The mother of all airline fee tables

by Grant Martin on

Air travel Masa Rick Seaney is seems to be just about everywhere these days, but I have to tell you, his website does come up with some good data every now and then. In addition to Farecompare’s ability to pluck out excellent airfare (the needle in a haystack analogy comes to mind), Seaney has more recently been commenting and writing on the industry on his personal website, RickSeaney.com

Just last week, Rick et al published a huge table of airline fees, containing all sorts of depressing information from reservation over the phone fees to checked bag fees to animal carry-on fees. He’s lined these all up against each other as a function of airline, where you can easily go down, pick your favorite (or ticketed) carrier and see how much your next trip to the airport is going to cost you.

Say you’re taking your family to Disney World this weekend and you have the choice between a 320 dollar ticket on Southwest or a 300 dollar ticket on American Airlines. Initially, you might jump on the 300 dollar ticket. But once you realize that you and your wife both have to check two bags, the kids check one each, the total price falls in favor of Southwest. And if if you have to change your ticket because Timmy got sick and you had to stay an extra day? Change ticket fees on Southwest are also free.

Make sure you take a look at Rick’s site if you’re ever on the fence between two tickets, and take a look at the booking engine while you’re out there.

Adventures in Hostelling writing contest wants your words

by Jamie Rhein on

If you have 150 to 250 of the very best words–whether funny, romantic, thought-provoking, etc. etc., but true–every last word of them, try out your wordsmith mettle by telling your hostelling story.

Hi-USA Golden Gate Council of Hosteling International is celebrating its 50th anniversary by throwing a contest. Here’s what you do:

  • Think of that story
  • Write it down in 150-250 words
  • Send it in by July 15

Simple, right?

For your efforts you could win:

  • the Grand Prize of one round-trip voucher for international travel on American Airlines valid through March 9, 2009
  • a Jury Prize of a Flip Video Camera (there are three of these)
  • or an Honorable Mention of a one-year membership to Hosteling International

All winning entries will be published in a commemorative publication.

By the way, the story does need to thematically highlight the mission of the Hi-USA Golden Gate Council. What’s that you say? It’s to help travelers “gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hostelling.”

Before you send in your ONE entry, make sure you’ve made it as entertaining, perfectly written, and as relevant to the purpose of hostelling as you can. For further details, click here. To enter online, click here. Let us know if you win. No prize is too small.

Total words of this post: 220

Six alternative uses for digital cameras on the road

by Grant Martin on

We’ve reached the point where high quality digital cameras have become pretty common. It seems that every few months or so the minimum number of megapixels going into cameras goes up a notch. I saw a 12 megapixel camera in the store the other day. What does the common tourist need a 12 megapixel camera for? And why doesn’t anyone seem willing to put greater than 3 megapixels in a mobile phone camera?

Many people don’t think of it, but that high resolution and extra large LCD is good for more than crystal clear photographs of the sunset in Maui. You’ve essentially got a photo and storage database inside of your camera that you can use to store and reference all sorts of info while you’re on the road. This can cut down on weight and logistics while navigating a busy street or on your own for a daytrip in a foreign city.

1. Map and guidebook page storage: Say you’re heading out to Soho in London and you want to take the map from your Lonely Planet along. The London book is so huge that you don’t want to carry it around and you don’t want to rip a page out because you borrowed the book from your cousin Eddie, so you’re buggered on bringing a map with you. But you can take a high-resolution photo of the map page then replay the photo during your travels, use the zoom tool and scroll around the map. Similarly, you can take photos of small sections of your guidebook to reference them later. Of course this only works if you have a few small articles that you want to bring with you — if you want to bring entire neighborhoods of data, you’ll want to bring the guidebook.

Photomaps also work for pictures taken on LCD screens. So if you Google map something back at the apartment and want to bring it with you, take a photo instead of tracking down a printer and wasting the paper.

2. Makeshift binoculars: Can’t see a sign three blocks away? Take a high resolution picture of the sign, go back to the image and zoom way in. Even the lower (5-6MP) cameras have better resolution than the human eye.

3. Data storage: Unless you’ve got some hifalutin software that downloads and posts your pictures off of your camera, most interfaces work by plugging in a supplied USB cable to your computer where you can open a folder and copy over your images. If you’ve got a fairly large memory card, you should also have a fair amount of space left over on the rest of the chip. This space can be used like a USB flash drive where you can copy trip essentials over like MP3s or a resume or even pictures from another person’s camera. You’ll just have to plug the camera back in when you get to your laptop or home computer to copy the files off.4. Makeshift flashlight: Fumbling around in the dark without your contact lenses trying to find your glasses? The LCD from your camera emits a surprisingly strong glow, especially in pitch black. If you turn it on to “Play” mode with a lighter image, you can get enough light to quickly find what you’re looking for in your rucksack without staggering to the door or waking up your roommate. You know you’ve done it with your cell phone before.

5. Directions home: If you’re in a country where you can’t speak the language or even read the alphabet well enough to pronounce it, try taking a photo of your address or your destination before you leave. If you get lost or tired, you can jump into a cab, show them the picture and they’ll be able to figure out where you need to go. I’ve done this several times in China and Russia and cab drivers have always been keen on the idea.

6. Convenience store communication: When pointing, gesturing and horrible pronunciation won’t work, nothing beats a photo to tell the cashier that you need a fifth of Don Q Rum or a pack of smokes. It’s amazing how communication can quickly break down from a gesture that you thought would be easy to transmit to confused floundering. Last month in Tokyo I went into a convenience store looking for a Denny’s (three blocks down — not recommended, for the record), and looked at the cashier and said “Denny’s?” while I shrugged. He looked at me, walked to the front door, turned around walked behind the counter, turned around twice then picked up a plastic spoon and gave it to me.

Just remember to keep your battery charged while you’re out on the road. Several friends I have switch their batteries every day to lower the risk of failure while out for the day. And try to keep your camera in your pocket while you’re drinking. I’ve dropped my Canon IXUS so many times that the inner electronics are about to explode out of the case.

Keep those cameras shooting!

Skype 4.0: “The biggest new release in Skype’s history”

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Skype, every traveler’s favorite internet-based phone service, last night unveiled Skype 4.0 beta, which Skype president Josh Silverman calls “the biggest new release in Skype’s history.”

The newest version of Skype will feature easier video conferencing, the ability to import contacts from your email, and records of past conversations displayed next to people’s names in your Skype directory. In addition, video chats, which make up about a quarter of all the calls made on Skype, will now allow picture-in-picture and greater space for texting or sending files while on a video call.

Skype, which was purchased by eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion (billion!), has more than 300 million registered users.

It is also one of the greatest things ever invented for homesick travelers on a budget– or so I’ve heard.

More here.

Megabus coaches to go double decker

by Grant Martin on

Competition for Chinatown bus service out in the Northeast remains high, with Boltbus, Greyhound and Megabus now elbowing their way into the market.

As each carrier tries to outperform the other in costs and amenities, we’ve seen new services like wireless internet, video screens and power ports incorporated into the coaches. I took a Boltbus between Washington DC and New York earlier this year and despite the internet not working correctly (which they claim to have fixed), thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Now Megabus is rolling out a series of new coaches that will operate all over the eastern corridor that feature all of the latest amenities and are double decker.

Sure, double decker buses don’t give you any extra comfort on the road (rather, you have less headroom), but there’s something quaint and fun about riding in the top floor of a bus, especially if you’re in the front seat. Megabus points out that this is an ecologically friendly alternative to driving yourself or flying — the fuel consumed per person on a double decker is only 0.46 gallons versus 2.75 to drive yourself or 3.73 to fly on a 737.

I still can’t figure out how the companies make money by offering so many low fares. On the bus I took earlier this year, there were no more than 10 people onboard. Their fares alone maybe could have covered fuel, but what about operating costs and paying the driver?

Regardless, try out the service while you can — the first double decker Megabuses are scheduled to travel between Washington DC and New York.