Travel Smart

Google Best Time to Visit

2006-05-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

"Google Best Time to Visit is a simple application of using Google search results to extract knowledge. Here the question is, what is the best time to visit a place. This way you can learn when to plan your next holliday.

The script searches the Google description tags for 'best time to visit' plus whatever the user types in. Returned are the two months with the highest counts in the descriptions of Google. Supposedly you should visit between these two months. The script also guesses whether it is between month1 and month2 or the other way around. You might still end up in the alps with your skis in june, though.
the best time to visit beijing, is between september and october"

Get the flight deals from your destinations live!

2006-05-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Add the lastest flight deals into your favorite RSS aggregator, such as My MSN, Google Reader, or My Yahoo!. Choose from the following destinations:

Fare Flash! American/United Unadvertised Airfare War | Frommers.com:

2006-05-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Fare Flash! American/United Unadvertised Airfare War | Frommers.com:

"We haven't seen such a vicious unadvertised fare war in many months. United (tel. 800/241-6522; www.united.com) has slashed fares to and from American's hubs (Dallas, St. Louis) and American (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) has returned the favor out of United's hubs (Denver, Washington, San Francisco). You'll find the most routes on sale out of St. Louis, Denver and Dallas, and a more limited choice to/from Washington and to/from San Francisco. Seats are available through mid-April 2007. Because Travelocity no longer lists United's fares in their flexible date searches, you might want to try www.cheapair.com, which does. For the American fares, use Travelocity's flexible search. We've listed as many of these fares as we could find on the Dallas, Denver, St. Louis, San Francisco and Washington pages of Airfarewatchdog. These fares work in reverse too, so if we've listed a San Francisco/Miami fare it also works Miami/San Francisco."

CNN.com - Chicago on two wheels - May 2, 2006

2006-05-03T01:40:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - Chicago on two wheels - May 2, 2006:
As a person who stayed in Chicago for 2 years without a car, I did a lot of bicycling when I was there. The trail by Michigan Lake is great, also rollerblade-welcome. It definitely worth trying it.

"A nice thing about the trail is that the addresses are painted on the pavement. So you'll know where you are when it says, for example, '700S' for 700 South or '1600N' for 1600 North.

After my five-minute detour, I cycled a half-mile south to find a beautiful view of Navy Pier jutting into lake with its Ferris wheel standing tall. With all the sights to see, there will likely be more stopping than pedaling."

How to Get an Upgrade to First Class - WikiHow

2006-05-03T01:09:00.000-07:00

How to Get an Upgrade to First Class - WikiHow:

First class is so attractive to flyers: larger side space, larger leg room, better food... The following article gives some suggestions on how to update to first class. Some steps are quite useful. Take a look:

"Have you always wanted to fly first class, but never had the money? There are some other, roundabout ways you can get first class. With a bit of luck, you might find yourself sitting on the luxurious lap of first class"

Read the whole article

How to use frequent flyer miles effectively

2006-05-03T00:46:00.000-07:00

How to use frequent flyer miles effectively:

A good article on frequent flyer miles, everyone should read it:

"1. Recognize that frequent flier miles are a marketing technique. That being said, you can use them to your advantage if you are careful about their usage. In short, always buy a ticket because of cost savings instead of the miles you would accumulate.
2. Calculate the value of a mile to you. Airlines sell miles to their marketing partners for $.01 - $.02 per mile - but this valuation can be deceptive. You can't necessarily trade in miles for money - so don't strictly think of miles as a monetary unit.
3. Realize that frequent flyer mile cards often have a very high interest rate - so do yourself a favor. Make a list of all the bills that you definitely pay off every week (electric bills, internet, mortgage, or any other bills that you pay in full). Make another list of bills that you usually pay off with credit cards or that you roll over. Now here is the trick - use a frequent flyer mile card to pay off the FIRST list, and then never use that card for any other bills. This way, you accumulate miles for bills you were going to pay anyway, plus you don't get any high interest charges for not paying that credit card bill off.
4. Remember - while you should have a membership with all the mileage programs, make sure you focus your mileage earning efforts on one airline alliance. The best way to do this is to find the airlines that use the airport near you as a 'hub' - this way, you can focus your energies on earning miles (and thus rewards) on the airline that is most useful to you. Remember, the biggest mistake people do is to earn miles on a whole bunch of programs. 2500 miles in ten programs is of no use to you - 25,000 miles in one program usually is a free domestic US ticket."

Save 25% On Select MileSAAverSM Awards

2006-05-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

AAdvantage 25th Anniversary: "Save 25% On Select MileSAAverSM Awards

To celebrate our 25th Anniversary, redeem 25% fewer miles for travel on select MileSAAverSM awards! Use your special discount for a well-deserved getaway to the beaches of Hawaii, the Caribbean, or Mexico. Or check out some of the great historic places and National Parks around the U.S. Reservations must be booked and ticketed by May 31, 2006, for travel between August 22, 2006, and November 8, 2006."

CNN.com - The ultimate guide to free travel - May 1, 2006

2006-05-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - The ultimate guide to free travel - May 1, 2006: "These ways to score a free trip are not for everybody. Research, patience, good timing -- and often a bit of luck and sweat -- are required. But there's just no beating the price"

Frequent-flier plans: A happy 25th? | Chicago Tribune

2006-04-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

Chicago Tribune have an interesting article on the Frequent Flyer Program at its 25 years aniversary.
It gives good advices on how to redeem for award tickets:

"You just have to follow three rules to get those free saver-type tickets and upgrades.

- First, book your trips well in advance.

- Second, be flexible on your dates and flights.

- Third, if you cannot book your award online, speak to one of the program agents. Yes, the airline will probably charge you an annoying fee to speak to a 'real person,' but the agents--who are usually skilled and helpful--can often find free tickets that don't appear online, such as awards on partner carriers.

Finally, know the truth about mileage myths (see accompanying story on 'The truth beyond the myths')."

Read more

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