Six Web Travel Tools
Introduction
The internet has revolutionized the travel industry on every level. Would be travelers can gain a lot of knowledge about their destination before they even depart. Getting the best price for hotels, airfare and rental cars has become more likely, although more work is required. The downside is that with so much information out there, it can quickly become a case of information overload.
The “big three” travel sites, Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz, certainly have become quite popular and do have their uses. However, we should bear in mind their limitations: they don’t include all the airlines (with notable exceptions like JetBlue and Southwest), there are no user comments, their cancellation policies are more limiting and they charge booking fees. While I do surf these major sites, when planning a vacation, I’ve found that some of the best information comes from other sources, and some that people don’t necessarily associate with travel.
1-Trip Advisor
Trip Advisor is one of the more popular tools that I will discuss. This is a user driven site which focuses primarily on hotels. You simply type in your destination, and the hotels get listed. When you click on the hotel of interest, a series of reviews of the hotel from regular folk come up. Occasionally there are images as well from the reviewers. I find this especially useful as people don’t hold back, and are happy to tell the good and the bad. From roach infestations, dirty rugs and sheets, or smoky corridors, you can read about it all here in gory detail (or see the mold in the bath tub with the occasional user image). Also, good service, cleanliness and a nice pool get spotlighted as well from satisfied guests. It can take a while to wade through multiple reviews, but it is well worth it to me to avoid a hotel that doesn’t measure up.
Unfortunately, there are some limitations. Destinations that are popular, like Las Vegas or Orlando, have a lot more reviews than other out of the way places. Also, if a particular chain of motel has more than one location in a city (for example, there are two Embassy Suites in Las Vegas), sometimes the reviews of the hotel can be mixed in with each other from reviewers that didn’t pay enough attention to the address. Some less popular hotels may only have a few reviews, and they may not be from last month, or even the last year. Finally, be aware that no place can satisfy everyone all the time, so if there is one negative review among a pile of glowing ones, then you need to take it with a grain of salt.
Additional tools include a price feature that then launches browser windows for five sites to get an idea of the best price. Of course, you can always go directly to the hotel and see if they are cheaper directly. When I search in an area, you can click on the ranking, and get an idea of the top ranked hotel properties in the area, and limit the search accordingly. If there are many reviews, there is often a reason why someplace rose to the top. Also, there are forums and insider guides that will deal with the best places to eat, and insider tips for attractions. When they are there it is worth looking at, but this is not as fully developed, so the coverage is not as comprehensive.
2-Map Quest
There is no shortage of internet sites to get maps and directions from. Take your pick from Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and the like. If driving in an unfamiliar area, printing out turn by turn directions, with expected travel times and distances can be invaluable, particularly if you don’t have a GPS unit available. When I’m on vacation, I bring a whole folder of directions and maps to keep me on the right track. However, I’m sure that many folks limit themselves to the maps, and don’t use the other information that can be gotten.
What I really like about Map Quest is the information I can get about what is nearby a particular destination. By simply putting in the address of the hotel, and searching on restaurants, I can see exactly what eateries are nearby, how far, and which direction. When arriving late after a day of travel, knowing the options without having to start a trek can make the whole trip a lot more comfortable and less stressful. Other searches can also be conducted for other anticipated needs like other retailers or gas stations.
3-Travelaxe
After you’ve picked out the hotel to stay in, the next step is to get the best price on it. You could go to ten different web sites, enter the dates of stay, and write them all down taking all afternoon to do it. I’d rather let the computer do the work for me. A small download gets me the Travelaxe program. This then allows me to search for a hotel in an area at 10 sites simultaneously. Each search takes about one minute. However, this is time well spent as then you have a grid of the hotels in the area, and their prices at 10 travel sites are all laid out. Travelaxe sure beats typing in the same dates ten times, on ten different sites, just to find out the prices at one hotel. When deciding between more than one hotel, and cost is a determining factor, this tool can be particularly valuable in getting a great deal.
4-Fare Compare
With the price of fuel, the price of airline tickets has been rising. Especially if the dates of travel are flexible, you can see the price fluctuation in a fare between two cities as it varies by the month. This can help you decide the dates of the travel to get the best deal. Some months are notoriously more or less expensive for certain destinations. Fare Compare can also help to see if we should buy the tickets now, or wait and see if they are going down around the corner.
5-Yahoo Travel
After you have a list of potential restaurants, it’s desirable to see what people are saying about them. Unfortunately, Trip Advisor leaves us high and dry when we get the munchies. No matter though, Yahoo Travel has the information that we seek.
Simply search on the destination, and head on over to the travel guide. There are plenty of user reviews of the non-chain eateries in an area. Again, one or two reviews are hard to interpret, but when it’s written a dozen times how the food was prepared with canned vegetables, and the steak was like chewing rawhide and served cold, it’s enough to send any gourmand to the familiarity of a chain restaurant.
6-Google Earth
Google Earth involves a small download and install. What we get is a stitched together satellite view of the entire Earth. We are free to zoom in and out, and even tilt the view to get a different perspective. We can toggle on points on interest like hotels, restaurants and attractions. Look around to get an idea of the hotel grounds, how big a theme park is, or if the swimming pool is next to the airport. Also, it’s useful to see if we’re going to need to bring our binoculars to see the “ocean view” from five blocks inland behind three other hotels.
Conclusion
By using these tools to plan my next trip, I can get a whole lot more information than any guidebook is able to provide. While I may get criticized for leaving no surprises, there are always plenty when traveling, some good, and some better off forgotten. By using these six tools, you can put the odds in your favor that the memories will be positive.
--Jonas
Technorati tags:
google earth, internet tools, map, planning, software, travel, upgrade, web 2.0, web tools
The internet has revolutionized the travel industry on every level. Would be travelers can gain a lot of knowledge about their destination before they even depart. Getting the best price for hotels, airfare and rental cars has become more likely, although more work is required. The downside is that with so much information out there, it can quickly become a case of information overload.
The “big three” travel sites, Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz, certainly have become quite popular and do have their uses. However, we should bear in mind their limitations: they don’t include all the airlines (with notable exceptions like JetBlue and Southwest), there are no user comments, their cancellation policies are more limiting and they charge booking fees. While I do surf these major sites, when planning a vacation, I’ve found that some of the best information comes from other sources, and some that people don’t necessarily associate with travel.
1-Trip Advisor
Trip Advisor is one of the more popular tools that I will discuss. This is a user driven site which focuses primarily on hotels. You simply type in your destination, and the hotels get listed. When you click on the hotel of interest, a series of reviews of the hotel from regular folk come up. Occasionally there are images as well from the reviewers. I find this especially useful as people don’t hold back, and are happy to tell the good and the bad. From roach infestations, dirty rugs and sheets, or smoky corridors, you can read about it all here in gory detail (or see the mold in the bath tub with the occasional user image). Also, good service, cleanliness and a nice pool get spotlighted as well from satisfied guests. It can take a while to wade through multiple reviews, but it is well worth it to me to avoid a hotel that doesn’t measure up.
Unfortunately, there are some limitations. Destinations that are popular, like Las Vegas or Orlando, have a lot more reviews than other out of the way places. Also, if a particular chain of motel has more than one location in a city (for example, there are two Embassy Suites in Las Vegas), sometimes the reviews of the hotel can be mixed in with each other from reviewers that didn’t pay enough attention to the address. Some less popular hotels may only have a few reviews, and they may not be from last month, or even the last year. Finally, be aware that no place can satisfy everyone all the time, so if there is one negative review among a pile of glowing ones, then you need to take it with a grain of salt.
Additional tools include a price feature that then launches browser windows for five sites to get an idea of the best price. Of course, you can always go directly to the hotel and see if they are cheaper directly. When I search in an area, you can click on the ranking, and get an idea of the top ranked hotel properties in the area, and limit the search accordingly. If there are many reviews, there is often a reason why someplace rose to the top. Also, there are forums and insider guides that will deal with the best places to eat, and insider tips for attractions. When they are there it is worth looking at, but this is not as fully developed, so the coverage is not as comprehensive.
2-Map Quest
There is no shortage of internet sites to get maps and directions from. Take your pick from Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and the like. If driving in an unfamiliar area, printing out turn by turn directions, with expected travel times and distances can be invaluable, particularly if you don’t have a GPS unit available. When I’m on vacation, I bring a whole folder of directions and maps to keep me on the right track. However, I’m sure that many folks limit themselves to the maps, and don’t use the other information that can be gotten.What I really like about Map Quest is the information I can get about what is nearby a particular destination. By simply putting in the address of the hotel, and searching on restaurants, I can see exactly what eateries are nearby, how far, and which direction. When arriving late after a day of travel, knowing the options without having to start a trek can make the whole trip a lot more comfortable and less stressful. Other searches can also be conducted for other anticipated needs like other retailers or gas stations.
3-Travelaxe
After you’ve picked out the hotel to stay in, the next step is to get the best price on it. You could go to ten different web sites, enter the dates of stay, and write them all down taking all afternoon to do it. I’d rather let the computer do the work for me. A small download gets me the Travelaxe program. This then allows me to search for a hotel in an area at 10 sites simultaneously. Each search takes about one minute. However, this is time well spent as then you have a grid of the hotels in the area, and their prices at 10 travel sites are all laid out. Travelaxe sure beats typing in the same dates ten times, on ten different sites, just to find out the prices at one hotel. When deciding between more than one hotel, and cost is a determining factor, this tool can be particularly valuable in getting a great deal.4-Fare Compare
With the price of fuel, the price of airline tickets has been rising. Especially if the dates of travel are flexible, you can see the price fluctuation in a fare between two cities as it varies by the month. This can help you decide the dates of the travel to get the best deal. Some months are notoriously more or less expensive for certain destinations. Fare Compare can also help to see if we should buy the tickets now, or wait and see if they are going down around the corner.
5-Yahoo Travel
After you have a list of potential restaurants, it’s desirable to see what people are saying about them. Unfortunately, Trip Advisor leaves us high and dry when we get the munchies. No matter though, Yahoo Travel has the information that we seek.Simply search on the destination, and head on over to the travel guide. There are plenty of user reviews of the non-chain eateries in an area. Again, one or two reviews are hard to interpret, but when it’s written a dozen times how the food was prepared with canned vegetables, and the steak was like chewing rawhide and served cold, it’s enough to send any gourmand to the familiarity of a chain restaurant.
6-Google Earth
Google Earth involves a small download and install. What we get is a stitched together satellite view of the entire Earth. We are free to zoom in and out, and even tilt the view to get a different perspective. We can toggle on points on interest like hotels, restaurants and attractions. Look around to get an idea of the hotel grounds, how big a theme park is, or if the swimming pool is next to the airport. Also, it’s useful to see if we’re going to need to bring our binoculars to see the “ocean view” from five blocks inland behind three other hotels.
Conclusion
By using these tools to plan my next trip, I can get a whole lot more information than any guidebook is able to provide. While I may get criticized for leaving no surprises, there are always plenty when traveling, some good, and some better off forgotten. By using these six tools, you can put the odds in your favor that the memories will be positive.
--Jonas
Technorati tags:
google earth, internet tools, map, planning, software, travel, upgrade, web 2.0, web tools
posted by digitaldoc at 9:41 PM
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