Looking for impartial information on travel Web sites? Consumer Reports WebWatch has launched a revamped Web page at www.consumerwebwatch.org.
The site, affiliated with the non-profit watchdog Consumers Union, has a strong travel section offering ratings of airline, car rental and hotel booking sites; tips on booking flights online; and in-depth studies.
Benefits of bumping
If you are involuntarily bumped from an overbooked flight, here’s what you need to know: The airline is off the hook if it can get you a substitute flight that arrives at your final destination within one hour of your original flight.
But if your substitute flight is scheduled to arrive more than an hour later than the flight you were bumped from, you’re entitled to a refund equal to the price of your one-way fare, up to $200, according to Department of Transportation regulations.
If a substitute flight is more than two hours later, you’re entitled to double the fare you paid on a domestic flight, up to $400. The airline has more time to get you on a new outbound international flight: You get double the fare only if the new international flight is scheduled to arrive more than four hours later than the original.
The rules don’t apply to charters or flights on planes that seat fewer than 61 passengers.
Fliers shun time savers
Waiting at the airline counter takes 19 minutes on average, but nearly 60 percent of passengers still check in for flights that way despite faster options, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
A self-service check-in kiosk takes eight minutes on average, but just 18 percent of passengers use one. Another 10 percent check in at curbside, which takes 13 minutes.
Many airlines also let passengers print their boarding passes from the Web, but only 5 percent do. The rest check in at the gate.
Eating the Caribbean
Eat well while you’re enjoying the sun and the sand of the Caribbean this winter.
Bon Appetit’s February issue is recommending the dining scenes on five islands. They are:
– Puerto Rico, where a sushi bar called Dragonfly Too serves up sushi rolls with conch and hearts of palm.
– St. Maarten, where classic French bistro food is perfected at Le Montmartre.
– Nevis, where you can dine at the Montpelier Plantation Inn in a British colonial home.
– St. Lucia, where chef Paul Yellin, at the Kai Manje restaurant in Ti Kaye Village, draws on his Caribbean heritage for Creole-inspired dishes.
– Barbados, where you’ll want to try Sassafras Wine Bar & Grill’s version of fish and chips–coconut-crusted kingfish and spiced yucca chips–and the exotic kangaroo, ostrich and elk entrees at the Restaurant at Southsea.
