Travel.

I know a TON about traveling. Though I don't do much of it myself- I like to plan vacations that I can't take... yet! Weird. I know.

People are always asking me to help them with their travels. Let me start out by saying, I started a company for this type of thing. Making hotel arrangements for sports teams that travel that is. I know even more about hotels- how to get the best rate, which hotels will "give" you more and how to get more.

I do not book air travel because I am not a travel agent. What's the difference between a travel agent and what I do? An Iata (International Air Transportation Association) number. An iata number is kind of like a tax id number, it is specific to that company.


Some tips:
BOOK FOURTEEN DAYS IN ADVANCE. (Sooner if possible.) If you don't book in advance the airlines will take advantage of you.

BOOK DIRECTLY THROUGH THE AIRLINE. The reason I say this... in the event you can not make your flight, for whatever reason, you will have an extremely difficult time getting a refund or making any changes to your ticket.

TRAVEL DURING THE WEEK. You'll get better prices when you travel during the week to certain hot spots. Most airlines give you the "MY DAYS ARE FLEXIBLE" option. Which means you can search with in a three day window (30 days max). Using the flexible option will allow you to see what days are least expensive.

This one I'm not sure about- someone told me that the amount of tax you pay, depends on the time of day you fly. I am not sure that this is true or false. I have not noticed this before, and I have traveled from 6:00 am as late as 9:00 pm.

GET A FREQUENT FLYER NUMBER, even if you aren't a frequent flyer. The miles WILL add up, and then you'll get a free flight. You have nothing to lose. They email you once a month to let you know how many points you have. There are also plenty of credit cards out there that earn X amount of points for every $1.00 you spend.


To ensure I am getting the best price, and before I waste a ton of time, I go to: Cheap Tickets. They will always show you the cheapest flight. Most of the time, it's American Airlines.

Price Line makes you enter your credit card information- just to CHECK their flights. Then, they secure which ever flight they want, and email you telling you what they have booked for you.

I tried booking on Cheapo Air and had several problems. Several... problems. Thus the reason I book directly through the airline company itself.

Also, I sign up with Travel Zoo. Once a week they email me with flight deals, hotel offers, discounted tickets to events in Vegas, deals on car rentals, etc. They remember your location and send you emails in specific to your area as well. I live in Dallas, so they send me deals for baseball tickets, or flights in and out of DFW.


Here are some links to airlines that I check:
American Airlines
www.aa.com

Southwest
www.southwest
(Southwest does NOT fly everywhere. They don't fly out of DFW. So flights will be a little more expensive.)

Northwest
www.nwa.com

AirTran (which is NOT ATA)
www.airtran.com
(Their flights always have a layover.)


I always book American Airlines. They are the least expensive, I haven't ever had any problems. The planes are... alright. I've always had a good experience with the staff. (Though I'm usually traveling by myself, pregnant, and with at least one child!)