Google Travel
Google wants to help you find cheap tickets
If you like searching several of the popular airline ticketing sites when you're looking for cheap tickets, Google's integrated a nice feature into their search that identifies when you may be looking for tickets and provides direct links to searches on sites like CheapTickets, Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, Priceline, and Travelocity—like this search fro San Francisco to Tokyo.
Granted, Google's got some of the good ones left out (I'm rather partial to Kayak), but it's a nice way to get a quick overview from the Google search box. This may not be entirely new to Google (it's definitely not new to Yahoo), but it was news to me. Thanks Jason!
FRI JUN 29 2007
BY ADAM PASH
AT 2:00 pm
993 views
3 comments
Latest by prospero: they didn't include Kayak because Kayak is not a travel service, it's a price aggregator that searches other services... Google ... more
What's air traffic look like right now? The FAA offers a map of major airports across the U.S. and their flight delay status. This is just asking to be a Google Maps mashup. [via inFlightHQ] Reserve airport parking with AirportParkingReservations.com
AirportParkingReservations.com lets you reserve a parking spot at an off-airport lot.
It works much like air-travel sites: Choose your airport, arrival time and departure time, and the site kicks out a list of available off-airport parking lots. You can view an airport map and sort the listings by price, parking type (self, valet, covered) and company. You have to pay for one day in advance, plus a $5 service fee; you pay the balance when you depart the lot.
This definitely comes in handy for price-shopping, though the service fee will negate at least some of the savings. What's more, I've never had a problem with my preferred off-airport lot being full--but if you fly a lot and want some insurance that a spot will be waiting for you, AirportParkingReservations.com is worth a visit.
THU MAY 10 2007
BY RICK BROIDA
AT 10:30 am
1,271 views
6 comments
Latest by talombardi: Interesting comments from your skeptical readers. As the president of AirportParkingReservations.com I can proudly say, we had our 1,000,000th ... more
frequent flyer Maximize your frequent-flyer miles with MileMaven
Before you book your next flight, head to MileMaven.com. You might be able to score some bonus miles.
The site catalogs all the latest and greatest promotions. You can search based on a specific flight (just enter the departure and arrival cities), airline or frequent-flyer program. So if you're planning a trip from, say, Detroit to Seattle, you can check to see if there are any bonus-mile deals available. Alternately, you might plan a weekend getaway to a particular city because Northwest WorldPerks is running a triple-miles promotion. The site is a little ad-heavy, but it's still a great resource for anyone looking to maximize frequent-flyer miles.
TUE MAR 13 2007
BY RICK BROIDA
AT 2:47 pm
4,038 views
2 comments
Latest by bdjohns1: Another useful site is flyertalk.com - they have a very active forum with lots of people who make a hobby ... more
Travel Tip: Pick up at departures
Lifehacker Matt Haughey offers a few good travel tips, including avoiding the arrivals area for pickups and meeting at departures instead.
Especially on weekends and holidays, the arrivals area at most major airports will back up ridiculously as people hog the lanes and wait for people. A couple days before Christmas, we landed and I went out to fetch the car and pick up the rest of the family, but had to wait in a 15min long line to pick them up. The departures area was dead. I used this tip on Saturday and it worked great, as there were no lines and no waiting.
There are a couple of other gems there too, like the wonders of Hertz Gold and how to manage a good night's sleep in a hotel room with a toddler.
MON JAN 15 2007
BY GINA TRAPANI
AT 5:30 pm
223 views
14 comments
Latest by psychogasm: As a person who lives near SFO and often does the pick-up/drop-off dance, whenever I pick someone up (or ask ... more
Holiday Travel Tip: Survive an airport trip with the kids
Web site eHow has a few tips for surviving a trip to the airport with your kids this holiday season. For example:
Insist on good behavior. Airport security personnel enjoy a good joke every now and then, but they may not appreciate your kids playing "cops and robbers" as they pass through the metal detectors. Also, if you have a wiseacre 12-year-old, warn him ahead of time not to say things like, "Hey, Dad, what about those sticks of dynamite you're carrying under your shirt? Dad? Dad?"
The list is fairly common sense for any parent, but there's no point in making the holiday travel plans any more stressful than they already are. Got your own airport survival tips, give 'em to us in the comments.
WED DEC 20 2006
BY ADAM PASH
AT 5:00 pm
209 views
16 comments
Latest by practical_mom: For many toddlers the need to walk up and down the aisle will become overwhelming, and you will be faced ... more
List of airports with free wifi
SmallBusiness.com has got a long wiki list of airports that offer free wifi access in the US.
39 states are represented here, from Alabama to Wisconsin. If you know of an airport that offers free wifi that's not listed here, feel free to add it - this is an extremely convenient addition to the whole "know before you go" philosophy.
SAT NOV 18 2006
BY WENDY BOSWELL
AT 5:00 pm
481 views
7 comments
Plan for your next flight with the TSA wait time calculator
The Transportation Security Administration is offering a simple security checkpoint wait time calculator to help you make more informed decisions next time you travel.
The tool reports historical (not current) wait time averages by airport, day of the week, and departure time. If you regularly head to the airport 2.5 hours early "just to be sure," or worse, you've got the the nasty habit of cutting things too close, this tool could give you a more realistic idea of what to expect. more »
FRI NOV 17 2006
BY ADAM PASH
AT 2:00 pm
467 views
6 comments
Latest by newrui: Good stuff; times for TPA and JAX seem about right. It'd be nice if you don't have to make 500 ... more
Use AboutAirportParking to grab the sweet spot
The next time you're heading off to the airport, check in with AboutAirportParking's excellent mashup of Google Maps and various parking lots connected to over 400 airports across the United States.
Parking lots aren't the only info you can grab from this site: general airport time delay status and the average security wait are also offered. Once you find your airport, you can sort your parking lot choices by distance, rate, or name via a dropdown menu; there's also parking lot reviews to browse through for various user experiences. Quite the handy little site.
THU NOV 16 2006
BY WENDY BOSWELL
AT 11:45 pm
169 views
1 comment
Latest by Serge the Concierge: Another example of Google Maps put to good use. Since I was about to write a piece on 'Luggage Forward'in 'Serge ... more
Air Travel Tip: Get the empty seat next to you
While you're booking your flights home for the holidays, use the online seat selection to hook up the empty seat next to you for extra room on your flight.
Choose the window and/or aisle seats where the middle seat is empty. That single middle seat will be the last one chosen if the flight fills up, and if it doesn't, you won't have to worry about fighting for the shared armrest with an elbow-y neighbor too close for comfort. Got any other devious airplane trickery to make your flight home better? Hit us up in the comments.
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