Travel tips
 You've got a world of choices for your summer vacation, and you've got a World Wide Web of possibilities for planning your trip online. With so much to explore, it's easy to get lost or simply not know where to start, especially if you're undecided about where you're going. So consider this your personal guide to online travel resources, including websites that can help you select a destination, find the best deals, prepare for your trip and even pay for it. Where in the World to Go If you don't know where to go on vacation this year, a recent survey of almost 400 travel agents offers some popular choices. According to the survey, Las Vegas will be the number one domestic destination in 2005. Hawaii, especially Maui, Honolulu, Kauai and Kona, was also cited in the survey as a vacation hot spot this year. If you want to venture abroad, try Mexico. The survey named Caribbean cruising to Cancun, Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel the most popular international "destination" for vacationers — no matter what their budgets. But travel bargains may be hard to find this year if you read smartertravel.com. Despite its prediction, the website offers its top five picks for budget travelers this year. Like the travel agent survey, Mexico tops the smartertravel.com list. It says that deals are available not only in single-city and beach destinations but across the country. The website advises booking after Easter to avoid the crowds and the highest prices. It also says that rates for travel in May and June will drop significantly. Good value is important when choosing a destination, but so is a good fit. Looksmart.com, for instance, lets you search for vacation ideas based on the type of traveler you are. You'll find vacation ideas made for all types of travelers, including families, seniors and singles. The information is complete with advice, guides, lodging, tour operators, cruises and attractions. Yahoo! also offers its top vacation choices for families, travelers seeking the best nightlife activities and many other types of travelers. Another way to plan your vacation is to focus on an event rather than a destination. For instance, are you a movie nut? Then plan a vacation around a film festival. Can't get enough of golf? Make your getaway to a famous golf tournament. Whatsonwhen.com is a great place to go for planning an event-centric vacation. You can find events occurring in the U.S. and around the world. Search by interest, month, location or theme. Once you've decided on an event, the website provides you with everything you need to book your vacation online. Wherever you plan on going, safety is always a priority. So before you book a trip, check with the U.S. Department of State for travel warnings that could affect your decision — or worse, ruin your vacation. Next on the Itinerary: Shopping To find the best vacation deals and lowest prices on the Internet, you'll have to shop around. That's easier said than done with all the choices you have online. You can go straight to the source and shop the websites of airlines, tour operators, hotels and car rental companies. USA Today online says that most of the biggest hotel groups offer best-rate guarantees for guests who book directly with them, online or by phone. The alternative to booking your vacation directly with a service provider is to check out the all-in-one websites, such as travelocity.com, expedia.com, orbitz.com, travelzoo.com, priceline.com, bestfares.com, skyauction.com and hotwire.com. Before you book your vacation on any of these websites, be sure to learn about their refund policies. Reservations made on Priceline and Hotwire, for instance, cannot be changed — not even for a fee, says this article. It goes on to say that you may also forfeit frequent flyer miles and frequent guest perks when booking through these websites. If your goal is to find the best deal out there, looking at all these sites will take a lot of time and effort on your part. But there are alternatives. Sidestep is one. It's a travel search engine you can download for free to your computer. With Sidestep, you can compare side-by-side prices on airfare, hotel and rental car deals offered on dozens of websites. For hotel deals, the alternative is the robust search engine Travelaxe. Another free download, Travelaxe searches more than 20 travel websites at the same time for hotel rates from 2,605 cities in 58 countries. It also lets you compare the prices from each travel website side by side, highlighting the cheapest prices found for each hotel as well as the amounts you can save. Don't want to download a program? Then visit bookingbuddy.com. This is probably as simple as it gets when it comes to shopping for travel deals. Just enter your arrival and departure dates and search the website of your choice. Bookingbuddy.com doesn't show you side-by-side comparisons like Sidestep, but it will save you time entering your travel information over and over on different sites. Comparing prices isn't the only way to save money when booking travel. An article on bankrate.com offers five tips for finding cheap travel deals. One tip is to plan your vacation during the shoulder season, the two- to four-week period that falls before and after the peak season for any given destination. The article suggests you can save 25% to 30% by vacationing during this time. Another tip is to be flexible enough with the date of your vacation that you can cash in on last-minute, Internet-only airfares that many airlines post each Wednesday. You'll find more about the best times of the year to travel on thetravelinsider.com. This two-part article lists numerous strategies for saving money when booking your trip. Once you've narrowed down your vacation plans, or even if you haven't, tripadvisor.com might come in handy. On tripadvisor.com, you can read what are labeled as unbiased reviews of hotels, resorts, inns, vacations, travel packages, vacation packages, travel guides and lots more. Countdown to Fun As you're counting down the days until your vacation, it's easy to forget about all the things you have to do to prepare for it. Checklists can help you get organized, and printablechecklists.com offers a solution. Its vacation preparation checklist includes everything from stopping your newspaper service to compiling important phone numbers to carry with you. Flyingwithkids.com offers a checklist with young children in mind. The website also has travel advice from other parents, things for kids to do on planes and more. For things to do when you're on vacation, order printed guides ahead of time of the area you're visiting. Go here to get city, state and hotel guides for free. Or, check out this list of tourism offices around the world and request the information directly from the source. Just throw the guides in your suitcase, and you're ready to make the most of your vacation. The right suitcase can also make a difference when you're traveling. Roadandtravel.com examines the different types of luggage you can buy and makes recommendations according to today's travel needs and strict limitations imposed by airline and government authorities. Packing your suitcase is a whole other matter. Fodors.com has advice about how to pack for a wrinkle-free vacation, as does viamagazine.com, an online publication from AAA. Even better, you can learn how to pack everything you could possibly need in only one bag on this website. A sturdy suitcase won't protect what's most valuable to you — your health and safety. When you're traveling, your health and safety are priorities and necessary for a good time. Before you leave, read up on a variety of health and safety issues on free-trip-tips.com. The website covers everything from pickpockets to hotel safety. Even jet lag can ruin a vacation. Learn more about it in this article and then discover some cures. If you're paying far in advance of your travel date, you might want to prepare for worst-case scenarios by buying travel insurance. You can expect to pay roughly 8% to 10% of the cost of your trip on travel insurance, according to an article on bankrate.com. There's more frank advice about travel insurance on thetravelinsider.com. Create Memories — Not Debt Despite your efforts to find the best deals on airfare and hotel accommodations, nothing is free. You still have to find a way to pay for your vacation long after it has ended. Bankrate.com offers some advice in this article, which says that planning ahead and setting a realistic budget will go a long way in managing the expense of a vacation. Planning ahead will also give you more time to save up for a vacation. The article goes on to explain that using ATMs while on vacation is a good way to keep debt down and get the best exchange rates when you're overseas. If you need to borrow money to pay for your vacation, bankrate.com advises consumers to borrow on a home equity loan because you'll end up paying yourself back at a better rate than credit cards offer. The point is you have options, whether you're paying for your vacation or planning it. And it's all available online. You just need to know where to look. And now, hopefully, you do. Happy travels. Information or reference to any third-party products/services or third-party websites is provided as a convenience for our up2speed® newsletter subscribers. SBC companies assume no responsibility for, and do not endorse, any of these third-party products/services/websites. All questions pertaining to these products/services/websites should be directed to the third-party vendor. |
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