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L.A. TIMES ONLINE TRAVEL RESOURCES I was asked if I wanted to provide a handout for my panel session: "Online Travel: Your Ticket to Cyberspace." Since I’m not sure exactly which websites I am going to mention I have put together a list of websites that I either use the most and/or think will be most useful to you. Most of these have appeared as "website of the week” in Johnny Jet’s Travel News, Tips and Stories weekly newsletter (so if you like them and want more don’t forget to sign up for it at JohnnyJet.com -- it’s free and all we need is your email address. Obviously, I can’t list all the sites I use and I am sure I am forgetting some – that’s why I created JohnnyJet.com in the first place – it contains links to 5,000 neatly organized travel websites. No need to type out each of these URLs because I have made a special webpage with this exact handout – simply visit: JohnnyJet.com/LATimes.html. BOOKING TRAVEL This handy resource lists a variety of online travel agencies like Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity … which help users search for the best deals for Air, Hotel, and Car Rentals one supplier at a time -- without having to insert your travel dates, times and cities more than once. OneTime.com is similar to BookingBuddy.com but users can search all its sites at once. I prefer doing it this way because once I click search all the sites open up and I can go one by one down the list looking for the best deal. Just be sure to have your popup blocker off. They do a nice job sifting through airfares by searching multiple resources. *Just remember there is no travel website that has the lowest price -- that’s why you need to search them all over and over. These two low-fare airlines are not on most search engines so if they provide service from your area, be sure to check with them. Also, sign up for Southwest’s "Ding Fares” which are limited time deal alerts. Sign up for their deal alerts, which inform users of hidden airfare deals and sale fares. AirTreks.com specializes in providing customized, efficient and affordable air tickets for complex international trips. This is the site to go to for a trip around the world. BTW: Sometimes a round-the-world trip might be cheaper than a round-trip ticket to Asia. Check it out: price quotes are fast. Find out which budget airline flies where. They cover 112 different countries, 123 airlines, 772 airports and 19,961 routes! By using this site I saved $200 on a ticket from Rome to Prague. If using Hotwire.com to book your travel, log on here first to find helpful tips and user feedback on their message boards -- including which hotels customers have been receiving when they booked rooms from Hotwire. It also has how much they paid for which date. Same as BetterBidding.com but their message boards specialize in tips for using Priceline.com. I like it to read or place a review on hotels around the world. PHONE NUMBERS AND WEBSITES I created a bunch of websites that are very useful for consumers as they list every Airline, Hotel, Car Rental and Cruise line phone number and website. It’s always a good idea to check with their sites as well as a live representative when pricing out trips. ALTERNATE AIRPORTS Another website JohnnyJet.com created that is helpful for planning travel is AlternateAirports.com. This lists all the major U.S. airports with the surrounding airports (by actual driving miles) that might just save you a lot of money by flying into or out of. RESEARCHING TRAVEL There are lots of websites that I use but I am usually surfing: Frommers.com, LonelyPlanet.com, RickSteves, FlyerTalk.com, EuropeForVisitors.com, SmarterTravel.com and of course LATimes.com/travel when researching trips. Some of these have message boards which can also be very helpful. MORE USEFUL WEBSITES Find out the expected security checkpoint wait times – but still show up 2-3 hours prior to departure just to be safe. Be up-to-date on the new 3-1-1 liquids rule for carry-on luggage (3-ounce bottle or less; 1 quart-sized clear plastic zip-top bag; 1 bag per passenger that needs to be placed in a screening bin). Currency converter. Find out how much your US Dollars equals in local currency and vice versa. I always check the 10-day weather forecast before leaving – you need to know what to pack, RIGHT? Curious about what you might be served on the plane? AirlineMeals.net have over 18,697 images from 535 airlines. Always check with the airline to find out if they are even offering food. Their world clock lists current local times around the world. This cruise tip calculator can help eliminate any surprise bills at the end of your trip. Just select your cruise ship, input the number of nights and how many people you're responsible for in your party, and presto! Log on to see live pictures from around the world. Users can see what is happening around the world right now -- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through thousands of cameras. This website should be bookmarked on every traveler’s computer. Users can translate passages of text or entire web pages in eleven languages (Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish) or quickly translate a page into their language of choice. The best part is that it’s free and easy. Looking for a wireless signal? Just type in your destination or airport code (domestic or international), then click on the more than 141,583 free and paid WiFi hotspots in 131 countries. Find out the address, cost and provider. This is a helpful website for international travelers. When you first log on it will identify what country you're from (if you log on from home). The next page lists every country by region (Europe, Americas, Africa, Asia, Oceania). Click your destination country, and learn the type of plug, socket, voltage and hertz that's used there. Not only can you see what type of adapter to bring, but you'll know if it’s okay to plug equipment into the wall without a transformer (if the voltage is different, you can’t). Has over 6,000 Manhattan menus online. That’s right: They've collected virtually every menu in New York, from the swankiest places like Le Cirque 2000 (Midtown East) to the dive pizza joints like Don Filippo’s (the best pizza on the Upper East Side). You can search easily by neighborhood, or by typing in your favorite restaurant or type of food. They also offer thousands of menus for Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington D.C. restaurants. This website brings up an excellent point. For years travel experts (including me) have been urging travelers to photocopy all important documents, such as credit cards (front and back), driver's license, travelers checks and passports, and to keep one copy separate from the originals and another with a loved one or friend back home. That way, in case of loss or theft they can quickly access phone numbers to cancel or get duplicates. I still do that but since the invention of scanners and web-based email I have scanned all of my important documents, and kept them on a web- based email account I rarely use (these accounts are free). That way I have another option. If you don’t feel that a web-based email account is safe, you can now store up to 20 MB (plenty of space) for $12 per year on this Australian site which was developed specifically to store digital photos of your passport, visas, airline tickets, driver's license, travelers checks and other travel documents. You can reserve a parking spot in advance at practically any U.S. Airport to guarantee yourself a parking space at the airport– and avoid worrying that the garage may be full. Looking to shed a few pounds (or keep that rock-hard body in shape). AirportGyms.com lists gyms, exercise clubs and fitness centers available in and around US and Canadian airports. Listings include the name, airport location, cost, hours, contact info, and facilities offered. Track a flight! Just enter the airline and a flight number to find out when it’s due to land. You can look up flights between almost every city. Track a flight, see their performance summaries, and even set up mobile and e-mail alerts. See live flight delay information from the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center. Travelers can arm themselves with historical data from the past year of airline delays. Therefore, airplane passengers can get a good idea of which flights, airports and times to avoid. (Air traffic activity follows cyclical patterns, so comparisons with the same month last year are often better predictors of performance than using last month's data). Click on their map to see a live radar of planes currently over the U.S. – it’s mind boggling how many there actually are. A Johnny Jet Tip: The best way to avoid delays is to take the first flight of the day. AvoidDelays.com proves that. It also shows visitors which flights are the most delayed, and gives real-time information on delays. See live airport radar of LAX and other airports throughout the country. And track any flight. STAYING IN TOUCH Skype is changing the world – especially for travelers. I now hardly use my cell phone when I travel overseas, because Skype’s rates can’t be beat. In addition, Skype is very easy to use. To get started you need a computer with high-speed internet. You also need a headset, which you can buy at any electronics store. Just tell the clerk you want to Skype, and he'll show you several options. I advise a small headset, so it won’t take up too much room in your suitcase (and it shouldn’t cost more than $15). Then log on to Skype.com, download the free software, create a Skype name and password, and follow instructions. You should add $10 (the minimum) to your Skype Credit, so you can start dialing international friends. Calls to another Skype user are free, but you can call any number in the world – including cell phones -- at ridiculously cheap rates. It’s usually about 2 cents a minute to call anywhere in the world -- and free for domestic calls. At those rates, there's no excuse not to stay connected to friends, business associates, or anyone you meet on the road. Thanks to GotVoice you can now have voicemails from either your home or cell phone sent to your email in a .wav file. That means you can listen to all your messages without calling your phone! Just log on to GotVoice.com, put in your kind of phone (cell or landline); your service provider; your phone number, pin, and which email to send the voicemails to. You can set it up to check your voicemail daily, on weekends, or just once. What I love (besides the fact that it’s free, and that I don’t have to waste time or money calling my voicemail while overseas) is the simple fact that if someone leaves me a special message I want to keep forever, I can easily download it to my computer. This could be one of the best websites of all time -- and all it does is give international callers an access number and instructions on how to call overseas for FREE! This can be used with any type of telephone (home, office or cell), to over 50 countries around the world and all 7 continents. There are no catches, no signups, no registrations, and there's unlimited calling 24/7. Just call an Iowa phone number. When it answers, continue to dial your international number as you normally would: 011, the country code, then the number. Cell phone users: Do not hit "send" -- the call will go through on its own. This really does seem too good to be true, but as far as I can tell there is no gimmick. Note: I tried calling once and all the lines were busy. I tried a few minutes later, got through -- and the line was crystal clear. The most popular question I get each week is what phone service I use when I am abroad. I travel with my laptop, and try to use Skype as much as possible. But I always bring my international (GSM) cellular phone, because I’m always on the go (Skype requires a computer and internet connection). Most U.S. cell phone companies don’t even have GSM tri-band phones, and the ones that do (like T-Mobile) charge way too much for incoming and outgoing calls. Instead of paying their high rates, save money and get your own GSM phone. It’s not expensive, and there are a couple of options. Renting is one, but it’s not worth the cost down the road if you plan on traveling internationally again in a year. I got my razr phone from Cellular Abroad. Before I leave for overseas, I have them send me a local SIM (Subscriber Information Module) chip for the place I'm headed to. I insert the chip into the phone, where it serves as the brain (it contains such information as the cell phone number, voice mail and call logs). The SIM gives me a local number, so no one needs to dial long distance to reach me. Best of all, when my friends and family back home call, it’s free. That’s right: All incoming calls are free in most countries! Another huge plus is that when I call them, it costs me no more than half what a U.S. cell company would charge. Beyond the savings, there is convenience -- plus the security of having a reliable cell phone. It’s nice to be able to access, or be accessible from home, wherever I am with one simple phone call. If you're like me, you probably go batty when you call an airline for a reservation and the automated phone system makes you wait forever just to find out which numbers to press to get in touch with a human. Thankfully Paul English, a co-founder of Kayak.com, has created a website that lists which buttons to press so you don’t have to waste time listening to annoying automation. There are over 500 categories, including credit cards, finance, government, hardware, insurance, internet, mobile, pharmaceuticals, retail shipping, software, stores, and of course travel. Have you ever been on the road, but the file you're trying to send is too big for your email? With YouSendIt.com, you can now send files up to 2 GB in size. What’s great is that they don’t put any annoying ads in the email, it comes with tracking so you can see if your mail was opened or not (you have 14 days from the time it was sent before it expires), and it can be downloaded up to 500 times! WEBSITES I FORGOT TO LIST ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Johnny Jet has been featured over 900 times in major publications, including L.A. Times, USA Today, Time, Fortune and the New York Times, and has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNBC, MSNBC, NBC, FOX News Channel, and PBS. JohnnyJet.com has been named "one of the top best money-saving web sites for travel" by Budget Travel Magazine, while the L.A. Times calls it "one of the top 30 essential resources on the Internet." Johnny's column, "Where’s Johnny Jet,” is published in Johnny Jet’s free weekly travel newsletter, as well as on Frommers.com. Johnny also hosts a "travel website of the week" for radio stations around the country (including nationally syndicated shows). He has written for USAToday.com, Boston Herald, and Coast Magazine. Sign up for the free weekly newsletter at JohnnyJet.com.
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