Hi,
Those are some good questions you have there. I'll give you my answers
based primarily in booking half a dozen trips online plus knowledge
based on a strong interest in travel and a fair amount of reading and
keeping up with travel news.
I'll go through your questions individually:
>>What do veteran online shopper/traveler know that I don't?
Of course, I'm not sure how much you know, but here are few facts that
not all travelers know:
-- Gone are the days when you could pay the travel agent and the
airline the same price for a given ticket. Airlines have sharply
reduced their commissions to travel agents, so it is not unusual for
travel agents to charge a fee (such as $20) on top of the ticket
price.
-- It is possible to get airline tickets for less than the official
price. You can buy what are known as "consolidator" or "bucket shop"
fares. These are tickets (bought from third parties) that the airlines
are getting rid of at a low price so they can fill up seats. These
tickets are much easier to get during off-peak travel periods (in
other words, you're going to have a hard time finding them by going to
Vegas over the holidays). Many consolidator fares don't give you
frequent-flier miles, and refunds can be hard to come by, so read the
fine print carefully if you go this route. It used to be that
consolidator fares were hard to get online, but now some of the major
online travel sites offer them. Look for links that say "special
fares" or something similar. Most consolidator fares are sold for
international travel, but sometimes they also are available
domestically.
-- If you compare several travel sites, you don't always find the same
prices. However, according to an article I read in Consumer Reports,
there's no one travel site that consistently sells tickets for less
than the others.
-- Sometimes, you can get tickets for slightly less on the web site
operated by the airline itself. I suggest using one of the major
travel sites for comparison purposes, then going to their airline site
itself to see if the price might be less there.
-- Some of the budget carriers don't sell tickets via the major travel
sites. (I think Southwest, which serves Las Vegas, is one of them.)
So even if Travelocity (for example) lists a price as the lowest fare,
it may be possible to get a ticket on an airline that isn't listed at
Travelocity.
-- Ticket prices can change rapidly. A few months ago, I was looking
for tickets so my wife and daughter could go to a family event. I
found a fare that seemed too good to be true, and once I verified in
about 10 minutes that the two could go at the times for which the
tickets were available, the tickets were no longer available. (As it
turned out, the fare was again available later that day, so I snapped
it up instantly.) If you see a great price, go for it as soon as you
can.
>>How can I make the best of use my time and money while shopping?
My main advice would be to spend a few minutes scoping things out,
perhaps looking at newspaper ads, to find out what the prices are that
you could expect (or call a travel agent and get a ballpark estimate).
Then if you find a price that seems like a bargain (a true bargain,
not a ripoff, that is), take it.
Also, different travel sites and airline sites work in different ways.
It's partly a matter of personal preference which one you use. Some of
them will list flights in order of cost, or of time, or by airline, or
some other criteria. And none of them that I've seen list all the
flights available. You may have to play around a bit if you're choosy
about your flight times or other factors.
Also, in the case of hotels especially, it doesn't hurt to make a
phone call to see if the online fare is the lowest available. During
off-peak times, especially, hotels are often willing to bargain.
>>What are common pitfalls and fine print to avoid/watch for?
The main one that comes to mind is to make sure that taxes are
included in the fares, room rates and other rates. The major travel
sites give you the total ticket cost before you finalize the air
purchases, but I've found that getting those total rates from hotel
and car rental sites can sometimes be difficult.
Also, pay close attention to refund policies. If you should have to
cancel your trip, you could be out big bucks, especially if it happens
at the last minute. Travel insurance is available to protect you, but
I personally have always thought it was too expensive.
>>What are the good travel sites?
Here are some of the major sites. I have had good luck using
Travelocity and the sites of the major airlines.
Travelocity
http://www.travelocity.com/
Orbitz
http://www.orbitz.com/
Expedia
http://www.expedia.com
OneTravel
http://www.onetravel.com/
>>What are the sites to avoid?
I would be careful about using Priceline.
http://www.priceline.com
You can get some good deals there, and it is a reputable company. The
big drawback is that with air travel, you don't get to choose the time
of day you travel. You could end up leaving at 8 p.m. the first day
of your vacation and return at 6 a.m. the final day, or the other way
around. You can also end up on flights with long and/or nonsensical
layovers. I've heard of people flying from Los Angeles to Salt Lake
City with a layover in Denver, for example.
If you don't care which hotel you're staying at, Priceline can be a
better deal, however. You can select hotels based on quality and
location but not the individual hotel itself.
>>>Since (I assume) travel agents are using different
>>>channels than what's available to the internet shopper,
>>>what options are available via travel agents vs. online
>>>shoppers and vice versa?
Actually, travel agents use the same airline databases as you do when
shopping online, and they don't have access to all that much more
information than you do.
The difference is that a travel agent may just happen to know about
some particularly good deals that you might not find on your own
without a lot of looking. A travel agent also may have some experience
in knowing which hotels to avoid and that sort of thing.
Travel agents also may be in a better position to offer package deals
-- air travel, hotel and car rental (if needed) in one package.
Sometimes these packages are priced for less than what the individual
parts would cost, but not always.
>>I know so little that I don't even know how to choose
>>my preference for a hotel or other activities.
I last traveled to Las Vegas a couple of years ago. Most all the big
hotels are on "The Strip," and there are some older hotels closer to
downtown. Most visitors prefer to stay on The Strip, and there are
shuttles and underground sidewalks so you can travel easily among
venues. (If you like big and flashy, The Strip is the place to stay,
but the area close to downtown is less expensive.) I stayed at the
pricy Luxor and thoroughly enjoyed it, but then again my expenses were
all paid for by somebody else.
In my opinion, you don't need a rental car in Vegas unless you'll be
traveling out of town. You can easily take a bus to anywhere in the
city for little money, and taxis are all over the place. Shuttles are
available between the airport and the major hotels.
Here are some good overviews of Las Vegas that should give you some
idea of the options available:
TripAdvisor
This is a great site. It includes user reviews plus links to numerous
articles.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g45963-Las_Vegas_Nevada-Vacations.html
Las Vegas Leisure Guide
Maps, price comparisons and more make this a fairly informative site,
although you're not likely to find much here in the way of critical
reviews.
http://www.pcap.com/lasvegas.htm
All Las Vegas Travel Guide
Another site kind of like the above one.
http://golasvegas.cc/
Going to Vegas
Another commercial site, but less gaudy than the previous two. (Of
course, what is Las Vegas without gaudiness?)
http://www.goingtovegas.com/
Las Vegas for Visitors
A good source for objective information, and you can ask questions in
the forum.
http://govegas.about.com
Las Vegas, NV
This site is aimed mostly at Vegas residents, but there's objective
information for visitors too.
http://lasvegas.about.com/index.htm
IgoUgo
This is my favorite travel site for finding out what real people think
about various hotels and destinations. (You can use the search box or
drill down through menus to find Las Vegas info.)
http://www.igougo.com
I hope you find this information useful. Bon voyage!
mvguy
Most of the above sites I already was familiar with. I also used the
following Google search term: vegas travel
://www.google.com/search?q=vegas+travel |
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