So you think you bought the cheapest airfare? Well, airline best fare guarantees, which pledge to provide the lowest fare online or to reimburse you the difference, only occasionally measure up. I am going to pick on Delta Air Lines, where I am a Diamond Medallion Member, but the point applies to just about every other airline, too. Delta has its Best Fare Guarantee, which is designed to give you confidence that you can shop on Delta.com and get the lowest fare. However the Best Fare Guarantee has several restrictions that Delta can potentially hide behind. And, the technology behind Delta.com provides you with limited answers and sometimes poor-flight selections. Milan to Seattle Here’s just one example to illustrate the point about Delta.com not always ... Continue reading →
Your odds of getting a traffic ticket are greatest in Nevada, if the analysis of a motorists' rights group is on the money.The National Motorists Association has issued its second tally of states in which motorists are most likely to catch the spirit-deflating sight of flashing red lights in their rearview. Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Maryland round out the top five.The least likely states to get pulled over and ticketed: the wide-open roads of Wyoming, followed by Montana.New in this year's analysis (the NMA issued a similar tally in 2010) is a ranking of most ticket-happy metro areas. They are: 1. Atlanta2. Los Angeles3. Dallas-Fort Worth4. Miami5. New York6. Chicago7. Washington, D.C.8. Houston9. Orlando10. San DiegoBoth rankings are based on analysis of ticket-related Google search ... Continue reading →
Gasoline prices are in retreat. Many hotels are offering a free night's stay. And as Memorial Day nears — kicking off the summer travel season — More Americans say they plan to take a vacation this year summer than last, but many of us will stay at our desks.It's not just higher airfares and escalating hotel fees that will cause some Americans to forgo a summer getaway. The nation's nose-to-the-grindstone culture — which only intensified during the Great Recession— has resulted in many Americans leaving vacation days on the table. "Americans are a hard-working lot, and they're ambitious and have a lot of priorities," says Carroll Rheem, senior director of research at PhoCusWright, a travel industry research firm. Its survey of more than 2,000 U.S. ... Continue reading →
For some road trippers, rest-stop strategy is a science. How many stops do you plan to make on your trip? Which states have the best -- or worst -- rest areas? Should you risk getting off the interstate, or stick to the state-run stops?We can't help on the best options for your trip, but if you plan to hit the road this Memorial Day Weekend, we've got a list of rest areas you may want to avoid. USA TODAY asked foursquare, the mobile app that lets travelers "check in" at venues around the world, for a list of the rest stops with the most check-ins last Memorial Day weekend. Here's the top ten:- Delaware Welcome Center Travel Plaza (Newark, Del.)- Maryland House Travel Plaza (Aberdeen, ... Continue reading →
The understated Setai Fifth Avenue that has a Maserati as its house car grabs the No. 1 spot in a new Top 10 New York City hotels list.The ranking - specific for the month of May - comes from ReviewPro, a company that calculates hotels' scores by crunching data from the web.Budget travelers might look at this list as one to dream about, as all of the properties are high-end and high-priced. You can easily drop $500 a night, excluding taxes, at most of these 10 hotels.The most affordable hotel on the list is Distrikt Hotel, which is marketed under wallet-friendly hotel franchisor Choice Hotel's higher-end Ascend Collection brand. A quick check this morning on the hotel's website showed one room still available for Friday ... Continue reading →