Travel Discounters Blog

AIRLINE FEES – Part 1, Seat Selection

So you thought you found and/or bought the best deal, the cheapest airfare available…. not so fast….

Here are some of the major airlines menu on ala carte fees, bundled/unbundled fees to add (or not) to your discounted airfare. Be aware these are per segment/per flight, and depends on the length of flight (more for cross-country).

American just recently started charging anywhere from $9 – $39 for their ‘Your Choice Program’ that may include one/more/all of the following: 1) priority boarding & exit; 2) 1st few rows with supposedly more legroom and includes priority boarding/exit; 3) change fee discount; 4) free standby.

Delta Airlines ‘Coach Choice’ program discontinued. Offers advanced/preferred seating only to SkyMiles Elite members, and full/premium fare coach (economy) passengers.

United Airlines Economy Plus offers 5” more legroom and starts at $9/flight or $425/year. Subject to availability.

Jet Blue offers extra legroom for $10.

Southwest is open seating only. Families are given opportunity to sit together if they ask nicely.

Virgin America offers ‘Main Cabin Select’ from $35 – $55 – $110 (depending on length of flight). This is a bundled package that may include 1/more/all of meals, additional In flight entertainment, and extra legroom.

Coming soon… Part 2, Baggage Fees

Pleasant journeys,
Jim & Emily

Summer’s almost over and the kids are back in school so now may be the best time to find travel deals on airline tickets, cruises and more. With the end of the high travel season the discounter travel industry sales slow down and they are looking for ways to make more sales. You can find discount airline tickets on many sites on the web so it’s a good time for consumers to shop. Now and also in April and May are off peak times that find more bargains for the savvy traveler. Traveling during these times has disadvantages such as the weather and some travel sites that may be closed but with more discounts and smaller crowds it can be well worth it. We have always tried to plan our travels around these times of year and have never encountered too many problems. So get out there, book that cruise, vacation, maybe without the kids, and airline tickets and have a great time.

Bon Voyage
Jim & Emily

ALL INCLUSIVE RESORTS, once synonymous to bad buffets and bad service are now getting a facelift from savvy entrepreneurs. Some of these all inclusive vacation package deals are offering better food, better service, better amenities , more activities. But, all inclusives are not for everyone. If you’re a foodie, an explorer, or someone who likes local flavor, then you’re better off in a small boutique or local hotel. But if you just want to relax after working so hard and refuse to make any decisions at all for a few days, then let the all inclusive resort take care of all your travel/vacation needs – airfare, transfers, hotel, food, entertainment, activities. Just pack your bag and go.

But… before you go, you have one more decision to make (or not – you can just close your eyes and point). There’s a sea of information out there on best airline tickets, best vacation package etc., and not all of them are good. Have an open mind, be a skeptic, take everything you read with a grain of salt, then pick one great deal that’s just right for you.

How to get cheap airline tickets via the mobile social networking devise like Twitter & Facebook. First of all, you will need a mobile that has a data plan. These airline ticket deals only last for a couple of hours and that’s it. It’s a new marketing strategy used mainly by low cost airlines like Jet Blue, Southwest, Virgin, West Jet etc. As with all travel deals, you could get real lucky and snag yourself a $600 roundtrip airline ticket for the cheap, discounted deal of $350. Remember, it’s usually a short 2 hour window and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

We have noticed lately a trend in discount air fares. It seems that it is becoming more difficult to find bargains out there as the airlines have become more profitable in recent months. This means that as you search for your travel needs you should be prepared to take more time to search out a number of sites and various discounters for airfares before making any travel purchase. Be careful when making these determinations and take into account all the various extra charges that airlines are now employing. Some sites will give you a price based on the cost before taxes and airport fees. There are also always extra charges for luggage including extra carry-on on some airlines. It’s good to see the airlines doing well again but as a consumer be sure to always take the time to get the best deal out there.
Have a good flight,
Jim

Looking for travel deals? Google had 59 pages of ‘hot travel deals’ and Yahoo has 100 pages of them! It’s like a (you know what) – every travel site has one – including us! So the big question is ‘how hot are the hot travel deals from www.traveldiscounters.com‘? My big answer is ‘you could get lucky!’ Now I know that sucks but it’s the truth – the true answer for all them hot travel deals. Just make sure you ask all the pertinent questions like does it include all taxes, fees, port charges? Is flight direct, how many connections, total travel time? Mileage credit? Bump off possibility? All inclusive? Max’m. # in room, rollaway? But most importantly, book through a good reliable site like www.traveldiscounters.com .

As an avid bargain (but savvy) traveller, I have always relied on the following: 1) a plan/budget, 2) research, 3) patience. That said if you’re from the East Coast, the Caribbean is most economical and for West Coast, Mexico/Hawaii. For summer (high/most expensive season like spring break), start in January by checking our website for the best airfare, best hotel, best vacation package deals separately to get an idea of how much things could cost. By March you should have a pretty good idea and this is actually a good time to book your airline tickets, your hotel, or vacation package if it comes out cheaper.

Pleasant journeys,
Jim & Emily

We are now arriving in Turkey at the city of Kusadasi where we will travel by a cruise line tour to the ancient city of Ephesus. This site is well worth the trip with the ruins of the ancient library and a street of porcelain tiles that still hold their ancient colors. To visit Ephesus you could purchase airline tickets to the city of Kusadasi and hire a guide or take a tour from there. We first went to the home of the Virgin Mary and paid our respects. After a lunch at a four star hotel we went to a carpet market that turned out to be like the sales pitch for a time share, we were very disappointed at the strong arm tactics. From there it was back to the ship and on to our next destination, Rhodes.

Bon Voyage,
Jim @ Travel Discounters

We have found, when searching the internet for airline tickets and other travel needs, that the type of key words and search engine you use can make a big difference. Discounter search sites such as ours, traveldiscounters.com, can help you find the best deals for your needs but when searching through a search engine a search term such as discount airline tickets will often send you to the sites that are affiliated with that particular search engine. Try to check out a variety of travel sites on different pages and you may find that the most popular travel site may not have the best deal for your air fare needs. It is also true for cruises, car rentals and many other discounters. We hope that these tips may help you with your travel plans and provide with a more pleasant travel experience. We look forward to your comments and ideas.
Pleasant Journeys,
Jim & Emily

CASH, CHECK, OR CREDIT CARD?

Cash is always convenient but you can only carry so much. We found that bringing a bit of cash for anticipated expenses the first couple days then using the ATM later on works best. It gives you the going exchange rate which is usually better than the airport money changers. Check with your bank for ATM fees. Almost all credit unions do not charge a fee but most other banks do. Chase charges a lot for using a non-Chase ATM.

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RCCL will cash your personal check up to $200. The ATM machine on the ship charges $8/transaction. On a Mediterranean cruise it will give you Euros. If you need USD, you can get it from the casino cash machine but don’t wait till the last minute. Day before the cruise ended, we needed USD to pay for our private transfer in Rome but the cash machines were ‘out of service’. I think the cruise lines were on to us and prefer us to use their ATM.

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Travelers checks are becoming obsolete. First you have to pay to get them, then there’s the fact that fewer merchants are accepting them (due to fraud), and some banks/money changers either charge a fee or give you a lousy exchange rate.

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Credit cards are best if the merchant accepts it. We use Capital One because they’re very nice and don’t charge a transaction fee, plus they give us points – such a deal!

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Second in command log: 7/15/2010, our voyage continues. After leaving beautiful Capri we set sail in our travels for Athens, Greece.

What we were looking forward to most was seeing the sites of the ancient civilization of Greece. The Acropolis is the center that contains the Parthenon and many ancient temples and ruins so we booked a tour that included these sites. Due to the political climate at the time we decided to book our tour through the cruise line this time. Booking through the cruise line is usually more expensive but with the cruise line responsible for your safety it is more secure so we were more comfortable doing it that way.( Hint: Be careful booking cruise packages thruogh the cruise line, you can end up with airline tickets for a red eye flight) We like to use a tour in most cases because of the insights and knowledge that can be gained from an experienced guide but many people prefer to set out on their own. If you do you can get a lot of information from the purser’s office on where to go and precautions to take. The purser is available 24 hours so if you want to avoid the long lines that are usually there it is best to go late at night, between 12:00 and 6:00 AM or even call from the comfort of your cabin. After touring the Acropolis our bus took us to the Olympic Stadium. The structure there was built in 1896, for the first modern Olympics, on the site of the ancient stadium. From there we went to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier where we were lucky enough to catch the changing of the guard ceremony. The bus next took us to Hadrian’s arch in downtown Athens where we went out on our own to shop and site see for a couple of hours.

One thing we have learned on a cruise, to avoid the high fees for internet service on board ship, is to look for internet cafes when we are in port. We also set out for my traditional Hard Rock café t-shirt. I always like to get a t-shirt in the places we visit and I have found that that buying it at Hard Rock it doesn’t shrink 2 sizes when I get home and wash it, until now. The t-shirt I bought in Athens shrunk the first time I washed it, very disappointing. After lunch there we found an internet café and for one Euro for 20 minutes we were able to contact home and let everyone know how we were doing. We met our bus back near Hadrian’s arch and headed back to the ship for a relaxing evening, entertainment and dinner before our next stop in the morning, Turkey.