A New Website Sells Off Non-Refundable Hotel Reservations at Deep Discounts
Posted on 11/05/2013, 2:30 PM
Often, if you want the cheapest hotel room price, you have to consent to a non-refundable rate, and that makes it impossible to change plans without eating the cost. But a newly launched website, Roomer (found at RoomerTravel.com), was designed with one purpose in mind: It gets travelers out of non-refundable reservations. It functions as an intermediary between people who are stuck with hote...
White House Tours Are On Again....For Now. Why You'll Want to Book Sooner Rather Than Later
Posted on 11/05/2013, 11:00 AM
Though it hasn't been publicly announced, word has leaked out--as tends to happen in Washington, DC--that the White House is now holding tours again. The website has been updated to reflect the change, which apparently does not have to do with any decision President Obama made. The tours were originally shuttered because the Secret Service simply didn't have the funding, thanks to the seques...
Sunday Only: Two-For-The-Price-Of-One Airline Seats from Virgin America (Newark Departures Only)
Posted on 11/03/2013, 11:30 AM
Tricky Virgin Atlantic! It has waited for the weekend to float one of the best deals it has offerred this year, a two-for-the-price-of-one offer from Newark to a whole slew of gateways. And at first glance it looks like the starting prices aren't any higher than their usual start rates, making this a true deal. Travel is from November 15-February 28 with some blackout dates. To get the deal, ...
To Save the Expense of a Ground-Floor, Central City Office, More and More Travel Agents Are Simply Working From Their Homes
Posted on 11/01/2013, 4:45 PM
What happened to all those travel agencies that used to operate from behind plate glass windows in ground-floor locations on street corners in your community? It may come as a surprise to learn that they haven’t disappeared. Many of them are still operating--and arranging trips for many of your neighbors--but they’re performing from the dining room--or the den--or...
Though Harry Potter Has Garnered All the Raves, The True Hit Attraction of Orlando's Theme Parks is Disney's Soarin'
Posted on 11/01/2013, 12:00 PM
In the bitter competition between theme parks in Orlando, Florida, the Harry Potter exhibit at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure has recently scored a public relations victory. Journalist after journalist has weighed in with the conclusion that Universal's Harry Potter is currently the outstanding attraction in America's theme park capital. I went to the Harry Potter exhibit ...
Soon You Can Use Electronic Devices During Most of the Flight, the FAA Declares
Posted on 10/31/2013, 11:00 AM
The FAA has decided it's safe to operate most electronics for the duration of a commercial flight. In a press release issued on Halloween, it said that although mobile phone use will still be banned, it will advise airlines that it's safe to allow other items. The exact wording of the announcement puts it like this: "Electronic items, books and magazines, must be held or put in the seat b...
A New Online Travel Agency Allows Users To Hold Airfares, Without Full Payment, For Up to 21 Days
Posted on 10/28/2013, 4:15 PM
It was only a matter of time, it seems, before someone applied the rules that have long governed the “art” of Wall Street trading to the highly unstable airfare market. That innovator/madman(?) is Robert Brown, the founder and CEO of OptionsAway.com, and if the algorithms he’s painstakingly crafted actually work, he may have succeeded in creating a new form of online travel agency. On the sur...
Low-Cost Carrier Norwegian To Tackle American Market with $584 Round-Trip New York to London
Posted on 10/24/2013, 7:30 PM
A new player for low-cost airfares from the United States to Europe is materializing. Norwegian Air, already the third-largest low-cost carrier in Europe, will launch 787 Dreamliner service next year, and the prices will surely give the legacy carriers a scare. Starting next July, Norwegian Air Shuttle will fly to London's Gatwick Airport (easily connected to the city by train) twice weekly...
In America, It's the Low-Cost, Bargain-Priced Vacations That Continue to Account for the Overwhelming Number of Leisure-Time Trips
Posted on 10/23/2013, 2:00 PM
Every day in my mail or computer monitor, I receive invitations to purchase luxury-priced travel. This cruise for $6,000. That African safari for $8,000. This or that tour of the mountain villages of Bulgaria for only $5,500 per person (based on double occupancy). Though all of us have only the highest regard for the long-established travel companies that operate and offe...
TSA Checkpoint in Dallas Outfitted with Couches, Music, Mood Lighting: Corporate Branding Brings Respect
Posted on 10/23/2013, 11:00 AM
People who use Terminal E in Dallas have experienced the change. Where the TSA checkpoint was once bleak and gunmetal grey, now there is music streaming from Pandora and lavender mood lighting. Hanging on pillars are new flat-screen signs that tell you how much longer you'll have to wait before being processed. No one is barking "Shoes off!" at you—a soothing recorded voice purrs it. And after ...