Since this summer’s travel season looks as if it’s going to be the busiest in years, consumers need every bit of help they can to take the sting out of their vacation’s price tag.
Here are a few suggestions for those who’ve yet to make their mid- to late-summer plans.
– Frequent-flier miles. For travelers who have a stash of frequent-flier miles, Randy Petersen, editor of InsideFlyer (4715-C Town Center Drive, Colorado Springs, Colo. 90816; 800-333-5937) has this advice: “Don’t even think of using miles to go to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orlando or Las Vegas. The same is true for Boston, Denver, Phoenix or Seattle. These, along with Chicago, are all top places for people to redeem their awards, and those awards are pretty much already taken.”
But, on a more encouraging note, he advises looking for seats to Tucson, Ariz.; Key West, Jacksonville and Sarasota, Fla.; Indianapolis; Portland, Ore.; Nashville; Austin and San Antonio, Texas; and Milwaukee.
“Since San Francisco is hard, consider flying to Oakland instead,” Petersen recommends. “And Honolulu is tough, so think about flying to Kona. As for Denver, look to Colorado Springs as an alternative.”
Petersen also has some advice about international travel, suggesting that travelers look to new airline routes. That means Dublin and Edinburgh for Continental and the new seven-times-a-week service to Hong Kong that United Airlines is offering.
– Airline tickets. A good source of bargains for last-minute travelers is the Internet. American Airlines (www. americanair.com) has Net SAAver Fares–last-minute, round-trip deals that are posted every week to subscribers via e-mail.
International deals are listed on Mondays, domestic deals on Wednesdays. The e-mail subscription is offered for free.
Most flights originate at the airline’s hub cities of Chicago, Dallas and Miami. These deals are good for long-weekend travel from either Thursday to Monday or Friday to Monday or Tuesday.
American also offers discounted first-class fares every week. And the Web site offers tickets for longer stays.
Look also to U.S. Airways (www.usairways.com) and Continental (www.flycontinental.com) for weekly e-mail specials.
TWA (www.twa.com) has Trans World Specials and sends deals out periodically. Many of these airline sites also offer well-priced car-rental and hotel deals too.
For price-sensitive travelers, Priceline.com (www. priceline.com) is the newest source for airline tickets. A traveler logs onto this site, decides what price he would like to pay for a round-trip ticket, makes the request and guarantees it with a major credit card.
Within one hour for domestic travel and 24 hours for international trips, travelers can learn whether an airline has agreed to release a seat and which flights and routing are provided. Tickets are non-refundable, non-exchangeable and do not earn frequent-flier miles.
– Consolidator tickets. This is the time of year when consolidator tickets to major European cities can offer the best trans-Atlantic values around.
But the downside to these discounted tickets is that they are usually not refundable, transferrable or good for frequent-flier mileage credit.
These tickets are also typically non-endorsable, which means that in the event of a delay or cancellation, they cannot be used to travel on another airline.
Many travel agents will procure these tickets. However, for those who wish to do it themselves, one of the largest consolidators around is Council Travel (205 East 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10017; 800-226-8624; www.ciee.org).
– Adventure travel. For anyone who needs a rafting, climbing, caving, biking or sea-kayaking fix, the links provided by GORP, the Great Outdoors Recreation Pages (www.gorp.com), could be useful. It’s a quick way to find out which companies still have space on a bike trip to the Tetons or a hike in Maine.
– Hotels. Weekday and weekend hotel discounts exist, but consumers may find they have to ask for them.
The same is true for discounts provided for members of automobile clubs like the Automobile Association of America (AAA) and organizations like the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
Hotel brokers can offer larger discounts of 10 percent to 50 percent off the “rack” or published rate at select city and resort properties throughout the country. Here’s a short list.
Accommodations Express (801 Asbury Ave., Ocean City, N.J. 08226; 800-444-7666; www.accomodationsexp.com)
Branson Nights Reservations (P.O. Box 2321, Branson, Mo. 65616; 800-329-9999; www.branson-nights.com) works just with hotels in Branson, Mo.
Capitol Reservations (1730 Rhode Island Ave. N.W., Suite 1114, Washington, D.C. 20036; 800-847-4832; www.hotelsdc. com) deals only with properties in the Washington, D.C., area.
Central Reservation Service (505 Maitland Ave., Suite 100, Altamonte Springs, Fla. 32701; 800-548-3311; www.reservation @america.com)
Express Reservations (3825 Iris Ave., Boulder, Colo. 80301; 800-356-1123; www.express-res.com) works only with hotels in New York and Los Angeles.
Hotel Reservations Network (8140 Walnut Hill Lane, Suite 203, Dallas, Texas 75231; 800-964-6835; www.180096hotel.com)
Quikbook (381 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016; 800-789-9887; www.quikbook.com)
San Francisco Reservations (22 Second St., San Francisco, Calif. 94105; 800-677-1550; www.hotelres.com)
