Newsletter Archive

Published by e-mail once 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 1/1/07

This newsletter's web site comparison is for air fare search sites: 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 or ITASoftware.  Whether you have specific departure or arrival time constraints, want to explore savings by using alternate cities or flexible dates or are just looking for the lowest price, these sites are the easiest to use.  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 in one inquiry.  If your cities are served by Southwest, you must check their site.  I recommend you subscribe to Southwest's Click 'n Save fares.

Kayak recently upgraded its entire site (including hotels and rental cars).  The result is search and filtering ability far beyond any of the other commercial web sites (ITASoftware does not sell tickets but Kayak does).  The added filters (slide bars) can be expanded or contracted depending upon your needs.  Thus it serves the needs for simple as well as complex inquiries.  It's their "user interface" and real-time updating of the results that puts Kayak far ahead of the other sites.

With both of these sites, you can quickly see all of the trade-offs: total travel time vs. cost (non-stop vs. connecting), long or short connections.  ITA allows you to select individual flights and has excellent warnings.  Both sites accommodate alternate cities and dates for departure and arrival.  ITASoftware gives you alternate departure and destination cities up to 300 miles away while Kayak searches a smaller area. 

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 airlines' 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 for a web site other than the airline's.

Frequent flyer miles? Is airline loyalty worth paying more for a flight or taking one that is less convenient?  Due to the increasing difficulty in redeeming miles (without paying double) and the fact 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, schedule and ticking flexibility.

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 seating comfort in coach (JetBlue & Midwest), free in-flight TV (JetBlue) and even offer snacks or meals without charge (Continental).  Bottom line when it comes to airfare shopping: how to quickly resolve the trade-off of price versus total travel time.

Details are in the "comparisons" section of my web site at InternetTravelTips.

Want to see sale prices before anyone else? (FareCompare update): Over the past few months, I've been testing FareCompare's domestic and international price change alerts.  I'm very impressed and highly recommend it.  The ability to monitor and be notified of price changes has been a particular interest to me since web sites started offering this service.  I've subscribed to all of the major free services that I've found: Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, TripStalker, Kayak, SmarterTravel and even tried to develop one myself.  FareCompare has a clear lead over the others because it sends notices much earlier than the others.  While most of the other sites limit you to 3 or 4 destinations to monitor, FareCompare has no limit.  My observation about being notified much earlier is based on receiving notice from FareCompare as much as 12 hours earlier than some of the others for the same trip.  However, due to the limited number of destinations offered by the others, there has not been much overlap of destinations.  It's no secret that the airlines often limit the number of cheap seats when a sale is announced so FareCompare improves your chances of finding them.  There are two limitations, sometimes the prices are not yet posted (you're too early but keep trying) and you can not specify the dates to monitor.  The others have a few handy features: Kayak offers Buzz that sends prices for specific destinations and general areas (i.e. Caribbean area), Orbitz offers DealDetector that allows you to specify dates (including 3 days before and after) and TripStalker also allow you to monitor hotels and car rental prices.

Sorry, no cars available: I reserved a car and arrived at the airport counter late in the afternoon of Christmas eve.  However there were no cars so the agent told me that they would provide a car from a competitor but it would cost me $14 more.  They said that they were going to do this only because I was a member of their "frequent renter" program (which I always recommend joining for all rental companies).  Pulling out a copy of my reservation, I politely but firmly told him that the price would be the same as my reservation and no more.  Fortunately one of their customers returned a car a minute later so they were able to provide a car.  Don't pay more, or fall for their "upgrade pitch" when they don't have a car or the car size you reserved.

Re-check for hotel & car rental prices:  I thought the price for the hotel was pretty good so I made a reservation.  I'm a member of their "frequent guest" program so notices of special sales are emailed to me.  Within a week of making my reservation, a sale email arrived and I happily discovered that a lower price for my room was available.  Most hotel companies allow you to cancel your reservation up to 6:00 PM the evening of your stay without penalty.  I made a new reservation at the lower price and canceled the original one.  Money is better in my pocket than the hotel's.  There is currently no software or web site that will continuously check a specific rental car or hotel reservation for a price drop.  If someone offered such a service, I'd be happy to help design and test it.

When bad weather threatens: Airlines waive change fees and penalties when there is a threat of bad weather.  Don't just consider delaying your trip, you could also depart a day or two earlier.

My "Do It Yourself Travel Guide" has been updated:  It's available for purchase on my web site for $10.  All buyers are entitled to free updates for two years.

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Internet Travel Tips Newsletter 11/1/06

This newsletter's web site comparison is for rental car search sites:

 

Requirements: Rent an intermediate or mid-size car with unlimited mileage for the lowest price while taking the least amount of shopping time.  I will avoid any company that lacks technology to expedite the rental and return process. 

I want to see (on the first screen):

the total price (including fees/taxes) from all suppliers, not just their preferred ones

whether a larger car is available at the same or lower price

where the car is located (on/near the airport or a long ride away)

Methodology: Compare Expedia, Hotwire, Kayak and Orbitz.  Then check the web site of the lowest priced offering to see if the price is even lower. 

Recommendations: Use Hotwire and Kayak.  Together they had the lowest prices 100% of the time.  Note that Hotwire is non-refundable and does not award frequent rental points.  Hotwire only uses Avis, Budget and Hertz so it's tough to go wrong with them.  I like Kayak because it finds excellent prices and has fast & easy filtering of results, just un-check the car types that you do not want.

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, purchase insurance or gas.

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 lower price.

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.

Most sites have some frustrating limitations requiring extra steps:

Expedia - you must re-sort the results into "car price view."

Orbitz - you must select "view more car types."

Hotwire and Kayak - initial screen does not show the total price including taxes, just the daily cost.

SideStep and Travelocity - were not considered due to the fact that it's almost 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.

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.

Details are in the "comparisons" section of my web site at InternetTravelTips.

Want to see the future?  FareCompare offers a service that notifies you of impending price changes.  FareCompare estimates that the price changes will be within the next two to four hours.  Often price changes only affect a few seats so FareCompare gives you the best shot at snagging the cheap-seats.  I've been testing it for a few weeks but it has not hit any of the routes I've been monitoring.  I think it's worthwhile and recommend testing it.

Rumor update: Northwest Airlines did announce new non-stop flights from Detroit (and other cities) to Brussels and Dusseldorf.  Historically, frequent flyer seats have been more readily available on new routes so if you are looking for frequent flyer seats (without paying double) for Spring or Summer of 2007, check on newly announced routes.  Even if these cities are not your destination, perhaps a low-fare airline can take you beyond that point.  See www.WhichBudget.com for specifics.

Don't lose your frequent flyer miles: More and more airlines are cancelling frequent flyer miles due to inactivity.  Some airlines will notify you and some will not.  Check your account and do some "qualifying activity" to restart the clock.  You should find the list of things that you can do on each airline's web site.

Not travel related but handy: If I need to find someone, a business, a phone number or an address, I've found that a free downloaded program called Argali White and Yellow Pages is very good.  It works only on PCs (no Mac version).

My "Do It Yourself Travel Guide" has been updated and will be available on November 10th:  It's available for purchase on my web site for $10.  All buyers are entitled to free updates for two years.

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Internet Travel Tips Newsletter 9/1/06

This newsletter's web site comparison is for hotel search sites:

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 Travelaxe but also check the hotel's web site.  It consistently finds the lowest prices and best availability.  Travelaxe sweep other sites for prices and then takes you to the site with the lowest price.  Unfortunately many of the sites do not have "real time" prices so occasionally you find that a rate is no longer available.  When that happens, go back and select the next lower price and try again.  Be aware that many hotel chains do not give "frequent guest" credit unless you reserve directly on their web site. 
 

Travelaxe 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.  I have been using and testing it for 3+ years.  The only "downside" is that it takes a few minutes to complete a search due to the fact that 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.

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 less expensive rooms 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 both 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 the weather was terrible.  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 board 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 "booked-up," 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 because, 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.

Details are in the "comparisons" section of my web site at InternetTravelTips.

Plan B alternatives are reduced: Because of the ban on liquids, most passengers are checking luggage rather then buying toiletries when they land.  I've always advocated carry-on only to allow flexibility to change flights and airlines in case of a delay.   With most planes full, it's difficult to find alternate seats on a moment's notice and now it's impractical to change if your luggage is in the belly of the plane.  With more luggage being checked (and lost), it's important to place a note inside your luggage that lists your destinations, dates and how you can be reached by phone and email.

Rumors: Northwest Airlines will shortly announce new non-stop flights from Detroit to cities in the UK & Europe.  Destinations are: Manchester, Dublin, Shannon, Birmingham & Amsterdam.  Historically, frequent flyer seats have been more readily available on new routes so if you are looking for WorldPerk seats (without paying double) for Spring or Summer of 2007, watch for the announcements.  Even if one of these cities is not your destination, perhaps a low-fare airline can take you beyond that point.  See www.WhichBudget.com for specifics.  The bad news is that NW will be using Boeing 757s.  They are single aisle, cramped seating in coach and will probably not have any type of in-flight entertainment or power outlets in coach.

Help finding frequent flyer seats: before you give up, try my three little known tips.  They are available at the "travel tips" section of my web site.

Bring snacks on board even for short flights: Even short flights can turn into long flights due to delays caused by weather, traffic or mechanical problems.  Planes are not carrying as much fuel reserves so they can not circle very long before diverting to an alternate airport.  Even airlines that offer food for sale do not stock enough meals for every passenger.  I recently took two flights that were scheduled for 3 hours each that turned into 7 and 5 hour flights (both flights made an extra stop for fuel but we could not get off the plane and they did not replenish the water supply).  I strongly suggest that you bring lots of "munchies" in your carry-on.

Reminder-take advantage of low prices to move a rental car:  In September or October, the major rental car companies will start their "fall migration" of cars to Florida.  They must put their cars on trucks or offer low prices for customers who will and drop it somewhere in Florida.  The prices will probably be posted shortly so make a note on your calendar.  When combined with a one-way ticket home from a low-fare airline, this is a great way to save.

No free lunch (update): In my last newsletter I wrote about a "buy our product, get a free companion airline ticket" offered by AeroBed through CompanionFare (PROPCO, Promotions in Travel).  I received comments from subscribers and it appears that many companies offer the same promotion.  Prior to publication, I wrote to both companies asking for comments and still have not received a reply.  In my opinion, this is a scam.  Do not base a decision to buy any product based on an offer from this company.  It's a shame that the companies offering the "buy one, get a free companion ticket" do not research their offering any better because most of their customers will be disappointed.

The ideal and best travel site for air fare shopping:  It does not exist (yet)!  However, I've written my requirements for the best site in the "comparisons" section for all web site authors to see.  Your comments are welcome and encouraged.

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Internet Travel Tips Newsletter 7/1/06

This newsletter's web site comparison is for air fare search sites:

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?

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.  Kayak and SideStep take you directly to many airlines web sites so you get the benefits of buying directly (eliminating ticketing fees and "finger-pointing" that cause problems if the price drops, a schedule changes or you miss your flight).  While I enjoy many of the features of the other sites (Orbitz's DealDetector, Travelocity's Dream Maps, etc.), there are only a few instances where it is advisable to buy a ticket for domestic US travel from Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity (ITASoftware does not sell tickets).

Frequent flyer miles? Is airline loyalty worth paying more for or taking a less convenient flight?  Due to the increasing difficulty in redeeming miles (without paying double), the answer is a resounding "NO" thus I recommend that you select your flights based upon price, convenience, schedule and ticking flexibility.

High-mileage frequent flyers (elite level road warriors) are loyal to an airline because of upgrades to first class, expedited boarding and preferred seating.  Many flights today are on cramped and crowded regional jets, very few having first class seats.  Airlines are selling first class upgrades at the time of check-in.  Thus road warriors are finding fewer first class seats available for free upgrades or even using frequent flyer miles.  Lack of first class seating and great difficulty redeeming frequent flyer miles has driven loyalty to airlines to an all time low.  As a result, ticket price is becoming an increasingly important factor, even to road warriors.  Credit card companies are now offering cards that earn cash back or points for seats without black-out periods.  Almost all flights are full and with the exception of a few airlines, coach seating is equally uncomfortable and amenities are almost nonexistent, thus the challenge for most flyers is to quickly resolve the trade-off of ticket price versus total travel time.

Recommendation:  For advanced planning or leisure travelers with flexibility: use ITASoftware or Kayak.  While the other sites found almost identical prices, the flexibility of ITASoftware and Kayak makes your shopping time much briefer.  If your 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 you travel to/from cities served by JetBlue, Kayak displays their fares.  If your cities are served by Southwest, you must check their site.  I recommend that you subscribe to Southwest's Click 'n Save fares.

For shorter notice or limited flexibility travel: use ITASoftware or Kayak.  However, if you travel to/from a city served by JetBlue, of the two, only Kayak checks JetBlue.  If your cities are served by Southwest, you must check their site.  Using the recommended sites allows you to quickly and confidently find the best flights in half the time of other sites.  ITASoftware's input options are the most flexible and logical and the filtering capabilities of Kayak (slide-bars and check boxes) are excellent.  With these sites, you can quickly see all of the trade-offs: total travel time vs. cost (non-stop vs. connecting), long or short connections.  ITA allows you to select individual flights and also has excellent warnings.  Both sites easily accommodate alternate cities for departure and arrival.  ITASoftware gives you alternate departure and destination cities up to 300 miles away while Kayak searches a smaller area.   Alternate airports can be especially helpful for last minute travelers.  Leisure travelers who can plan far ahead can often find low cost non-stop flights to/from their desired airports.

Alternate dates of travel: Kayak has added the ability to search for prices up to 3 days before and/or after your targeted travel dates.  This capability (and near-by cities) is a "must have" for any travel site. 

Details are in the "comparisons" section of my web site at InternetTravelTips.

The ideal and best travel site for air fare shopping:  It does not exist (yet)!  However, I've written my requirements for the best site in the "comparisons" section for all web site authors to see.  Your comments are welcome and encouraged.

When to buy your ticket: Three relatively new web sites are trying to give you insight into the best times to buy at the lowest price: FareCompare, FareCast and FlySpy.  Some sites are in their early, testing stage and not yet available to the general pubic but I suggest that you keep watching and testing them.

Upgradeable air fares: Recent articles have mentioned "Q fares" because they are relatively easy to upgrade to first class.  They are usually much more expensive than the lowest fares that plan-ahead leisure travelers purchase.  Q fares are often the only discounted fares available when a last-minute business traveler must buy a ticket.  So if you would like to buy an upgradeable Q fare ticket, be sure to investigate the cost compared with the lowest price available.

When to buy your airline ticket:  I'm not clairvoyant but trying to get the lowest price is an exercise in frustration.  You are playing "chicken" with your wallet.  With fuel prices changing very rapidly, many airlines reducing capacity and using smaller planes, it's a challenge to know the "right" time.  I've been using FareCompare because it shows the lowest prices for the next ten months for any route.  It also offers a desktop plug-in for Google Desktop.

I know the route but I can't tell you how to get there: sound familiar (and frustrating) when you're asked for directions?  Use Google Earth and "drive" the route and write-down the street names & directions.

Take advantage of low prices to move a rental car:  In September, the major rental car companies will start their "fall migration" of cars to Florida.  They must put their cars on trucks or offer low prices for customers who will and drop it somewhere in Florida.  The prices will probably be posted in August so make a note on your calendar.  When combined with a one-way ticket home from a low-fare airline, this is a great way to save.

Competition is a wonderful thing: Northwest Airlines has had the non-stop Detroit to Boston market to itself for years.  Walk-up prices have been $850 and two-week advance fares are $754.  Spirit Airlines begins twice daily non-stops on August 15th and current prices start at $188.  But wait it gets better, prices are as low as $118 (round trip, including fees/taxes) on both airlines for travel from late August through mid December.  About 10 years ago, Spirit also flew this route once a day.  Northwest matched the fares and offered extra frequent flyer miles.  Eventually Spirit pulled out and guess what happened to the low fares went?  If you really want to have long term low fares and competition, patronize the airline that initially offered the better prices.

Hotel search site update:  Travelaxe (one of my favorite hotel search tools) has launched a new version of their application.  It uses an updated mapping feature that allows you to use its extensive filters (number of stars, price, distance from a specific point, etc.) and see the results as pins or balloons on Google Maps showing the hotel name & price.  You can then reserve the hotel by clicking on the pin.  Google Maps allows you to view their maps as satellite images or a hybrid of maps & satellite (I prefer the hybrid).  Google has significantly improved the resolution of many of their images; it's the next best thing to actually being there!

Help finding frequent flyer seats: before you give up, try my three little known tips.  They are available at the "travel tips" section of my web site.

Help your fellow travelers save time and frustration:  Have you even been on a plane and held hostage because an agent wasn't available to move the jet-way to let you off the plane?  Airlines have reduced the number of gate agents.  Gate agents are very busy handling customers and often do not notice that the plane has pulled-up to the gate.  If you are in the gate area and see an aircraft pulling into the gate and do NOT see an agent ready to move the jet-way, inform the gate agent that the plane has arrived.  All of the passengers will appreciate your help.

No free lunch: I recently purchased a $200 product that also included an offer for a “free companion airline ticket.”  I mailed the required form but it contained very little detail.  A "buy one, get one" coupon quickly arrived with the detailed restrictions (limited availability, reserve at the CompanionFare web site or call them, book at least two weeks ahead, a Saturday night stay is required, etc.).  It listed the specific fares to various zones and cities in the country.  A $9.95 processing fee is also charged for each ticket.  The coupon had a unique certificate number allowing access to the “CompanionFare.com” web site.  Companion Fare is run by PROPCO (Promotions in Travel Marketing) and their web site lists the following companies as their clients: Kroger, Chase Bank, Discover Card, National City Bank, US Bank, American Express, General Mills, Walgreen, Wells Fargo and Verizon.  PROPCO offers other products and services and no mention is made whether these companies offer or offered the "free companion airline ticket."

What is the value of the “free” companion airline ticket?  I attempted to reserve flights to 10 different cities from Detroit (Phoenix, Las Vegas, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, San Diego and Washington, DC) for two mid-week trips; one in mid August and one in late September.   CompanionFare was unable to find flights at the fares listed on the coupon 65% of the time but did offer to make reservations at a higher fare.  I included those fares in my comparison of fares for comperable travel from another public web site.  The result: CompanionFare prices had only 35% availablity and were higher 80% of the time!  Two lessons to be learned: don't use the offer of a "free ticket" in deciding to buy something; if your company is considering offering this type of promotion to help sell your products, check-out the real value to your customers.  In this case, 80% of the customers will be disappointed (if my testing is typical).  Is this what you want your customers to think of your company?  On June 25th, I sent the results of my testing to AeroBed (the product I purchased that included a mail-in form) and Promotions In Travel asking for their comments but have not received a reply as of this publication date.

Want to stretch your travel budget?  It's better to educate your travelers, showing them how to save, rather than impose travel restrictions that discourage or prevent valid business trips.  For customized, on-site travel education and training, click HERE for more detail or HERE to contact me.  It's the best investment you can make for your travel budget!

Looking for a captivating speaker for your next meeting or convention?  Regardless of the type or size of your group, everyone is interested in learning more about travel and how to use the Internet to maximize savings and minimize hassle.  Click HERE to contact me.

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Internet Travel Tips Newsletter 5/1/06

This month's web site comparison is for car rental search sites:

Requirements: Rent an intermediate or mid-size car with unlimited mileage for the lowest price while taking the least amount of shopping time.  I will avoid any company that lacks technology to expedite the rental and return process. 

I want to see (on the first screen):

	the total price (including fees/taxes) from all suppliers, not just their preferred ones
	whether a larger car is available at the same or lower price
	where the car is located (on/near the airport or a long ride away)

Methodology: Compare Expedia, Hotwire, Kayak, Orbitz, SideStep and Travelocity.  Then check the web site of the lowest priced offering to see if the price is even lower.

Recommendations: Use Hotwire if you don't care about which rental company, they only use Avis, Budget and Hertz so it's tough to go wrong with them.  Hotwire had lower prices 8 of 10 times with average savings of $11.71 per rental however, a Hotwire rental does not allow you to use your frequent renter privileges and the rentals can not be canceled.  Otherwise use Kayak because it finds excellent prices and helpful filtering of results.  SideStep has excellent prices as well but lacks the ability to filter or easily see a lower price on a larger car. 

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 pressure to upgrade, purchase insurance or gas.  Dollar had the lowest prices 50% of the time, Budget 20% of the time, Enterprise 20% of the time and Advantage 10% of the time.  Interesting facts: Dollar and Thrifty are owned by the same company, National and Alamo are owned by the same company.

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 the limited testing with various coupons and promotional codes, they did not provide a price lower than found below.

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.

Don't get caught:  Most of the 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.

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.

Details are in the "comparisons" section of my web site at InternetTravelTips.

Putting it all together, the short course for travel within the US.
Where to go, stay and to do: Talk boards at www.Fodors.com.  Hotel reviews at www.TripAdvisor.com.  Specialized destinations: Disney = www.MouseSavers.com and www.AllEarsNet.com; Las Vegas = www.LasVegasAdvisor.com but don’t sub$cribe.
Air fare monitor & alerts: Set-up a “DealDetector” at www.Orbitz.com, download www.TripStalker.com.
Where to shop for air fares: Use www.ITASoftware.com or www.Kayak.com and www.Southwest.com.
Where to buy air travel: Directly from the airline’s web site.
Where to find hotel deals: Download www.Travelaxe.com.  It finds any deals.  Check the hotel chain’s web site also.
Where to find deals on car rentals: Use www.Kayak.com to also see whether a larger car is available for less.  Check www.Hotwire.com.  Visit www.BiddingForTravel.com before using www.Priceline.com.

Hotel search sites update:  SearchParty recently released their hotel search web site.  I applaud their efforts to display all fees and taxes in the initial results.  However, the small test I performed found that their prices were not as good as offered by Travelaxe or Kayak and that some hotels could not be found.  Laura Bly of USAToday wrote an excellent and well researched article on April 6th pointing out that most web sites do not display the total price (including fees & taxes) resulting in great frustration and difficulty in comparing prices.  To make matters worse, many hotel amalgamators do not show real-time prices, thus the price will change once you attempt to reserve your room.  Incidentally, Travelaxe was the first (that I'm aware of) that tries to display ALL fees & taxes.  The problem of many hotel search sites is that their suppliers do not feed them all of the fees & taxes.  There is no excuse for this.  If the airlines and car rental companies can compute fees and taxes, hotels can too.

Southwest's Ding! fares (an update): Ding! sales are offered twice a day and last for about 6 hours.  They are available only via a downloaded program from Southwest and but not if you stumble into the same cities & dates on their web site.  When first announced in March of 2005, I determined that the savings were significant but availability was limited.  Recent Ding! offerings have further restricted the dates of travel to the point where I feel that Southwest has made the eye of the needle so small, that it's not worth my time to continue to watch for Ding! sales to the 3 to 6 destinations (usually offered) that are available for each Ding! sale.  Because Southwest makes their prices available only on their web site, the airfare monitor and notify tools such as DealDetector from Orbitz or TripStalker can not alert you to any of their sales (bummer).

Help finding frequent flyer seats: before you give up, try my three little known tips.  They are available at the "travel tips" section of my web site.

Want to stretch your travel budget?  It's better to educate your travelers, showing them how to save, rather than impose travel restrictions that discourage or prevent valid business trips.  For customized, on-site travel education and training, click HERE for more detail or HERE to contact me.  It's the best investment you can make for your travel budget!

Looking for a captivating speaker for your next meeting or convention?  Regardless of the type or size of your group, everyone is interested in learning more about travel and how to use the Internet to maximize savings and minimize hassle.  Click HERE to contact me.

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