travel industry-secrets---110pages

Travel Industry Secrets 1


Table of contents

Chapter 1: We introduce you to the concept of travel on the cheap ..................................................... 5

Chapter 2: How to become a travel agent and get up to 75% off your airfares (and other travel

expenses).................................................................................................................................................. 7

Chapter 3: Bless the consolidator!! (For he doth bring low fares).................................................... 13

Without an IATA card................................................................................................................................... 14

With an IATA card ........................................................................................................................................ 14

Chapter 4: Travel like a secret agent (well….kind of) be a courier.................................................... 17

Chapter 5: Oh, the crafty traveler! Everyday cheap tricks that help you get cheap treks................. 23

Trick 1. Book early......................................................................................................................................... 23

Trick 2. Buy tickets in bulk ........................................................................................................................... 23

Trick 3. Air passes.......................................................................................................................................... 24

Trick 4. Early bird fares, owly bird fares, off-peak fares and more ......................................................... 25

Trick 5. Hey you! Go get bumped! ............................................................................................................... 25

Trick 6. How about a trip around the world? ............................................................................................. 26

Trick 7. Hidden cities..................................................................................................................................... 28

Trick 8. Cheaper flights sometimes require a bit of a drive....................................................................... 28

Trick 9. How squeeze champagne taste out of a beer budget..................................................................... 29

Chapter 6: What the heck is happening to airlines? (and how can we make it happen some

more?).................................................................................................................................................... 31

Cheap U.S. airlines......................................................................................................................................... 32

Cheap European airlines ............................................................................................................................... 35

Cheap South American airlines .................................................................................................................... 37

Cheap Australasian airlines .......................................................................................................................... 38

Chapter 7: Frequent flyer miles: A little marketing ploy that changed travel…................................ 40

A list of frequent flyer programs .................................................................................................................. 42

Credit cards .................................................................................................................................................... 46

Airline affinity cards ...................................................................................................................................... 46

Other affinity cards........................................................................................................................................ 48

Chapter 8: Stopping the high price of staying over - Cheap accommodation .................................... 49

Websites .......................................................................................................................................................... 50

Cheap chains................................................................................................................................................... 51

What about hostels?....................................................................................................................................... 52

The local tourist bureau................................................................................................................................. 53

Its fun to stay at the YMCA (YWCA)!......................................................................................................... 53

Getting discounts with your IATA card....................................................................................................... 53

Hotel priority club rewards........................................................................................................................... 54

Chapter 9: How travel guides can save you money, time and headaches........................................... 56


Chapter 10: Drive a hard bargain – Get your car rental for less........................................................ 59

The magic card strikes again! – Using your IATA card............................................................................. 59

Get discounted driving online ....................................................................................................................... 60

Insuring you get a good deal on your insurance.......................................................................................... 60

Chapter 11: The other side of the computer screen - The new way to travel: The internet............... 63

A list of the best travel websites…................................................................................................................ 64

Internet resources for getting huge discounts as a travel agent................................................................. 67

Chapter 12: Insuring you get a good deal! - How to nab a bargain on your travel insurance ......... 69

Where do you find the cheapest travel insurance? ..................................................................................... 70

Chapter 13: 19 Tips for traveling on the cheap and having a great adventure.................................. 72

1) Read the fine print. ................................................................................................................................... 72

2) Search the internet.................................................................................................................................... 72

3) Common sense kids! ................................................................................................................................. 72

4) If you have a good travel agent, use them............................................................................................... 72

5) Don’t be afraid to go off the beaten track............................................................................................... 73

6) Talk to people. ........................................................................................................................................... 73

7) Get with the times ..................................................................................................................................... 73

8) Visit a travel agency that caters to new emigrants. ............................................................................... 74

9) Exchanging your money........................................................................................................................... 74

10) Use senior citizen discounts.................................................................................................................... 75

11) Can you rely on the ATM?..................................................................................................................... 75

12) Speaking of credits cards… ................................................................................................................... 75

13) 100 things to do before you die .............................................................................................................. 76

14) Knee defenders........................................................................................................................................ 76

15) Ask and you shall receive ....................................................................................................................... 76

16) Escape to your own world -- Onboard.................................................................................................. 77

17) Mixing business with pleasure – working overseas ............................................................................. 77

18) Volunteering overseas............................................................................................................................. 77

19) Get your tax back.................................................................................................................................... 78

A travel-industry-secrets travel glossary .............................................................................................. 79

Apendix – Lots more information to help you travel cheap ................................................................ 82

Consolidators.................................................................................................................................................. 82

Courier companies ......................................................................................................................................... 82

Air pass and coupon suppliers ...................................................................................................................... 82

Travel publications — The attack of the zines. ........................................................................................... 82

Fare codes ....................................................................................................................................................... 85

Frequent flyer programs ............................................................................................................................... 87

Hotel programs............................................................................................................................................... 91

Car rentals programs..................................................................................................................................... 92


Airline affinity cards ...................................................................................................................................... 93

Europe’s really cheap airlines....................................................................................................................... 96

Regional tourism boards.............................................................................................................................. 101

The best low-cost airlines in the world....................................................................................................... 102

Driving distance to airports......................................................................................................................... 103

Every other website relating to cheap travel we can find......................................................................... 109


Chapter 1:

We introduce you to the concept of travel on the cheap If you have picked up this book I can safely assume that you already love to travel, (Or at least the idea of it if you haven’t managed to get away yet) but I am sure you’d love it even more if you didn’t have to spend so much of your hard earned dough while you’re adventuring around the globe. Let’s face it; travel can be exhilarating, enlightening, and really darn expensive at the same time. I mean there you are lying on a postcard perfect beach in Thailand, sipping a pina colada trying to relax and all you can think about is the credit card bill you racked to get there. It can really put a damper on your holiday. Well that’s where we come in. The reality is there could be a guy lying two towels down from you on that gorgeous beach paying hundreds or even thousands less than you for the same three week holiday in paradise (we aren’t exaggerating either!). Inside this book you will discover all the tricks, tips and insider secrets that seasoned travelers have been using to travel on the cheap for years (like that guy lying two towels down from you on that beach). Now the next time you take a trip you’ll be ‘that’ guy (or gal). Now let me give you a quick overview of the outrageous and exciting discounts and freebies these people have managed to pull off over the years. As you read feel free to get more and more excited because all of the secrets will be revealed for you in this book. Mmmmm then you’ll really be able to enjoy that pina colada. Ok so what is the most expensive part of your holiday usually? Flights right? Well cheap travelers have been getting massive discounts on airfares for a long time now. Any where from 10% to 50% off and even more in some cases, in fact some of these clever cats even know how to score free flights! That’s not all though; After these guys clean up on airfares they can get cheaper accommodation (free upgrades and huge discounts usually around 50% off the rack rate) then cheaper car rental, cheaper travel insurance, cheaper package tours, cheaper meals, cheaper organized activities, cheaper ski passes, cheaper theme park entry and so much more! Feel free to dream about what you can do with all of that extra money you’ll save on airfares, accommodation and the rest. (Some of you were already ahead of me on this oneI am sure!). You see it’s different for everyone. Some might like to travel on a shoestring through India and the extra cash just means that they can stay for a whole month more. Some might like to spend their savings on shopping or fun experiences (anything from an aromatherapy massage to a horse ride through the forest and more).


Some might like to use the cash they just saved on their honeymoon airfare to upgrade their holiday from lovely to full blown luxury. While others choose to simply relax on the beach with a pina colada knowing that they will not have to pay this trip off for two years when they get home. It’s totally up to you how you want to spend the cash you save. It’s our duty to show you how to get it. By the way, no matter how you want to travel, it’s a good idea to start planning today. You can never have too much time to set up your trip, but you can very often have too little. And when you don’t have enough time to plan, it often means you end up spending more cash on you trip. Less time to plan can also mean fewer choices for you. There you go, there is our first little tip for you (see we are already giving you value and we haven’t even got to the juicy stuff yet). Speaking of juicy stuff, let’s get on with telling you how you can travel as you wish, where you wish, while keeping more of your money in your pocket. No matter if you want to travel in 5 star luxury and have everything perfectly planned out, or you prefer to fly by the seat of your pants on a tight budget, there’s something in this book for every type of traveler.


Chapter 2:

How to become a travel agent and get up to 75% off your

airfares (and other travel expenses)

Why, you might be wondering, would we be suggesting that you become part of one of the fastest shrinking jobs in the world? I know what you’re thinking, “no one uses travel agents anymore. You can take care of it all yourself using the Internet.” We would normally tend to agree with you. But what if you are becoming a travel agent just to take advantage of the outrageously great perks that come with the job? Ah! It’s making sense, isn’t it? Now, most jobs have perks but wow! Travel agents are spoilt rotten. Let me fill you in on a little secret for those of you who don’t know…Depending on what kind of travel agent they are (full time, part time etc) depends on what kinds of perks they get but basically these guys can get anywhere from 50% to 100% off their airfares, they can even get these wonderful trips (called fam’s (short for Familiarization trips) with everything paid for, or if not totally paid for, then at incredibly low prices. The idea behind these ‘fam’ trips is that the travel agent sees first hand some gorgeous holiday destination and experiences it for themselves so they can better sell it to their customers. How awesome is that!!! But wait there’s more! When you become a travel agent you get this great little ID card that proves that you’re a travel agent (there are a few different types of these cards actually but we’ll get to that later) and it is a darn handy little piece of plastic I’ll tell you now. You can use this card to get huge discounts off an astounding array of stuff. Basically when a travel agents books into any type of accommodation or wants a rental car, concert ticket or whatever, they can simply ask at the time of booking “what’s the industry rate for this?”. They then listen while price drops anywhere from 5% up to 80% off the retail and sometimes other freebies (like hotel room upgrades) may be thrown in as well. They just flash their magical travel agent card when they arrive at the hotel, pickup the car or claim the concert tickets to confirm the discount There are all kinds of ways for them to use these cards. They often flash them when they check in at airports and ask if there are any first class or business class seats left vacant, If so they sometimes get a complimentary upgrade. They ask for free room upgrades at hotels and also use them to get a limo for the price of a taxi or even a weekly ski pass for the price of a couple of days. These guys can get discounts on almost anything and everything. I told you they were spoilt!


But don’t quit your job just yet (I nearly did when I heard about those perks) What if I told you that you can have your pina colada and drink it too? That’s right; you can keep your current job and get incredible discounts, upgrades and freebies too! It’s all totally above board and legit and its going to save you bucket loads. If you want to get your mitts on one of those magical cards read on and we’ll tell you how.

How does it work?? Ok, let’s give you an overview on how this works. Firstly I need to explain to you that there are a few different types of travel agents and each different type of travel agent has different types of perks and different levels of effort that need to be put in for them to get those perks (like anything in life, the more you put in, the more you get out)

1. Travel Agent This is the one we are all familiar with. This is the guy that usually works full time in a travel agency office like “Flight Centre” taking and making calls all day. This is the guy that will book your travel for you if you go through an agency. He usually gets some kind of small commission every time he gets a ‘sale’ (some only earn wages and get bonuses) 2. Home Based Travel Agent This is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a travel agent who decides to set up shop from home either on a part-time or full-time basis. There are plenty of them out there and it works like this, in essence the home based travel agent is affiliated with a ‘host’ agency. A host agency is usually just your average travel agency. The host agency pays the home based travel agent their commissions (usually they’re paid commissions only – no wages) and the home based travel agent has, more often than not, bought some kind of license from the ‘host agency’ and is linked up to their computer booking system from home. They can basically do everything a normal travel agent can. Just that they’re doing it from home. 3. Home based ‘Referral’ travel agent This travel agent also works from home either part time or full time. The referral agent is a little bit different from the normal home based agent in that he does not actually complete the bookings himself. He is not usually linked up to the computer system. He just refers the client to the ‘host agency’ and they book the person in (they do most of the work for him really) and the referral agent still gets a commission for that (of course it’s a smaller commission than the other travel agents get since he’s doing less work for it)

And the perks…oh the perks! Now let’s talk about the different levels of perks the different types of travel agents get shall we? (The lucky devils!) In order to get any discounts on airfares and the rest the travel agents must get one of those magical little cards we were talking about. The cards are the key! (As well as knowing how to use them)


There are two different types of cards you can get.

1. I.A.T.A card This card is recognized world-wide and gets you most of those incredible perks we have been talking about. It’s available to all three types of travel agents we just spoke about. The discounts will vary greatly depending on the airline or company supplying the accommodation, concert tickets etc but almost all companies that have anything to do with travel, tourism or entertainment offer travel agent discounts of some kind. To get your hands on one of these cards you need to prove you’re a travel agent with a letter of employment from your ‘employer’ and pay a small fee to get the card made up and sent to you. 2. I.A.T.A.N card This card is only available to “U.S based” travel agents and is mostly only recognized in the U.S. However it is now also recognized by a number of airlines and other travel entities around the world. It is also available to all 3 types of travel agents mentioned. To get your hands on this card you must have proof of employment plus proof that you have earned more than $5,000 USD in travel commissions in the last year. Then you pay a small fee and get your card sent out to you. This card is coveted by many people as it carries more weight to many travel industry companies in the U.S and they are more likely to give you a discount (or maybe a bigger one) The big thing though, is that you can deal direct with the airlines when you’re booking your flights (which mean that you can call up and just book with them on the phone) they give you what’s called an AD75. An AD75 means you get 75% off the full ticket price of the flight. (Like I said before, lucky devils!) You can’t deal direct with the airlines generally speaking using the I.A.T.A card mentioned earlier. You can give it a try but you’ll here mostly no’s. If you do get a yes you’ll generally have to jump through quite a few more hoops before you’ll get a result.

How can you get your hands on one of those wonderful little cards then? (I know that’s what you’re thinking – guess what we have the answer!) I know you want to get your hand on all those great discounts upgrades and freebies don’t you? Well it’s up to you what level of this game you want to play this at, but if you’d like to keep your day job and also get some amazing travel perks this is what we suggest you do… You’re going to become a ‘Home based ‘Referral’ travel agent’ (that last type of travel agent we just spoke about) and your going to get your hands on the magical IATA card with all it’s glorious benefits along with all of the knowledge on how to use it. How will you do this? Well it’s surprisingly easy.


There are world wide organizations on the internet that are set up precisely to help people who want to become referral travel agents. You simply pay them a small fee, fill in a few forms and other bits and pieces and there you are, you’re suddenly a fully fledged referral travel agent!! Now when I say ‘bits and pieces’, there is often a travel agent exam you may need to pass before you get membership to these sites. They give you all the information you need to pass this test and it’s a very simple thing so it should not take up too much of your time. It’s surely worth it when you get to save hundreds on airfares, accommodation and all the rest! The reason they have this is because they want you to know some travel agent “lingo” so that you know what to say and do when you’re using your card and talking to people. So it’s great for you anyway. It really is a very simple process, and you can if you wish, actually earn commissions from referring customers to them but what we are mainly interested in is getting your hands on the IATA card. Once you sign up with one of these online travel agencies your new ‘host’ agency will organize your IATA card for you. They will supply the letter of employment and all the other details that you need to have to get the IATA card and they will apply for it for you. You just send your photo in and fill out a form and bada-bing-bada-boom your magical travel agent discount card’s on its way to you in the mail. Now you can be the spoilt one!! It’s that easy. Now there are various sites you can sign up to be a referral travel agent. The industry can be quite dynamic with new host travel agencies popping up and other’s either merging with other companies or disappearing altogether. You’ll want to keep abreast of who is reliable and trustworthy to get on board with.

We have taken on the job of staying on top of this stuff for you though. Simply click

though to www.travelindustrysecrets.com/agent and you will come to a page with all the

latest details on what’s going on in the referral travel agent scene. You’ll also see our selection of top referral travel agent sites for you to sign up with, plus any further instructions about the different websites that could concern you. This way you’ll know the information is always updated and reliable. Keep in mind with this strategy we haven’t scored you a IATAN id card, so you’re still not officially eligible for all of the things (like AD75 flights) a holder of one of those coveted pieces of plastic can get. Of course there are ways to get this card if you’re willing to work a bit harder for it. For those of you interested in getting your mitts on this card go to http://www.iatan.org/pdf/126.pdf Anyway for those of us going for the simpler strategy of getting the IATA card here’s a list of things that you can use your card for. You’ll be able to get discounts, upgrades or freebies for these things. Many of them I have already mentioned. Airfares Car rental Hotels, Resorts, Hostels or any other type of accommodation


Theme park entry Travel Insurance Boat Cruises / Tours Skiing/Biking/hiking lift passes Tickets for concerts/shows Package tours Buses Trains Limousines Private planes/ sea planes Bungee jumping Skydiving Scuba diving White water rafting Zoos Bike rental Ski rental Scenic flights Campervans Jet boating Whale watching Hang gliding Entry to festivals and fairs Circus tickets Abseiling Wildlife safaris Surfing Lessons Sailing lessons Tourist attraction tickets Boat hire Canoe/ kayak hire And much much more! Are you getting the picture? You can truly use it for just about anything to do with tourism, travel and entertainment. Now as with anything in life, nothing here is set in stone. Most companies have what they call an “industry” rate (that is; - the rate for anyone in the travel and tourism industry) and this can vary anywhere from 5% to 70% off and more. Once you’ve got your IATA card all you have to do is ask (before you book or pay) “what’s the industry rate for travel agents?” and listen to the price drop. Also, as a travel agent you can sometimes get an even better deal by going through one of the Travel Clubs for people in the Travel Industry instead of going directly to the travel supplier. See the end of Chapter 11 for a full listing of the travel clubs we recommend. These travel clubs take most of the hassle out of it for you (they are like travel agents for travel agents!) because they have great relationships already with 1000’s of travel suppliers that are happy to give travel agents huge discounts. Here are a couple of them, to show you the kinds of deals we’re talking about.


www.iticonline.co.uk www.tats.com.au www.famconnection.com/samples.asp

Remember that you have to have an IATA card to get access to these deals. Go to

www.travelindustrysecrets.com/agent to see who we recommend joining up with so you

can enjoy these savings. It’s something to keep in mind as well that even though your certainly entitled to these discounts, you’re still asking for something extra from the travel supplier so a smile and a kind and professional manner (after all you are a travel agent right?!) will often take you a long way too. Be nice. So there you go. That’s the first way you can save heaps of money while you’re exploring this big ol’ world of ours. There’s plenty more where that came from………..


Chapter 3:

Bless the consolidator!! (For he doth bring low fares) Oh yes my friends, after reading this chapter you will love the consolidator for this lovely fellow will bestow you with savings galore! Flights are, more often than not, the most expensive single thing that you’ll pay for as part of your overseas travel experience. They get even more expensive if you want to book in peak periods or if you end up having to book last minute flights. Well these can be the times when this handy strategy will save you the most money. You can also use this strategy at any time to book your international flights not just in peak periods or last minute booking. This strategy doesn’t work as well for domestic flights, as consolidators generally only work with international flights these days seeing as new domestic low cost airlines are competing fiercely with each other (which is a great thing for you!). So, what is a consolidator anyway? (Besides a lovely fellow who deserves many blessings) A consolidator is a business that buys airplane seats from the airlines in bulk — tickets that haven’t been purchased yet (and the airlines are guessing they aren’t going to be) — at wholesale prices. Then, they turn around and sell them at a discounted price to travel agents, who then sell them to people like you and I. Or now that you’re about to become a travel agent; directly to you (read on for details). There are basically two types of consolidators.

1. Wholesale consolidators (those who don’t sell to the public) sell tickets at reduced wholesale prices to travel agents (including referral travel agents) who can then add a percentage on to the tickets before they sell them to you. 2. The other kind of consolidator we’ll call a “ticket discounter.” (Those who do sell to the public). Some people call them “bucket shops,” which is a semi-derogatory phrase. Whatever they are called, they cut out the middleman (the travel agent). The public can book directly with these guys and get great discounts. They will sell to travel agents as well. Actually, they’ll sell to anyone with a pulse. They will often hang out a shingle as a “discount travel company.”

As you would have guessed by now, you yourself can use these guys to get drastically reduced airfares. There are two different strategies depending on whether or not you have your IATA card (strategy from the previous chapter that gives you magic card wielding powers!!) The first way – is without an IATA card and the second is with one (if you have one you are officially a travel agent and will probably be able to swing a better deal with the consolidators).


Without an IATA card

You’re going to use the “ticket discounter” consolidator who doesn’t mind dealing with the public. It’s a pretty simple thing to do. All you do is ring them and use them much like a travel agent. Just tell them when and where you want to fly and they’ll give you quotes and can book you in when you’re ready. It’s always a good idea to shop around for the best price of course. The discounts can vary anywhere from $100 off the normal fare to $2000 and more. It will depend on lots of different factors like how far out you’re booking (you can often get bigger discounts booking last minute) or how busy the flight is etc. The hardest bit about this strategy for you is actually finding the consolidators! But ahhhhh you were one of the smart people that bought this book. That means we’ve taken all the hard work out of it for you (bless us and the consolidator!) For a full up to date list of consolidators world wide check out the free consolidator directory you received as one of your bonus items with this book.

With an IATA card

Now for the wielders of the all powerful IATA card you can also use a consolidator but you’ll be using them a bit differently to a normal member of the public. Ticket discounters (those who do deal with the public) If you’re dealing with the “ticket discounters” (who deal with travel agents and also the public) you want to give them a call and let them know that you’re a travel agent. Ask them about availability for the flights and when you’ve confirmed it’s available, you want to ask them for the travel agent rate (called a ‘net’ fair (and its important that you call it that as you want to sound like a professional travel agent and that’s the lingo they use) Let’s give you an example. Bob wants to fly from Vancouver to Sydney in June so his conversation should sound a bit like this. Bob: “hi its bob here from XX travel agency, what’s your availability like on flights from Vancouver to Sydney between the 10th and 27th of June? Travel agent: “We have availability on the 17th, 19th and 22nd bob” Bob “the 19th will be good thanks; what’s the net fare on that?” Travel agent: “(gives applicable reduced fare)” Bob: “ok, I’d like to go ahead and book that for myself,” It’s really important that you sound professional and that you specifically ask for the “net fare” when asking for the discount. This is travel industry lingo - When you say this the person on the other end of the phone is going to assume that you’re a travel agent ringing on behalf of a client so they are going to give you a better rate (usually but not always) than the public.


Like Bob did, you’ll need to give the name of your travel agency when you call up. You simply use the name of the travel agency you received your IATA card from as you are officially a travel agent of that company. Also if you want to sound that extra bit more professional when you call up, find out some of the airfare ‘code’ lingo for flights before you call and use those terms when you’re talking to the consolidators. You’ll find some of this code lingo in the appendix at the end of this book Now, with some consolidators, when they find out the flight your booking is for yourself they may want to charge you the same rate as the public. It just depends on the consolidator. Some don’t mind, some do. Some never make the connection that you’re booking it for yourself and they never ask. If it doesn’t work with the first one or two, do keep ringing around (if you have the patience) because there are plenty out there who you’ll be able to get the extra “net fare” discount from. Wholesale Consolidators (those who do not deal with the public) Because you have your IATA card and are officially a referral travel agent, you can use these guys but it’s a different kettle of fish again when dealing with Wholesale consolidators. You will however, probably get a better discount using these guys than you would have using the “ticket discounters” These guys do not deal with the public at all so their customer service is, well, some what lacking! …if not non existent. These guys are very ‘no nonsense’. You have to know what you want before you call them and when you do call it’s very wam-bam-thank-you-mam. You tell them what you want, pay em and get the heck off the phone. You must be professional and decisive. You can call and say the same thing that “Bob” did in the above scenario and it will work just fine. Discounts may vary widely depending on flight availability and how far out you’ve booked etc. As with the “ticket discounters”, when they find out that you’re booking this flight for yourself they may not want to allow you to book it with them. But again it just depends on the consolidator. Some of them will only let you book personal flights if your agency has sent them business in the past (or if they think it will in future). More than likely, your agency will not have done this (and probably won’t in the future either) It really depends on the consolidator though and who picks up the phone, so do ring around because chances are that you will find one more than happy to sell you a personal ticket and it will save you squillions! (Well maybe hundreds and thousands at least) So there you have it. Pretty simple huh? See why we love the consolidators?!

Precautions to use when dealing with consolidators Firstly just know that you will rarely run into a first class ticket using this strategy. You can almost never change your ticket once you buy and you must be a little cautious when using consolidators. Most consolidators are solid business’s and very professional but there are also some dodgy operations out there (that sometimes spring up suddenly and disappear just as fast) and we have heard a few stories from people who have had some very negative experiences with them.


Make sure when using consolidators that you use only the reliable well established companies and we advise using your credit card for all purchases (not sending a check, cash or money order) so that you and you’re credit card company has a record of the transaction incase something bad does happen (you could initiate a “chargeback” with your credit card company). We have taken the time to do thorough research, background checks and surveyed clients to find the most reliable, well established consolidators for you to use. You can rely on these companies to look after you. They have been looking after many savvy travelers for a while now. We have a comprehensive directory of the top consolidators’ world wide. There are so many of them that it’s actually a separate book! To see a full directory of these blessed consolidators check out your consolidator directory


Chapter 4:

Travel like a secret agent (well kind of). Be a courier Couriers no longer walk around with attaché cases hand cuffed to their wrists, carrying small-but-effective pearl-handled revolvers in specially designed holsters. There aren’t even cyanide capsules hidden in the seams of their shirts, should they be captured. No, the only intriguing thing about being a courier today is that it’s a great way to travel all over the world for next to nothing. Come to think of it…that’s not bad! If you’re unaware of this wonderful little travel trick, or haven’t thought about it in awhile, there are some things to learn. A quick description: even in this world of Internet and fax and FedEx, there are plenty of things companies (and sometimes individuals) want delivered by hand. For this service, they hire a courier, who will accompany the parcel, or letter, or box to wherever it needs to be, carefully handing it over to the intended receiver. It is, in some people’s minds, the best way to make sure it gets there safe and sound. It’s just more — personal too. What, exactly, is, “it” that you’ll be couriering? It could be anything from one sheet of paper to a 400-pound box. The truth is it doesn’t matter. In actuality, as a courier, you will rarely, if ever touch the item, from the time it leaves until the time you turn it over at customs at the other end of the destination. You are merely the person accompanying the item; no handcuffs, no gunshots on a darkened street, not even zither music. Sigh. There is no courier school you need to attend in order to be one. In fact, you really don’t need anything except the available time to make the trip, a valid passport, proof that you are at least eighteens years of age, and be able to run through an airport with the best of them. It used to be that couriers had to stay alert, waiting for that mysterious phone call at three in the morning telling them to report immediately to the airport. Now, you can decide when you want to leave, and then tell the courier company you are available during that period of time. Couriers once traveled for free, and the company that was using the services generously covered all of their expenses. Unfortunately, so many people became interested in this prospect that the courier services found they could get people to do it for nothing more than a big discount on their plane fares with no expenses involved. We travelers are just so easy!

Because the courier wants the package of whatever kind off the plane as quickly as possible (they are in the delivery business, after all) it doesn’t travel as cargo, but as your luggage. It comes off the same time the passengers do, instead of waiting for the freight to unload.


It is subject to the same paperwork as you, so it’s much easier to check and keep tabs on its transportation and length of the trip it has undertaken. Suddenly, you’re important! If you weren’t there, the package (AKA, “your luggage”) would be freight. If you do get a glimpse of the package, it might be at the customs desk when you arrive. This is when you turn over the paperwork and all to the courier company’s representative. Then, it’s time to enjoy your cheap vacation!

How long do you stay? Hmmm. Well, that’s a good question. You’re normally limited to trips of one or two weeks, depending on what they have for you to bring back (if anything). But there are other things that can change this situation once you get there. For example, there’s nothing to bring back at the moment. Or there’s a change of plans on the shipment you will be accompanying. You will almost always be asked to get in touch with the local office during your stay, especially as your date of departure comes closer. That will let the courier company know where you are (you haven’t run off with a tribe of Bedouins, for example), and let you know if there have been any changes in plans that would extend (or shorten) your stay. Some courier companies will, in certain cases, let you decide how long you want to stay. And that can last for up to a year. But don’t count on it. Flexibility is the best plan. Some will let you buy one-way fares. That might be the best plan if you really don’t have one.

Incidentally, what about your luggage? Our advice would be to pack light. Carry-on bags may be all you’ll have in some situations, as your luggage space in the bottom of the plane will most likely be occupied by whatever package there is. Keep in mind that air couriers don’t go everywhere. There are no courier flights within the United States, for example. Also it’s important to note that most courier flights will leave from the largest cities in the country so you’ll need to get yourself to these cities to nab one of these bargain flights. You can often get especially good domestic airfares to these airports through good travel sites like sidestep.com, travelzoo.com and bestfares.com. (More about this to come) One setback is that you can’t really take a friend. But then again if you really wanted to, here’s an idea: have him or her sign up as a courier too, then get a flight to the same destination for the day before or after your own trip. You can meet up when you get there. Where there’s a will there’s always a way huh?! Another thing - look out for ads that offer “courier fares.” They can be nothing more than a come-on. It’s best to begin by knowing what the ticket is really worth on the open market, and work down from there, looking at every possible option. If the air courier price wins, go for it.


Be flexible. Be aware Being an air courier does mean that there are certain cases where you can be summarily bumped, because the cargo is moved to another flight, or whatever reason. You are little more than a placeholder in this case, and have to remain flexible. And just know that you’ll be arriving at the airport, ready to go and you won’t have a ticket until you get there. That’s the way it works: you meet someone at the airport who will hand you your ticket not long before the flight departs. It’s the same with your return ticket. You’ll meet the same sort of person at the other end of the trip, just before you are set to come home. Its handy to always keep your travel information as well as all the phone numbers, etc of the courier company in a safe place (you may want to make copies and put one in your wallet, one in your shoe one…you get the picture. This can be very helpful if something goes wrong and anyway it’ll just help you relax, after all, whether the courier company knows it or not (or cares), you are on a vacation!

The international association of air couriers This is an organization that is about, and for, air couriers. They have an office in the United States, as well as a European division in England. They provide tonnes of information about travel saving offers and experiences by fellow couriers — good and bad. The European website offers this caveat in bold type: “Be advised, air courier does not suit everyone!” but then goes on to tell about all the bargains you can get. This is a way of using the courier system without getting your hands dirty. So, of course, they charge you a fee (though a small one it is.) Once you join IAACC ($45 in the U.S.; $50 for International membership; £ 32 sterling in Europe), you are made privy to their flight availabilities which are open to members 24 hours a day on the Internet. They claim that they are updated every day. It seems like a great way to get involved in the courier area because they know what questions you’re going to ask and have already answered them (as have we, if truth be told). And, there are many good add-on bonuses as far as cheap hotels and rental cars, etc. tacked into the program as well. All you have to do is check in when you have a rough idea of where and when you want to go and see what is available. You can reach the headquarters website at www.courier.org The European website is at www.aircourier.co.uk

Here’s a little trick that can be very handy. It may be able to get you a bigger discount on your already big discount! The airline wants you on that plane, because without you, they don’t gain the financial benefits of carrying the cargo, whatever it might be. So as the time comes closer to actual take-off, the airfare goes down, instead of up. Every time it goes down, you’re flying for a lower fare. Keep in mind that you’re not a regular passenger. As a courier, there’s a lot more behind that ticket that the airline doesn’t want to lose. If you hold out to the end (and you have nothing to lose by doing this), you will pay a somewhat miniscule fare, or


possibly even get a free ticket (this is round trip, by the way, so you’re benefiting on the trip back, even though you’re empty handed).

Doing it on your own: Some courier key players There are a number of places you can go to become a courier (though there aren’t as many as there used to be). The following is a sample from the complete directory of top couriers. We can’t fit them all in this chapter so for our full directory of couriers world wide check out your consolidator directory (which came as a bonus item with this book) . Some have application fees and others don’t; similarly some will or won’t request a deposit. . (This might amount to nothing more that a $100 check they tear up when you get back, but it’s best to be sure.) These companies may also operate as consolidators or stand-by tickets. Some are very friendly and helpful while others are…well, you’re going for a good price not good service right? Once you make a choice, make sure you understand the individual quirks of the particular organization. You’ll also notice that many of them don’t have websites or even e-mail addresses. We don’t know if that’s to save money or for effect. In any case, call before you make any further plans, just to get the law of the land, so to speak.

Air Facility 153-40 Rockaway Boulevard Jamaica, NY 11434 718-712-1769 Or 2460 NW 66th Avenue Building107, Suite Z-270 Miami FL 33122 305-871-4990 This service works throughout Brazil, as well as Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay with stays of either 7 to 14 days most common. The people are great to work with and flights tend to run about $100 less than you’ll find through other sources. Despite the limited possibility of, (Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo), this could be your chance for a taste of Carnivale. You are going to need some sort of visa from the Brazilian embassy, and the wait list can be as much as two months.

Air-Tech Ltd. Suite 204 New York, NY 10012 212-219-7000, ext. 206 www.airtech.com Air-Tech is sort of a part-time courier company that also works as a space available travel company (another reason to get in touch with them). Destinations tend to be of the on-again-off-again variety but they do include a once-a-day flight to Australia with four destinations (Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne and Sidney).

As You Like It Travel 224 West 35th Street


Suite 1126 New York, NY 10001 212-216-0644 www.asulikeit.com With this courier service, you can fly for free if you dress as a character in a Shakespeare play. Not really. But for a cheap flight, you’d do it wouldn’t you? You would, too! Anyway, this is one of the big boys and they act like it. Prices are good and they tend to be a bit more flexible in their rules concerning how long they will hold a reservation. On top of that, there is no application fee. They also offer some consolidator tickets and will even provide discount tickets if you want to take a friend in some cases. A good bet.

East-West Express 149-35 177th Street Jamaica, NY 11434 718-656-6246 This is a great way to travel from the United States to points in the Far East, South Africa, the Philippines, and Australia (though there is a catch on this we’ll talk about in a moment. Prices are good. But only good. If you are flying to Australia, you have to compete with the Los Angeles leg of the trip. If there’s nothing coming from New York, they will just leave from LA and New York gets left out. The same thing happens in the other direction, by the way.

Now Voyager 74 Varick Street Suite 307 New York, NY 10013 212-431-1616 www.nowvoyagertravel.com The name has an almost black-and-white movie quality to it, doesn’t it? These guys refuse to say that the courier travel option is going away. In fact the website (the fact they have one!) is kitschy and a lot of fun. It also introduces you to their travel agency offering special deals on travel all over the world. It’s worth a visit, even if they don’t have the right deal for you.

Jupiter Air, Ltd. Building #14 JFK International Airport Jamaica, NY 11430 718-656-6050 Or 811 Sneath Lane San Bruno, CA 94066 (San Francisco) 650-635-1700, ext. 216 Or 460 South Hindry Avenue Unit D Burlingame, CA 94010 (Los Angeles) 650-697-7892


Flights are mainly to Hong Kong and Manila. All are no frills (even for courier service), carry-on only flights, though you can buy a one way ticket for half price and they do offer last-minute specials.

Johnny Air Cargo 69-04 Roosevelt Avenue Woodside, NY 11377 (JFK) 718-397-5099 Or 37 St Francis Square Daly City, CA 94015 (San Francisco) 650-991-7080 Or 203 South Vermont Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90004 213-386-7080 Flies mainly to Manila and it’s a good idea to book months in advance. Another caveat: the prices go way up during the holiday seasons. Is nothing sacred anymore?


Chapter 5:

Oh, the crafty traveler! Everyday cheap tricks that help you

get cheap treks

There are some incredibly simple tips for booking your travel that we just have to mention in this book. Many of you may know about some of these tips already. So simple yet so darn effective. Let’s talk about all of those easy things you can use every day to save when you travel, whether it’s home for the holidays to see your family or trying to find a monk in Katmandu. Some of them are so simple; it almost seems silly to mention them. Others will make you giggly with delight at the prospect of saving even more of your cash as you see the world. Which you decide to use is up to you. Welcome to the smorgasbord!

Trick 1. Book early

See? No groans. Some people still don’t seem to understand how important it is. The earlier you book a flight, a hotel, a rent car, a villa overlooking Lake Como, the better deal you can usually get on it. Look at it from the airlines (or car rental company etc) perspective: they love the idea of having your money, even if it’s a deposit, in their hands as early as possible, not to mention the security of knowing the flight is filling . That’s one more seat filled that they now don’t have to worry about. The airlines always sell their seats in staggered pricing, selling the cheapest seats first and then it gets progressively more expensive as the departure date draws nearer Now you may not be one of these “planner” personality types (these are the people who book flights twelve months in advance and buy their Christmas presents in July) and you may think it’s sort of boring but in this scenario it’s effective, you have to admit. And what if you have to change your plans later on? Most airlines (check on this before you book) will give you a refund, or let you book on another flight at the same price. See a lower price during the time after you have bought your ticket? Firmly but gently talk to the airline. They will usually give you the better price.

Trick 2. Buy tickets in bulk

Once again, you are taking advantage of the airlines’ love of having a bird in hand. Because you’re buying several tickets at once, you can get a special discount.


Now you can either buy several tickets for yourself (You can book a year in advance for instance). It’s great if you know you’ll be making a particular trip over and over again. It also works especially well for families, big groups of friends or for businesses.

Trick 3. Air passes

Some airlines give out handy little things called air passes. They work in two different ways: They will either give you unlimited travel within the country you are visiting (very similar to the Europass for trains that these were somewhat modeled after), or give you a certain number of coupons for specified amounts that can be exchanged for tickets (something like the chit system used in the military), the benefit being that the prices are much lower than normal. The most important thing to remember about air passes is that you usually can’t buy them in the country where you’re going to use them (again, like the Europass) you must buy them from home before you get into the place you want to use the pass, so you need to plan ahead. Then again, when you’re trying to save money traveling, planning ahead is a huge money saver generally speaking, so you can just include this in your list of things to remember. Air passes and coupons can be very different in different countries, and even in the same countries there are different programs to choose from so do your research and make sure you get the best deal to suit your needs. Make sure you know exactly what the provisions for use are, and in coupon programs, a minimum number of tickets is often required. Buying too many or too few can cost you more (they are nonrefundable, and they cost more if you buy them separately). And keep in mind that the coupons are just like money. If you lose them, they are not like traveler’s checks — the questionable finder gets a free trip at your expense. With coupons or passes, you have to make sure you are eligible. The first rule is you cannot be a resident of the country issuing either one; the idea is to increase tourism. They’ve already got you if you’re a resident, so why bother? They really are a pretty good deal. Make sure they fit the needs of your trip and always take into account there may be airport transfers and taxes that you will have to pay when you get your boarding pass. But you’d have to pay those anyway (just keep in mind they

are in addition to what you have paid). Find out more about this through a quick online

search and you’ll find out heaps of information fast. You can also try looking at the main

airlines of the particular country you want to go to. They’ll usually have plenty of info on

their website. Go to dir.yahoo.com � Countries (under Regional) � pick a country �

Travel � Air Travel � Airlines An example for Japan for instance:

http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Japan/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_S

ervices/Travel_and_Transportation/Airlines/


www.bestfares.com often advertises airpass deals around the world (they are also an amazing

place to get cheap flights in general). Check out the international section on their site (http://www.bestfares.com/travel/desks/desk.asp?desk=internationals&LeftNav=internationals) or you can try searching for “pass” from their “Story Search”.

We have also found a handy site (www.worldtravellers.net/airtravel/airpass.html) that is run by a guy in The Netherlands who just loves to travel and wants to pass on the information he discovers. The site is updated when there is a change, and you’ll find everything from pictures to air pass information from all over the world ) he loves trains so there’s a lot of information about them too.

Trick 4. Early bird fares, owly bird fares, off-peak fares and more

This may be obvious to many seasoned travelers but if you want to stay cheap in Phoenix, Arizona? Try booking in the summertime when it’s no longer the peak holiday season. Want a chance to explorer St. Moritz without the cost or crowds? Go during the summer. Go during the winter to either destinations and pay through the nose, while you have trouble getting the room you want, the flight you want. And, more important, the price you want. There is still plenty to do and see but you’ll save a fortune going at these times. People normally go to St. Moritz for the snow. But what if there isn’t any? You can get an incredible view of the mountains from a hotel room you couldn’t normally afford, and the waiters have the time to talk to you between courses. Traveling during the off-season for any particular destination is a long-known secret of cheap travelers and there are often things to see and do that you might have never expected. Not only flights will be cheap but also accommodation, sight seeing tours and in some places even the food is cheaper. What if you do like to ski a little or you want to lie in the sun without having a heat stroke? If you’re willing to kick in with a few extra bucks you can visit in what’s called the shoulder season — those times just before and after the peak, when there is a bit of snow left, or the weather is starting to moderate. Rates are down, sometimes by a significant sum, because those who have the audacity to actually follow the peak season are in the midst of leaving (or haven’t yet arrived). Your only real gamble is that the weather doesn’t cooperate and you miss the bit of the real world you were hoping for. On the other hand, you luck could hold, along with the weather, and you get a deal others would envy. Life is a gamble sometimes.

Trick 5. Hey you! Go get bumped!

No, no, no. We’re not being rude. This is a wonderful way to save money flying if you have a little extra time and you’re a flexible person


Airlines — all airlines — overbook. They’ve spent too many years finding out that there are going to be some people who just aren’t going to show up, aren’t going to call, and won’t even bother with an explanation. Single women call these “dates.” Just joking. Anyway, while they have made great strides in trying to guess how many passengers won’t show up, they still do overbook. Here’s how it can be to your benefit. For this strategy you probably want to look for a pretty popular (in other words packed!) flight. When you check in, tell the agent that you want to be put on the voluntary bump list. Yes, they actually have one. Then, when it gets to just before take off and if the plane has become full (everyone has in fact turned up for the flight), they will pick the names of volunteers, in order, to give up seats for other people who really want to be on the flight. By law, if you are voluntarily bumped, they will put you on the next available flight to your destination and they have to give you a voucher good for another round-trip flight. Yep, that’s right; you get an extra voucher for a free flight!! How easy was that, right? And you’re doing the airline a favor, keeping them from having to announce over the intercom that they are overbooked and asking if there’s anyone who wants to be bumped. There’s no way in the world that can sound professional. As long as you have the time to spare, and you’re flexible this is one of the easiest ways of all to get a free trip (remember — you’re still getting the trip you paid for, just later). A point of interest for you - Lets just say you’re on an overbooked flight and you didn’t put your name on the voluntary bump list but they have overbooked and need volunteers now as the plane is almost ready to depart (this time they did have to announce it over the intercom) If you put your hand up as a volunteer at this time, by law, they then will put you on the next available flight and then they also have to give you money equivalent to the cost of your ticket! Extra shopping money anyone?

Trick 6. How about a trip around the world?

Believe it or not, one way to travel inexpensively is to travel around the world. We spoke about how buying tickets in bulk can save you loads of cash well this works in a very similar way.

When you’re planning a trip where you’ll be traveling to several different countries you can get what travel agents call an ‘around the world ticket’ and these will often save you a fortune! There are all kinds of different types, some are very flexible (you can change your mind about flight dates and re-book while you’re traveling) and others aren’t. Some say that you have to travel in one direction around the world and some don’t. Some come with domestic fares included in the ticket price and some don’t. Like I said, there are lots of different types out there so you’re sure to find one that suits your needs. Tickets are available from various airlines and agents, some of which are listed below. Prices range greatly depending on the time of year and the airlines and agents involved (look around -- There are over 40 airlines on 6 continents who are


involved in the planning for these things.) but the tickets can be bought for a price anywhere between $1500 to $10,000 depending on your plans. Take a little time and look around. Sometimes you can find around the world flight specials through some of the better ticket sites like travelzoo.com. They have a great newsletter that’s filled with money saving ideas too – and it’s free! (We love that!) So even if you don’t want to go around the world, check it out anyway.

Here are some sources to find great around the world air fares.

Air Brokers International (San Francisco) 800-883-3273 www.airbrokers.com

Round the World Flights/ Global Village Travel Centre Ltd (London) 0870-442-4842 Worldwide

www.anyway.com is a search engine (French by the way) that specializes in flights around the world.

www.aroundtheworldtickets.com Name pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?

www.CircleThePlanet.com Specializes in backpacking trips.

www.airconcierge.com Specializing on Business class travel & around the world tickets.

Explorasport And Round The World (RTW) specialist www.explorasport.com/ |

The Traveler Sounds a bit like a TV show from the 60's, but they know what they're doing. www.thetravelleruk.com/roundtheworld.htm

The Traveler’s Lounge Offers a special website offshoot www.thetravellerslounge.co.uk/round-the-world/flight_tickets.html For Australian’s (or around the world flights originating in Australia) One of the best agents that specialize in this is BestFlights.com.au (specifically http://www.bestflights.com.au/cgi-bin/203/flights?mainlist)


Trick 7. Hidden cities

Here’s a trick that travelers in the American South have been using for years. First, some facts: Flights from New York to Atlanta have been legendarily expensive for years, probably because Atlanta is a major hub city (and the busiest in the world). So, people with relatives in New York offer this solution for getting a cheaper trip: Everyone in New York flies to Miami at some part of their lives; it’s just going to happen. The result is a good one: flights between New York and Miami are quite cheap. Here’s the trick people use: they buy a ticket to Miami that offers a stop off in Jacksonville, Florida (something that’s pretty easy to do). When the plane lands in Jacksonville, they get off, throw away their tickets, and drive the 200 miles back to Atlanta. Even with the cost of the rental car, and the extra leg of the plane trip, this is cheaper than merely flying to Atlanta. This is one form of the hidden cities strategy. It’s very basic. You just need to think outside the square a little and you may find you can get a cheaper flight to your destination by either booking a flight to another city where the place of your desired destination is the stop over. Likewise there may be a city near enough to your desired destination to drive to, and that city may have much cheaper flights to it than your actual destination.. If it’s a huge difference in cost then it can be worth the extra time and effort it takes to get where you want to go. If you do use this idea, don’t give your frequent flyer number. You’re getting extra hits on frequent flyer points and the airlines don’t like this and discourage people from doing it. Then there’s the issue of luggage. If you’re taking the hidden city route where you’re going to hop off at your city on a stop over to a larger flight, don’t take any. Carry-ons are almost always a better idea anyway.

Trick 8. Cheaper flights sometimes require a bit of a drive.

Air travel has become popular enough that it’s not just the bigger cities that have airports anymore. The result is that you have a greater choice of airports to choose from and it’s worth keeping in mind that the one closest to you may be convenient but may not be the best option for you financially. Its amazing how if you just have a quick look around at the airports within driving distance to you, you might just find that you can fly from there for massively discounted fares. It pays to look around! Seasoned travelers almost always check LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airport when they’re flying into the New York area. But they are also looking into Philadelphia, PA, Islip, White Plains, or Newburgh, NY, or, Atlantic City, NJ. Flyers into the Los Angeles Airport are picking several airports, including Las Vegas, Nevada. And no self-respecting traveler would fly into Boston’s Logan Field when they


can save so much going into Providence, Rhode Island, one of the United State’s cheapest airports. Washington DC offers Reagan National and Dulles, but many people are driving the 80 miles or so to Baltimore and using the Baltimore Washington Airport, which is almost always cheaper. Chicago has O’Hare and Midway. Houston opened its Bush Intercontinental Airport to replace the overburdened Hobby Airport, which is closer to the city; Hobby is busier than it was when they closed it. London has Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as the smaller Stansted and Luton. Paris has Charles DeGalle and Orly. Jakarta has Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdankusuma. Tokyo has Narita and Haneda. This list goes on and on. For a huge list of drive times from many cities go to the appendix at the end of this book. Many of the big travel search engines on the internet offer the option to also search nearby airports for cheaper flights – it’s always worth a go. Do your own research and you, like many others before you, might just find that you can save a bundle by taking a drive.

Trick 9. How to squeeze champagne taste out of a beer budget.

Oh, sure — it’s easy to talk about hostels here and no-name airlines there. But what if you’re really in a mood to do something really special? Can you still save money? Naturellement! There are travel sites dedicated to helping you become a business and first class traveler, without breaking the budget. The guys will help you get a little extra oomph out of your dollar. After all, someone has to sit in front of the curtains. Why shouldn't it be you? One of the best providers of these services is www.firstclassflyer.com. Here, you will find the tricks of the trade that can get you free upgrades (yes, Business Class and First Class are better — especially when you’re not paying the bonus for them). I’m talking money-saving ticketing strategies, and unpublished airfares that only the cognoscenti in travel are supposed to know about. What’s more, when you become a member, you’re able to take advantage of First Class Air Alerts, e-mails that will tell you when this or that airline has gone totally gonzo and is offering super deals on their best seats. You do have to pay for membership but for those who want to fly in class for the price of economy it’s certainly worth it, You can find out quite a bit on the site without joining so check it out. Another great site for Business and First Class bargains that we’ve already mentioned (and will mention again!) is www.bestfares.com – they have a section dedicated to it. http://quickfares.bestfares.com/quickfare/businessfares.jsp


Mind you, in most cases you’re going to end up spending more than you would going the cheapest possible route, but don’t you owe it to yourself every once in a while (say, your honeymoon)? And this way, you have the added enjoyment of knowing that even though you are spending more, you’re spending less of more than that smug-looking guy reading the stock quotes next to you. Some advice: You’ve got to behave yourself. And the hot towels are for your face.


Chapter 6:

What the heck is happening to airlines? (and how can we

make it happen some more?) Something very strange and quite wonderful (for the consumers) is going on with the Airlines around the world. I am sure you have noticed that low-cost airlines are coming out of the sky in droves. Many of these are now being started by the big boys. Competing with themselves? No — it’s more like trying to stay in business. Read the news on the business page of just about any paper you can find. You’re almost sure to find some comment about this airline or that hanging on by its fingernails. That is, except for those airlines known as no-frills. No-frills airlines often don’t offer any of the extras you might expect from the major carriers, such as meals, extra legroom, classes of service, plenty of flights to choose from. Nope, all you pay for is for them to get you from A to B and it costs a heck of a lot less than you used to pay. Now for those of you who haven’t been aware of these new airlines and their great discount airfares you absolutely must start having a look at these great “no frills” flights next time you’re going to go off gallivanting around the globe. We’ll bet our shirts they’ll have a hugely discounted fare compared to the old retail prices. Many people still haven’t discovered these great companies yet and this is one of the very simplest and easiest ways to get cheap travel. I am sure you’ve noticed that a lot of our strategies to get cheap travel so far take a bit of patience and planning. Well for times when you are in a rush and have no time to plan this is the way to go. Keep an eye on these no frills airlines and get cheaper airfares!!! Many of these airlines would rather you booked tickets through the Internet. It’s cheaper for them to operate that way because they can hold down overhead. Don’t get us wrong; they almost all have connections with travel agents through their sites. And you can also usually find a toll-free reservations number (you will usually be charged another small fee if you book by calling though). Once again we have taken the effort out of this for you. You don’t have to go hunting for all of these airlines online for hours. We have done it all for you. Let’s get to giving you their details so you can start snatching up their budget airfares! Oh and if your interested in checking this out – There was a vote taken by travelers on lowcostairlines.org. To find out which airline they thought was the worlds best. Find out the results at the appendix of the book where you’ll find lots of other handy information as well.


Cheap U.S. airlines

AirTran www.airtran.com 800-247-8726 East Coast low fare airline with its hub in Atlanta, connecting to 42 cities including Los Angeles and Las Vegas. One small drawback: no matter where you are going, no matter how illogical it may seem, you are going to spend some time in the Atlanta airport. But, the prices are good. And it’s a pretty nice airport (many people’s favorite).

Allegiant Air www.allegiantair.com 800-432-3810 Connects Las Vegas with Fresno CA, Denver CO, Colorado Springs CO, Wichita KS, Fort Collins CO, Des Moines IA, and Lansing MI. Based in Las Vegas, the airline also flies charters to and from Mexico.

AmericaWest www.americawest.com 800-235-9292 With hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas, this major airline still offers very reasonable fares. It connects over 90 cities, from the East Coast to West Coast, and growing. The planes have a very western motif, which seems a little strange in Newark.

ATA www.ata.com 800-225-2995 Major national airline that used to be a charter company. Hubs are in Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Petersburg, FL, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Flies to 45 airports, including international destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean.

Atlantic Airlines www.atlanticairlines.com 800-879-0000 Regional airline based in the Southeast, primarily Florida. They started out as a puddle jumper, with planes so small you had to be weighed along with your luggage. Many of their planes are still that small. Flights are all blessedly short.

CanJet www.canjet.com 800-809-7777 Low fare airline based in Canada. Connects St Petersburg, FL with Halifax and St. Johns in Canada. Equipment is relatively new and mainly based on Boeing 737’s.

CapeAir www.capeair.com


800-352-0714 It’s hard to call an airline regional when it flies routes based in the Boston/Cape, Caribbean and Florida areas, and Guam and Rota in the Pacific.

Frontier www.flyfrontier.com 800-432-1359 Major low fare airline with primary hub in Denver, connecting to 70 airports, including several Mexico destinations. Thirty years ago, this was a very up-and-coming airline that just didn’t make it. Under the new rules, it’s making a powerful comeback.

Great Lakes www.greatlakesav.com 800-554-5111 Midwest has a Denver hub connecting to 37 cities in the Midwest. Secondary smaller hub at Minneapolis/St. Paul. Equipment is two-engine turboprop, holding 19 or 30 passengers depending on the route.

Gulfstream Air www.gulfstreamair.com 800-688-7225 Regional airline connecting Florida with the Bahamas, with online booking via Continental airlines. Equipment is two-engine turboprop. Gulfstream offers a coupon program, and air express, and… charters to Cuba. By the way, we had to search for a phone number; they obviously prefer working through the Internet.

Hooters www.hootersair.com 800-FLY-HOOT (359-4668) Yes, this is the same Hooters that owns the restaurants with the…waitresses. A very entrepreneurial company that is getting its feet wet in as many areas as it can. Connects Atlanta, Newark and Baltimore to Myrtle Beach, SC. The Hooters owl is on the tail of every plane.

Interstate www.flyijet.com 877-FLY-IJET (877-359-4538) Atlanta hub, connecting with Cincinnati OH, New Orleans LA, Nashville TN, Louisville KY and Charlotte NC. Equipment is a fleet of Boeing 737’s.

JetBlue www.jetblue.com 800-538-2583 JetBlue is a premium quality low fare airline with leather seats and live satellite TV. Primary hub in JFK, connecting to airports in Florida, the northwest, Seattle, New Orleans and the West Coast. Secondary hub at Longbeach. Beautiful planes, a wonderful attitude.


Everyone wants them to succeed except their competition. Prices are low enough you wonder how they do it. Really – one of the best values in air travel you’re going to find.

Midwest Express www.midwestairlines.com 800-452-2022 Now connecting to over 100 destinations. Little known fact: this airline started as a shuttle airline for Kimberly Clark workers coming in and out of Appleton, Wisconsin, their former headquarters. It went over so well, they decided to make it an airline.

Pacific Wings www.pacificwings.com 808-873-0877 Regional airline connecting the islands of Hawaii. This is an inexpensive way to get around the islands when there is no real other way to get around the islands. Unless you have the time to charter a boat (and that’s not really inexpensive, is it?)

Pan Am www.flypanam.com 800-FLY-PANAM (359-7262) Unfortunately, this airline has little or no relation to the original Pan Am, which single-handedly started international air travel. But it does the heart good to see that logo on a plane again! This new carrier connects New England with Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.

Song www.flysong.com 800-FLY-SONG (359-7664) A sign of things to come (along with JetBlue and United’s Ted). New low fare airline from Delta, connecting Los Angeles and Las Vegas on the West Coast with Boston, New York, Washington, Atlanta and Florida. Lots of extras like snack bars and entertainment on selected flights. Quite aggressive about you using the Internet.

Southwest Airlines

www.iflyswa.com 800-435-9792 The original low fare airline that offers an extensive nationwide (possibly international) network connecting over 50 cities and growing. They do things differently, and it works.

Spirit www.spiritair.com 800-772-7117 Connects Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Detroit and New York with Florida. In the — spirit — of the new low-cost airlines, you’ll find first-class-style seating in leather. They fly small but comfortable jets (MD-80’s, if you’re into that sort of thing).


Sun Country www.suncountry.com 800-FLY-N-SUN (359-6786) Hubs in Dallas, Laughlin, Oklahoma and Minneapolis/St. Paul, connecting to over 40 cities. It is interesting that an airline called “Sun Country” flies a great deal out of Minneapolis and offers Alaska fishing trips. Prices are good, though.

Ted www.flyted.com 800-CALL TED (225-5833) This is Uniteds’ reaction to the volley of low-end competitors that (as you can see by this list) is growing. The same inside jokes are being made about Ted as about Delta’s Song. Destinations include Chicago, Denver, New Orleans, Phoenix California and Florida — with new service to Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Olé!

USA 3000 www.usa3000.com 877-USA-3000 (872-3000 New airline connecting 13 cities, including St. Petersburg FL, Cleveland, Baltimore, Chicago and Cancun Mexico.

Cheap European airlines

If you haven’t looked at the low-cost airline market in Europe recently, here’s a little warning: it’s gone crazy. There are somewhere in the area of sixty airlines now operating in Western and Eastern Europe. Many of them are so upstart that they might be around in the few months; others are still coming on board. Costs are incredibly low, but the airlines are very no-frills. Another thing to remember: we’re not even going to show phone numbers here because most of them won’t list them. And, if you book anywhere else except their websites they will charge you extra. You won’t find all 60 here. We’re going to give you some idea of which ones seem capable of (a) staying in business and (b) keeping you from being found half-frozen on top of an Alp or something. There are so many of them that we can’t fit them all in this chapter so for a full list of all the European airlines go to the appendix of the book. Now, here are some of the top picks:

Aero Lloyd www.aerolloyd.de Aero Lloyd flies out of hubs in Frankfurt and Berlin, with destinations all over northern Europe, etc. One problem, the website is in German, but it does have a good route map, and if you can figure out where you want to go you can contact them via e-mail.

AirEuropa www.globia-corp.com/40/40html


This is a Spanish airline that has a route map covering most of Europe. They also fly out of New York (JFK) to Barcelona. Oddly enough, they’re rather big in Scandinavia.

Buzz www.buzzaway.com Buzz (sic) is to KLM what Song is to Delta and Ted is to United, but in Europe. And it operates in much the same way. There are meals available and two types of tickets, Done Deals and Open Deals that are fairly self explanatory. Buzz has a hub in London’s Stansted and covers a good part of the topside of continent.

AirOne www.air-one.it This is an Italian line based in Milano. Their big claim to fame is the lowest cost flight to London. It is tied into Swissair’s frequent flier program. There are especially low fares available during the mid-part of the day and on weekends.

CityBird www.citybird.com CityBird is based in Brussels, but also flies out of Miami and Orlando. They offer special deals on one-way tickets. The reservations system is connected in Virgin Express, another carrier we’ll be discussing in a moment.

Condor www.condor.de As with Aero Lloyd, a lesson in German would be helpful in dealing with Condor. You can, however, book tickets online.

EasyJet www.easyjet.com You can’t buy a ticket on Easyjet (sic) from a travel agent. And they strongly favor your using the Internet. This is an aggressive little carrier that has taking over the travel industry on its agenda. It’s starting with flights from London’s Luton Airport and stretches — at this point — as far as Athens. Prices are competitive in the true sense of the world.

Eurowings www.eurowings.de This German airline offers rather complicated fare system that can get you a cheap ticket if you’re willing to go through the trouble. It covers a large portion of Europe, and there is an English version of the website. There’s also a link to an auction site where you can bid on tickets —that is, if you have the time and are into that sort of thing.

Go www.go-fly.com Now, if you were going to name a no frills airline, isn’t that the name you’d pick? And that’s just what this carrier, owned by British Airways, is. Go flies out of London Stansted. There are some basic rate structures that are easy to understand and they cover most of the major parts of the continent, including five destinations in Italy. Tickets can be changed or


cancelled easily, but the credit goes to other flights in the system (but there’s less chance of losing out altogether).

Ryanair www.ryanair.ie Flying out of Dublin and London Stansted, this Irish airline offers some very good fares. They also have a strong fleet of planes. Look into their special two-for-one deals that are often hard to beat.

Spanair www.spanair.com This Spanish carrier actually flies from Washington Dulles to Madrid and then over much of Europe. They also have “AIROferta,” a program that lets you buy unsold seats for the next week at extremely low prices. Drawback: you have to call, from within Spain, to get the savings.

Virgin Express www.virgin-express.com This cheap seats branch of Virgin Atlantic (which itself started out as a cheap seats airline) has some very good standard fares, plus the website offers special sales as well as the occasional auction. Virgin Express flies from London Stansted to Shannon, but the majority of the operation is centered in Brussels, from which they cover a goodly portion of Western Europe. Always worth a look.

Cheap South American airlines

The low-cost airline mania is still in its infancy in South America — partially because fares are usually pretty reasonable as they are. But there are some upstarts. Here’s a sampling:

Aeropostal www.aeropostal.com As with many other South American carriers, Aeropostal has connections through Miami and Orlando. It is based in Venezuela, but also covers Ecuador, Peru and much of the Caribbean.

AirCaribbean www.aircaribbean The hub is in Port of Spain. The destinations are Guyana, Barbados, Grenada, and…Miami. LAPA www.lapa.com.ar This is an Argentinean carrier, whose only sojourn out of the pampas is Atlanta. But that may be its most important route. The hub is Buenos Aires, and there are a few flights to Uruguay.


Cheap Australasian airlines

Air-Do www.airdo.co.jp At this point, Air-Do flies only between Tokyo and Sapporo (beer run? yuk,yuk) and its website — the only place you can buy a paperless ticket) is in Japanese only. This can cause problems if (a) you don’t speak Japanese, or (b) your computer isn’t equipped to handle the Japanese characters. Do what you can. Prices are low.

Freedom Air International www.freedomair.com This Auckland air carrier is a cheap way to get from New Zealand to Sydney, among other things like Fiji and New Zealand domestic flights. Check out the website for special fare deals.

Virgin Blue www.virginblue.com.au This is the Australian version of Virgin Express, more or less. They’ve been voted best low-cost airline in the world for the past two years (which isn’t too much longer than they’ve been around). It covers virtually every place in Australia where there is an airport, and as with all the Virgin companies, does it well. Prices are very reasonable, as would be expected, and you feel like you’re on a normal airline. Keep an eye out for their lunchtime specials!

Pacific Blue www.virginblue.com.au On the same line, Virgin also has started Pacific Blue to offer cheaper airfares on a worldlier basis. They fly to Australia, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Zealand, and the Cook Islands.

Jetstar www.jetstar.com.au This airline operated by Qantas, shows (just of many of these airlines do) how important cheap air travel can be in a country like Australia. The service is excellent and thorough, the prices are right.

Qantas www.qantas.com Not to be outdone by an upstart, Qantas is also offering very reasonable fares, usually on the longer hauls. This has long been recognized as one of the better airlines in the world, with one of the best safety…sorry, we’re too superstitious to talk about that.

Air New Zealand www.airnewzealand.com.au You’ll find some pretty amazing prices at this worldwide carrier, as well, including, on the last visit, roundtrip fare to Los Angeles for under $700. The website offers information broken out by each region of the world, each customized for the market.

Air Pacific


www.airpacific.com This is Fiji’s national airline, with flights going everywhere from Sydney to Vanuatu Island to Vancouver. They have introduced a series of lower prices for the local area (which only covers several thousand square miles) called Bula Fares to help people get from the Solomons to Tonga and such. Very nicely run airline. In fact, all the airfare bargains in the Australasian region are very impressive!


Chapter 7:

Frequent flyer miles: A little marketing ploy that changed

travel… …Forever? Maybe it’s too strong a word. But no one could question the fact that they did change the way we think about all that time we spend up in the air, every second adding to the miles we have toward special fares, first class seats, or the Big One: a free round-trip ticket to just about anywhere. A little history is appropriate here. The frequent flyer program started as a modest loyalty gimmick by the airlines back in the early 1980’s. The first was American Airlines in 1981. It was simple enough. Once you signed up for the program, you got points each time you flew on American. The points could then be used for free tickets or (as we believe most people used them in the beginning) to upgrade from coach to first class. A great little gimmick. Whoever came up with the idea may or may not have gotten a bonus. But no one knew what an oak this tiny acorn would grow up to be. Everyone was signing up, and amoung those who traveled a great deal on business became something to brag about. The Beautiful part for the airlines was that for the most part, people who got the most points didn’t use them. Why, when they spent all their time flying, would they want to fly somewhere for a vacation or a weekend. It would be sort of like a busman’s holiday. But that was before they started adding perks and throwing in exotic destinations that you wouldn’t normally be heading to for business. They kept expanding the programs perks and it just kept growing, and becoming more important. Now there were people who would refuse to fly any airline that didn’t have a good frequent flyer program. Now, some travelers would fly only one airline because they wanted to gather all of their points in one place, garnering more of a chance for that trip to Hawaii, or Paris. Some corporations jumped into the fray, saying that business flyers had to turn their points over to them seeing as after all they were the ones paying for the tickets. Now, there was more talk about the frequent flyer plans than about legroom, or food, or even safety. It was sort of like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a small idea that was running away with the show, and actually out of the control of the airlines. Where would it all end? Well, not here. Because then came the airline affinity cards, credit cards that would earn you frequent flyer miles when you bought things — any things — with your card. At first,


these affinity cards were connected to particular airlines, but now, some will give you a choice as to which airline you want to use them with. In other words, the credit card companies are taking over. It isn’t hard to find someone today who got a particular credit card through a particular bank not because of the interest rate or whether it was MasterCard or Visa, but because it had the best deal on frequent flyer points. A lot of people these days are getting free flights using this method. Some of the smart ones pay for absolutely everything on one of those cards, making sure they stay within their means and paying them off at the end of each month - so they don’t cost them anything. If you run a small business, there’s nothing to stop you putting all your business expenses on one of these babies, I know guys that do this and get around the world trips for their families each year – for Free! If there ever was something for nothing, this is as close as it gets. There are now restaurants that use “frequent user” points in conjunction with credit card companies; if you use a particular card, and go to a restaurant that has a business agreement with the credit card company, you can find yourself enjoying a lavish and expensive dinner for nothing just because you used that card to pay for things you were going to purchase anyway like groceries, bill payments, fuel etc. As a result, there are now people who are on a plane only once or twice a year, who are using frequent-something points to fly quite long distances for nothing. How about a trip to Japan, honey? Sure, all we have to do is buy a refrigerator and we’re there. If your not part of a frequent flyer program yet, jump on board now! There’s nothing better than a free flight and this is the easiest way of all to get one. When the programs first began, the airlines were all but ridiculous about you and only you using your miles. You couldn’t let a friend use them, and a family member was only eligible when you bought the ticket. Now they have eased up on this and you can give your tickets to friends and family too (in most cases) People are leaving them to their friends and family in their wills. Others are donating them to charity and in some cases taking them as a tax deduction. This isn’t just points anymore — it’s a new form of currency. As for the airlines — you know, the ones who started the whole thing — they seem a bit lost as to what to do next. No one can drop the plan unless everybody else does. And why drop them when they’re filling up planes (one way or another)? One thing for certain, we haven’t heard the last of this. As hard as it may be to believe, the frequent flyer point thing has gotten so big you can even take out insurance on your stash. The insurance will, for a fee, insure a certain amount of the value of your frequent flyer points in case the worst occurs (like the airline you’ve been racking up all those precious points with goes bust and disappears). For some of you this may be worth looking into. Some loyalty programs will also let you transfer your points from one place to another (that seems to have a better future).


An amazing number of travelers (some figures run as high as 60%) don’t even bother to sign up for the frequent flyer programs. They think they don’t fly enough, or they don’t want to be bothered. Remember that the points accumulate over time (the odds are that eventually you’ll score a free flight) and all you have to do is fill out some simple information to get on board.

Why we love frequent flyers programs! Frequent flyer points are a great way to get cheap — or free — travel. It’s easy and hassle free. It’s simple and straight forward. All you have to do is sign up and start racking up those points. We say again, if you haven’t signed up yet – do it today!! There are so many ways to get frequent flyer points, either through loyalty programs with particular airlines or through the affinity cards or credit card programs. There is so much out there that there is no way that we could list them all down in this little ol’ book. We couldn’t fit all of the great award programs here in this chapter so we have just listed our very top picks here. For an even fuller list of these programs please go to the appendix.

A list of frequent flyer programs

Air Canada Aeroplan Air Tran A Plus Rewards www.airtran.com Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan www.alaskaair.com Aloha Airlines AlohaPass www.alohaair.com America West FlightFund www.americawest.com American Airlines AAdvantage www.aa.com


ATA Travel Awards www.ata.com Continental OnePass www.onepass.com Delta Air Lines SkyMiles www.delta-air.com Frontier EarlyReturns Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles Independence Air iClub JetBlue TrueBlue www.jetblue.com Midwest Airlines Midwest Miles www.midwest.com Northwest Airlines WorldPerks www.nwa.com Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards www.iflyswa.com United Airlines Mileage Plus www.ual.com US Airways Dividend Miles www.usair.com

Latin America Aerolineas


Argentinas Plus Program AeroMexico Club Premier Mexicana Frequenta Varig Smiles

Europe Aer Lingus Travel Award Bonus Program Air France Frequence Plus Alitalia Club Mille Miglia Austrian Airlines Miles & More British Airways Executive Club Finnair Plus Bonus Program Iberia Iberia Plus KLM Flying Dutchman LOT Miles & More Lufthansa Miles & More Olympic Airways Icarus SAS EuroBonus


Swissair Swiss TravelClub TAP Air Portugal Navigator Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Australasia Air New Zealand Air Points All Nippon Airways ANA Mileage Club Asiana Asiana Club Cathay Pacific Airways Asia Miles EVA Evergreen Club Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank Korean Airlines Skypass Malaysia Airlines Enrich Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles Qantas Frequent Flyer Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer


Credit cards

American Express Membership Rewards Diners Club Club Rewards

Airline affinity cards

AirTran Airways A-Plus Visa Juniper Bank 877-523-0989 Earn 1 point per dollar spent and 2 points per dollar on AirTran travel purchases. 1,000 points equals 1 credit and earn a one-way ticket with 8 credits or a roundtrip ticket with 16 credits. Alaska Airlines Visa Bank of America 888-345-2632 Platinum cardholders receive 2 free one-way upgrade certificates and a $50 companion ticket now and each year upon renewal, a 2,000-mile anniversary bonus and 2 miles for Alaska or Horizon purchases. America West FlightFund Visa Bank of America 800-928-2933 Earn 500 miles each year upon renewal of standard card. Platinum offers 1,000 miles and $50 companion certificate each year upon renewal, a one time offer of two complimentary airport club passes for two people and two miles per dollar on America West purchases. American AAdvantage MasterCard Citibank 800-359-4444 AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum and Gold members are excluded from the maximum miles per year limit. Both cards offer reduced mileage awards that vary by quarter. Click here for details. British Airways Visa First USA 800-537-6954 Earn 2 miles per dollar spent on British Airways purchases. The introductory percentage rate is 4.9 for the first five billing cycles. Continental Airlines MasterCard Chase


800-245-9850 Platinum and World cards earn 2 miles per dollar at select retailers and for Continental purchases. The introductory percentage rate is 7.9 for the first 6 months. Delta SkyMiles American Express 800-759-6453 If you have other American Express cards the annual fee may be reduced or waived. Earn 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases and at select retailers earn 1 mile per dollar on Delta purchases above annual mile limit. Platinum cardholders receive an additional 10,000 miles if they charge a minimum of $25,000 per year. Frontier Worldcard MasterCard Juniper 866-750-6024 Earn 2 miles per dollar on Frontier purchases. Hawaiian Airlines Visa Bank of America 800-732-9194 Earn 2 miles per dollar on Hawaiian Airlines purchases. Both cards offer free transfer of miles to other Hawaiian accounts in 2003. Classic cardholders receive 2,500 miles each year upon renewal. Platinum cardholders receive a 50 percent companion certificate, valid off a full fare, four complimentary beverage and two complimentary headset coupons now and each year upon renewal and 5,000 bonus miles each year. Midwest Airlines MasterCard Juniper 866-750-6024 Earn 2 miles per dollar on Midwest Airlines purchases. Northwest WorldPerks Visa US bank 800-692-8472 For purchases over $10,000 per billing cycle or over $50,000 per year with the Platinum Card or $60,000 with the Signature card, earn 1 mile for each 2 dollars spent Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa First USA Earn 1 reward credit for each $1,200 spent. 16 reward credits are required for a free ticket. Credits expire 1 year from the date of transfer. United Mileage Plus Visa Mileage Plus Premier, Premier Executive, or Premier Executive 1K members are excluded from the maximum miles per year limit. Standard card offers free roundtrip companion ticket with an Economy ticket priced $299 or higher for North American travel, $25 discount certificate and 1,000-mile one-way upgrade from paid full-fare Economy for travel within North American. Gold Class cardholders receive the above offers plus earn 2 miles for every dollar spent on United purchases and 2,500 bonus miles each year.


US Airways Dividend Miles Visa Bank of America 800-335-4318 The Platinum card offers double miles on US Airways ticket purchases, a free visit to a US Airways Club, a $99 companion ticket at the end of each year and a $75 discount off of a new US Airways Club membership.

Other affinity cards

Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage Business Card www.aadvantagebusiness.citicards.com Small business credit cards offering rewards like AAdvantage frequent flyer miles. Travelocity World Mastercard Travelocitycard.com Allows users to earn points towards online travel purchases. Aussie Commonwealth Bank Card You can get one point for every AUS dollar toward frequent points on Qantas RBC Royal Bank British Airways Card rbcroyalbank.com/cards Standard Bank British Airways Card standardbank.co.za British Midlands Bank Thebritishmidlands.com/hfc

To See the full list of awards programs go to the appendix


Chapter 8:

Stopping the high price of staying over - Cheap

accommodation We’ve all seen the old movies: a guy gets off a bus in a deserted street in some far off place, He looks left and right, maybe asks a passerby, “Where’s a good joint to sleep in this god forsaken place?” He walks over to the neon sign that says “Hotel,” walks in, puts down a few bills of whatever currency, and is ushered upstairs to a decent, if not elaborate, room. Oh, if only it were that easy...well sometimes (with our help) it is!!! As you have noticed much of the book so far has been helping you to save cash on your airfares which makes great sense because it’s often the biggest single chunk of money you’ll spend on your vacation; but once you reach you destination and the festivities and fun begin there are plenty more tricks up our sleeve that can save you massive amounts on your next biggest expense; accommodation. Whether your going to be having a five star luxury roam around Los Angeles or a Trek through the Himalayan mountains for a month; Whether your going to Thailand to sip pina coladas on the beach or to Africa for a safari experience or even if your going to Turkmenistan (for I am not sure what) we will have some terrific ways for you to save where ever you rest your weary bones. A quick tip as a reminder - you’ll often save a bit extra if you plan ahead and, again, you’ll always pay more in peak seasons where ever you go. How to rest you head for less? Here is one of the greatest and simplest secrets to getting a cheap place to stay. It’s all online!! For those of you who haven’t already, you should go have a squiz on the Internet! There’s plenty of information and great websites offering great budget hotels, hostels and also great discounts on 5 star stuff. What’s really wonderful about this way of looking for accommodation is that you can choose the area you want to stay in and these websites will bring back all the details of hotels in the area you want with all their details; prices, reviews from others who have stayed there, phone numbers, photo’s and you’ll almost always get a special price for booking online. You can compare all their features and benefits of the various hotels side by side and book right there with your credit card online (yes it’s totally secure with these websites! Just ensure that the pages where you actually put your credit card details in has the little padlock symbol down in the bottom right hand corner of the page. That means it’s secure) There are also some websites that specialize in last minute accommodation and these are really and truly awesome for if you want a hotel in the few days before or even on the day you arrive at your destination.


The hotels don’t want to have vacant rooms so they let these websites sell the rooms online for heavy discounts the last week or two before the room booking date. So if a hotel has hardly anyone booked in for Monday night then they may decide a week before to let these websites sell their rooms at half price to the clever people booking online. They figure that selling the rooms at half price is better than having no one in there so its ‘win win’ for everyone! There are quite a few websites out there selling discount and last minute accommodation so feel free to do your own research as well (there is way more out there than we could fit in this book!) but we have taken the liberty of finding some of the best out there for you. Most of them do world-wide accommodation so have a look. It’ll blow your mind when you see the discounts some of these sights are offering!

Websites

www.wotif.com Dealing purely in last minute accommodation the best website for if you haven’t had the time to plan ahead. You can book up to two weeks in advance. These guys originally started in Australia, so they have an outstanding selection there – however they are now worldwide and list great deals in most major cities (and other busy tourist spots). You’re pretty much guaranteed to pay less booking the same room through Wotif.com compared to booking through the normal big online travel agencies (eg expedia.com) hotels.travelzoo.com Daily hand picked deals on hotels as well as packages and airfares and more – they often have deeply discounted exclusive offers from their advertisers. It’s definitely worth subscribing to their free top 20 newsletter so you can nab the bargains before they go (and they don’t usually last long) www.tripadvisor.com You probably won’t find the best bargains directly on this site, but, it’s wonderful for finding unbiased reviews of thousands of hotels and resorts around the world. It’s not a bad place to start if you are looking for something nicer because the results are ordered on the Trip Advisor User rating. It’s also a great reference site to keep handy when using these other websites for finding the real bargains, then pop over to tripadvisor.com, do a search for the hotel you found the great bargain on and check what other people have to say about how good (or bad!) their experience staying there was. I can’t remember how many times I was about to book a real bargain somewhere, then checked the reviews and found out that the walls in the place were paper thin or that the room was dirty or… you get the picture. www.bestfares.com/hotels.asp The “Hotels and Condos” area of Bestfares.com has some terrific bargains for members and non-members that are often not found on other websites. www.hotels.com


One of the biggest hotel search engines on the internet. Hotels.com are also a hotel consolidator where they buy up rooms in bulk and then resell them (similar to the Airfare ticket consolidators that we explained earlier but with hotel rooms compared to airplane seats), because of this they often have great deals that can’t be found elsewhere. www.sidestep.com/hotel The very user friendly ‘sidestep’ is one of our top picks for finding cheap hotels (and more) Find the best bargains from multiple travel sites with one search (these are called “meta search engines”. SideStep searches online agencies, consolidators and the sites of the airlines, hotels and rental car agencies themselves to find the Web’s best travel bargains. www.mobissimo.com/search_hotels.php This site uses a similar strategy as sidestep. It is a traveler meta search engine. It will have some the same and some different hotels and details to sidestep so its worth searching them both and also the next site we are about to mention which is….. www.farechase.com (click on the hotels tab) Another great traveler meta search engine along the same lines as sidestep.com and mobissimo.com, again they search slightly different websites and sources so the results are sometimes different. www.cheaptickets.com Where you’ll find cheap hotel deals as well as cheap cruises, last minute deals and much more. It’s easy to use and you’ll get a great deal.

www.orbitz.com

They have a Comprehensive selection of hotel rates, including discounted and 5 star. They

also have other travel stuff like airfares and car rental and more.

www.expedia.com You’ll find plenty more good deals on accommodation here with packages for hotels rental cars and flights too.

We’ll have more details about how to use the internet to grab all kind of different

discounts on everything in travel from flights and car rental to cruises, dining and

entertainment but for now let us stick with showing you how to save squillions on your

hotels and other accommodation.

Cheap chains

Yes, there are some good ones out there and they are worth mentioning because these chains are fairly reliable for a good deal no matter where you are. When you’re not in the mood to muck around, you’re in a new city, you’re tired and you’d like to save some cash but what you’d like even more is just to get some sleep in a comfortable place, these chains can be a life saver!


In the United States, there are chains like Red Roof Inn and Motel Six that you can rely on to be consistent in quality and price . They are in most towns so you’ll usually be able to find one. There are also similar chains in Europe, such as Ibis and Etap. There’s also Travelodge, Super 8 and Econolodge There are also the worldwide chains that can be from budget to a little more on the medium price range like Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inns, Sleep Inns and the other discount members of the Clarion chain, and Hampton Inns. Booking in these chains can take some of the uncertainty out of booking cheap lodging. At least you know you won’t be sharing a room with bugs and the service is generally pretty good at these places.

What about hostels?

Hostels (sometimes called backpacker hostels or backpacker inns) are absolutely great if you’re looking for the cheapest option for accommodation. They are simple, but they do the job. You can rely on a Hostel to give you a clean bed and a shower and they’ll usually have heaps of information (usually aimed at the backpacker crowd) on tours and stuff to do in the local area. Generally speaking there are usually dorm rooms, where you’ll share a room with 3 – 11 other people. You’ll get a bed in one of these rooms for dirt cheap! (I have seen these for US$2.50 in Thailand!) In most hostels you also have the option of a private room (double or single beds) which is more expensive but then you have your privacy and to some people (especially couples) it’s worth it. Most times the room will be very basic but it just depends on the hostel. You’ll usually have a share bathroom (men and women separate of course) and a share kitchen where you can make your own meals (share fridge too so you can keep your groceries in there) Hostels often attract a younger crowd (20-30) but people of all ages are more than welcome. They range hugely in atmosphere. Some of them are really funky, with bars or open courtyards or gardens. Some have pools, volley ball or lovely bbq areas. Some have a program of fun events like live bands, sport competitions and tours. Most at least have a common area for reading, eating, playing cards and watching T.V. They are generally a great place to meet people and exchange traveler’s tails. Note: this does not mean that every place that calls itself a hostel will fit into these descriptions just mentioned. There is no license that one has to get to call itself a hostel. It can be anything from a family who has two spare rooms to a 360 room international hostel company and everything you can imagine in between. There are hostel associations that do promise to offer all those things the name ‘hostel’ has come to mean over the years. And the biggest, best known, and we would have to say top pick of these is Hostelling International (www.hihostels.com). All over the world, they offer shelter, advice, information, emergency help and guidance to all those adventurous souls out there who choose to take the path less used —and save a few bucks in the process. On their website, you can find some of the best maps and guidebooks you will


find. They can direct you to their members on virtually every continent, and you can be reasonably sure of what you’re getting. To find more listings of great hostels check out www.hostels.com and www.hostelworld.com. They are both excellent sources, and if you like, you can compare rates between the two. They also have user reviews and ratings, and you can book your stay when you make your decision.

The local tourist bureau

If you don’t have time to go bargain hunting online or if you get stuck finding accommodation or something to do on your holiday just give these guys a call. Anywhere in the world where it’s a tourist destination of any kind, you’re going to find a tourist bureau of some sort and name. These are the people who are charged by their countrymen with the job of making sure visitors have a pleasant experience, and want to go home and talk about the pleasant experience, and maybe even come back with some friends and have another pleasant experience. So, when you get in touch with the tourist bureau of the place you’re planning on visiting they’ll usually have a list of hotels, by name and type and price. You can basically just give them your price range and they’ll find you something. To get in contact with them is easy. Either ask around or look online or in a phone directory for their local number. It won’t be hard to find. To make your life easy we have all the contact details of the tourist bureau’s of some of the major cities around the world. You’ll find it in the appendix.

Its fun to stay at the YMCA (YWCA)!

In places all over the world the YMCA and YWCA provide really reasonable, well kept and cheap rooms that will be just fine when you’re visiting a city to see more than the inside of a hotel room. If you’re in Rome, do you want to sit around all day and watch TV in the hotel lobby? No. So what difference does it make if you’re staying at the Y? Their locations are easy to find online. Just do a search on YMCA and the city your in. In the U.S you can simply got to www.ymca.com, in Australia its www.ymca.com.au Either that or you can look them up in a travel guide or phone book. They’re never too hard to find Camping, Caravan parks, B&B’s (Bed and Breakfasts) and also hiring a motor home (which combine your car rental with your accommodation) can all be cheap ways to rest your head, but what if you want to stay in something a bit nicer yet still score a good bargain? -

How to save around 50% on everything from 3 star to the most luxurious resorts on the planet! Getting discounts with your IATA card


Hopefully you’ve read chapter 2 where we described exactly how you can become a travel agent and get this wonderful IATA card which entitles you to all kinds of discounts. When your have your IATA card (or IATAN card) you’ll be able to get a discount booking into almost any kind of accommodation (especially for 3 star accommodation and above) When you use this strategy it’s often cheaper to stay at a better and more expensive hotel and get the usual 40 to 50% discount for travel agents than stay at one of the really cheap and basic hotels. All you have to do is call up the hotel, ask them if they have availability on whatever dates you’re after. Once they say yes, ask them “what’s your industry rate for travel agents?” You’ll here the prices drop anywhere from 10% to 50%; you also may get a free room upgrade or free breakfast as well. Also when you do then arrive at your hotel to check in, make sure you pull out your travel agent i.d (you IATA card) with your credit card and ask them “Hi I am Bob from XXX travel, do you have any vacant rooms tonight that you could upgrade me into?” We have so many stories of people saving a couple of hundred dollars a night on $400 a night hotel rooms, then when they arrive they get upgraded to the better room with Ocean views and a hot tub. They can only say no and you’ll be surprised at how often they say yes. You can even use your card in 6 star resorts and save thousands over the course of your stay. Wherever you’re going….use it!!!! Also, as a travel agent you can sometimes get an even better deal by going through one of the Travel Clubs for people in the Travel Industry. Seethe section at the end of Chapter 11 for a listing of the travel clubs we recommend.

See www.travelindustrysecrets.com/agent for the most up to date places to get one of these cards, it’s cheap and easy to do (you’ll get you’re money back plus a lot more the 1st time you use it to save money on accommodation)

Hotel priority club rewards

It may be of interest to some people (especially business travelers or frequent travelers)

that some hotels have priority club rewards that can give exclusive privileges to its

participants. As a Member, you can earn points toward free hotel stays, airline miles, room

upgrades, huge discounts and much more.

Here are some of the major ones… Marriott (Marriott, JW Hotels, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, Towne Place Suites, Spring Hill Suites, Ritz-Carlton, Ramada, ExecuStay) Marriott Rewards Radisson (Radisson, Park Inn, Country Inns & Suites, Park Plaza, Regent International) Gold Rewards


Starwood (Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, W) Preferred Guest Wyndham (Wyndham, Summerfield Suites) By Request


Chapter 9:

How travel guides can save you money, time and headaches

If your not a traveler that uses travel guides let me just say this – you have no idea what you have been missing out on for all of this time! Travel guides are a travelers (especially a traveler on a budget) best friend. Let me tell you why you shouldn’t leave home without one…

• They list all forms of accommodation from super budget to 5 star and give an accurate description of the service, style and price of the place as well as how convenient it is to get around from there and how to get there. They’ll usually break it up for you into sections for people on a tight budget and people that can afford to splurge. They can really save you loads of money and time. You’ll be able to see if one 5 star hotel is $200 cheaper per night than the other 5 star hotel you were considering. You can also find the very cheapest room in your area without having to wander the streets to see what they’re like or ring around in some place where people don’t speak your language.

• They give you plenty of information about what to see and do in your chosen

destination. Tours, Entertainment, Sightseeing; Everything from sumo wrestling matches in Tokyo to temples in Indonesia and sunset cruises in Hawaii. They’ll tell you how to book, give you prices and give you all the details on how to get there. This is wonderful because it means you don’t have to get sucked into paying more by some big hotel or reseller on the side walk. They’ll tell you where is cheap and where is good quality.

• Drinking and eating is made into a cinch with a travel guide. You’ll have all the

details about a variety of restaurants, pubs and clubs in the area with a description of what it’s like and accurate prices. Talk about convenient! If you’re on a budget they’ll show you how to find the cheapest place in the area. If you want a special night out you’ll find somewhere romantic or luxurious for the night and know before hand if it will blow your budget.

• They also tell you the best ways to get to and from your chosen destination. Train,

plane, ferry, car, bus, bike, moped, speed boat, skates, tram, limo, or on foot. These guys will tell you how far, how long, how much, how comfortable. The lot. Getting there and away has never been easier and you’ll know if it fits your budget before you embark on your journey.

• You need to know what you need to know, …know what I mean? No? Ok I’ll tell you! When you’re in a foreign place you’re uncertain of your surroundings. You’re unaware of what annoyances or dangers may be a problem for you. This can be a pretty major thing and the best way to find out these things is from your guide book not your travel experience! Even something as small as – its terribly rude to blow your nose in public in Japan (it’s the equivalent of peeing in the street in the


USA…pretty darn rude!) or – Don’t jump in a tuk tuk in Bangkok who gives you a cheaper (or free) price because he’ll never take you to where you want to go; he’ll just take you to his cousins jewelry store and you’ll end up frustrated and confused. These are things that make or break your holiday! Save headaches by reading your guide book before you arrive on your vacation so you’re in the know about these things.

• They’ll also tell you about how to get money, how to post things and how safe

places are. They’ll tell you where to get internet, what time of year is best to go, what festivals and events are on, what to bring, what shots to get before you come, what visa’s you need, how to call home and just about anything else a traveler could need

In short, they will be a time saver, cash saver and potential life saver for you so get your hands on one the next time you go gallivanting around the place and you’ll see what I mean. You can get them from all good book stores and libraries too. You can order them online from all major online bookstores.

Lonely Planet www.lonelyplanet.com thorntree.lonelyplanet.com This is our number one recommendation. If you like to think of travel as an adventure, the Lonely Planet guides are a must. They take you places that most other travel guides never even approach. While, these are more and more often referred to as the best travel guides in the world. What’s more, they’re fun. They are thorough and unbiased. Once you start traveling with them you’ll wonder how the heck you ever got by without one! And to top it off, they have even produced a TV series, available on tape, where they show you what to expect when you visit East Africa, Iceland, Korea, or Thailand or wherever. The website offers a wide variety of travel tools to fit the exact trip you’re planning. And it’s all based on traveling cheap. A must for the cost-conscious traveler, lonely planet has a series of guidebooks made especially for travelers on a budget. There is Africa on a shoe string, Spain on a shoe string and just about every other country on a shoe string! A free resource that Lonelyplanet.com provides is the Thorn Tree forums, go to thorntree.lonelyplanet.com. There is a treasure trove of up to date and hard to find information from guides and other travelers from pretty much every corner of the earth. Want to find where the best places to see Monkey are while in Malaysia? Do a search and your question has likely been asked and answered already, if you can’t find it post a question and helpful people will answer.

Michelin Travel Guides


www.viamichelin.com First Michelin established itself as one of the great tire makers in the world. Then, it began producing the information you need when those great tires take you somewhere else. Now known the world over, the Michelin guides give you information on hotels, restaurants, and general tourist information for sites all over Europe, the United States, and, basically anywhere their tires are sold (which is just about everywhere). You’ll find a ton of information about a variety of subjects that you can trust.

AAA www.aaa.com Started as the American Automobile Association, and now known simply as “Triple A,” this organization offers members a whole variety of services including an excellent set of travel guides that covers every corner of the United States. Once you join the organization (which isn’t cheap, actually) you get any or all of the guides for free, along with trip planning services, roadside help, and even car insurance. They have now started forming affiliations with other travel clubs in other parts of the world. They have some spectacular savings on hotel and restaurant rates (make sure to show your AAA card before you check in or order!)

Fodor’s www.fodors.com It’s very staid, yet very complete, covering all the places most people think of when they’re planning a trip. And they do it extremely competently. Good prices? Yes, but usually in the better name hotels so they may not be all that good (it takes a little bit of searching) for someone on a tight budget. They would probably kill us for saying this, but they’re the kind of travel guides your mother would approve of.

World Travel Guide Online www.wtg-online.com Here is a travel guide solely on the Internet. .Very thorough in it’s coverage of every continent, and, if you have a laptop, a very simple way to carry all the guides in the world with you. Or, you can decide what you need, and download those parts, sort of building your own guide. They have special rates and bargains.


Chapter 10:

Drive a hard bargain – Get your car rental for less

Hiring a rental car should be a straight forward thing but it can be quite confusing and costly if you don’t know what your doing (you need $65 worth of insurance a day for what now?). Car rental companies do have somewhat of a reputation for adding more costs onto your bill that you ever needed. In this chapter we are going to give you some great ideas for saving loads on your rental car (whether it’s a campervan to tour around for a month or just a car to run around in for a day) and maybe you’ll even get the odd freebie here and there. We will also give you tips that will save you cash on other costs that the rental cars like to add on and we’ll take some of the confusion out of hiring a car for you. It can be one of the most fun ways to get around a new place. You get to travel around and see things in your own way at your own pace and have the freedom to do as you please. Exploring Hawaii’s beaches in a red convertible mustang with the top down and blaring ‘the beach boys’ from your stereo is surely better than doing it on a tour bus, especially if it was the same price as the tour bus! Getting around somewhere like L.A is a headache without a rental car (their public transport is atrocious!) so sometimes you really just need one too, so let’s get to telling how to get the car you want for a better price.

The magic card strikes again! – Using your IATA card

As we have mentioned repeatedly throughout this book, one of the best strategies for getting cheap travel is to sign up to be a travel agent and reap all the benefits and perks of their industry (which means discounts on almost everything in travel, tourism and entertainment industries). The full details are in chapter two of this book Ok, so for those of you who have your IATA (or IATAN) card you can call the car rental companies directly and get the industry rates for travel agents—they’re often at least 10% or 20% less than the going rate, sometimes even more. As explained in previous chapters, all you need to do is just give the company a call and ask what their industry rate for travel agents is. Easy Peasy! You can also ask for free upgrades to a better car for the same price. Just flash your card and simply ask. As a travel agent you can sometimes get an even better deal by going through one of the

Travel Clubs for people in the Travel Industry. See www.travelindustrysecrets.com/agent

or the section at the end of Chapter 11 for a listing of the travel clubs.


Get discounted driving online

Those same great websites that we spoke about in the previous chapter (that can get you great discounts on your flights and hotel) can also score you really awesome deals on car rental too (and other stuff).

These websites have search engines that perform real-time queries of the multiple websites

that travelers traditionally had to check manually (plus dozens of others that are often

overlooked) for car rental prices and details. In a very short time, they’ll return the most

comprehensive results available on the Web today. Voila! You have details of car rentals in

your city of choice right in front of you at the touch of a button, and not only that, but

they’ll nearly always have specials and discounts for booking online. A really clever thing to do with these websites to score massively reduced or even free car rental, is to get it in a package with your other travel expenses. What I mean by that is you buy your hotel and car together on the website. To get an even better deal get a package with your hotel, flight and car rental all together. This is a great way to get a free car rental and it will simplify your life too because that’s one less company you’ll have to deal with while planning. The sites to check out for the best deals on car rental are… www.mobissimo.com www.sidestep.com www.travelzoo.com

Insuring you get a good deal on your insurance

Pretty much all car rental companies have some form of minor insurance that covers themselves. It’s up to you to do the rest. Be careful, though, depending on the agency and their way of doing things they may lead you to believe that you need to pay much more for insurance than you really need too. Just be aware that you might not need the insurance the car agency tries to sell you. It’s usually overpriced, and they will often sort of mumble as they add it in. If you’re not careful and you let them just fill in the paper work their way you won’t notice till you get your bill that you just paid almost as much for this stuff as you did for the car. Please listen carefully to your insurance options and make the decision for yourself. Use your common sense and make your own mind up. Don’t let them make it up for you. Here are a few handy things to know; If you have auto insurance on your own car, this insurance may also cover you for when you use a rental car as well, but that is usually only if you are within the countries where they offer coverage. They will never tell you about this at the car rental agency. You have to check with your own insurance company so you know for sure before you arrive at the car rental agency. If you’re covered then don’t take out any extra insurance when you get your rental car.


Another thing they won’t bring up is that many people will be covered by their travel insurance policy. Check your travel insurance policy, and again, if you’re covered there is no need to pay for insurance again at the car rental agency.

Fill it up or you’ll pay! One good rule of thumb when you rent a car is this: before you turn it back in, find the cheapest gas station you can that’s close to the rent car office and fill up. If you don’t, the rental car people will do it for you before they finish up your bill and if you think you’ve paid a lot of fuel before, wait till you see what they charge. Figures can be twice the going rate at your average petrol station. The really good car rental places will even mention this to you before you leave; that is, if you haven’t ticked off the agent by demanding a blue car or an upgrade because the ash tray in the car you’re given is full. At larger airports, you’ll find there are some gas stations that even use this as a selling point: “Fill up here before you return your car!” Believe us. When you see such a sign, take heed. You’ll thank us later.

Who do you rent from? Most major rental car firms are international, including Alamo, Budget, Dollar, Thrifty Payless, Hertz, and Avis. You can check on any of their website to find out what the cost of renting in the country where you’re thinking of going might be. They will also help you with local regulations and such. Hertz, whom you don’t normally think of as being a discount company, even offers a special on last-minute rentals for areas where they have more cars than takers.

Know how you’re going to pay. Rental car firms are notorious for accepting nothing but credit cards. They don’t even like cash. This is in case you decide to run off with the car, they will know where to find you, and who to charge when they do. They get quickly touchy on this subject, too: normally the person who is presenting the card has to be the person who will be driving, and is therefore responsible for the cost. Also - How old are you? Not trying to get personal or anything, but, for example, you can’t rent a car in the United States if you’re under 25 years of age. Keep this in mind and check before you go overseas what restrictions there are on you driving in that country

Why not buy a car instead? No, we haven’t gone bonkers. Say you’re going to be in Europe for two or three weeks — maybe longer. Here is a plan that might work for you. There are websites where you can actually arrange to buy a car, and then sell it back (at a guaranteed price) at the end of your stay. Now you don’t have to worry about all the rental car regulations and the age restrictions (they normally will do business with licensed drivers 18 and up) and mileage limitations, and, over the long haul, the costs are quite reasonable. Especially if you’re splitting them among more than one person. Plus, they include insurance in the deal!


One of the companies is at www.kemwel.com. You’ll be provided with a new Peugeot, and they will buy it back from you when you leave. Another firm, www.autoeurope.com will do the same with Peugeots and Renaults. You even get your choice of model. We tried them and the figures came out to something like $1000 to $1700 per month for the car and insurance, depending on the model you choose. That breaks down to roughly $30 to $60 a day, which for a long term rental isn’t out of the question. What the heck? It’s another option worth looking into.


Chapter 11:

The other side of the computer screen - The new way to

travel: The internet You would have noticed that there have been many references in this book about using the internet to get great bargains for your traveling needs. You’ve heard it before and I am going to tell you again; the internet has changed the way we live. Its changed the way we do business, the way we spend our leisure time, the way we pay bills, the way we buy groceries, the way we communicate with loved ones, hell its even changed the way we find romance. Travel is no different. It has revolutionized the travel industry (to your advantage) and the internet is only in its infancy right now. The fun is just beginning. Although the world wide web is far from perfect as far as the average traveler is concerned, it is nothing less than absolutely heaven sent (praise the lord!) There are so many ways the internet can save you loads of cash on travel. Some of them we have already mentioned in this book but we’ll go over it all here again for you so that you know exactly how to use the net to nab a great deal.

Why is it all cheaper online? You see, if you buy a ticket from an airline, car company or hotel they will have to charge you a fee to cover staff costs, overheads etc. If you buy it from a travel agent you’ll have to pay even more of a fee for their commission but if you buy the exact same thing online you’ll almost always get a better deal. Less overheads for the travel provider and they pass the saving on to you.

Last minute deals There are some wonderful websites that specialize in last minute deals on everything from accommodation and dining to entertainment, car rental and more. These sites are really and truly awesome for you if you’re the ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ kind of traveler. Even if your not though keep an eye on these types of sites for deals that could be coming up in your local city. Maybe a show that you want to see has some discounted tickets last minute, or a 5 star restaurant may have a 3 course meal for a discounted price. The discounts you can get on hotels and car rental can be fantastic. The later you book usually the better deal you’ll get. We have listed some of these wonderful last minute websites below.

It’s easier to find a deal online Never before the internet, did you have anything like the power of these incredible travel

search engines. With a simple click of a few buttons and a 3 second wait you can have the

details of 47 hotels in your desired area with prices, special offers, contact details, photo’s

reviews, and more. You can do the same with flights, cruises, car rental, travel insurance

and more. You can compare quality, cost and other people’s experiences to choose the


right place for you all the while knowing that whatever you choose you’ll get a discount

for booking online anyway.

A list of the best travel websites…

Priceline.com This was one of the early members of the club. It was the first to use the idea of “naming your own price.” Which means this: You can enter the price that you’d like to pay for your travel needs and they’ll try to retrieve that for you. If they can’t get it for you (and make a bit of money for themselves) you won’t get it though. So, basically, it’s just marketing gimmick most of the time. On the other hand, the Priceline.com discounts and prices in general are about as good as most of the other sites (at least they were the last time we checked). So it’s worth a try. You should be able to rustle up a good bargain here.

Hotwire.com A good option for exclusive last minute deals on Airfares, Hotels, Car Rental, Packages and Cruises

Travelocity.com This is one of the sites that could be fashioning the new future of travel sites. Prices are good, and everything is straightforward and easy to use. You can see which airlines are offering the prices, and whether or not you’re going to end up getting on the airline you thought you were buying your ticket from.

Expedia.com This site is similar in many ways to Travelocity. It is very user friendly, and has great prices and packages too. They have a complete list of services (everything from cruises to car rental, airfares and hotels) and it's worth the effort to have a look.

Orbitz.com This is another strong site, with a number of options, including the ability to see if a flight might be at a better price on the day before or after the one you want to book. There is also an area to select cruises as well as the normal airfare, hotels and car rentals. Certainly worth looking into.

Cheaptickets.com CheapTickets is just what it says it is, a no frills, down-to-earth place to get good prices on tickets, hotels and rent cars, or just about anything related to travel. They work with consolidators quite a bit (and are even listed as a consolidator in some publications — including this one). At latest check, CheapTickets and Orbitz now belong to the same company, Cendant (see Orbitz). It is planning to set up CheapTickets as the “cheap” one, and Orbitz as the “nicer but still cheap” one. Bookingbuddy.com You can use BookingBuddy.com to enter your fare search just once to search the websites

above plus more travel and airline sites at the same time to find the lowest fare.


Travelzoo.com Bookmark this one. TravelZoo is a website designed for people who are looking for the best prices on travel as they are today. Instead of having you pick a destination, they’ll tell you where the good deals are. You can sign up for a free newsletter which gives you the Top 20 best travel bargains of the week, and they also include News Flashes, that alert you of really special bargains you have to act on right now. (Example: fly anywhere in the US on United for $59 each way — if you book within two days.) Seems like a dream, doesn’t it? This is where the Internet offers up a wonderful future for the world of cheap travel. Give it a look!

www.oag.com While not necessarily in the lowest end of the price range, oag.com is still worth mentioning. This is a site born of the Official Airline Guide, a publication that has been used by thousands of frequent fliers because it incorporates everything about every flight you might want to take. That includes what the codes mean, the details about the particular aircraft you would be flying in, and, on the Internet site, the layouts of the airports you’ll be leaving and arriving in. The downside is this: you have to pay for it. But if you find a great deal, it may be worth the cost. Sure, it’s a bit of a holdover from the old days, but this may be a case when that’s not so wrong. If you want to see for yourself, they will give you a free trial membership (in one of several languages of your choice).

americanexpress.com/travel You may not know this, but American Express began as an international travel organization. It was the place where American expatriates in Paris went to pick up their mail. In fact, the card didn’t even show up till the ‘60’s. But the truth is, it is still a pretty good travel resource and deserves at least a look. You can find some good prices on tours, for example.

Sidestep.com SideStep searches online agencies, consolidators and the sites of the airlines, hotels and rental car agencies to find the Web’s best travel bargains. With this website you will find some great bargains from multiple travel sites with one search. We recommend these guys highly. They seem to have some of the lowest prices online pretty consistently.

Mobissimo.com The Mobissimo search engine also performs real-time queries of the multiple websites that travelers traditionally check manually. Also highly recommended for great prices and a user friendly, easy to use site.

Farechase.com This website is definitely one of the best for nabbing a great deal. In most tests that we have done this little treasure of a website brought back the lowest airfares and hotel prices. Definitely check here for a bargain. A tip using Sidestep.com Mobissimo.com and Farechase.com for USA domestic flights


These meta travel search engines, don’t search SouthWest Airlines fares. SouthWest doesn’t allow these sites to access their fares. Since they consistently offer very competitive prices they’re worth checking out separately when looking for domestic USA fares.

Bestfares.com This website provides a great service. We highly recommend signing up for a full paying membership. You’ll get your money back really quick on the exclusive domestic and international flights and holidays bargains.

Seatguru.com

Check this before you fly to make sure you get a great seat and not one of those ones that don’t recline or have stuff all leg room. A ‘must check’ on really long flights! Would you like to compare the First Class, Business Class and Economy or find out what type of in-flight entertainment is featured on your flight and what movies are playing this month? Check this before you fly to find out all these details and much more.

Affordabletravel.com This website will find you great deals on package tours and cruises. They are the world’s largest seller of escorted tours. They provide great discounted vacations on everything from safaris in South Africa to trekking in Turkey.

WotIf.com Wotif.com is the number one specialist in last-minute accommodation. It is easy to use this site and it offers travelers great value for money, by selling vacant rooms at discounted rates in the next 14 days. Definitely worth a look! LastMinute.Com lastminute.com offers great last minute opportunities to acquire airline tickets, hotel rooms, package holidays, entertainment tickets, restaurant reservations and home delivery, specialty services, gifts and auctions. It’s a great site if you’re looking for inspiration for a gift or if you’re looking for something different to do. Try it out.

lastupdate.com/airport-information/ lastupdate.com/airport-information/index-international.html These 2 handy webpage’s shows you the best way downtown from more than 100 airports in the USA and around the world. Very handy.

Farereport.com FareReport is a free tool that helps travelers save money by providing historical airfare

averages on over 6,000 routes. This tool is useful in benchmarking fares, and in finding

cheaper alternate routes We have listed our top website picks here for you but we couldn’t quite squeeze them all in so to find even more great travel websites check out the full list in the appendix. Because the internet is constantly changing and growing there is always going to be new and wonderful sites popping up with more discounts for you to get your hands on so keep your eye out for new ones.


Internet resources for getting huge discounts as a travel agent

Travel Agents regularly get the absolute best deals on travel (by far!). The only people that can get cheaper flights are people that actually work for airlines. See chapter 2 for a full run down on becoming a referral travel agent so you can enjoy most of the perks that

regular travel agents can. You can also go to www.travelindustrysecrets.com/agent for our

most up to date guide on who to join up with. FAM’s (Familiarization Trips) These are the Holy Grail for travel agents. Huge discounts and specials are available for people with an IATA card. If you aren’t a travel agent yet, you will want to become one once you see the deals you can get on this handful of websites…

www.famconnection.com Here you will find one of the most up-to-date guides for industry discounts and FAM’s. They have formed relationships with 1780 worldwide travel suppliers. They charge a small fee to gain access to their very well organized and searchable database. If you have an IATA card (or will be getting one) we highly recommend this. Check out www.famconnection.com/samples.asp for some example discounts.

www.famrates.com Another great resource for finding FAM’s. Check out www.famrates.com/featuredfams.html for a peek at some cool FAM’s. Also worth a look is www.famrates.com/samples.html this gives you a view into a pretty large listing of the amazing deals you’ll find in the members area. Again they charge a very small fee to access all the contact info needed to book these crazy deals. Highly recommended.

www.travelagentcentral.com This is the leading weekly publication for Travel agents. Each issue features some featured FAM trips, industry news, spotlights on exotic and fun destinations. You can view the current issue online for free. These guys also run “Travel Agent University”. Through this they offer some pretty decent FAM’s at www.tauniv.com/famtrip/fam_trip.asp

hs.travelweekly.com Travel Weekly is the national newspaper for people in the travel industry. Their Hot Specials section has deals that are available to Travel Agents.

Travel clubs for travel agents

These are kind of like travel agents for people in the travel industry. They establish all the relationships with the travel suppliers so you don’t have to. Because of their size and quality of their relationships, most of them can offer you better deals than you could get going directly to the supplier. Highly recommend using them if you have an IATA card.


Tats.com.au & Tats.co.nz If you’re looking for an international flight originating from Australia or New Zealand, and/or accommodation, car hire and tours abroad you must visit TATS (Travel Agents Travel Service). You will save about 50% off normal published internet fares! Like most of these services you have to pay a negligible membership fee.

Travelclub.com.au Similar to TATS for Australia. I like to use these guys for super cheap multi trip year long travel insurance. It’s cheaper than buying normal travel insurance for a week. AUS$69 for travel insurance for a year is an incredible bargain! Again a small membership fee applies that doesn’t really matter compared to how much you save using them.

www.iticonline.co.uk International Travel Industry Club (ITIC) is another travel club for travel agents but this one is based in the UK. If you have an IATA card you can save big on Flights worldwide flights originating from the UK, 1000’s of Hotels worldwide, Eurostar, Eurotunnel , Car Hire, Holiday Packages, Last Minute travel, Year long multi-trip Travel Insurance (for £33!), Transfers, Airport Parking, Ferries and even luxurious honeymoon packages for a steal! Highly recommend you check it out.

Traveltis.co.uk Travel Industry Services is another travel club based in the UK that offer up big savings for travel agents. They often have access to different airfares, hotels, cruises, tours etc compared to ITIC so they are also definitely worth checking out. If you’re looking for a cruise they have one of the largest selections in the world as this was their core business before evolving into a travel club for the travel industry.


Chapter 12:

Insuring you get a good deal! - How to nab a bargain on

your travel insurance

Does anyone really have enough insurance? We have a policy here that will take care of everything for you….just kidding. Seriously though, insurance can be quite important when you travel. If something untoward should happen, it’s good to know you have some back up, especially for those of you who are going on more adventurous style holidays or those of you who are traveling with expensive goods like laptops or expensive camera’s and the like. Obviously insurance can vary widely in cost depending on the type of coverage you want and the length of your stay but overall it really isn’t that expensive. No — really. Well ok, it really depends on the policy but no matter which way you decide to go we can help you to save more of your money on travel insurance so that you can spend it on cocktails and candlelight dinners by the beach. Here are the different types of insurance that can be included in your policy

Medical insurance If you bust a leg or actually eat one of those things just because all the locals are dong it, it would be nice to be able to go somewhere and get all fixed up pretty quick. Your own medical insurance from home probably won’t do you much good when you’re traveling so medical travel insurance is a must.

Trip insurance So you’re about to leave and you find out that the country you’re going to visit has been totaled by an earthquake. Or the government has collapsed. Or the airline has gone belly up, or whatever. This insurance will make sure you will get your money back (or most of it anyway) so you can enjoy yourself another day.

Flight insurance There’s no pretty way to say this…It’s actually plane-falling-out-of-the-sky-and-who-gets-your-goodies insurance. If something should happen, this will make sure the people you care about enough to mention in the policy get something to help them go on without you. Seriously, not a bad plan. It’s not for you — it’s for them. And while it won’t do you a bit of good, it will make sure that those who need you are covered. Let’s hope you never need to use it!

Emergency evacuation insurance A few years ago, this might have seemed sort of crazy. But in the world we live in, it’s a little bit of piece of mind. Just in case you arrive in the town square on your first day and the former president is hanging from a lamppost, this will help you get out of the country in one piece.


Personal luggage and money insurance Most policies cover modest amounts for luggage and money. If you use travelers’ checks, you greatly minimize the risk and therefore do not need extensive cash cover. Personal Luggage and Money insurance will protect you against loss, damage or theft of personal items and cash.

Personal liability insurance This insurance will cover personal liability you may incur by injuring another, or causing damage to other people's property by your actions (when you’re stumbling home from the pub one night,…no you wouldn’t do that!).

Cancellation /curtailment insurance This involves reimbursement of irrecoverable deposits etc., for transport and accommodation that you booked but are unable to use due to death, illness or accident of yourself, a traveling companion or close relative. O.k. so they are the main kinds of cover you need when traveling. You can get these types of insurance singularly or pick a few but what most people do is they get them in a package. There are also other covers we haven’t mentioned here that are sometimes thrown into a these insurance packages.

Package policies These policies are designed for travelers going on a single trip (no matter what the length). They can be used for Cruises, Tours, Flights, House Rentals and a whole host of other types of trips. There are many different types of package policies ranging in cover and prices so you’ll have to do some hunting to find the right one for you. Package policies can offer Trip Cancellation, Baggage, Medical, Dental, Emergency Evacuation, 24 Hour Traveler Assistance, Baggage Delay, Travel Delay, and Accidental Death Coverage. Some policies also have options for Collision/Damage coverage for rented cars, Flight Insurance, and added Emergency Evacuation insurance and more. Some package policies include coverage for children at no extra charge.

Multi-trip medical policies These policies are like package policies in that they will cover you for a range of trip types and insurance types. The main difference is that you can use this insurance for more than one trip. Instead you can get annual insurance for multiple trips throughout the year. You can also get longer and shorter policies depending on your needs. Some policies may have trip length restrictions of either 15, 30 or 70 days.

Where do you find the cheapest travel insurance?

In comes the internet to save the day again! You can get the cheapest travel insurance online my friends. Not only that but it’s so easy to shop around to find the best price from the comfort of your own home and at the touch of a button. Fast, easy, and the best prices too. These websites will give you free quotes


and advice on your travel insurance. Here are the ones that we have found to come through with the best results time and time again. www.worldnomads.com www.bootsnall.com www.legendtravelers.com www.aaa.com

Another way to get an even better deal There is another way to get really cheap travel insurance. For those of you getting an IATA

card (which I hope you do!), go the end of Chapter 11 for a listing of the travel clubs that

will sell you travel insurance at ridiculously low industry rates. After all, you could pay

something like $1400 retail for a year-long policy. But now why would you go and do that, when you can quite possibly get a multi-trip travel plan for just $69? Makes you all goosebumply doesn’t it?!


Chapter 13:

19 Tips for traveling on the cheap and having a great

adventure.

1) Read the fine print.

Because you will be using some unusual strategies to get cheaper travel you must pay attention to what’s going on. That means reading the fine print. It is something that will pay off in the end. You must be aware that you’re responsible for making sure things turn out the way you want them too. Whether you dealing with consolidators or if you’ve just booked a great airfare online it’s always worth a look to make sure there are no hidden ‘surprises’ lurking in that fine print. It could be that it says the flight doesn’t include taxes (that you haven’t been told about) that you must pay at the airport. It may also say that you must ring to confirm your flight 3 days before departure or they’ll resell your seat (it’s happened!) Make sure you read it!

2) Search the internet.

We’ve just been talking about the growth of the importance of the Internet in travel. Search the net and get to know your way around the great online travel websites. As well as being one of the best places to nab a great deal you can also get to know a lot more about a particular place you may want to travel too. You can read other travelers experiences, look at pictures and find a whole wealth of other information online. Places like www.lonelyplanet.com can be a great place to start.

3) Common sense kids!

Here we are, telling you to go out and experience everything, stay in places no one has ever heard of, live among people who you’ve never seen before and use these unusual and wild ways of getting there. That’s all well and good, but not if you’re robbed, cheated or worse. Use your gut and your common sense. If something doesn’t seem right to you, it probably isn’t. That’s as true a block away from the place you were born as it is on the other side of the world. No matter where you go, keep an eye on your luggage. Don’t check in luggage containing valuables like laptops or credit cards when you’re flying.

4) If you have a good travel agent, use them

This is a bit of a tribute to the really good travel agent. The ones that are in the know about how to get you a cheap deal on everything from flights to insurance. The ones that call you because they know where you like to travel and they noticed there’s a special fare. The ones that make sure you always get a window (or aisle) seat. The ones that know you well


enough to call you when they hear about a tour they think you would be interested in. The ones who are incredible at finding you the lowest fares over and over again. They can be hard to find but if you come across these bargain hunting travel wiz’s, they can be worth hanging on too (although I would always use them in conjunction with other strategies in this book to ensure you get the best deal). They can save you hassles and get you a good enough deal to cover their commission easily.

5) Don’t be afraid to go off the beaten track.

Seasoned travelers already know that often, the really incredible and enchanting moments that you’ll have, and most magical sights that you’ll see are off the beaten track. They are away from the tourist buses and crowds, and because of that fact, they are often cheaper (and more interesting) places to visit. Many are even free. Don’t be afraid to look. Use your travel guidebook to find these places and also talk to your fellow travelers to find out what their experiences have been. You can also check out the Lonely Planet Thom Tree. It includes loads of good ideas, the latest information about what’s going on in the places you want to visit, and even includes a message board. It’s at thorntree.lonelyplanet.com You could try Googling to find these hidden gems too. Hell—you can find everything else there!

6) Talk to people.

Talking to other travelers, besides being fun and intriguing; can be a wealth of great information about where to find a great deal or a hidden temple that’s not in any guide book. They may know a great restaurant that has a special on tomorrow night or a wild party coming up at a nearby club. You’ll find a lot of travelers will welcome a good conversation and will want to hear your travel tales too (And maybe you could share with them, some of your knowledge about cheap travel. After all, fellow travelers are, in a way, an extended family)

7) Get with the times

Keep your eye out constantly for great deals. Get online and get on as many travel special newsletters and last minute discount newsletters as possible. Get on email lists for travel insurance, car rental, cruises, package tours and whatever else you’re interested in. As the world is turning toward the internet so are the travel magazines. There is a sampling of great newsletters listed in the appendix to get you started. A company in London not too long ago was offering one pound flights from London to a whole heap of European destinations and the people on their newsletter heard about it first. Of course they only offered a limited amount and those who heard about it first got in on the deal.


A company in Australia just recently offered $27au flights all over Australia (it’s a big country too!) to a limited amount of people and guess who heard about it first – the people on the email newsletter! If you want to nab the best bargains while they’re hot you have to keep up with what’s going on and make sure you’re one of the first to know. Also you can read travel magazines, travel books and the travel section of your local paper and keep an eye out for a good deal.

8) Visit a travel agency that caters to new emigrants.

If you live in a larger city, there is probably somewhere in it that new arrivals use as home base, whether it’s the Chinese living in china town or the Italians living in one particular area etc. They usually want to go home on a visit now and then, and they almost always have their own travel agencies in ‘their’ section of town. These places often get better deals to their home country than you would get anywhere else. Have a look for yourself and see. It’s at least worth a try. Because the people who run them normally have to do a lot of business in the language of the country where they’re working, they are usually bi-lingual. Will they be bothered because you’re an outsider? Hell yes. Your money is as good as anyone else’s.

9) Exchanging your money

The Euro has helped solve a lot of this trouble when you’re heading for Europe. But everywhere else, you’re still on your own. Exchange rates can change very rapidly. How do you know when the best time to exchange your currency is? Well, one is if you need the money. But hopefully, there can be something a little more helpful than that to go by. Before you leave for your trip, check out the exchange rates for the major currency at www.oanda.com/convert/classic or in the newspaper’s business section. Try to find out if it’s better to exchange for the currency you’re going to be using before you go, or after you get there. Once you are off traveling think about where you do your exchanging. Banks will generally give you a better deal than the desk at your hotel, for example. Many countries have small exchange offices for tourists. These can sometimes have good rates but make sure you ask about any extra charges or commissions that they’ll take out of your cash and always shop around for the best deal. Time and time again we find that we get the best rates from withdrawing largish sums of money from foreign ATM’s (using our ATM card from home – yes even including the fee from using a foreign ATM, which is why we get largish sums to offset this small fixed fee). This way you are using the exchange rate from your home bank which 90% of the time works out better than changing it directly in the country you’re in.


10) Use senior citizen discounts

Hey, no one said this guide is just for the under-50 set. And you’re only as young as you feel! But there are a great many discounts for the more mature. There are actually Senior Hostels, designed to cater to older travelers, and virtually every airline in the world (and every hotel, every bus company…) offers a Senior Citizen Discount, or whatever you want to call it. In our mind, if someone is willing to put up with all you have to do in order to travel on the cheap, he or she is not a senior citizen. He or she is a bad-ass traveler. But that would look funny on the card. If you’ve got the years, take advantage of them.

11) Can you rely on the ATM?

Don’t make the mistake of just expecting your money to be accessible and easy to get at

through an ATM at your destination. Before you leave on your trip, check out this site:

http://www.google.com/search?q=atm+locator and it will give you most of the skinny on

each country’s ATM machines. Even then though, it’s good to look at a guide book or chat

to someone in the know about how easy it is to get money at your destination. If you get

there and then realize you’re in trouble it can cost you a fortune in fee’s and commissions

to finally get access to your cash stash.

Here’s a small hint: try out an ATM at the airport when you arrive in a new country.

That’s an easy way to see how it works (and gives you a heads up in case you need to

make other arrangements). Here’s an example. In Japan (at least as this is being written),

most machines won’t accept the Cirrus Maestro card. Without a little diligence, you might

not have found that out until you were standing in the middle of the Ginza trying to buy

some sushi.

Also be aware of the charges that you’ll get for getting cash out overseas. Its best to get a

lot out at once because you’ll get hit with this fee every time you use the ATM (usually

your credit card will charge a variable fee (an extra 1% seems to be pretty standard) which

can still be ok when you factor in the convenience factor, the safety factor (of not carrying

around huge wads of cash) and the extra frequent flyer miles you earn (if you’ve taken our

advice and grabbed one of the credit cards that get you free flights whenever you spend.

Go to www.travelindustrysecrets.com/creditcards

12) Speaking of credits cards…

… They can be a traveler’s best friend, especially if you’re visiting places with currencies other than your own. Most credit card companies will actually hold payment for a short time, waiting for the exchange rate to hit the lowest possible point. This could save you a great deal of money. They are, if protected, safer than carrying cash and often more

accepted. They can get you out of all sorts of jams when you run out of cash or need to pay

for things like hotels or big purchases. Go to this webpage at

www.travelindustrysecrets.com/creditcards To find out about the best credit cards for international travel as well as everyday life.


13) 100 things to do before you die

Some of the most jaw dropping, enchanting and enthralling travel experiences that you can have while traveling are the annual festivals and ceremonies of the world. There’s the running of the bulls in Spain, Carnival in Rio, The love parade in Germany, The New Orleans jazz festival, the world Cockroach racing championships in Australia, The illuminating of the pyramids in Egypt, and so much more. They are incredible experiences if you can get there but the problem is they are kind of hard to find. Especially the not-so-well-known ones. Get your hands on this great little guide book to adventure called ‘100 things to do before you die’. It lists the worlds’ festivals for you all in one place with all details of costs, dates and other useful information (like whether you’ll have to book accommodation in the place 5 months before hand to get anything) and you’ll be able to browse through all of the worlds festivals with full details about each one. Yeeeehah! Another interesting one that we like is ‘1000 Places to See Before You Die’. This one is packed with recommendations of the world’s best places to visit, on and off the beaten path. It has great write ups on the worlds’ best beaches, museums, monuments, islands, inns, restaurants, mountains, and more.

14) Knee defenders

Here’s something that will be a blessing to anyone who is slightly taller than average or anyone who just likes to eat a meal or have a beverage without having it slammed back towards you. We are very aware that some of you taller folk are putting out extra money for a business class seat just because you need the extra leg room Well this can help you get back to the economy fares in no time – and at very little cost. It’s a little controversial –but highly effective… Go to www.kneedefender.com and you’ll find information about a simple little device that clips on to part of your ‘in flight’seat to give you the extra legroom you require. We have tried it and it works. This will make sure you don’t have to worry about the little tyke in the seat in front of you playing with the reline button.

15) Ask and you shall receive

This is an important rule for cheap travelers. Don’t be afraid to ask for a discount or an upgrade or what ever else you’re after. The worst thing that can happen is they say no, and I think you’ll be surprised at how many times you hear a friendly yes. Even if you do not have an IATA card still ask. A close friend of mine simply always asks when booking in for a flight if there are any business, or first class seats left, and if so, can she be please be upgraded. More often than not the seats are full but every now and then she is upgraded for free simply for asking. With hotels it’s definitely worth asking. If they have a better room that’s just sitting empty for the night and you ask to be upgraded they really have no reason not to upgrade you. It makes you a happier customer and it makes no difference to them in cost.


Asking for discounts and upgrades always works better if you have a reason to ask. It is just human psychology. When you ask be sure to say something like “do you have any rooms vacant in the hotel that you could upgrade us into because you see it’s our anniversary and would like to spoil my girlfriend tonight. She deserves it”. Ask and you shall receive my friends! Try it out and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

16) Escape to your own world -- Onboard.

Do you realize how noisy the inside of an airplane can be—even at 30,000 feet? You have the engines, the air conditioning, that guy next to you sucking his teeth. And that kid behind you – after an hour or two you just want to kidnap the drink cart. But there is an easier way. Get yourself a good set of earplugs. Cut out the noise and eliminate half the tension that will certainly begin to form in your neck after about hour. Better yet, get a pair of the new noise canceling headphones. Put them on and forget you’re even on a plane. Take a nap. Read a book. You can still hear your music on your iPod without the droning sound of the engines competing with your blissful music and you can actually hear the in flight movies clearly with noise canceling headphones (the better ones have adaptors so you can plug into the headphone jack on the airplane arm rest. The best one’s we’ve tried are the Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones. They are a bit pricey but worth it. If they’re over your budget the Sennheiser PXC 250 Noise Canceling Headphones are a great buy, many sources report that they are excellent value for the price. And finally the Sony MDR-NC6 Noise-Canceling Headphones are good value for the bargain price.

17) Mixing business with pleasure – working overseas

If you want a longer trip overseas or if you want to fully immerse yourself in the local way of life, working overseas is a great option. There are many different ways to do this depending on your length of stay, the country your going to (and the country your from) and the kind of work you want. It’s definitely possible to work your way around the world for many years. Many travelers have done it and are still doing it to this day. To find out more information about visa’s, restrictions that may apply and general information about finding work overseas go to www.anyworkanywhere.com You can also find out about seasonal work all over the world at www.seasonworkers.com You’ll find news about seasonal jobs in ski resorts, at beaches, anywhere where the weather and time of year rules.

18) Volunteering overseas

Working overseas can be great but another option is that you can volunteer your work in

exchange for room and board (or just for free out of the kindness of your heart). With


some volunteer programs you still pay for your room and board but only a very small

amount. Volunteering can be one of the most fulfilling and rich travel experiences you can

have. You could be doing anything from teaching children to speak English in Ethiopia to

saving endangered Turtles or even working on organic farms in America. Here are some

resources to point you in the right direction.

Get your hands dirty in exchange for room and board working at organic farms around

the world that welcome volunteer help. Go to www.wwoof.org where you’ll find a list of

these host farms around the world.

www.worldwidevolunteering.org.uk has a unique Search-&-Match database with nearly

1000 volunteer organizations world wide, you can search to find the right kind of

volunteer work for you.

Here are some other great volunteer websites for you to check out

www.crossculturalsolutions.org

www.globalcrossroad.com

www.wahsouthafrica.com

www.volunteeroverseas.org

www.wecare4africa.com

www.i-to-i.com

19) Get your tax back

Many countries around the world have programs for travelers to get their tax back. You pay taxes in some countries when you buy products and if you’re going to be buying some expensive things you’ll notice when you look at your receipt that you may lose quite a bit of money on tax. Keep your eyes open when you’re at the Airport when you arrive in a country and if they do let you get your tax back there will be brochures and information there. Grab the info and find out how you can get some cash back on the way out of the country. You could also try a Google search; try this phrase plus the country name – Travelers tax refund <country name>. Oh, and be sure to hang on to your receipts.


A travel-industry-secrets glossary

This is anything but a complete travel glossary. It is designed completely around words or phrases that can help you save money. Budget fare. Any of a number of heavily restricted airline fares offering a substantial discount off the normal fare. Bumping. The practice of denying seats, usually on an airline, to ticketed passengers due to overbooking or in favor of other passengers with a higher priority. Butts-In-Seats. Every time a plane takes off with an empty seat, money lost. Forever. That’s why the airlines will, at the last minute, do anything they can to put someone in that empty seat. That’s why there are ticket consolidators (see below). And that’s why they’ll upgrade you to a first class seat when there’s no one available and no one to put in it. That’s why you can get a cheaper fare when you wait till the last minute (Always keep in mind, this may mean you don’t get exactly the flight you want, or any flight at all. That’s the gamble.). Whatever travel plan you have, if it involves air travel, keep this in mind. Computerized reservation systems. This is a way the travel business likes to keep laypeople out of their sand box. These used to be accessible only by agents. Most are available to anyone who knows they're there. This is one of the ways you can make your own reservations using the information the agent always kept hidden. Some of the better examples are Sabre®, System One®, Galileo, Gemini®, and Worldspan®. But for the best deals, you may want to go through a travel consolidator. Consolidator. A company who negotiates buying empty seats at discount prices and selling them to the cheaper side of the traveling public. Cross Ticketing. In booking tickets in this way the traveler can save money on two return trips to the same destination, by the same traveler. Also known as Back-to-Back Ticketing. Denied-boarding compensation. Payment given passengers who've been bumped from a flight, cruise, or land-tour. This is why being bumped is a good thing. E-ticket. An electronic ticket which enables automated check-in at the airport. Eurailpass. If you’re spending a long time in Europe, this is one way to buy cheap train tickets. Is it the cheapest way? Quite often. But never give up looking! Fam trip. Familiarization trip. These are trips that the travel industry sends travel agents on to get them to recommend their destination for their customers. They are one of the reasons travel agencies give for paying their agents so little. “But, hey! You get to go on fam trips!” Play your cards right and you can, too.


Freighter. A ship designed primarily to carry cargo. Some carry passengers at very reasonable rates. Always worth a look by the cheap traveler. The spaces are limited, but comfortable. And you don’t have to play shuffleboard! GIT. Besides being a rude thing to be called in the Commonwealth, Group Inclusive Tour. A group tour that is offered only if a minimum number of people book for it. The fares are cheaper than traveling alone. (Or free is you work it right.) Hostel. An inexpensive accommodation, typically in dormitory style. IATA number. An 8-digit numerical code issued by the International Air Transport Association. It’s very helpful when you are trying to buy tickets as an agent. IATAN card. Photo identification issued by IATAN the International Airlines Travel Agent Network. Me-Too and T-2. Nickname for web sites, jointly owned by European and American airlines, respectively. This is a way to buy tickets without using a travel agent. That’s how much airlines love travel agents. No frills. Cheap. Good. Look for this phrase when planning a cheap trip. Non-refundable. Of a ticket, no moneys will be returned should the trip be cancelled. The amount of the ticket, minus a service fee, may be applied to another trip in many cases. Off-peak. For example, Disney World in the week before Christmas. There’s no one there! A good way to save money because seats must be filled (as well as Magic Kingdoms). Off-season. Periods of the year when demand for a destination decreases and prices go down. Louisiana tried to have a World’s Fare in August. It flopped. But if you didn’t mind sweating your toches off, hotel rates dropped like rocks. On a more plan-able note, Rio de Janeiro when it’s not Carnival. Package. An all-in-one travel plan. You may end up doing a few things you don’t want to, or missing a few you do, but it’s usually a cheaper way to go. Pseudo ARC number. An alphanumeric designator, often a telephone number, used by suppliers to identify travel agencies that do not have an ARC number. We’ll explain as you read on. Selling fare. This is a coach fare just as it comes out of the box. The cheap traveler can consider it the price to beat. Shoulder season. That time that comes between high season and low season. St. Moritz just as the snow starts or just as it starts to melt. (If you are a skier, keep in mind that the Arapahoe Basin in Colorado has been known to stretch its shoulder season into July.) Standard hotel room. To put it succinctly, simple and cheap.


Standby. A chance to get a cheap fare on an already filled plane if you have the time and patience to hang around if you don’t get on. It can also mean a free upgrade to first class, because you’re the last one there and there’s one empty seat they’re trying to fill. Tour conductor tour escort, tour leader, tour manager. The person who goes along with a tour and takes are of the details. If you use our ideas and work things right, it could be you. Tour conductor pass. Which, when negotiated properly, means to travel for free. A very valuable thing.


Appendix – Lots more information to help you travel cheap

Consolidators

There are all sorts of consolidators and bucket shops all over the globe, enough to fill a book. In fact we have! And we gave it to you as a bonus item so have a look at your flight consolidator directory to see a huge list of consolidators world wide You can also find their ads in the Sunday travel sections of larger newspapers. Good if you have a good newsstand nearby (and they are becoming hard to find) that offers Sunday editions of papers from all over. One of your best bets in the U.S.: The New York Times. In Europe: The London Times. How do you find the consolidators ads? If it looks like an ad for a used car dealership, only it’s talking about travel, you’ve probably found one. The word, “cheap” is very important, as it is in all things travel-ish. Or, forget all that and go straight to the horse’s mouth. Contact the Association of Special Fare Agents (ASFA) at www.asfa.net . They know where all the places are everywhere and can assist in finding consolidators who will mail you your tickets.

Courier companies

Another of your bonus items was the full directory of courier companies world wide so pick it up and you’ll surely find one in your area or close enough to suit you. The destinations have a tendency to change as time goes by, so if the place you want to go to is listed here — or isn’t listed here — you’ll still want to get in touch and find out the current situation. The best place to look for the latest information on couriers is the International Association of Air Travel Couriers. Their website is located at www.courier.org.

Air pass and coupon suppliers

Funny thing happened when researching the best source for this list. We found a site (www.worldtravellers.net/airtravel/airpass.html) that is run by a guy in The Netherlands who just loves to travel and wants to pass on the information he discovers. The site is updated when there is a change, and you’ll find everything from pictures to air pass information from all over the world )he loves trains, so there’s a lot of information about them, too.

Travel publications — The attack of the zines.

As the world is turning toward the Internet, so it seems are the travel magazines. Here is a sampling to get you started. You’ll find they all have one thing in common: people who love travel and just want to spread the word put them together.


Arthur Frommer's www.frommers.com Budget Travel from one of the old-time names in the business. Read and learn. Backpacker Essentials www.backpackeressentials.com.au It is what it says. Tons of good ideas for traveling with your world on your back. Big World www.bigworld.com This is a no frills, no fooling zine that has some great articles about out-of-the-way travel options. Journeywoman www.journeywoman.com That’s right — a zine for women only. It offers travel tips for women traveling on their own, with some special tips about hotels, bathrooms and the lack thereof, and…you know, girl stuff. KiwiNewz www.kiwinewz.com “Emailed monthlyish.” This is New Zealand’s entrance into the world of world travel (lots of NZ stuff, too, by the way).

Outpost www.outpostmagazine.com Their slogan is, “Travel for Real.” A great place to look for trips that that are quite adventurous. The stories you’ll bring home will be great!

Quest Magazine www.questmagazine.com Looking for something unusual? So is this magazine. You two can have a great time together.

Season Workers www.seasonworkers.com A way to travel and get paid at the same time. You’ll find news about seasonal jobs in ski resorts, at beaches, anywhere where the weather and time of year rules.

High on Adventure www.highonadventure.com If you like to travel where there are more trees and rocks than there are buildings and cars, you will find some great information here.

International Airline Passengers Association www.iapa.com Lots of tips on airline travel. Offers a free monthly newsletter, in case you like to read hard copy occasionally.


Mad Dogs Breakfast www.maddogsbreakfast.com Kind of reads like its name. Lots of great ideas with an easygoing feel. Fun to read, too.

TheTravelzine.com www.travelzine.com This is a zine made up completely of discussion groups. Join in and learn a few tips, or leave off a few of your own.


Fare codes

These show you the type of fare you have actually paid for. Be careful — some are gargantuan euphemisms. A- Describes part of a ticket type, in this case First Class Discounted AB- Describes part of a ticket type, in this case Super Apex AP- Describes part of a ticket type, in this case Apex fares, Reduced price fares available on many routes- The fares must be purchased a certain number of days in advance of traveling and normally have lots of restrictions on them. B- Back-to-Back Fares/Tickets In booking tickets in this way the traveler can save money on two return trips to the same destination, by the same traveler. Also known as Cross Ticketing. C- Describes part of a ticket type, in this case 'Business Class'. D- Discounted Fare. F- First Class. J- Premium Business Class. K- Excursion Fare. L, M- Discounted Economy Class. N- Night Fare. OW- One-way ticket. OX is a one-way excursion fare. P- Premium First Class. RQ- Seat has been requested on a flight that is technically full; you’re waitlisted. RT- Return Trip or Round Trip, depending on the phrase where you live. Luckily, they both use the same abbreviation. S- On a ticket indicates the fare type 'Economy Class'. SS- Supersaver Fare. SU- Short for “Sunday Rule,” meaning you have to stay over a Saturday night to get the fare. U- Shuttle Service; no reservation required.


V- Discounted Economy Class. X- Midweek Fare. Y- Indicates the fare type 'Economy Class'. To put it more succinctly, the most you can pay for a ticket without having the captain serve you lunch. Also known as Full-Fare Coach. This is hardly a complete list, and some airlines have their own codes. If you have a question, be sure to ask (and try and act like you are a pro at this; they’ll give you more information if they think you’re part of the clan).


Frequent flyer programs

Air Canada Aeroplan Air Tran A Plus Rewards www.airtran.com Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan www.alaskaair.com Aloha Airlines AlohaPass www.alohaair.com America West FlightFund www.americawest.com American Airlines AAdvantage www.aa.com ATA Travel Awards www.ata.com Continental OnePass www.onepass.com Delta Air Lines SkyMiles www.delta-air.com Frontier EarlyReturns Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles Independence Air iClub JetBlue TrueBlue


www.jetblue.com Midwest Airlines Midwest Miles www.midwest.com Northwest Airlines WorldPerks www.nwa.com Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards www.iflyswa.com United Airlines Mileage Plus www.ual.com US Airways Dividend Miles www.usair.com

Latin America Aerolineas Argentinas Plus Program AeroMexico Club Premier Mexicana Frequenta Varig Smiles

Europe Aer Lingus Travel Award Bonus Program Air France Frequence Plus Alitalia Club Mille Miglia Austrian Airlines Miles & More


British Airways Executive Club Finnair Plus Bonus Program Iberia Iberia Plus KLM Flying Dutchman LOT Miles & More Lufthansa Miles & More Olympic Airways Icarus SAS EuroBonus Swissair Swiss TravelClub TAP Air Portugal Navigator Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Australasia Air New Zealand Air Points All Nippon Airways ANA Mileage Club Asiana Asiana Club Cathay Pacific Airways Asia Miles EVA


Evergreen Club Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank Korean Airlines Skypass Malaysia Airlines Enrich Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles Qantas Frequent Flyer Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer


Hotel programs

Best Western Gold Crown Club Cendant (AmeriHost, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Ramada, Super 8, Travelodge, Villager, Wingate Inn) TripRewards Hilton (Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Scandic) HHonors Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Hyatt Gold Passport InterContinental (InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites) Priority Club Rewards Marriott (Marriott, JW Hotels, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites, SpringHill Suites, Ritz-Carlton, Ramada, ExecuStay) Marriott Rewards Radisson (Radisson, Park Inn, Country Inns & Suites, Park Plaza, Regent International) Gold Rewards Starwood (Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, W) Preferred Guest Wyndham (Wyndham, Summerfield Suites) ByRequest


Car rentals programs

Alamo Travel Partners Avis Preferred Service Budget Perfect Drive Dollar Rent A Car Travel Partners Hertz #1 Club Gold National Emerald Club Thrifty Car Rental Blue Chip Rewards


Airline affinity cards

AirTran Airways A-Plus Visa Juniper Bank 877-523-0989 Earn 1 point per dollar spent and 2 points per dollar on AirTran travel purchases. 1,000 points equals 1 credit and earn a one-way ticket with 8 credits or a roundtrip ticket with 16 credits. Alaska Airlines Visa Bank of America 888-345-2632 Platinum cardholders receive 2 free one-way upgrade certificates and a $50 companion ticket now and each year upon renewal, a 2,000-mile anniversary bonus and 2 miles for Alaska or Horizon purchases. America West FlightFund Visa Bank of America 800-928-2933 Earn 500 miles each year upon renewal of standard card. Platinum offers 1,000 miles and $50 companion certificate each year upon renewal, a one time offer of two complimentary airport club passes for two people and two miles per dollar on America West purchases. American AAdvantage MasterCard Citibank 800-359-4444 AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum and Gold members are excluded from the maximum miles per year limit. Both cards offer reduced mileage awards that vary by quarter. Click here for details. British Airways Visa First USA 800-537-6954 Earn 2 miles per dollar spent on British Airways purchases. The introductory percentage rate is 4.9 for the first five billing cycles. Continental Airlines MasterCard Chase 800-245-9850 Platinum and World cards earn 2 miles per dollar at select retailers and for Continental purchases. The introductory percentage rate is 7.9 for the first 6 months. Delta SkyMiles American Express 800-759-6453 If you have other American Express cards the annual fee may be reduced or waived. Earn 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases and at select retailers earn 1 mile per dollar on Delta


purchases above annual mile limit. Platinum cardholders receive an additional 10,000 miles if they charge a minimum of $25,000 per year. Frontier Worldcard MasterCard Juniper 866-750-6024 Earn 2 miles per dollar on Frontier purchases. Hawaiian Airlines Visa Bank of America 800-732-9194 Earn 2 miles per dollar on Hawaiian Airlines purchases. Both cards offer free transfer of miles to other Hawaiian accounts in 2003. Classic cardholders receive 2,500 miles each year upon renewal. Platinum cardholders receive a 50 percent companion certificate, valid off a full fare, four complimentary beverage and two complimentary headset coupons now and each year upon renewal and 5,000 bonus miles each year. Midwest Airlines MasterCard Juniper 866-750-6024 Earn 2 miles per dollar on Midwest Airlines purchases. Northwest WorldPerks Visa US bank 800-692-8472 For purchases over $10,000 per billing cycle or over $50,000 per year with the Platinum Card or $60,000 with the Signature card, earn 1 mile for each 2 dollars spent Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa First USA Earn 1 reward credit for each $1,200 spent. 16 reward credits are required for a free ticket. Credits expire 1 year from the date of transfer. United Mileage Plus Visa Mileage Plus Premier, Premier Executive, or Premier Executive 1K members are excluded from the maximum miles per year limit. Standard card offers free roundtrip companion ticket with an Economy ticket priced $299 or higher for North American travel, $25 discount certificate and 1,000-mile one-way upgrade from paid full-fare Economy for travel within North American. Gold Class cardholders receive the above offers plus earn 2 miles for every dollar spent on United purchases and 2,500 bonus miles each year. US Airways Dividend Miles Visa Bank of America 800-335-4318 The Platinum card offers double miles on US Airways ticket purchases, a free visit to a US Airways Club, a $99 companion ticket at the end of each year and a $75 discount off of a new US Airways Club membership.

Other affinity cards


Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage Business Card www.aadvantagebusiness.citicards.com Small business credit cards offering rewards like AAdvantage frequent flyer miles. Travelocity World Mastercard Travelocitycard.com Allows users to earn points towards online travel purchases. Aussie Commonwealth Bank Card You can get one point for every AUS dollar toward frequent points on Qantas RBC Royal Bank British Airways Card rbcroyalbank.com/cards Standard Bank British Airways Card standardbank.co.za British Midlands Bank Thebritishmidlands.com/hfc


Europe’s really cheap airlines

These are the extremely cheap ones we talked about in the blurb on cheap airlines. Air 2000 Flights between England (Manchester) and Portugal, Spain Aer Arann Flights within Ireland and from Ireland to England, Scotland Air Baltic Flights between Latvia (Riga) and Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine Air Berlin Flights within Germany and from Germany (Berlin) to Austria, Cyprus, Egypt, England, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey Air Finland Website in Finnish Flights within Finland (Helsinki) and from Finland to France, Italy, Spain Air Luxor Lite Flights between Portugal and England, France, Ireland, Madeira, Spain Air Polonia Flights between Poland (Warsaw) and England Slow-loading home page Air Scotland Flights between Scotland and Spain Air Service Plus Flights between Italy (Pescara) and Brussels, Paris Air Southwest Flights within England Air Wales Flights between Wales and England, Ireland, Ulster Alpi Eagles Flights within Italy (Venice) Azzurra Air Flights from Italy (Milan) to Denmark, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain Baboo Flights between Switzerland (Geneva) and Italy


Basiq Air Flights between Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden Bexx Air Flights between Bulgaria (Sofia) and Austria, Germany, Slovakia BMI Baby Flights between England and Czech Rep., France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Wales British European Flights between England and Channel Islands, France, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Ulster BudgetAir Flights between Ireland (Dublin) and France, Greece, Portugal, Spain Corendon Flights between Netherlands and Turkey Deutsche BA Flights within Germany and from Germany to France, Spain EasyJet Flights between England (London) and Denmark, France, Greece, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Ulster Evolavia Flights between Italy (Ancona) and France, Russia, Spain Excel Airways Flights from England and Scotland to Egypt, France, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Turkey Fare4U Flights between Malta and London Stansted Fly Me Flights within Sweden and Finland Germania Express Flights within Germany (Berlin) and from Germany to Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey German Wings Flights within Germany and from Germany (Cologne) to Austria, Czech Republic, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey Globespan Flights between Scotland and France, Italy, Spain


Hapag Lloyd Express Flights within Germany (Cologne-Bonn) and from Germany to England, France, Italy, Spain Hellas Jet Flights between Greece (Athens) and Belgium, England, France, Switzerland Helvetic Airways Flights between Switzerland (Zurich) and Austria, Belgium, Spain Iceland Express Flights between Iceland and Denmark, England InterSky Flights between Austria (Vienna) and France, Italy, Switzerland Jet2 Flights between England (Leeds-Bradford) and France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain Very slow home page JetX Flights between Italy (Bologna/Forli) and France, Greece, Spain Maersk Air Flights between Denmark and Belgium, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain Meridiana Flights within Italy and from Italy to England, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain Monarch Airlines Flights between England (London-Luton) and Gibraltar, Portugal, Spain My Travel Lite Flights between England and France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland Nordic Airlink Website in Swedish Flights between Sweden (Stockholm) and Norway Norwegian Air Shuttle Flights within Norway and from Norway to England, Portugal, Spain Onur Air Flights within Turkey Ryanair Flights between England (London-Stansted) and Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden Scandjet


Flights between Sweden and Bosnia, Croatia SkyEurope Flights between Slovakia (Bratislava) and Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland Slow loading home page Smart Wings Flights between Czech Republic (Prague) and Denmark, France, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland Snalskjutsen Flights within Sweden and from Sweden to France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland SnowFlake Airlines Flights from Denmark (Copenhagen) and Sweden (home base Stockholm) to Czech Rep., France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Turkey Sterling Flights between Denmark (Copenhagen) and France, Greece, Italy, Madeira, Norway, Spain, Sweden Sun Express Flights between Turkey (Antalya) and Austria, Germany, Switzerland Swedline Website in Swedish Flights within Sweden ThomsonFly Flights between England (Coventry) and France, Italy, Jersey, Spain V Bird Flights within Germany (Niederrhein-Dusseldorf) and from Germany to Austria, Finland, France, Netherlands Virgin Express Flights between Belgium (Brussels) and Denmark, England, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland VLM Airlines Flights between Belgium and England, Germany, Guernsey, Italy, Jersey, Luxembourg and Netherlands VolareWeb Flights between Italy (Milan and Venice) and Belgium, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Spain Vueling Airlines Flights within Spain and from Spain to Brussels, Paris Windjet Vola Website in Italian Flights within Italy (Sicily) Booking engine doesn't work

Travel Industry Secrets

100 Wizz Air Flights from Hungary (Budapest) and Poland (Katowice) to Czech Rep., England, France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden


101

Regional tourism boards

Australian Tourist Board www.aussie.net.au Tourism Canada info.ic.gc.ca/tourism Great Britain www.bta.org.uk France www.francetourism.com Hong Kong www.hkta.org Japan: www.jtbusa.com www.jnto.go.jp Italy focusmm.com.au/˜focus/italy/it_toumn.htm Hungary www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/homepage.html


102

The best low-cost airlines in the world

According to a vote taken by lowcostairlines.org (Question: What low-cost airline do you consider the world's best?) These airlines got at least ten votes each from somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 people.

1. Ryanair 2. Easyjet 3. Jetblue 4. Southwest Airlines 5. Air Berlin 6. German Wings 7. Virgin Blue 8. Air Asia 9. Virgin Express 10. SkyEurope 11. Onur Air 12. America West 13. Volare Web 14. Air Baltic 15. Westjet 16. Hapag Lloyd 17. Air Tran 18. Air Scotland 19. Aer Arann 20. Deutsche BA 21. Bmi Baby 22. Midwest Express 23. V Bird 24. Spirit Air 25. Air 2000 26. Basiqair 27. Iceland Express 28. British European 29. Germania Express 30. Air Finland 31. American Tranair 32. USA 3000 33. Freedom Air 34. Baboo 35. Sun Country 36. JetsGo 37. Southeast 38. Song 39. Snowflake 40. Jet2 41. Alpi Eagles 42. Monarch


103

Driving distance to airports

In a world where more and more airports cover larger and larger areas, it sometime makes great sense to look beyond your own back door when you’re trying to find the best fare. This system seems to work best in the United States, where crossing from state-to-state doesn’t require a visa, and there are enough towns to keep airports within a reasonable distance of each other. But there are others in other countries, mentioned earlier in this book. Here are some more to fill out your list: Akron, OH Cleveland (36); Pittsburgh (70); Columbus (99); Detroit (162); Albany, NY Hartford (80); New York City (140) Atlanta, GA Chattanooga (106); Birmingham (134); Knoxville (152) Atlantic City, NJ Philadelphia (55); Newark (93); Baltimore (142) Austin, TX San Antonio (70); Houston (143); Dallas/Fort Worth (183) Baltimore, MD Washington National (30); Washington Dulles (43); Harrisburg (70);

Philadelphia (90); Richmond (120) Bangor, ME Portland (111); Manchester (189);Boston (201) Baton Rouge, LA New Orleans (65); Pensacola (236) Boston, MA Manchester (45); Providence (49); Hartford (91) Boise, ID Salt Lake City (291) Buffalo, NY Rochester (55); Toronto (68); Pittsburgh (186); Cleveland (192) Burbank, CA Los Angeles (18); Ontario (44) Burlington, VT Montreal (75); Manchester (137); Hartford (177) Charleston, SC Columbia (95); Charlotte (168); Atlanta (259) Charleston, WV Columbus (131); Pittsburgh (165); Cincinnati (173); Louisville

(226) Charlotte, NC Greensboro (82); Greenville/Spartanburg (84); Raleigh (130);

Atlanta (227)


104 Chattanooga, TN Knoxville (87); Atlanta (106); Nashville (113) Chicago, IL Milwaukee (75); South Bend (75) Cincinnati, OH Dayton (64); Louisville (83); Indianapolis (98);

Columbus (116) Cleveland, OH Akron (36); Toledo (102); Columbus (112);

Pittsburgh (124) Colorado Springs CO Denver (67) Columbus, OH Dayton (72); Akron (99); Cleveland (112);

Cincinnati (116) Corpus Christi, TX Harlingen (110); San Antonio (135);

Houston Hobby (187); Dallas, TX Oklahoma City (175); Austin (183) Dayton, OH Cincinnati (64); Columbus (72); Indianapolis (110) Daytona Beach, FL Orlando (50); Jacksonville (97) Denver, CO Colorado Springs (67) Des Moines, IA Omaha (117); Kansas City (165) Detroit, MI Toledo (49); Flint (54); Lansing (74);

Grand Rapids (120) Eugene, OR Portland (106) Evansville, IN Louisville (98); Nashville (141); St. Louis (161) Flint, MI Lansing (45); Detroit (54) Fort Lauderdale, FL Miami (21); West Palm Beach (42) Fort Myers, FL Sarasota (71); Tampa (104); Fort Lauderdale (112) Fresno, CA Oakland (152); San Francisco (159); Sacramento (167) Grand Rapids, MI Lansing (48); Detroit (120); Chicago (134) Green Bay, WI Milwaukee (107); Chicago (181) Greensboro, NC Raleigh (67); Charlotte (82)


105 Harlingen, TX Corpus Christi (107); San Antonio (235) Harrisburg, PA Baltimore (70); Washington National (81);

Philadelphia (83); Washington Dulles (94) Hartford, CT Providence (66); Boston (91); New York City (108) Hilton Head, SC Savannah (31); Charleston (62); Jacksonville (133) Houston, TX Austin (143); San Antonio (191) Huntsville, AL Birmingham (74); Nashville (97); Atlanta (151) Indianapolis, IN Cincinnati (98); Dayton (110); Louisville (111) Jacksonville, FL Daytona Beach (93); Savannah (117); Orlando (143) Kalamazoo, MI Grand Rapids (47); Lansing (62); Detroit (113); Chicago (116) Kansas City, MO Omaha (152) Key West, FL Miami (126); Fort Lauderdale (144) Knoxville, TN Nashville (152); Atlanta (152); Greenville/Spartanburg (261) Lansing, MI Flint (45); Grand Rapids (48); Detroit (74) Lehigh Valley, PA Philadelphia (55); New York (79) Lexington, KY Louisville (63); Cincinnati (70) Lincoln, NE Omaha (55); Kansas City (152) Little Rock, AR Memphis (130) Los Angeles, CA Burbank (18); Long Beach (18);

Orange County (36); Ontario (47) Louisville, KY Cincinnati (83); Indianapolis (111); Dayton (147) Madison, WI Milwaukee (74); Chicago (119) Manchester, NH Boston (45); Portland, ME (73); Providence (84) McAllen, TX Harlingen (37); Corpus Christi (119);

San Antonio (232) Medford, OR Portland, OR (222)


106 Memphis, TN Little Rock (130); Nashville (200) Miami, FL Fort Lauderdale (21); West Palm Beach (62) Milwaukee, WI Chicago (75) Mobile, AL Pensacola (64); Birmingham (216) Montreal, Canada Burlington (75); Manchester, NH (209); Boston (254) Naples, FL Fort Myers (26); Sarasota (98); Fort Lauderdale (101);

Tampa (134) Nashville, TN Memphis (200); Atlanta (214) New Orleans, LA Baton Rouge (65); Pensacola (186) New York, NY Newark (14); White Plains (26); Long Island MacArthur/Islip

(50); Philadelphia (93); Hartford (108)

Newark, NJ New York (14); Philadelphia (81); Hartford (115);

Baltimore (179) Norfolk, VA Newport News (23); Richmond (75);

Washington, DC (142); Raleigh (160) Oakland, CA San Francisco (11); San Jose (30); Sacramento (75) Oklahoma City, OK Tulsa (111); Wichita (156); Dallas (175) Omaha, NE Des Moines (117); Kansas City (152) Ontario, CA Orange County (30); Burbank (44); Los Angeles (47); Palm

Springs (65) Orange County, CA Long Beach (19); Ontario (30); Los Angeles (36);

San Diego (76) Orlando, FL Daytona Beach (50); Tampa (80); Gainesville (98); Jacksonville (143) Palm Springs, CA Ontario (65); San Diego (85); Orange County (86);

Los Angeles (110) Pensacola, FL Mobile (64); New Orleans (186) Philadelphia, PA Newark (81); Baltimore (90)


107 Phoenix, AZ Tucson (110) Pittsburgh, PA Akron (70); Cleveland (124); Columbus (144) Portland, ME Manchester, NH (78); Boston (95) Portland, OR Seattle (129) Providence, RI Boston (49); Hartford (66); Manchester, NH (84);

New York (146) Raleigh, NC Greensboro (67); Charlotte (130) Reno, NV Sacramento (112); Oakland (180); San Francisco (192) Richmond, VA Newport News (52); Norfolk (75);

Washington, DC (97); Baltimore (120) Roanoke, VA Greensboro (85); Raleigh (120); Washington, DC (192) Rochester, NY Buffalo (55); Syracuse (79); Toronto (106) Sacramento, CA Oakland (75); San Francisco (86); Reno (112) Saginaw, MI Flint (43); Lansing (58); Detroit (98) St. Louis, MO Indianapolis (229) San Antonio, TX Austin (70); Houston (191) San Diego, CA Orange County (76); Palm Springs (86);

Long Beach (96); Los Angeles (109) San Francisco, CA Oakland (11); San Jose (30); Sacramento (86) San Jose, CA San Francisco (30); Oakland (30) Sarasota, FL Tampa (40); Fort Myers (71); Orlando (109) Seattle, WA Vancouver (127); Portland (129) Shreveport, LA Little Rock (182); Dallas/Fort Worth (190) South Bend, IN Chicago (75); Indianapolis (137); Detroit (157) Spokane, WA Seattle (224) Syracuse, NY Rochester (79); Buffalo (134); Toronto (175)


108 Tampa, FL Sarasota (39); Orlando (80); Fort Myers (105) Toledo, OH Detroit (49); Flint (96); Cleveland (102);

Columbus (121) Tucson, AZ Phoenix (110) Tulsa, OK Oklahoma City (111) Vancouver, Canada Seattle (127) Washington, DC Baltimore (30); Richmond (96) W Palm Beach, FL Fort Lauderdale (42); Miami (62); Orlando (142) Wichita, KS Oklahoma City (156) Worchester, MA Providence (44); Boston (45); Hartford (47)


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Every other website relating to cheap travel we can find

There's really no delicate way to put it. These are places that we haven't found a home for, but for you, they might be just the "ticket." Hahahahahahah... Okay, it's not that funny. Anyway, throw some of these in while you're surfing away. Something good might come to the surface. www.airtkt.com www.airtreks.com www.bestfares.com For full effect, you need to join www.buzzle.com Everything, including travel discounts www.cheapairlineticketsflights.com www.thecheapestflight.co.uk www.cheapflightselect.com www.cheaponlineflights.com www.dialaflight.com UK based www.e-flight.biz www.etn.nl www.etravelmania.com www.farechase.com www.flightmapping.com Airline route maps www.flycheapairtravel.com www.geocities.com/gs www.icheapairfares.com rentals www.itasoftware.com Cheap travel site developed by computer geeks www.lowfareflights.co.uk UK to Europe www.luxurytravelsource.com Cheap first class


110 www.lyubo.dir.bg http://mail.novatravel.com/faresearch/search.asp Asia www.mobissimo.com Uses your computer to find the lowest fares www.onlinefares.com www.opodo.com www.sidestep.com www.skyscanner.net www.skytours.com Worldwide discounts www.travel-library.com/air-travel/consolidators.html www.travellersweb.com Big www.zuji.com Huge search engine for Asia

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