Southwest Cuts Philly Airfares

If you didn't know, Southwest is the airline to fly if you are looking for the lowest airfare and ever since May of 2004 they have been offering daily flights to Philly. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that since Southwest's arrival in Philly, other airlines such as US Airways have had to cut airfares to stay competitive. They go one to say that air travelers have saved as much as 1.2 million dollars on fare reductions because of SouthWest's arrival and claim that US Airways has had to cut it's airfares by 26%. Just goes to show that competition is good, well for the consumer anyway.

Airtravel May Mean Sacrifising Your Privacy

Remember a while back when the goverment contracted a company to collect and store private data of airline passengers and this data was then leaked to the public? Well the government is back at it again. In an article on CNN.com, the government plans on asking passengers for their name and birthdate before the passengers recieve their ticket, if the passenger refuses to do so then this may increase the chances of that passenger getting searched. If you don't think that is too bad well it doesn't stop there. The article goes on to report that they are planning on using a program that screens passengers by "transferring airline passengers' name records, which can include address, phone number and credit card information to a government database. The government computer would flag names on the watch list and identify passengers who would be asked to go through additional screening". When will they learn?

Websites With The Lowest Airfares

There is an article on USATODAY where the author researched over 100 different travel websites and travel agents to find the companies that offered the lowest airfares. I expected the article was going to list one good site to go to for the lowest fares but his conclusion is that "no single source will consistently return the lowest prices. He does however mention a site called Travelzoo that tracks any deals that are being offered and sends a message to the users who sign up for their website. I checked out the site and found out that a subscription to this newsletter is free. Even though the article closes by suggesting that to get the lowest fares you have to search through several site to get the lowest price, it is still worth checking out if nothing for the intersting advice it offers. Go to USAToday to read the whole article.

Homeland Security Changes Passport Requirements

Starting on January 1st of next year the Department of Homeland Security is implementing a change that requires all travelers that will be entering or re-entering the U.S. must have a passport to do so. This is a change from the current policy which allows travelers to show two forms of ID when traveling to places such as Mexico, Canada and Bermuda instead of applying for a passport. The changes are listed below.

-December 31, 2005: The requirements apply to all travel to or from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central America, and South America.

-December 31, 2006: The requirements apply to all air and sea travel to or from Mexico and Canada.

-December 31, 2007: The requirements apply to all air, sea, and land border crossings.

Cities Offer deals with "City Cards"

A company called Omniticket is producing electronic cards and booklets that offer admission to a number of attractions in selected cities for one low price. This price is substantially cheaper then the price you would pay for buying tickets to these attractions individually. The idea was first implemented in Baltimore but has since gained interest in other cities such as in Cincinnati, Kentucky, and several others. This seems like both parties will benefit from this idea, both the tourist industry and travelers. Read more about this at CNN.com

The SUV of the Airlines

Airbus Co. has released a new 555 passenger jetliner called A380 each having a price of about 197 million. They say this jetliner has 15-20% less operating cost per seat then a regular 747, and is roomer, has lower fuel burn and produces less noise. The only problem with it is it is so big alot of airports aren't designed to facilitate something of that size. Could less frequent flights with more passengers be the future of airline travel? Airbus A380

5 Destinations I Plan To Visit

So it's pretty obvious that traveling is one of the things I really like to do. That's the main reason I choose it as the topic of this blog project. Currently I am not able to do the amount of traveling that I would like due to working 32 hours a week, going to school full time, and of course the money issue. That's why my main goal when I graduate is to find a job that requires me to do alot of traveling. I know I won't be able to visit all the places I want to go to but here are five places I want to make sure I get to.

1) Tokyo, Japan- The main reason why I want to visit this city has to do with the culture and the people. Japan's culture is seen thoughout Tokyo, from the distinct design of their religous temples to the merchandise sold at the busy Ameyoko market. Check out Tokyo

2) Austraila- Gotta love the outback country. I've heard the wild life and scenary are amazing and definatly worth experiencing. Check out Austraila

3) Rome- You always see pictures of it but my friend told me that actually seeing the Sistine Chapel in person was one of the most incredable things shes ever seen. Amazing pics of the Sistine Chapel

4) Greece- Ancient Greek history is pretty interesting so I'd like to be able to see some of that culture in the surviving ruins of that time period. Greece ruins

5) Hawaii- Clear blue water, perfect breaking waves and beautiful weather what else can you ask for. It's been 2 years since I stopped surfing because it isn't worth it with the crappy waves we have but maybe if I took a trip to Hawaii I'd get back into it. On second thought I think I'm gonna move here. This is where I want to be buried (Hit refresh button when you get to page to get link to work)

Airline Goes Bankrupt, What Happens To My Airline Ticket?

It's hard to pick up the news paper or turn on the TV without hearing about another airline in financial trouble or on the verge of going bankrupt. Airlines such as US Airways, Delta, Continental, and American airlines are just a few of those airlines that have fallen into serious financial trouble but what about the consumer. If you book a flight on one of these airlines and that airline goes bankrupt before your scheduled flight your screwed, right? Well not entirely. Apparently ticket holders are protected by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act that was passed by congress after 9/11. See Your Rights With Bankrupt Airlines Under this act, "at a minimum, other airlines are required to transport displaced passengers (from the bankrupt airline) on a space available basis on the same day as their cancelled flights had been booked, and without significant extra charges" (they can't charge more then $25). This law is in effect up to 60 days after the airline goes bankrupt. Although this law helps the ticket holder out by giving him or her some rights, those "other airlines" are only obligated to offer seats that they have available. Also this law is set to expire November 18, 2005. After that date, it's back to the consumer gets screwed policy unless the law is extended. And no frequent fliers are not protected, so use them up as soon as possible. TravelSense.org Offers these tips:

-Think about taking out travel insurance that has supplier default protection

-Use a credit card for ticket purchases, you can refuse to pay for charges for services not rendered

-If everything else fails file a claim the bankruptcy court. (this just sounds like a ridiculously long process, I say just cut your losses)

Will Gas Prices Effect Your Travel

With gas prices expected to reach and maintain an average price of $2.28 a gallon this summer, how will this effect peoples plans for summer travel? Even in my every day travels to and from work, I've changed everything from what day of the week I buy gas(cheapest on Tues), to trying to handle all my errands in one trip (v8, I only get about 16mpg). So when I have to start paying $2.28 for a gallon of gas this summer is this going to stop me from going to the beach or paying a little more for that plane ticket to Amsterdam? Probably not and apparently I'm not alone. In a study done by AAA Higher Gas Prices, only 39% of people surveyed said they would take fewer trips this summer. Air travelers will also feel the effects of higher gas prices this summer. In March "American, Delta, Continental, United, Northwest and US Airways all signed onto three $10-$20 fare increases over the past month" Airfares Headed Up . The article suggests booking your flights early and get your tickets before prices go up even further. So how much will gas prices increase before we decide to spend our vacations sitting at home rather then going away, I think the oil companies are working on figuring that out.

Traveling The Cheap Way

This summer me and a buddy of mine are planning on going to New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, and Amsterdam. Two of the above places are definate but whether we are able to to do the third trip all depends on how cheap we can book the trip. So I did some research and found a couple good articles that offer some advice on getting the lowest prices on airfare which is usually the most expensive part of the trip.

The first tip I found in an article at EHow.com discussed which days of the week are the cheapest days to fly. Although different destinations had different days that were cheaper to fly on for the most part Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays were the cheapest days to fly.

Another thing I found pretty interesting while doing some research was a site for an International Student Identification Card. This card cost $25 to purchase and is available for students and faculty. But the cost seems far out weighed by the benefits which are: discounts on hotels, airfare, car rentals, and a bunch of other stuff. You also get medical benefits when traveling, and also Airline Bankruptcy Protection (might be good considering all the airlines seem to be tanking right now).

The Daily Vanguard had a pretty good article on flying cheap and one of the things they mentioned is that if you go to the airlines website you can find pretty cheap rates. I always went through Expedia, Priceline.com or one of the other third party services in the past. So I checked out U.S. Airways website, searched for airfares using the search by price option, and found that I could book a flight to Amsterdam roundtrip for $359. The only problem is the dates were really limited but I checked out other destinations and they weren't so selective. So it's definitly worth checking out.

Which Airline? It Used To Be About Price.

Deciding which airline to fly with used to be a decision based on who had the lowest price but as airline companies shift their focus from trying to make a profit to simply just trying to stay in business, reducing airfares has become a common answer to try and get more people to fly. The fact of the matter is that these lower airfares are just a bandaid to cover up the real problems with the airline industry. For example, US Airways reduced their airfares as an attempt to recover from bankruptcy but their service has only gotten worse. Immagine if you were one of the half a million passengers that were stranded, delayed or separated from their baggage over Christmas weekend while flying with them. "Check out US Airways Criticized Also Delta recently announced that in an attempt to cut cost they will remove pillows from their flights and would also replace in flight meals with snacks. Now I'm not too upset about losing the in flight meals(government grade food anyway), but I hope they will give us a snack filled with more then five little pretzels to hold us over for a six hour flight. The point is, when choosing a flight for your next vacation don't base your decision soley on price. Is saving $35 really worth losing your luggage for 3 days?

Buy Your Freedom

During my freshman year of college me and some buddies of mine decided to do some traveling for spring break. Since all of us were under the age of 21, staying in the States was not an option for us. So we decided to go to Cancun where they had a more relaxed drinking age. Even though we did have a run in with some crooked cops we did enjoy the extra freedom that Cancun had to offer. But when I use the word freedom I'm not just using it in the sense of what's legal and what's not . Visiting another country such as Italy for example, can offer you the freedom to explore amazing architectures of ancient Rome that other countries can't match. Website such as Expedia, Priceline and Orbitz help make this easy by offering travel packages that include hotel,air fare and car rental. If by chance you decide to go to Mexico, then I suggest checking out the U.S. Embassy's website before going. They're a big help if you happen get into some legal trouble.
U.S. Embassy (in Mexico)
Expedia
Orbitz
Priceline

Why is this blog so great?

I created this blog site to accomplish two things: first to complete the requirements of my Buad477 and second I wanted to host a place to discuss topics related to travel. Throughout the semester my posts on this site will recommend places to travel to, information on cheap travel prices and any other travel information I want to ramble on about.

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