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"I’m
leaving because the weather is too good. I hate London when it’s
not raining." |
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Planes, Trains & Automobiles |
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http://www.itasoftware.com
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The first place I go when
booking flights is to
ITA Software, which started out as an MIT project and now powers
online travel agencies like
Orbitz.
In addition to the fact that ITA isn't selling anything--which makes it
feel more credible, ITA's flight results screens are so rich with
detail, you can learn a lot about different ways to get from Point A to
B. Additionally, ITA is the "user-friendliest" flight search engine I
know when it comes to manipulating results by price, preferred airline,
flight duration, time of day, cheapest flight within a designated time
frame, etc. Orbitz, like rivals Travelocity & Expedia, offers one-stop travel shopping on the web, and if you don't want to buy from Orbitz or its older sibs, using all three as information sources will usually point you to the best deal, which you can then purchase directly from the supplier. My favorite Orbitz toy is the Deal Detector™. When you know where you want to go, but the fares are too high, this application constantly searches for better fares for you and alerts you when it finds a match meeting your requirements. It's a new twist on an old favorite of mine: Travelocity's FareWatcher service, which will follow up to 5 city pairings and e-mail you when prices drop. The Big 3 travel search engines don't cover all airlines. Discount carriers in particular are not well represented, e.g., Texans' favorite Southwest Airlines. How do you find out what other airlines service the route you are interested in flying? The "mega" travel search engines pick up a few low cost airlines--my current favorite is Kayak. Another place to check is Cheap Tickets, which gobbled up an old standard, Trip.com. What always distinguished Trip.com from the pack was its super real-time Flight Tracker, but it's now MIA from Cheap Tickets. Find it here now. It allows you to secure ETA information and view a graphical map depicting the exact location of your loved one's or boss' plane at the moment of your inquiry. The most reliable way to get carrier information is to use your favorite search engine to find a desired airport website, which in turn will list all carriers flying out of that airport. Speaking of which, airport websites are always great places to visit to get acquainted with terminal layout and facilities and ground transportation options. Last, but not least, there's venerable BestFares. I subscribed. Once. For a year. I never found a deal better than what I could find on my own. Maybe it's because my hometown infrequently appeared on the city pairs list for "subscribers only" air deals or I put off reading the lengthy deals updates for so long they weren't available anymore? Anyway, I have to say I like travel guru's Tom Parsons' latest gizmo. With QuickFareä Finder, you input your city pair and seconds later you have the dollar amount each airline is asking. Nice price check. Now including city pairs from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Parsons promises more international matches in the next version. |
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TIP: |
Program email alerts of flight sales and other travel specials from your home airport at Smarter Travel and the Travel Zoo. Before finalizing reservations, compare the best deal with what the provider, e.g., Continental Airlines, is offering directly from their site and, particularly, at their "internet-only deals" section. Sign up to receive e-mail notice of special offers from your preferred airline, hotel or car rental group. | ||||||
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http://www.budgettravel.com
|
For a first run at booking international air travel, Flights.com (formerly tiss.com) is the place to go. A good cross-check is the FareBeater engine now housed at BootsnAll.com, one fun site! Based in Eugene, OR, and clearly designed for the back-packing college student, BootsnAll has assembled a number of the tools key to planning an international trip that previously required several stops around the web, including TripPlanner software and accompanying RTW--or 'round the world--air ticketing guides. (If you are really serious about making a RTW trip, consult the guru, Edward Hasbrouck a/k/a The Practical Nomad. Serious international traveler researchers live by Budget Travel, an encyclopedia of information about air, train and other forms of transport between countries all over the world. And the new WhichBudget.com is great for identifying short-hop discount carriers internationally. Five years ago, europebyair.com was the first place to look for discount air fares between European countries. Now, while handy, Euro fly passes may soon be a thing of the past in light of the proliferation of Southwest copycats easyJet and RyanAir supplemented by regional carriers like Germanwings covering almost all of Europe. It's amazing! Gone are the days of making an all-day train ride to get from here to there. Other places to look to identify air carriers servicing a city or country are airport and tourism websites. |
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| http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en |
Need to figure out European train connections? Hands down, the German train server is the best on the web. It has accurate timetables for all trains on the European continent, regardless of country of origin, and some ticket purchase options. Confirm schedules and book train reservations at the desired country's rail site, e.g., Trenitalia for Italy. Consult National Rail for train schedules and to buy train tix in the UK. Confused about Eurailpass options? You're not alone. Rick Steves explains all at his European Railpasses site. Euraide.com offers a low-fee point-to-point rail booking service. |
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| http://www.autoeurope.com |
AutoEurope makes renting a car in Europe a snap. |
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| http://www.aferry.com | For ferry travel in Europe, check this site for a quick education and then use a search engine to zero in on other ferry services not covered. | ||||||
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http://www.virtualbellhop.com/ |
Don't know how to get your luggage, briefcase, laptop, case file boxes and golf clubs there? This site will handle the door-to-door logistics, provided you can organize the bulk of the stuff to go a couple of days ahead of you. |
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| http://www.expedia.com | Expedia's hotel wizard remains the Cadillac of the travel industry for the depth of information you can retrieve from its user-friendly database. However, I never have found a deal here. Like Orbitz and Travelocity, it's just one stop in the process. | ||||||
| http://www.hotels.com | Here
are two of the many, many hotel discounters on the web.
Hotels.com
covers hotels in the US and in major cities around the world.
Quikbook's coverage is more limited, but it features discounted prices
on some of the nicest properties in America's most-visited cities.
Another terrific source of hotel specials is a destination's CVB, or
"Convention & Visitor's Bureau" site. Often, there will
be a citywide sale to attract visitors, e.g., a "Paint the
Town Red" promotion during which hotels (and restaurants and
attractions) slash prices. For Europe, I like checking lastminute.com,
laterooms.com and
eurocheapo.com
(featuring some decent 3-star and lower choices, with recent
reviews).
Trip Advisor's database of hotel reviews is priceless when it comes to making those hard decisions. They've assembled Frommer's and Fodor's reviews, plus others published by travel writers; better, there are reviews from real people like you and me. Post your review when you return to add to the collection. |
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| http://www.priceline.com/ | Willing to take your chances? Priceline isn't a favorite for air unless you're up to enduring multiple plane changes and flying at all hours of the day and night. However, if you want 5-star pampering on a 3-star budget, their hotel and resort deals (luxury car rental prices, too) can't be beat. Priceline is a reverse auction: you submit your dates, city, desired area within the city, star rating and the room rate you're willing to pay. Within 15 minutes, you'll either have a room or be told you're too cheap even for Priceline! The catch-22 is you don't know which properties participate, i.e., you can't request The Plaza, and you are committed if your bid is accepted. Properties have expanded to provide great deals all over the world. Don't use Priceline without going to BiddingforTravel first! This is a non-commercial information exchange dedicated solely to helping people learn how to use Priceline to their best advantage. | ||||||
| http://www.slh.com | To heck with working so hard just to get a bed, you say? Go directly to the Small Luxury Hotels site featuring several hundred sumptuous properties worldwide, Preferred Hotels online for more than 100 hotels and resorts at home and abroad or the Orient-Express group's small but exclusive collection ranging from the exotic (Bora Bora Lagoon Resort) to the undiscovered treats close to home (The Inn at Perry Cabin on the Maryland shore). | ||||||
| http://www.bnbfinder.com/ | Bed
and breakfast or a country inn more your style? Karen Brown's US
and European recommendations are among the best. Or how about a
family dude ranch vacation?
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| http://www.slowtrav.com | The Slow Travelers are a US couple who prefer renting a Tuscan villa or a self-catering cottage in the Cotswolds to staying in the ubiquitous Best Western-branded European hotel. If you saw Under the Tuscan Sun or have read Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, you've no doubt fantasized about doing the same thing. This site will start you on your journey to becoming a slow traveler. | ||||||
| http://www.gorp.com | Last, but not least, if it's a mountain hut, forest cabin or Costa Rican hammock you're looking for, GORP is the #1 web resource for outdoors, recreational and adventure travel. You can print trail maps for a national park hike, calculate float times for river paddle trips and even book a family- and environment-friendly water sports vacation in the Caribbean. If you like the idea of adventure travel more than the practical realities, Away.com is for you. This site offers "extraordinary" and "unique" travel opportunities--i.e., GORP-like adventures for the pampered traveler. | ||||||
| http://www.state.gov/travel/
http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=1
|
The State Department's "Travel and Living Abroad" online encyclopedia is a treasure trove of information! Need a passport? Download the application and find out where to go to get it. Are visas required? Is there a travel warning in effect for the country you're visiting? There are links to the Center for Disease Control's traveler's health information site, customs regulations, reports on cruise ship sanitation and airline safety records...and much, much more. And while you're at it, surf on over to the Transportation Security Administration's website for the latest news on what you can and cannot pack, how to prepare for airport security checks, etc. | ||||||
| http://www.oanda.com/ | Oanda is the best currency converter on the web. You can create and print cheat sheets or send them to your PDA or WAP-enabled device. | ||||||
| TIP: Don't waste time looking for high-commission currency exchanges or fiddling with cumbersome travelers cheques--use your ATM card around the world for taxi and tipping money a credit card can't cover. Before you travel, look at your ATM card to identify financial networks like VISA and Cirrus and visit their websites to learn of ATM locations convenient to your destination, e.g., VISA's ATM locator. AMEX offers a similar service called Express Cash--here's the AMEX ATM locator. If you enroll in the Express Cash program (no charge to cardholders), AMEX will, also, deliver foreign currency to your home or office before you leave. | |||||||
| http://www.timezoneconverter.com | This Time Zone Converter site will make those tricky time conversions for you, even accounting for daylight savings time. Make your own print-and-go reference card! The other two sites are fun, too--offering different twists on the same basic information. | ||||||
| http://www.travel-advisor-online.com/ | Staying connected while overseas can be tough to figure out. Will your cell phone work in Spain? Will you need special accessories to get an Internet connection from your laptop while in Australia? And what about simple things like how to dial into/out of Africa and what type of electric plug converter is required for using your hair dryer in China? This is *the* place to go. | ||||||
| http://www.weather.com | Check historical temperature and precipitation averages for your destination here and then poke around the several sections of this site designed just for travelers. | ||||||
| Mapping the World |
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| http://www.mapquest.com | Mapquest just gets better and better, with expanded international coverage, live traffic reports for an impressive list of US cities, airport terminal maps, topographic maps for hikers and the option to transmit your custom maps and driving directions to yourself, secretary or family via e-mail, fax or download to your PDA. | ||||||
| http://www.viamichelin.com/ | In the mood for a leisurely drive from Paris to Aix-en-Provence? Michelin's fabulous European mapping resources will generate point-to-point driving instructions and customized maps, plus their legendary Red Guides will give you all the information you need concerning attractions, hotels and restaurants in Paris, along the way and in Aix. Not feeling froggy? Michelin's reach expands every time I check the site. They are making Eastern Europe and Russia available, together with all Western European and UK countries. Previously available only to subscribers, it's all online now for free! | ||||||
| http://www.mappy.com | This is another Euro mapper. The scope is not as great as Michelin's, but it's a terrific backup resource. | ||||||
| http://www.subwaynavigator.com | You can google search for the subway map for a particular city, or just go here. Find your destination city from the impressive international list and view the subway map or even request a point-to-point subway route for a trip from your hotel to that biz meeting or museum. | ||||||
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| http://www.zagat.com/ | More freebies! Correct that--as of my 11/03 pass at these sites, I note that neither Zagat nor Vindigo are giving much away for free these days. But if you're a frequent traveler, the subscription might be worth the reasonable price, especially for the handy PDA guides. Fodor's hotel & restaurant recommendations are always free and PDA-ready, too! In Europe, Michelin is tops for both splurge and value dining. | ||||||
| http://www.concierge.com/ | Who else but Condé Nast for what's "in" and what's "not" for the discriminating traveler? If you're looking for a secluded island for two, this is the place to start your search. If you're a foodie, Concierge can tell you which chef has earned the most toques--if you want more, click through to its sister site, Epicurious.com, which is the online home of Gourmet and Bon Appétit magazines. | ||||||
| http://www.timeout.com/ | The theatre, art exhibitions, antique sales and flower auctions--it's all covered in the Time Out guides for "the world's top 34 cities." Or try Citysearch.com, a relative of Ticketmaster. | ||||||
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|
http://www.ticketmaster.com/ | You already know that Ticketmaster is the place to buy sports event ticket sales, but did you know they carry theatre and opera tickets, as well as museum admissions? And have you ever followed the links at the bottom of the home page to TM's international ticket sales? | |||||
| http://www.whatsonwhen.com/partners/amadeus/front.asp | Ever wanted to see the bulls run in Pamplona or to avoid the crowds the event will draw? WhatsOnWhen and Culturekiosque.com are worldwide event calendars. | ||||||
| http://www.museumstuff.com | Last minute trip and no time to research your destination? Check here for thousands for museum listings worldwide organized by place and subject matter, e.g., Civil War, Holocaust, marine, etc. | ||||||
| http://www.golfcourse.com/ | Have clubs, will travel? Golf Magazine's online golf course finder will get you to the nearest 18th hole. No mulligans allowed! | ||||||
| Here's your one-stop ski resort selector--state your preferences, and Resort Finder returns the matches. Each resort guide has information on lift ticket prices, lodging and printable trail maps, plus reviews from other skiers who have schussed the runs at these US and Canadian resorts. Ski Central's a fabulous resource as well--it may seem confusing to navigate, but don't give up. It's a vast collection of online information for ski enthusiasts. And don't overlook Europe as a ski destination--a week in the Alps can rival the price of your Rockies trip! | |||||||
| http://www.travelocity.com | If you haven't been bitten by the cruise bug, come aboard! Cruising provides a vacation experience tailored to each traveler's interests and needs--there's something on board and in port for everyone in your party, young and old. Travelocity and Cruises Only furnish a wealth of cruise line and ship information, user-friendly cruise calendars, itinerary maps, deck plans, cabin schematics and cruise reviews. Cruise Critic is chock full of information, too, and their discussion forums, focusing in on specific cruise lines and port stops, are the best online resource for gathering current facts and opinions to aid you in selecting the perfect cruise and port excursions. | ||||||
| http://www.thetravelzine.com
|
Don't plan your trip without visiting The Travelzine by Canadians Don & Linda and Slow Travelers by Santa Fe's Steve and Pauline (recommended above for tips on rental accommodations abroad). These travel- and web-savvy couples have taken the publication of trip reports to the next step and beyond by generously sharing not only their travelogues, but also page upon page of well-organized destination information (covering primarily North America and Europe) and general travel pointers that will take you around the world and back. Trip pix, contributions by fellow travelers and friendly discussion forums are icing on the cake! | ||||||
| http://www.nytimes.com/pages/travel/index.html | The New York Times has a lot of goodies for travelers. Sign up for the free weekly e-mail with summaries of the travel stories in the Sunday edition, or request e-mail notice of travel stories of particular interest to you. And while we're on the topic, online newspapers for your upcoming travel destinations are the best source of information on current events and usually contain a section for visitors to the city. | ||||||
| http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/ | No
list of travel resources would be complete without National
Geographic. The web version of its fabulous Traveler magazine features
in-depth articles and useful information about common and uncommon
places all over the world. The photos are, of course, incomparable. Consult, also, the CIA World Fact Book and CNN's destination guides. |
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| http://www.wdwig.com | Deb's Unofficial Walt Disney World Information Guide is "the Bible" of WDW information, and she features links to online resources for Disneyland and other Disney parks. Two online discussion forums devoted to Disney parks and cruises are Usenet's rec.arts.disney.parks and DISboards.com. | ||||||
| http://www.insuremytrip.com | Trip insurance...check your own health coverage, the protection offered by credit card companies in connection with travel purchases and any other applicable coverage to see what "gaps" you may need to insure. This site will give you competitive quotes from a number of the major travel insurers. You must read the policy provisions to gain an understanding of the various coverages, exclusions and provisions unique to travel insurance so that you can purchase the policy that's just right for your needs. If you need to cover pre-existing conditions, you must purchase within a short window of time, normally 7-14 days, of your first trip deposit. Don't over-insure your travel arrangements: calculate the amount of cancellation coverage needed based on non-refundable expenses. | ||||||
| http://www.travelzoo.com | Sign up for TravelZoo's free weekly e-mail of the Top 20 travel bargains out there and get on Frommer's list and Smarter Living's e-mail Deal Alert, too. | ||||||
| http://groups.google.com/ | Last, but not least, if you're an obsessive travel researcher (it takes one to know one!), go to Google Groups' search engine and input your destination, the name of a considered hotel or restaurant, "+swim +dolphins" or whatever you're wondering about, and you'll retrieve relevant posts made by fellow travelers and locals to Usenet groups. If you don't get any hits, go to the "white horse" Usenet group for your topic, e.g., rec.travel.europe, via your ISP's newsreader and post a query to see if you draw any responses. The message boards at Fodors and Frommers are very active, as well. | ||||||
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"Well where, exactly, is it?" "It is not down in any map; true places never are." Herman Melville (Moby Dick)
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Editor's Notes: This list represents just a smattering of the slew of amazing travel resources available online. Like most links lists, it's little more than a collection of some of my favorites. Although you could plan a great getaway without straying from this list, if you're like me, half the fun of travel is the anticipatory digging for more--use these sites as a springboard to expanding your online horizons and consult travel resources in print (remember those things called books?!). Before investing in travel books, search Amazon for titles and then go to your public library, which shelves not only literary travel books such as Peter Mayle's much-acclaimed A Year in Provence and, of course, topical books, e.g., WWII books on the European campaign are "must reads" before you visit the Normandy region of France, but also the latest commercial guides, including travel videos. I especially like the Eyewitness Guides (chock full of fabulous photos), Cadogan Guides (heavy on history and culture), Lonely Planet (for the offbeat and hip) and Michelin's red (for hotel and restaurant recommendations) and green (for history and attractions) guides, but each series is stronger in some countries than in others, and each has its own personality--you'll have to figure out what suits you. If your definition of budget travel does not include backpacking and hostels, the single best resource for "value travel" is Frommer's, together with their guides in print. Even if money is no object, Frommer's e-mail newsletters are full of tips and tricks for the savvy traveler. The best travelers are flexible,
open-minded and greet the inevitable snafus with humor. Travel
is an adventure: diana@ball.net - © 2001-2005, last updated September 7, 2005 Lawyer Stuff: I don't have anything to do with any of these sites or suppliers, and I don't guarantee they'll make your travel dreams come true, much less perform as expected...and all that other legalese! |
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