Trax metacrawler launches with First Class Frenzy upgrade game

by Grant Martin on

The newest metacrawler in town, Trax, is wooing users with added incentive to abandon their old Kayaking ways: upgrades. The travel search engine, which is undoubtedly scrapping for market share, just launched First Class Frenzy, an online trivia game where you can answer a host of questions and virtually “move up to first class.” Winners of the online game will be entered in a drawing to win an upgrade on their next flight.

“What sort of upgrade” you ask? According to Trax knower of things Ani Custer, winners will receive one, one way, domestic upgrade good for a year on a major US carrier. One winner will be selected every month, starting on July 16th. Fair enough. If you’re not traveling on the carrier that Trax selects, you can always give away the certificate.

As far as how Trax performs as a search engine, the site has real promise. I just ran a comparison search from DTW – CDG for a week in July and Trax found a fare $75 lower (via vayama.com) than Kayak did. I’ll be sure to include it in my battery of engines next time I run a real search.

How to cheapen up your resort vacation

by Annie Scott on

Sprawling resorts like the Gran Melia Puerto Rico (pictured) are certainly elegant destinations — every convenience is right there and available for twice as much as it would cost anywhere else.

If you perchance find yourself at a luxury resort wishing the sunblock didn’t cost $18 per tube (actual price), or that you had a snack option that cost less than $9, this is the article for you. As the daughter of a frugal banker, I have a lifelong education in how to keep your daily spending low while on a luxury vacation.

The Gran Melia has a situation of pure profit brilliance: It’s located in Rio Grande at the end of a golf course with a driveway several miles long. So, what can you walk to? Nothing. Everything’s there; several restaurants, a casino, and even a swim up pool bar (God I love the swim up pool bar), but it’s a little bit “Hotel California.” Transportation to the airport is around $70 roundtrip per person … but guess what? Renting a car is around $65 per day.
This is typical in many resort destinations; it’s just plain cheaper to have a car, at least for a day. I recommend renting a car the day you arrive; you can subtract your airport transportation from the cost and feel very smart. Make sure you Google the car rental services available for online coupons to get the lowest possible price.

Here are other things you need to do that day you have a car:

  • Drugstore: You need a corkscrew or wine key, sunblock (because you need more than you’ll have been able to carry on, and I’m guessing you’re not the type who wanted to pay to check a bag), and bug spray. Did you remember toothpaste and all your bathroom stuff? Get it now if not.
  • Supermarket: You need room snacks. Make sure you get snacks you can close completely or tupperware containers to hold them; you don’t want bugs in your room. Also, as in the case of the Gran Melia, many resorts don’t allow outside food — and a bug onslaught would totally get you busted. Keep in mind that minibar space is purposefully tight at most resorts, and you might get charged just for moving stuff to fit food in it — don’t do that. Thin packages of cold cuts slide in easily over the bottles in most minibars. You should also pick up wine and beer. We’ll get to how to keep it cold.
  • Gas Station: Don’t forget to fill that tank back up or you’ll be charged. And if you’re really brilliant, you’ll go with a company who will give you a gas credit for staying under a certain number of miles (Avis does this), and you’ll stay under it. Even cheaper.

Another important tip for the rental car? Put it on a credit card that has auto rental insurance. That way, you don’t have to pay the extra fee for insurance to the rental company. You should also put your whole trip on a card that offers travel insurance; there’s just no reason not to. Citicards and many others offer both.

Okay, onto how to keep your wine and beer cold. Two words: Ice bucket. If you’re super ghetto, you can pick up a cooler at the drugstore and use your ice bucket to fill it, then hide it in your closet, but that’s a lot of work for vacation. I recommend just throwing a bottle of white wine, champage, or a couple beers in the ice bucket in the morning when you leave for the beach. It’ll be nice and cool when you get back. Also, note that if your resort is anti-outside food and drink, you’re gonna have to smuggle in the snacks and beverages. Make sure you take your suitcase with you in the car.

Next tip: Don’t be afraid of the free stuff! Take advantage of any amenities your hotel offers that are free. I’m talking about the pool, the gym, the beach, the breakfast, any special tours, whatever they have. Come clean to the concierge and ask them what you can do for cheap or free. It’s their job to help you! If there’s nothing at or near your resort worth doing that’s free, then what the heck are you doing there? Sometimes, the free stuff (for example: are there free drinks in the casino when you’re playing the nickel slots?) isn’t obvious — you have to ask to know.

Lastly, do as the locals do. I’m assuming you have no fear of the local drugstore and supermarket, but it might not be a bad idea to investigate the bus situation, cheap local restaurants, and what people who live there do for entertainment. Where do they shop? Is there a free festival going on while you’re there? The internet is your friend.

So, that should help you keep your daily expenses down. If you’ve got money to burn, burn it on nice dinners and special excursions — not on the minutiae for which a resort will want to nickel-and-dime ya.

You Deserve a Cruise: A place for finding cruise deals

by Jamie Rhein on

Back in January when I was writing about cruise line deals, I thought that if they are such a deal, I should go on one. That’s what I’m doing in August. My mom, son and I are heading to Venice in August to hop on MSC’s Musica Greek Island cruise. My mom and I were half price and had a free upgrade to a superior ocean view balcony room and my son is free. That’s right FREE. All children ages 17 and under are free with an accompanying adult on all MSC cruises, all the time.

Cruise lines are continuing to be a travel bargain thanks to a campaign held by Cruise Lines International. According to this article in Mercury News the campaign, “You Deserve a Cruise” is highlighting travel deals for later this year and on into next year. There are 23 participating cruise lines which means you can probably find a cruise that matches your tastes and your budget. Here’s a link to the Web site, plus you can check out the deals on the Web sites on the participating cruise lines. MSC is listed as one of them.

The article gives a rundown of some of the deals and perks and tells how to get them. Booking in advance is one way. That’s what we did to get our deal, plus the agent we worked with was able to snag us the better rate for an upgraded room.

The message is cruise lines want passengers and are willing to toss you incentives to tip you over to pulling out that credit card. I’m glad took the bait. I certainly deserve a cruise. And so does my mother. My son gets to go because the way I see it, his presence makes my share of the trip cost a real bargain. With kids’ activities on board, I’m assured some me time. With the money I’ve saved, maybe I will treat myself to a spa treatment. I deserve that too.

International CouchSurfing Day: Do you have a couch lined up?

by Jamie Rhein on

Ten years ago on June 12, CouchSurfing was born–or rather CouchSurfing.com was registered as a domain name and sleeping on the couch of people you just met became an organized system. More than just a way to hook people up with a free place to call it a night, CouchSurfing was created as a way to help make the world a better place.

See, if you stay on the couch of people who have agreed that they like people to stay on their couch as a way to get to know traveling types and expand their connections, the world becomes more friendly. When you make this a global scene, the power just grows.

As a person who CouchSurfed before it was conceived as an organized entity, I can attest to the value of staying with strangers. When I traveled across the United States with a friend of mine after we got out of the Peace Corps, we used our connections of friends to stay with their friends and family members. In most cases it determined where we headed and the experience created a sense that the U.S. was warm, welcoming and friendly.

Our couchsurfing found us staying in: Des Moines, Iowa courtesy of a home for wayward women; at a dairy farm in Vinita, Oklahoma, an itty bitty town; a bachelor pad in downtown San Francisco; and in a house near the beach in Carlsbad, California. At each place we hadn’t met the people before we showed up at their door (or they picked us up at the bus station). The rest of the time we stayed with friends of ours or my family members in various towns and cities in Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and California. Her parents sprung for the hotel room in Seattle and Vancouver and we tented it Utah and at the Rocky Mountain National Park.

That do-it-yourself couchsurfing experience has prompted me to welcome other people who have needed a place to stay into my home which has added to the feeling of expansiveness. It has also created a rich bank of memories of the people who have stayed with us who live in other parts of the world. One of them, Rita Goldman Gelman, author of Tales of a Female Nomad has made couchsurfing an integral part of her life. She stayed with her when we lived in New Delhi and we visited her two summers ago in Seattle.

Without our connections, there’s no way we would have been able to afford this trip and would have missed out on what helped me transition back into a life in the United States (until I moved overseas again).

Thanks to CouchSurfing.com people don’t need to rely on their own connections which might be a paltry number. The whole world is ones oyster thanks to an organized, Internet based system. To date there are 232 countries, 59,929 cities and 1,168,136 people who are registered with couches.

To celebrate International CouchSurfing Day you can also begin looking for a couch in a place you’ve always wanted to go–or offer someone yours. Here are two events happening to celebrate the occassion.

For more Gadling couchsurfing perspectives check out Brook Silva-Braga’s experiences in northern Europe and Tynan’s in Haiti. Neil also vouches for couches and has fond memories of an experience in Kazakhstan.

Gadlinks for Friday 6.12.09

by Brenda Yun on


It’s Aloha Friday as they say here on the islands — and a very special Friday at that! Today marks the beginning of the 62nd annual King Kamehameha Day festivities in Hawaii, so you can count on me enjoying the parade, draping ceremony, fun, and sun that lasts through the weekend.

Here are some other cool “happenings” going on in the travel blogosphere to jump start your weekend:

Have a great weekend, Gadlinkers. ‘Til Monday, aloha…

For past Gadlinks, click HERE.