Category: Planning

Planning

Nine Times Travel Insurance Isnâ€™t a Ripoff

We caught this Youtube interview from the Today Show through the Consumerist. Nine Times Travel Insurance isn’t a ripoff.

Useful Tool: U.S. Domestic Airline Fee Chart

The people at Farecompare.com have a handy little chart to compare the fees levied by various U.S. airlines on their domestic flights. Using it, you can compare the extra cost of a reservation by phone, charges for first and second piece of luggage, seat selection fees, beverage, snack, meal charges, overweight bag charges, pet travel, unaccompanied minors, curbside checkin, and standard change fees. They update it fairly regularly.

When to Book

One of the hardest decisions is when to book your airline tickets. Someone we know is on the computer at 12:-01AM 11 months in advance, expecting to get the best deal.

Do you get the best deal then? Not likely, fares at the opening are usually midrange. The really good sale fares are held until much later. These lead-in fares are the ones you see in the advertisements.

Travel Insurance is your Friend

Have you purchased Travel Insurance for your trip? Insurance can usually be purchased for around 4%-8% of your trip cost. Check out our Travel Insurance advice page…Infrequent Flier is full of sound advice and information, available through the top links on every page.

Now, until recently, we advised that insurance was best for trips to foreign countries and/or those with expensive tours associated with them. But there are many other

You Get What You Pay For – Cheapoair

Our motto is: We Discount the Fares, never the Service!

There is their motto…here is ours…Don’t use Cheapoair…we can’t make it any simpler than that…We have yet to hear of a good experience with this organization. In our other blog…Flight Wisdom, we often criticize Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, and Cheaptickets…however…we await a positive comment from anyone on this latest discounter.

Should you Use a Travel Agent?

There is the question…should you use a travel agent…There are two types of travel agents…the large online ones such as Orbitz…and the more traditional brick and mortar organizations…

Travel agents have their advantages. In the old days…they were the best way to buy tickets. The airlines knew this, and would pay them commission. Few agents get commission nowadays…and thus must make their profit from you through service fees.