GOING AWAY FOR THE HOLIDAYS?

If you are going away for the holidays this year, here are three great websites to help you save money and avoid headaches: AutoSlash.com is the best site for car-rental deals.  This site helps you save in three ways: It searches multiple vendors to find your best rental option, digs for coupons, and monitors offerings [...]

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SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING YOU IN A DISNEY PARK

Remember that time you were waiting in line at Disney World and the kids wouldn’t stop screaming and moaning?  Well, you’re not the only one who noticed. Deep inside the fortress of Cinderella’s Castle lies a high-tech command center dedicated to monitoring and managing the length and movement of the park’s lines.  The secret guards [...]

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WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO BUY AN AIRLINE TICKET?

If you are planning a summer vacation that involves an airline ticket, avoid buying that ticket on the weekend – prices are often highest then.  The best day is usually Tuesday, because many sales are launched Monday night and competitors typically scramble to match them by the next morning.

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HOW TO GET A HOTEL DISCOUNT

If you call up a hotel directly you will get a much better deal than booking it online or calling the central office with the 800 number.  After you get a rate, haggle.  Hotel rooms are one area where you should always ask for a lower price.  If the clerk you are bargaining with seem [...]

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AIRLINE BANS BABIES FROM FIRST CLASS

If you’ve ever traveled on an airplane, you know how annoying it can be if you’re unlucky enough to be seated near a crying baby.  Well one airline is doing something about that, at least for its first class passengers.  Malaysia Airlines will ban babies from traveling first class on its Airbus A380 super jumbo [...]

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BING’S TRAVEL PRICE PREDICTOR

Who hasn’t read about a major air fare sale the day after putting down a nonrefundable deposit on a reservation?  Bing.com/travel helps you decide when to pull the trigger.  After you put in your desired flight itinerary, the site tells you whether to buy your ticket now or to wait, based on historical fare data [...]

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HOW TO GET PREMIUM HOTEL ROOMS AT BARGAIN PRICES

Lately more and more hotels are offering discounts on rooms via members-only websites.  Some of the “deals”, however, aren’t much different from what’s being offered on the hotels’ own websites.  But two sites – Jetsetter.com and TripAlertz.com – make good on their promise to give users access to exclusive bargains.  Recently you could get a [...]

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FIND HIDDEN HOTEL FREEBIES

Hotel room prices are down from their peak – averaging $99 a night as of this past February, compared with a high of $109 a night in 2008, according to the data firm STR.  But a la carte fees, for everything from Internet access (about $10 to $15 daily) to parking (about $20 a night [...]

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HOW TO GET A FREE HOTEL ROOM UPGRADE

If you’re going to take a trip this holiday weekend, here’s a tip for you.  Hotels don’t want you to know this, but many of them give free upgrades.  According to an anonymous concierge, here is how it’s done.  The night before you check in, call the concierge for restaurant recommendations and casually mention how [...]

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2011 ANNUAL AIRLINE FLYERS’ SATISFACTION SURVEY

15,000 Consumer Reports readers told them about their experiences on 29,720 domestic round-trip flights in the previous 12 months.  Eight of the 10 airlines they rated received low scores for seating comfort.  Only JetBlue Airways and Southwest did better.  They also topped the list overall. Other quality-of-flight measures also got low marks from Consumer Reports [...]

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