If you want to travel anywhere over Christmas or New Year's, better book now.
Feasting on turkey aside, brace yourself for that other Thanksgiving ritual: joining a nationwide mad dash to make it to a family gathering and back in a journey that can exasperate even the most seasoned traveler.
The Thanksgiving holiday is not only one of the busiest times to travel but it's also the most expensive. And this year it will only get worse.
Planning to get away this Fourth of July? Better book fast.
There's no doubt about it: Airfares for this summer are higher than they were a couple of years ago, especially for business trips that don't require a Saturday night stay.
There's no doubt airline fees are one of the universe's most complained-about topics. Just say the word "fee," and you'll see the same look of disgust you'd see if you told anyone older than 20 that you like Justin Bieber.
updated: Mon Feb 07 2011 13:03:00
Genevieve Shaw Brown, Senior Editor at Travelocity, talks about how to avoid pesky airline fees on American Morning.
Doorbuster sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving are as traditional as turkey on the holiday itself, but you can get more than a killer deal on appliances during the shopping frenzy.
updated: Sat Nov 20 2010 15:45:00
CNN's Kate Bolduan looks at concerns over the more aggressive airport security measures.
The crowds. The lines. The security and scanning. The sprint to the gate. All of it can overwhelm air travelers -- especially during the holiday rush -- but it doesn't have to be that way.
Air fares are up dramatically this holiday season -- so there's no point in waiting for last-minute deals because they're not going to happen, experts say.
Terri Widder hesitated seconds before she booked a recent flight from Chicago to Tulsa. Something felt wrong.
Doug Miller's honeymoon flight to Costa Rica is canceled by US Airways, and he's left with only one option: a full refund. The airline later agrees to reschedule him on a flight the following day, but it won't cover his hotel bill. Is it allowed to do that? And is there anything he can do to make US Airways sweeten the offer?
That airfare you booked because it looked like a great deal can actually end up costing you 50 percent more because of extra airline fees, a watchdog group has found.
Colleen Farmer's flight to Mexico is rescheduled multiple times before she leaves on her vacation, but when she finally shows up at the airport, her airline demands an additional $948 for two one-way tickets.
Vacationers will follow the sun and the deals this summer, travel service companies say.
Joshua Smith's fiancee spends an extra day in Athens after her airline forces her to recheck her luggage. Whose fault is this snafu? Her online agent's? The airline's? Or hers? And what, if anything, can be done about it?
It used to be so simple: The price you were quoted for an airline ticket, rental car or cruise used to be the price you actually paid.
Waiting. That's the worst mistake a traveler can make these days.
As if traveling with the kids over the holidays weren't tough enough, this year we must contend with airline surcharges and swine flu, as well as all the usual annoyances and delays that go along with traveling -- especially with children -- during the busiest travel weeks of the year.
When Lulis Leal's family gets together for Christmas, she is usually sunning herself on a beach surrounded by palm trees and turquoise waters, with not one extended relative in sight.
updated: Mon Nov 09 2009 10:34:00
HLN money expert Clark Howard tells you where to find the best deals if you want to take a holiday vacation.
Ethel Schweitzer's husband falls ill before a trip to Las Vegas, and the couple cancels their vacation. Now US Airways wants to keep their money. Why can't it offer them a refund?
If you thought the travel bargains were unbelievable this year, just wait until 2010.
Even though Kim Ryan's airline just went out of business, her online travel agent assures her she'll still be able to fly to Hawaii for her honeymoon. But that doesn't happen. She's forced to buy a new ticket and spend an extra night on the island, and now the travel agency is dragging its feet on a refund. Can this honeymoon be saved?
Jamie Tuttle's roommate books tickets from Bahrain to Atlanta through Travelocity. But they never arrive, and when she's forced to pay for a second set of tickets, neither her online agency nor her airline seem willing to refund the first pair she couldn't use. After her credit card steps in and helps her recover the money, Travelocity sends her another bill. What now?
When Martha Schmidt tries to cancel her airline tickets, her online agent promises to help her reuse the credit quickly. But after eight hours on the phone and an email promising a response "within four to eight hours" she feels as if she's being stonewalled. Are her tickets missing in action?
updated: Tue Feb 24 2009 10:25:00
FareCompare.com's CEO Rick Seaney with travel tips for booking flights.
Christina Stansbury's fiance is headed to Las Vegas with his best man for a bachelor party. Or are they? When they get to the airport, it turns out their airline has stopped flying to Sin City, and now their online agency is balking at a refund. Can this trip be saved?
Even if you're not going to Fiji or the Maldives, accidentally ending up in a popular honeymooning spot while not actually on your honeymoon is easier than you think, especially with the abundance of all-inclusive deals online.
Susan Milette's online travel agent accidentally charges two of her credit cards for the same flights. A refund is promised, but it's taking forever. Is there anything she can do to move things along? And how could she have prevented this from happening in the first place?
Finally, some good news for traveling families.
Before Sophia Mei books a cruise online through Travelocity, her screen goes blank and she loses her reservation. Or so she thinks. A phone agent helps here complete her booking, but soon it's clear that she has two reservations for the same cruise. And before long, a collection agency is after her to pay for both tickets. What should she do?
Colleen Bosler prepays for a hotel at a ski resort during Christmas. But she misses her plane, forcing her to reschedule. The resort offers her credit, but she has to cancel her make-up vacation, too. The hotel is giving her until May to use the credit, or it will expire. Is that fair?
Is your flight about to be canceled?
It's been two years since Niel Bratteli bought a roundtrip plane ticket from Dallas to Boston for his son. The airline, ATA, stopped flying from Boston to Dallas and his online travel agency, Travelocity, promised Bratteli a refund. But countless calls and e-mails later, there's no sign of the money. What's wrong?
A couple of years ago, online travel-booking sites such as Expedia and Travelocity began issuing service-related manifestos -- the idea being that you could contact them with problems before or during your trip, much like you would a travel agent. But read further, and you'll discover that these are promises to provide good customer service, and aren't built to protect you from the fees and penalties you may incur due to last-minute cancellations.
When she was 15, Michelle Peluso talked her way onto a media tour to the Soviet Union and launched a jet-setting career. She became such an avid traveler that she made it her business. In 2000 she founded site59.com, a portal for last-second trip deals, with seed money from former employer Boston Consulting Group.
Travelers treat searching for hotel rates online like a game of roulette: try enough combinations (dates, locations, travel agencies), and you'll score the perfect one. But it's easy to forget that booking a room through an online travel agency means that if you need to change your travel dates or find a better deal, you may pay a penalty, often upward of $25. Add to this the fact that hotels don't reward loyalty points for stays reserved through discount booking sites, and that bargain-basement price doesn't look so appealing. Avoid pitfalls by following these approaches:
Dear FSB: I just started a home-base travel agency and I was wondering: how can I get people to my site?
As she boards a flight from Frankfurt to Philadelphia, a gate agent stops Frances Carter because her ticket is incomplete. She's sent on a sprint through a terminal, is forced to pay $125 for a replacement coupon, and almost misses her plane. Her online agent says the fee was unnecessary, and promises a refund. But many months and phone calls later, she has received nothing.
Do you ever feel as though making airline reservations takes longer than the flight itself?
When Delta Air Lines cancels the return portion of Sara Grimm's Puerto Rico getaway, Travelocity's fix is to refund her first vacation package and then ask her to book a completely new one. She does, but weeks later, there's no sign of the money she spent on the first trip. Should Grimm dispute the charges with her credit card -- or is there a better way?
I was wondering if I was wise to buy a condo during this period where the market is falling? -Chima
Startup: RedRoller
Last year "unmanaged" business travel hit a new high. Translation: Unless you work at some big honking company, chances are you're stuck booking your own trips. (And if you own your own company, pa...
Airfares rise and fall in ways that are impossible to predict -- until now, according to a company called Farecast. Its crystal ball is historical airfare data -- some 150 billion (and counting) "airfare observations" -- that the company uses to deduce whether prices will go up or down on a particular route. Farecast is just one of several Web sites taking aim at answering the age-old travel question of when you should buy an airline ticket. We tested the sites over the course of several weeks to answer an equally important question: Can they actually do what they promise?
See the travel secrets gallery
If you've got your heart set on a holiday trip, time is running out.
Stocks rose Monday morning amid a flurry of corporate dealmaking, but investors remained cautious ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting.
Wall Street got off to a mixed start early Monday as investors considered a flurry of merger news from companies in a variety of sectors.
Reports of several deals were in the air Monday morning, but stocks got off to a lackluster start as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting.
Buying an airline ticket has never been a simple task - the rules of the game are always changing. But if you know how the game is played, you'll have a better chance of saving money.
How to Fix a Hotel Room Nightmare
Yes, growing older does have a silver lining. But not every senior discount beats what young'uns pay. How can you tell a good deal from a crock of Geritol?
It's Internet boom time in Asia. From India to Korea, a robust online ad market is coming to life, gaming is huge, and tens of millions are connecting to the web at a rapid rate.
There's nothing more annoying than getting to the airport and finding out your flight is delayed. Or arriving at your hotel and discovering it is in the midst of a noisy renovation.
Does preparing for the holidays make you wish you could just hop on the next plane to Hawaii?
In a few days we're all going to be hitting the road to visit friends and family. This year 83 percent of holiday travelers are going to be piling into their cars.
Search aggregators and supplier Web sites are continually changing the rules of online travel, and staying on top of these trends can help you make the most of your online reservations.
Nicer Airplane Bathrooms!
Leisure travelers are finding it harder and harder to turn their backs on their personal tech devices while vacationing a survey conducted by web-based travel service Travelocity in connection with syndicated travel columnist Eileen Ogintz, revealed.
The message from the travel industry this spring: Americans are on the road again.
An active holiday travel season in the Northern Hemisphere and rough winter weather can sometimes mean some of the lengthiest flight delays of the year for millions of travelers, both in Northern Europe and the United States.
Alfred Dominick knew it was time to switch travel agencies when, during a business trip, he found himself stranded in Newport, N.H., without a hotel room. Turns out the agency had booked him into a...
Online travel stocks enjoyed a nice takeoff Wednesday after news that Cendant agreed to buy Orbitz for about $1.2 billion.
Remember these common sense points when you're looking into doing some traveling.
Wondering what to read on your next flight? Nothing short, we'd suggest. That's because many travelers will be spending more time aboard airplanes this summer, thanks to a rebound in air traffic th...
Wondering what to read on your next flight? Nothing short, we'd suggest.
Online travel giants are ratcheting up their spending to attract more customers. And that has Wall Street worried.
Pity American travelers. The deck seems stacked against them. The news overflows with stories of anti-American rants and terrorist threats.
For travelers, it is the best of times. Discount airlines are rapidly expanding, bringing their low fares, simple pricing, and perks like extra legroom and live TV to dozens of cities and hundreds ...
As the world's major hubs become bogged down with more security checks and with more travelers returning to the skies, jet stress is being driven to new heights.
Once focused on out-of-the-way airports and flying short distances, discount carriers are swooping into territory that was once exclusively dominated by majors. In the process, they're bringing fares down 30 percent to 50 percent compared with two or three years ago.
When booking a business trip or vacation online, most people spend hours concentrating on getting the lowest airfare or the cheapest hotel room just to save 10 bucks here, or 20 bucks there.
The airline industry will take another step in deregulation as the Bush administration prepares to phase out rules that determine how travelers purchase their tickets, according to a report published Friday.
--These days, it's been easier than ever to find a great travel deal: SARS in Asia and Canada, a backlash against the French that sent tourism in France reeling, a tough economy that left many Amer...
Your child is heading off to college, and you've devised a plan to pay the big bill. But as Marc Freedman, a financial planner in Peabody, Mass., says, "parents usually plan for the expense of coll...
Online booking sites were a boon to "rogue" travelers who didn't want to listen to a travel agent. Now sites like Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity want to cater to a business clientele, notably sma...
For truer car-rental price comparisons, head to Travelocity.com. Unlike Expedia and Orbitz, the site now quotes a rental price that includes taxes and fees. The service is especially valuable if yo...
Sure, browse the brochures for a glossy glimpse of paradise -- just ignore the prices. As with hotels, there's no reason to pay list. Here's how to get the most for your cruise dollars.
When Delta announced in March that it would eliminate travel agent commissions, and five major carriers followed suit, you probably figured the move would cost you money. You were right. Expect to ...
The internet is full of useful sites like Travelocity and Cheap Tickets, where you can find cut-rate air fares, but for the most part they're useful only if you already know where you want to go. I...
This was supposed to be the year of one-stop online shopping for airline tickets. No longer would we have to slog through countless websites to find the best deal, we were told. We could simply go ...
The dilemma is so sharp, it almost hurts: Companies are desperate to cut costs as the economy slows--Wall Street will murder them if they don't--yet reducing Net-related spending could put them at ...
A small landmark in the history of e-business came into being a few days ago on New York City's Madison Avenue. E*Trade, the big online broker--founded on the belief that brick-and-mortar retail br...
Forget air rage. Nowadays airport rage may be the more prevalent syndrome. One out of every four flights is delayed, canceled or diverted, according to the Department of Transportation (DOT), and f...
If it sometimes seems that there are more travel-related websites than places to travel to, well, it's indeed nearly the case: According to Web research group PhoCusWright, there are now more than ...
Getting travel advice from the Internet doesn't have to end when you leave home. With a cell phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) as your travel companion, you can tap into the Net for mapping...
The struggle between old-fashioned travel agencies and Internet travel sites such as Travelocity and Microsoft's Expedia has been among the bitterest of the collisions between the new and old econo...
It seems everywhere you turn, someone's getting a deal on an airline ticket. An auctioned fare. A last-minute fare. A dirt-cheap fare. For any particular flight, there are a multitude of ticket pri...
Though you'd be hard-pressed to find it on Travelocity, there's one vacation package that allows participants to journey back in time. Men's Week at the Golden Door is a high-priced sleep-away camp...
Your grandfather made his money in railroads. Your dad struck it rich in oil stocks. And you? You scored big with Internet phenoms.
It was a simple concept but a daunting task: scour the Internet to find the leading sites in every major personal-finance category. A team of six reporters spent two months doing exactly that.
AARRGH! It's an hour to flight time, and you're mired in traffic, miles from O'Hare. You're just about to drive down the median strip when--beep!--your pager goes off. Travelocity's Flight Pager is...
With companies cutting costs in order to boost earnings by every last penny, business travel has come under heavy scrutiny. Corporations have issued long lists of restrictions and slashed executive...
Why, despite the explosion of travel information on the Web, does it seem harder than ever to be sure you're getting a good deal?
With travelers increasingly booking plane tickets through online travel agents such as Travelocity, airlines are beefing up their own Internet presence. Their latest strategy is to allow frequent f...
Last year Web surfers booked over $900 million in travel reservations. That's less than 1% of the total travel market for 1997. But Jupiter Communications predicts that total online travel sales wi...
Long before packing his bags for a three-week summer vacation to Europe, Dave Hatunen traveled to the World Wide Web. He downloaded city maps and railway schedules, made plans for the theater in Lo...
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