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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 Tips & Tricks from the Experts" 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. I have been receiving Travelzoo�s Top 20� list since it first launched back in 1999. They feature some amazing deals from more than 600 travel companies, which list their very best offers with them. The secret: jump on these deals the moment (every Wednesday around, 11AM EST) the email arrives in your inbox because the Top 20 list is sent to over 11 million subscribers. 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. What's also cool is that Kayak has a Buzz feature which allows you to look at other users' searches and see the best fares they've discovered. 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. Are you sick and tired of paying huge hotel bills? It's especially bothersome when you're a solo traveler and you don't take up that much room. Well then, listen up -- CouchSurfing.com might become your favorite travel website (besides JohnnyJet.com, of course!). CouchSurfing is a non-profit organization dedicated to a global community of over 400,000 members. The site was developed so that everyone can travel the world and partake in cultural exchanges for free, by providing access to couches across the globe that you can crash on. The one thing that troubles me about the site is this fact that it states: "We have 223 unique countries represented (including Antarctica)". Umm ... not so. The fact is, according the UN, there are only 193 countries in the world so some of their "destinations" must be insane in the membrane! All kidding aside, CouchSurfer users can pick and choose whom they want to host or meet. And they have a verification system implemented for safety. To host members, someone has to vouch for you and you can only be vouched for by someone who's already a CouchSurfing.com member. Essentially, it's a trust circle. 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 travel.latimes.com when researching trips. Some of these have message boards which can also be very helpful. CrankyFlier.com I'm a huge fan of travel blogs and I recently subscribed to the CrankyFlier blog when I met the founder, Brett, at a media event at LAX. Brett describes himself as an airline dork and I appreciate an honest man. I'm one too and like Brett, I revel in going to LAX to see planes take off and land. Be sure to check out Brett's website and newsletter for airline news and no, he doesn't just post cranky stories. Besides, you've gotta love a guy who volunteers for Travelers Aid. MORE USEFUL WEBSITES Now why didn't I know about this site all those times when my hotel wake-up call never came? Well, now I do and that won't happen anymore because this free service will be my backup from now on! All you have to do is log on to their website and plug in the date and time (in Eastern, Central, Mountain or Pacific) you want to be awakened. It even allows you to type a message, which will be repeated back to you when you pick up the phone. The automated voice that greets you is kind of creepy. When I answered the phone, the Freddy Kruger voice freaked me out until I realized what he was saying. But hey ... at least I got my wake-up call and my reminder message! You can also use it to call attention to important events, as a reminder to take medication or my favorite - you can use it as a great escape from a boring date or meeting. 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? 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 226,508 free and paid WiFi hotspots in 135 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 6,400 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, South Florida 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 $15 AUD ($13.50 USD) 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. Someone asked me yesterday if I knew whether or not there was a nonstop flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Hartford, Connecticut (BDL). I knew American used to offer this service but wasn�t sure if they had done away with it. So I logged on to AirTimeTable.com and put in the names of the two cities. Sure enough, they stopped. AirTimeTable.com lists almost all the flight possibilities between these two cities and, for that matter, any two cities in the world. So before booking your tickets using an online travel agency (hopefully, you are using JohnnyJet.com to book your trips!), log on to this website to find out what the most convenient and fastest way to get there is ... it lists flight times. Then log on to the travel agency sites to find those same flights. Note: The most direct route could, and probably will, be more expensive. Here's a very cool new website that I urge you to check out. From the creator of Hotwire.com, this site helps travelers organize their plans. As we all know, there isn't just one website out there that offers the best deals all the time. That's why I created the Johnny Jet travel portal. When shopping around for the best price, most people end up booking flights, hotels, car rentals and various activities all on different websites. Printing all of those itineraries and confirmations is not only a waste of paper, but it gets confusing, too. This is where TripIt.com steps in. All you have to do is email your confirmations to plans@tripit.com; once they receive your bookings, they'll email you a link to view your full itinerary. It takes no time at all and it really works! I just did it and was pleasantly surprised; they threw in maps, weather forecasts and links to useful tips, including links to check-in online. Not long ago, I wrote about MileMaven.com, a site that helps travelers find airline bonus mile offers by searching airlines or routes. Now, newly created is PointMaven.com, which will help you to maximize your bonus points while your feet are firmly planted on terra firma. It specializes in providing information on which hotels are offering bonus point promotions. The database, updated daily, contains info on thousands of hotel properties and promotions. All you have to do is enter in a domestic or international city or airport code, and you'll be presented with a list of the promotions and offers, plus a cool map of all hotels. It even tells you how far the hotel is from the airport. Very handy! For those who prefer to travel by train or ship, you must bookmark this website. It was created by Mark English, an Englishman and career railway-man. He has worked for railways or train stations for most of his life and loves to travel by train and boat. He has ridden on trains and ships all over the world and now, he's created a site to help passengers do the same. His site provides info on travel within the UK and Ireland (including train times and fares) and shows how to travel from the UK to destinations all over Europe (including London to Cyprus). There's info on trains in Asia, Africa, America and Australasia. In case you're wondering, he came up with the site's name because he always traveled in Eurostar's first class. He would reserve seat 61 (in cars 7, 8, or 11) because this seat is one of a pair of individual seats with a table that actually lines up with the window. It's knowledge like this that helps him achieve his goal of ensuring that people can travel over land comfortably and affordably-- even to places where you might have thought that air was the only option. Time Magazine said it best �Looking for a more frank and detailed appraisal of a hotel than most guidebooks and official websites provide? Check out HotelChatter.com.� When I am preparing for travel to international destinations, one of the first websites I check out is the U.S. Department of State�s Foreign Entry Requirements page. It has a listing of what�s required for U.S. citizens traveling to foreign countries for work or vacation. I also always check out the country�s embassy webpage as well, which is listed on this website. Be sure to find out what�s required well in advance because entry to some countries requires visas, immunizations, medical insurance, and/or your passport needs to be six months or more before its expiration. Are you planning to rent a house for a family vacation? Ever wonder what the neighborhood is like or, even worse, if there are any sex offenders living nearby? Well, thanks to FamilyWatchDog.us you can find out. All you have to do is enter an address and FamilyWatchDog shows registered sex offenders in detail, including the criminal�s mug shot, their address and a description of his or her crime. You have to love technology � except of course, if you�re a sex offender. 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. Have you ever discovered too late that a friend or colleague of yours was traveling to the same destination as you? Doesn't that suck when you realize afterwards that you were in the same place at the same time? Especially when you both swap tales of boring dinners alone at your respective hotel restaurants. Well, thanks to Dopplr.com's new online service for frequent travelers, those scenarios are out the door! Dopplr.com allows you to privately share your travel plans with a group of friends and colleagues of your choosing. You'll then be notified when people you know will be in the same city as you. It also reminds you of people who live in the places you're planning to visit. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up now - it's free! 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 by either getting your own GSM phone or having your T-mobile phone unlocked and switch out the SIM (Subscriber Information Module) chip. 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. Before I leave for overseas, I have them send me a local SIM 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! JUST FOR FUN How would you like to watch and control your own television while you're traveling? Well, that's exactly what I do when I'm on the road. And if you forget to record a show on your DVR, don't worry! Just do what I did a couple months ago when I was in Hawaii and I forgot to record my wife's favorite show. I fired up my Slingbox on my laptop and within a few minutes, I had saved myself a lot of grief! You'll never be bored again when you have a long layover at the airport. Just log onto the web and fire up your own TV and away you go! The Slingbox allows you to watch and control your favorite TV source from anywhere in the world on your laptop or cell phone. Simply hook the Slingbox up to your DVR, digital cable, satellite receiver or DVD player, then hook it up to your at-home Internet, download the software and you can watch your home television wherever, whenever. Set-up is easy but even easier if you log on to slingmedia.com for the simple (and funny!) instructions. With the Slingbox you'll never have to be separated from your favorite TV shows and sporting events again. The audio and visual quality is awesome and you can watch your home television anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. There are three versions of the Slingbox that range from $129 to $229 and yes, if you have HD, the Slingbox has an HD version! Do you think you are one of the world's most traveled people? My friends thought I was but I kept telling them they were crazy. Even with all the travel I do, I wasn't even close, not even by a long shot. Case in point: Log on to MostTraveledPeople.com. Founder Charles Veley is a retired software executive from San Francisco. After cashing out in 1999, he spent his time and earnings traveling the world. He set up the website and according to their members, the world is made up of 673 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups and major states and provinces. Just to be clear: there aren't 673 countries in the world. The United Nations lists 193. But to visit all 673 of the places Charles lists on his site would be to go "everywhere". Charles is listed at the top, having visited a whopping 629 of them. I, on the other hand, have only been to 102. I know - I'm a slacker. Actually, I checked out some of Charles' travels and that man hops around way too much. By the looks of the dates of his travels, as recorded on his site, Charles sometimes went to four places in one day! That's crazy. I keep reminding myself that traveling is not just about putting pins on a map (though it is fun and I still stare at my map every day). My goal is not just to set foot on the soil of a particular place but to really see it, understand the culture, the people, the food, everything. But don't get me wrong! I'm still envious of Charles and I have some serious catching up to do! By the time I'm 80, I hope to have all 673 pins on my map. You have to check out this cool new web site that incorporates the genius of Google maps! Just like its name says, a.placebetween.us will find a place to meet right smack in the middle of any two given destinations. Users simply have to enter in their address or zip code followed by their friend's address, then choose where would you like to meet. It can be anywhere ... at a hotel, movie theatre, bowling alley ... you name it! I entered in the zip code of where I grew up in Connecticut (06854) followed by my current LA zip code. The halfway meeting point turned out to be in Fredonia, Kansas, just outside of Wichita. I'm not sure that I want to grab a coffee with my brother all the way out in Kansas, but now, at least I know what the halfway mark is. This cool online tool doesn't just work for US destinations - foreign countries work as well. This website is designed for pilots and offers hourly- updated maps and forecasts of air turbulence all over the world, with a focus on US-based flights. Some of the maps on TurbulenceForecast.com have numbers, which indicate the altitude that the advisory is for, while others show the degree of severity by using different color shades. The good news is that pilots have this information before they fly and they do everything they can to avoid it. They even get turbulence reports from the planes in front of them. When I was a kid, turbulence used to scare the heck out of me but I got over it when a pilot I was sitting next to calmed my nerves by saying, "Don't worry. Just think of turbulence as a bumpy road and everything will be fine." He reassured me that nothing would happen to the plane, that they're built to withstand turbulence and that it's really not a big deal. That's why the flight attendants never look scared. He went on to say that the only time turbulence can be dangerous is when passengers don't have their seatbelts fastened. That's why travelers are always encouraged to wear their seatbelts when they're seated because sometimes, pilots have no idea when they will hit the rough stuff. I know I always do. Happy travels! WEBSITES I FORGOT TO LIST ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John E. DiScala (a.k.a. Johnny Jet) travels over 150,000 miles and visits over 20 countries each year. He and his website JohnnyJet.com have been featured over 1,000 times in major publications, including USA Today, Time, Fortune and The New York Times, and he has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, 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 10 essential travel resources on the internet." In the May 2007 issue of Outside Magazine, Johnny Jet was touted for having one of the world's best "dream jobs". Every week, Johnny hosts a "travel website of the week" for several radio stations around the country, he writes weekly for Frommers.com and he has written for USAToday, The Boston Herald and Coast Magazine. Sign up today for Johnny Jet�s free weekly travel newsletter below.
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