Travel&Vacation

AskEd & AnswerEd

Has airline service bottomed out? Will things get better the rest of the year? Or will airline quality continue its decades-long slide?

I was asked those questions recently, not by a visitor to SmarterTravel.com, but by the producer of a cable TV network. She had just seen a preview of the newly released Airline Quality Ratings report for 2006 and already had a guest lined up to say that next year will be better. She came to me while looking for a guest to argue that it will be worse, but lost interest when I expressed a “fair and balanced” position—and when she learned the only studio near my hometown capable of uploading a TV interview was five hours away from my house. But the questions are interesting, so I’ll answer them here, TV or no.

Airline Quality
(Read the full post about ‘Airlines: For better or for worse?’…)

It’s happened to everyone: After staking out the cheapest possible airfare, you book your flight, only to find a lower price for the same flight a few days later. If you’re like most travelers, you’ll be frustrated, but assume your airline won’t do anything to rectify the situation. But, some carriers will issue a travel voucher for the difference. Read on to see which airlines offer what.

Travel voucher

Southwest’s policies are the most flexible of any low-fare carrier, and as such, the airline allows you to re-book your ticket without a change fee to take advantage of the lower price. The difference in price can be applied to future travel on Southwest.

JetBlue, United, and US Airways will also offer travel vouchers if a fare goes on sale after you book, as long as it is the same
(Read the full post about ‘Can I get a refund if the airfare drops after I book?’…)

Ed Perkins on Travel

By the time you read this, you will have undoubtedly seen reports about the latest Airline Quality Rating (AQR) scores for 2006. They usually get a fair amount of publicity, and after this past winter’s major hassles, they’ll get even more attention than usual.

AQR scores are a weighted composite of published Department of Transportation data on on-time arrivals, denied boardings (bumped travelers), mishandled baggage, and complaints filed with the DOT’s consumer office. It is prepared by professors at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University and is based purely on statistics, not subjective surveys. Though AQR scores may help you choose an airline, what they really measure is airline reliability, an important factor in total quality.

The
(Read the full post about ‘Ratings, yes; quality, no’…)

Frequent Flyer Q&A

Dear Tim
,

My wife and I are frequent flyer members of US Airways. In March 2008 we plan to use our miles to fly to Tuscany. I would appreciate some guidance as to when to submit the request to insure securing the ticket.

Dan K.

Dear Dan
,

Most airlines first make award seats (as well as paid seats) available in their reservations systems 330 days prior to the flight’s departure date. The first time you’d be able to book seats for a flight departing on March 1, 2008, would be April 6, 2007. If you’re first in the queue when the seats come online, and the airline does in fact make award seats available for the flight in question, then you’re good to go.

The “book early” strategy is hardly foolproof, however. First, other flyers may be vying for that
(Read the full post about ‘When should I book my award ticket to Europe?’…)

AskEd & AnswerEd

Moving up from coach/economy to business and first class has always been something of a puzzlement—especially to travelers who don’t spend top dollar for a confirmed seat in the comfortable cabin. One reader recently put it this way:

“I don’t understand how upgrades work. Before boarding started on a flight from Atlanta to Honolulu, the gate agent announced that passengers could purchase an upgrade from coach to first class for $250, but only for those with tickets in booking classes B, H, K, M, Q, or Y. If I had paid $400 for my coach ticket, this would have been a bargain, because the regular first-class fare was $1,400. My question: When I buy a coach ticket, how do I know what class it is so I can decide whether I can upgrade, and if I can, how much it
(Read the full post about ‘Upgrades: Finding the right base fare’…)

At SmarterTravel.com, we’re big fans of booking early. Travelers who plan in advance typically get the best deals on airfare and enjoy a greater choice of accommodations. This is particularly true for summer, the peak travel season for many popular destinations.

If you’ve only just started thinking about your summer vacation, don’t stress—it’s not too late to put together a great trip.

National parks

Perhaps this is the year you’ve decided to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Or maybe you’re choosing between Yellowstone and Yosemite. Acadia also holds a strong appeal. Visiting a national park in summer is often a great time to go, as the weather is pleasant, park rangers increase their available programs, and activities abound. Whichever park you choose, a few
(Read the full post about ‘Expert secrets for a great summer vacation’…)

Taking the Kids

The teen was having a fit. He was hungry, and his mother had left to go to work. His father couldn’t calm him down and finally gave up trying. The teen stomped around, squawking. Sound familiar?

Except we’re not talking about humans here, but rather birds—a juvenile Nazca booby a few feet away from me on an island in the Galapagos that is home to more than half a million birds. The bay we’re anchored in—Darwin Bay at Tower Island (also known as Genovesa Island)—is in fact a caldera formed by an ancient volcano, and we walk around looking at more birds than I’ve ever seen in one place: red-footed boobies, blue-footed boobies, gulls and frigates, which ignore us just like teens often do. We hike up steep steps to the rim of the caldera and watch the
(Read the full post about ‘Taking the kids to the Galapagos Islands’…)

Seniors on the Go

If you’re age 69 or older and planning to rent a car in Europe this summer, make sure you find an agency that allows you to rent and drive a car. A reader recently raised this question:

“I am 73 years old, with an excellent driving record; I am planning to visit Europe next summer, and I will need a rental car to get to some places I want to see. I have heard that I may not be able to rent a car from the larger rental agencies because of my age. Is this true? And is there an age limit on the option of buying a car, using it for a few weeks, then reselling it to the leasing agency?”

For most of Europe, my reader will be in luck. According to the latest compilation I could find, senior travelers of any age can rent cars in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia,
(Read the full post about ‘Rental car age limits’…)

Need help tracking down a great travel deal? Then put our expert investigator on the case. The Deal Detective will sleuth out the best bargains that fit your needs. Come along as our travel gumshoe tackles his first assignment.

Dear Deal Detective:

I’d like to travel to Europe this spring or summer but I’m on a tight budget. My schedule is fairly flexible and I could even wait until the fall. I don’t have my heart set on one particular country over another, but I’m a little overwhelmed by the whole process of finding a good deal. Any suggestions on where and when to go?

—F.R.

Dear Reader
,

Bear in mind Europe is an awfully big place. It does help to have some idea of where you want to go because that narrows your search criteria considerably.

The good news is
(Read the full post about ‘The Deal Detective: Europe on the cheap’…)

Ed Perkins on Travel

SNCF-French National Railway made international news this month with a new world speed record of 357.2 miles per hour. Given the sorry state of railroading in the United States, the news caused many Americans to wonder if and when we could ever enjoy high-speed rail travel in this country. The short answer is that neither we, nor the French, will routinely travel at 357 mph anytime soon. But existing European and Japanese rail technology currently does 200 mph, with 250 mph on the near horizon. Our failure is a failure of will and money, not of technology. Here are some specific lessons we can learn from overseas.

250, not 350

The record-breaking French run was a test of the new TGV Est roadbed and signaling under extreme conditions, not a proving run for actual
(Read the full post about ’357-mph train: Will we see it here?’…)