un-check the car types that
you do not want. Most of the time Kayak found the best price at
CarRentals. The Kayak rate
at CarRentals is lower than what I could find by going directly to
the CarRentals web site. CarRentals' prices for Thrifty Car Rental
were lower than going directly to Thrifty's web site. If you want
to save money, Hotwire is also worth checking but once you reserve
your car, it's not cancelable and you can not earn frequent rental
points. Hotwire uses Avis, Budget, Hertz and National so it's tough
to go wrong with them.
I recommend joining frequent renter programs of
Alamo, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise and Thrifty (the usual low cost
winners) to eliminate waiting in line at the counter and the
pressure to upgrade or purchase insurance, gas, etc.
Check any special pricing that has been
negotiated by your employer or association. You may have discount
codes that can lower the price (AAA, AARP, etc.). Some codes are
mentioned at various discussion threads at
FlyerTalk and
BiddingForTravel.
However, the code that produces the lowest price in Boston may
produce a higher price elsewhere. Most coupons that are included in
your airline's frequent flyer mailing and credit card statements
require a multi-day rental that usually includes Saturday. From my
limited testing with various coupons and promotional codes, they did
not provide a value.
Lower prices may be available at Priceline
but you must do your homework first. Find the lowest price as
suggested above and then visit
BiddingForTravel for
excellent advice.
A significant amount (20% to 50%) of the
total cost is due to taxes and fees imposed by governments and
airport authorities. Remember: visitors can't vote! I have been
told that you can avoid these fees and significantly lower your
costs if you arrange to get to the rental car lot outside the
airport without using their shuttle. This technique has greater
benefit for longer rentals.
When renting in Europe or the UK, check the
wholesalers that are listed in my "Travel Links" web sites section.
The following list notes a few limitations
requiring extra steps:
Expedia - you must re-sort the results
into "car price view."
Hotwire and Kayak - initial screen does
not show the total price including taxes, just the daily cost.
With Kayak, you must hit the "details" button to view the total
estimated cost.
SideStep - was not considered due to the
fact that it's impossible to see whether a larger car is available
for the same or lower price.
Don't get caught: Some
sites promote their sponsored or preferred vendors by placing their
cars at the top of the search results even if lower prices are
available from other suppliers. You must then find the button or
link that displays ALL of the choices or re-sorts the results into
the lowest cost sequence. Failure to notice this can cause you to
pay more than necessary. This is deceptive and a waste of your
time.
Don't pay for the upgrade:
often rental car companies have more reservations for small cars
than they can accommodate (they plan on some no-shows). When you go
to the counter, you are told that you can have a bigger car for only
a few dollars more. Politely decline and you may be given the
upgrade anyway. Being a member of their frequent renter program
will improve your chances.
Check to see if the price
went down: Most rental car companies allow you to cancel
your reservation without penalty. You may save if you keep checking
to see whether the price has dropped. If so, cancel and re-book
your reservation.
Migration of cars: Florida needs
rental cars for tourists from late November through April. The rest
of the year, cars are needed in the northern states. The major
rental companies offer significant discounts if you pick-up a car in
a northern state and drop it in off in Florida in the fall or pick
it up in Florida and drop it in a northern state in the spring. The
discounts allow you to have a car at a very low daily rate. The
prices for moving a car are not posted until very near the time they
are needed, so sign-up for the newsletters from the major rental
companies such as Avis, Budget, Hertz and National. When combined
with a one-way ticket from a low-fare airline, it's a great way to
save and have a car to drive during vacation.
Finding low priced gas: If
you are a member of Costco, use
their "locations" button to view stores along your route. Also
check GasPriceWatch,
the site has a "My Route" tab that is helpful.
Check for damage before you leave
the lot: reader Larry tells me that he was charged for
damage that he didn't do when he returned a rental car. It's a good
idea to take pictures of your car with your cell phone camera. If
there is any damage, get a different car before you drive off the
lot.
Check the fine print, reader
Cricket provides some excellent suggestions:
When you compare car
rental companies, be sure to find out what the penalties are for 1)
giving the car back early, 2) keeping the car more days, 3) changing
the drop-off city (BIG BUCKS), 4) traveling to another state, 5)
one-way trips.
Details are in the "comparison" section of my
web site (www.InternetTravelTips.com).
TripIt is a new and very
helpful tool that creates a complete travel itinerary for you, just
like a travel agent or your corporate travel department. The
itinerary can be printed to be taken with you and emailed to others
for them to view and/or edit. A printed copy of your itinerary can
be very helpful in case of a price dispute for your hotel or rental
car. It's very easy to use, just email your confirmations to TripIt
and it puts together all of your activities and allows you to add
events, maps, comments, etc. It handles many airlines, hotels, car
rentals, etc. The ones that it can not automatically handle can be
manually entered. Manual entry is very comprehensive and simple.
A partial cure for air fare buyer's
remorse: YAPTA When should you buy your
tickets? I wish I had a dime for every time I've been asked that
question. YAPTA will tell you if your airfare has gone down for
tickets you've purchased but not yet flown. Email your itinerary to
YAPTA and if the fare drops enough to cover the "change fee" YAPTA
will send an email including a link to the airline's refund/credit
page (does not include Southwest, Northwest, Spirit). YAPTA can
also monitor flights that are not purchased so you can be notified
when the price drops. Look for more great things from YAPTA, it's
still in beta test mode.
Phone use when traveling outside the
US from subscriber Joe:
Skype.com allows phone call via the
internet (VoIP). If you and I both download Skype (which is free)
we can talk to each other free anywhere in the world. If you
don't have Skype (for example I call you hotel in Europe) the rate
is very cheap, pennies a minute.
Wi-Fi phone such as offer by Vonage. The
are many free hot spots. Since I have a Wi-Fi phone with a US
phone number I was able to call US for free.
Unlocked GSM phones can be purchased on
EBay for $50.00. I recommend the Motorola razor quad band
unlocked GSM. This will allow you to have a local number where
you travel and allow your office in the US to call you via Skype.
Top of page
Internet Travel Tips
Newsletter 9/1/07
This newsletter's comparison is for hotel
sites: Expedia, Kayak, ITASoftware, Orbitz, SideStep, Travelaxe,
TravelaxePro and Travelocity. Which site quickly and easily finds
the hotels and the best prices?
Recommendation:
Use
Kayak or
Travelaxe Pro, they
both have excellent user interfaces with lots of filters to make
searching easier. They sweep other sites for prices and then take
you to the site with the lowest price. Kayak has the ability to
remember your prior searches (if you login) so hotels that you
examined or reserved before are listed first.
In every case except one, Kayak took me
directly to the hotel company's web site to make the reservation.
This is important because many hotels no longer give frequent guest
credit unless you make your reservation on their web site.
Travelaxe Pro is a program that you download to
your PC (no Mac version). It updates itself when necessary and does
not include any "spyware" or malicious code. The only "downside" is
that it takes a few minutes to complete a search because it depends
upon other web sites for prices. Some of those sites can be slow to
respond and until all sites have returned results, the lowest price
may not have been found. A few of the sites searched by Travelaxe
Pro do not have "real time" prices so you may find that a rate is no
longer available. When that happens, go back and select the next
lower price and try again.
Join their frequent guest programs:
Although I don't usually stay in the same family or chain of hotels,
by joining frequent guest programs, I've been upgraded many times.
It's worth the time and effort.
If you are looking for advice about which
hotel is best for your trip, I suggest the forums at
TripAdvisor and
Fodors. There have been articles written that suggest some
reviews have been authored by hotel employees. I suggest that you
check both sites for the most complete story.
Tips to save more: If the
hotel that you prefer is priced too high, you may find a cheaper
hotel near-by. The mapping feature of these sites can be very
helpful in finding something next door or across the street.
Full payment for your reservation is often
required to get the lowest prices from the hotel chains' sites and
sites searched by other sites. Severe cancellation penalties and
charges for changing a reservation are the norm for the lowest
prices. If your reservation does not require advanced payment and a
cancellation penalty, it may be worth checking at least once a week
to see if the price has dropped. If it has dropped, you should
cancel and re-book at the lower price.
When calling reservation centers, you MUST
ask for their lowest available price, not just AAA or AARP.
How to get a hotel room when they're
all booked: Trying to leave Chicago O'Hare, it was 4:30 PM
and snowing heavily. The airport was shutting down; very few
flights were getting in or out. I called our corporate travel
department and asked them to find a hotel room for me. There was
nothing available within 20 miles! I remembered that most
non-guaranteed room reservations are canceled at 6:00 PM. I went to
the luggage area and viewed the board that displays all of the local
hotels. I started calling listed hotels (using my cell phone
because the attached phones were in use) and asked how many
non-guaranteed reservations they had. The first hotel I called was
on the airport property and while they were officially full, they
had more than enough non-guaranteed rooms to assure a room for me.
How to get a good hotel rate when
you're stuck due to weather: Very few airlines will help
you with hotel reservations unless you have elite status or unusual
circumstances. Most "walk-up" hotel rates are near the maximum even
if you try AAA or AARP. However, if you use the words "distressed
passenger rate" and are kind/courteous at the check-in counter, you
may get a lower rate. That translates to "take pity on me,
please." Don't try this if it's 80 degrees and sunny.
Hotel's lowest rate guarantees:
many hotels are claiming that the lowest prices are available on
their web site or through their reservation centers rather then via
various other web sites. The fine print often stipulates that group
discounts (AAA, AARP, etc.) can not be considered in the low rate
guarantee. I find that this exclusion makes the guarantee
worthless.
Hotels have reduced the number of rooms that
they sell at a discount to other web sites and consolidators. This
poses real challenges for these sites; their best option is to
promote packages of airfare and hotel to mask the individual
component prices.
If you really don't care about
the specifics of your hotel, give
Priceline or
Hotwire a try. There are very
helpful message boards that are a "must read" before bidding, so
visit Bidding For Travel
and BetterBidding first.
Details are in the "comparison" section of my
web site (www.InternetTravelTips.com).
Weekend air fare deals: Kayak
has added "weekend deals" to their airfare search capabilities. It
scans airfares over an entire month and allows you to search for
departures on Thursday or Friday and returning on Sunday or Monday.
Thanksgiving travel alert from FareCast: August
22 is the key date to start shopping for Thanksgiving travel based
on data from Farecast.com (www.farecast.com).
They say it’s a myth that booking early can always get you
the best deal – they saw fare sales last year mid-Sept and
opportunities to snap good deals in some markets. This Thanksgiving,
timing is everything to find a great deal for your holiday travels.
Here are some of the FareCast highlights: Based on an analysis of
Thanksgiving '06, consumers will find the best fares for
Thanksgiving travel in the last week of August and the first two
weeks of September (varies by market). Set-up a FareCast alert.
The typical Wednesday - Sunday Thanksgiving itinerary is the most
expensive. Travelers who extend their return on Monday or Tuesday
can save $60-$100 per ticket. Returning on Saturday could save $60
on average. The date of departure is less significant than the date
of return (departing the Monday before Thanksgiving will only save
$30 on average).
Cheap gas on your road trip:
Check GasBuddy's map to find the lowest prices. Zoom-in to see the
specific station, price and latest updates (http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Map_Gas_Prices.aspx).
You can also view the result of different state taxes and formula
requirements.
Bereavement fares: I've always
thought that bereavement fares were impractical because they're
based on a discount from full-fare coach. A good friend was very
successful using United Airlines and was given a fare that was very
good. Bereavement fares do not require a change fee if you change
the return date. If you need to fly to a funeral, don't get your
hopes too high but bereavement fares should be checked.
Bereavement hotel prices: I
did not know that hotels also offer discounts for family members
attending funerals.
Figures don't lie but....
Maritz is a market research company and recently published a survey:
"AIRLINE TRAVELERS CALL FOR SEGREGATED FAMILY SECTION AND FREQUENT
FLIERS SAY THEY CAN FIND FLIGHTS. Contrary to popular belief, the
survey found that of those who attempted to redeem airline miles for
flights, eight out of 10 (80 percent), were able to get a seat on a
flight that fit their desired travel plans." I questioned their
conclusion and asked how the question was written. They replied:
"Have you successfully or unsuccessfully attempted to redeem airline
miles for flights within the past six months?
Were you able to get a seat on a flight that fit your desired
travel plans?" I responded to them (but have not heard back):
Your questions have produced very misleading
results. Most airlines promote a domestic frequent flyer flight
for 25,000 miles. Those seats are restricted and very difficult
to find. Never the less, the airlines and credit cards heavily
advertise frequent flyer miles; just watch an American Express,
United, American Airlines, Delta or US Bank commercial. The
airlines and credit cards companies make no mention of the fact
that most customers will need to spend double miles. I suspect
that the majority of those who replied "yes" to your questions
would have said that they were required to use double the regular
miles to find a seat, if you had also asked that question. This
is on top of the new rules about expiring miles.
The results of your survey would indicate
that passengers are generally happy with the availability of
frequent flyer seats (after all, 80% found a seat). In my
opinion, that is almost 100% wrong. One of the keys to finding
seats is to be extremely flexible. I would also have asked for
the average number of days outside of their ideal travel date they
had to go to find seats or whether they had to upgrade to business
or first class.
I suggest that you visit my web site or any
number of other web sites to accurately take the pulse of
passengers. Your survey has undoubtedly given the airlines and
credit card companies a false sense of satisfaction that their
customers are happy with the availability of seats on their
frequent flyer programs. That is not the case. For future travel
surveys, I will be happy to assist in structuring your questions.
Top of page
Internet Travel Tips
Newsletter 7/1/07
This newsletter's comparison is for air
fare sites: Expedia, ITASoftware, Kayak, Orbitz, SideStep, Southwest
and Travelocity. Which site quickly and easily displays the best
prices and flights allowing you to determine the trade-off between
total time of travel and cost for travel within the US?
Recommendation: Kayak.
Whether you have specific departure or arrival time constraints,
want to explore savings by using alternate cities and flexible dates
or are just looking for the lowest price, Kayak is best.
It's the easiest to use and also includes a hot-link to Southwest.
If your travel dates are very flexible, I recommend using
ITASoftware's Month Long Search. It's a great way to view multiple
date options with one inquiry. If your cities are served by
Southwest, I recommend that you subscribe to Southwest's Click 'n
Save fares.
Kayak's filtering capabilities (slide-bars &
check boxes) provide the best user-interface for quickly finding the
flights that offer the lowest price and the most convenience. You
can quickly see all of the trade-offs: total travel time vs. cost
(non-stop vs. connecting), long or short connections. Kayak offers
alternate cities and can search up to three days before and/or after
your targeted travel dates.
Don't confuse shopping with buying.
The primary purpose of my tests is to determine the best shopping
site. Once you've found the lowest price or most convenient
flights, I recommend that you use the airline's web site to book
your ticket. In many cases, Kayak takes you directly to the
airline's web site so Kayak is very often both a shopping and a
buying site. The reason to buy directly from the airline is that
ticketing fees are avoided, finger-pointing is eliminated in case of
a schedule change, an aircraft or price change or you miss your
flight. There are only a few instances where it is advisable to buy
a ticket from a web site other than the airline's. However, you may
sometimes have to force an airline's web site to offer you their
best price. An example is on Northwest from Detroit to
Minneapolis. The NW web site only shows non-stop flights for $413
although they offer connecting flights via Chicago for $248. The
other web sites can find & sell these tickets yet the only way to
buy them on NW's web site is to ask for flights from Detroit to
Chicago to Minneapolis with a return flights from Minneapolis to
Chicago to Detroit. I wrote a letter (not an email) to two
Northwest VP's awhile ago about this and they said that I would
"receive a personal response from Mr. Haan very soon." The reply
letter was dated February 28, 2001 and I'm still waiting.
Frequent flyer miles? Is
airline loyalty worth paying more for your ticket or taking a less
convenient flight? Due to the increasing difficulty in redeeming
miles (without paying double) and fewer first class seats available
for upgrades, the answer is a resounding "NO." I recommend
you select flights based upon price, comfort, schedule and ticking
flexibility. Almost all planes are full, coach seating is equally
uncomfortable on most airlines and amenities are almost
nonexistent. A few airlines have better coach seating, free
in-flight entertainment and even offer snacks or meals without
charge.
Details and graphical examples of how to use
Kayak are in the "comparisons" section of my web site
www.InternetTravelTips.com
Be careful about flying Northwest:
You've probably heard about the huge number of flight cancellations
from June 20th through the end of the month. My suggestions: do not
buy tickets on Northwest for travel from the 20th to the end of the
month for July, August or September. Some tickets on Delta and
Continental are actually on Northwest. Those flights are called
"code share" and usually involve travel to/from Detroit, Minneapolis
or Memphis. If you already have Northwest tickets for travel during
those dates, check your reservation regularly to be sure that the
flight has not been canceled or the aircraft type has changed
(requires requesting new seat assignments). If possible, don't
check luggage because your "plan B" options are more limited.
When not to buy a ticket: on the
weekend. Almost every Thursday or Friday over the past two
months, an airline raises prices $5 to $10 per round trip ticket. A
few other airlines match the fare increase. On Monday when the
airlines realize that some have not followed their lead, they
back-down to the pre-weekend price.
When not to buy a ticket: outside
Southwest's ticketing window. Most airlines offer to sell
tickets for travel up to a year in advance. Southwest Airlines only
sells tickets for travel within the next four to six months
(currently they offer tickets for travel through November 2nd).
Southwest's prices are rarely the lowest but unless you're traveling
during a holiday period (Christmas, Easter, etc.); you will often
find that prices on all airlines drop when Southwest offers service
to/from the same cities. The easiest way to validate this is to use
ITASoftware's month-long search for a one night trip. Check for
travel from October 15th through November 15th and watch for some
fares to jump-up on November 3rd. In my testing of ten trips, more
than half of them did.
Afraid to buy because the price may
drop? You're playing "chicken" with your credit card.
Although most airlines offer either a refund or credit if the price
drops, it's impractical to manually monitor your trip after you've
purchased your tickets. Now a very handy service called
www.YAPTA.com (your amazing
personal travel assistant) will notify you if the price drops and
even provide a link to the airline's web site to claim a
refund/credit. You can also monitor prices before you buy a
ticket. It does not work with all airlines or web sites but it's a
great start and I recommend it (even though it's still in "beta"
test mode). I have suggested that they offer a similar service for
hotels and rental cars but they're busy with airfares at the moment.
Southwest prices will be available on
"regular" search sites: Southwest airlines has announced
that their fares (except web-only and "ding" prices) will be offered
through other web sites. At this time, the specific web sites have
not been announced. This will make air fare shopping much easier.
Kayak links to Southwest:
Even before Southwest fares are available on other sites, Kayak has
a link on their results page to Southwest. The link takes your trip
information and automatically enters it into a Southwest search.
It's very handy. Kayak has consistently proved to be an easy to
use web site. They don't waste your time or insult your
intelligence.
FareCompare early alerts:
FareCompare monitors and sends email alerts when air fare prices
drop. I've found that they beat other web sites by 2 to 24 hours.
However, the alerts are not specific about the dates
and availability. While FareCompare provides a link to their own
pricing site, I find that using ITASoftware's month-long search is
the easiest & quickest way to see if the prices have fallen for the
time that I want to travel. FareCompare sends alerts often before
the major web sites have loaded the revised pricing so it's often
necessary to search every four hours.
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