E-Travel for Dummies

Why bother being your own travel agent on the Internet?
The ABC's of e-travel
Fear of buying online
What the experts say

Why bother being your own travel agent?

Convenience

The Internet has brought the world to our fingertips. Vacationers now compare airfares and routes -- even bid for hotel rooms -- with the click of the mouse. You can choose a vacation, research your destination, find the best airfare, book airline tickets, track frequent flier miles, reserve a hotel room, rent a car, get driving directions, check the weather forecast, and more.

Control

"It's all about putting consumers in control of their travel," says Michael Stacy, senior vice president of consumer marketing at Travelocity.com.

Cost Savings

If you like saving money on travel, the Internet is nirvana. Online, it's easy to compare prices offered by airlines, hotels, and tour operators for each component of your trip. Major Web sites compete to offer the most value, so Internet-only bargains abound--and they're often exclusive to a specific Web site. With a little checking, you might find the perfect vacation for hundreds or even thousands of dollars less than it would have cost had you stuck to old-fangled paper-based research. Nothing compares to the Internet for quickly gathering information or comparison shopping, and both factors have fueled the online travel explosion.

The ABC's of e-travel

Plan | Book | Prepare | Enjoy | Remember

Most people think of e-travel as buying an airline ticket or making a hotel reservation online. But if you think about all of the steps you go through when you take a vacation, there's a lot more to travel than booking a flight and hotel. Every journey has at least five phases and the Internet has much to offer in each one.

Plan your trip . . .

Today, there is so much destination-specific information available on the web that experts are asking "Will the web make guidebooks obsolete?" Use the wide variety of online travel guides now available to generate travel ideas. Then obtain detailed information on one or more appealing destinations before booking your trip. If you're planning a major vacation to an unfamiliar location, consider retaining a travel agent with the appropriate expertise to help you take from there.

Book your trip . . .

Your first stop. Travelocity and Expedia claim to be one-stop travel services, where you can do all the information gathering and booking you'll ever need. But these sites are best used to research published air fares - that is, the fares that airlines make available to everyone. Flight sections at both sites are extremely easy to use and both offer some nifty tools for finding the lowest fares. It is necessary to check both of them because Travelocity and Expedia use different software to access different reservation systems and therefore yield different results. They've also negotiated deals with different carriers. Besides airline information, both offer a ton of information on everything from packaged vacations to car rentals. Those functions are convenient for getting a general sense of the going rates but won't necessarily produce the best deals.

Your Next Stop. After you've researched the best published air fares on Expedia and Travelocity, you will to compare these prices against those offered by ticket consolidators such as Cheaptickets.com and Lowestfare.com. Consolidators buy large numbers of tickets from airlines at wholesale prices and then resell them at substantial discounts. If you're able to book at the last moment, you will also want to check out the last-minute discount deals offered by the major airlines and sites like SmarterLiving.com, Hotwire!, 11th Hour Vacations, and Site59.com.

Your Last Stop. Before you commit to buying your airline tickets, make sure you have a place to stay by reserving a room through TravelWeb or PlacesToStay. TravelWeb provides direct access to 38,000 hotels and resorts in 180 countries. The site offers information on price and availability, as well as special deals and photographs of most hotels. PlacesToStay lists more than 17,000 establishments, about half of them independents. You can check prices and availability and search by type of property, including B&Bs, cabins, and even campgrounds.

Prepare for your departure . . .

The Internet brings everything you need to prepare for your departure right to your fingertips. Use the links on this site under the heading "Before You Go" to handle the myriad details of pre-travel preparation. Use the web to renew your Passport, check customs regulations, buy medicine for sea sickness, order luggage, buy travel insurance, and much more.

Enjoy your trip . . .

More and more people are bringing laptop and held-held computers along on their trips. In addition, many hotels are beginning to furnish rooms with desktop PCs and Internet connections. The Internet provides a great way to stay informed when you reach your destination. Use the web to read an online newspaper, plan a day trip, or make reservations at a local restaurant.

Remember your trip . . .

Even after you've returned home from your travels, the Internet continues to offer value. Use the web to process your photos, find souvenirs you wished you had bought, but didn't, or locate an online source for that special treat that you enjoyed so much while away and now want to make part of your everyday life.

Fear of buying online

How risky is sending my charge card information over the Internet?

It's safer than you think. "There's never been a documented case of credit card fraud due to interception over a secure Internet connection," says Henry Harteveldt, senior analyst at Forrester Research, a leading Internet research company. And once you're at the site, your data as when you hand your charge card to a waiter. Besides, federal consumer protection laws cover you for fraudulent charges over $50.

Why not just research online, then call the airline to purchase?

Some deals are web-only, Harteveldt says. And a ticket online might be unavailable by the time you call. So, if the deal is a good one, don't delay between looking and booking.

What if I don't get my tickets, my flight is canceled or the site goes under?

When you buy your tickets, you'll typically get a reservation number and a customer service phone number on the computer screen or in an email. Use these numbers for any problems, even if you don't receive tickets or confirmation by mail. In almost all cases, as soon as you book, you're a customer of the airline, says Krista Pappas, director of Internet travel for Gomez, Inc., an Internet research firm. And the airline will honor your reservation.

When should I use a travel agent?

When you can't find an itinerary within your budget, compare prices with an agent, says Bill McGee, editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter. And let an expert sort out complicated plans. "I went to Morocco last year," says Travelocity CEO, Terrell Jones. "My itinerary was quite complex, so I used someone who really knew Morocco. I had a great trip."

-- Derek Burnett, Readers Digest

What the experts say

"There are some 10,000 websites devoted to travel. But there are only about a dozen that you really need to visit." Money Magazine

"Travel web sites: Look around before you book" Excerpt from Consumer Reports Travel Letter

"The Best of the Web" CNET's Favorite Travel Sites." CNET

"How Internet sites stack up against travel agents." Los Angeles Business Journal

"Internet Use for Travel." Travel Industry Association of America

"The pros and cons of booking reservations online." InfoToday

"Net Travel Nightmares - 5 Terrible Tales of Online Booking Gone Bad." CNET

"Surfin' Vacation Sites - Travelers use web sites to make plans and book tickets." InsightMag

"Plan your next vacation on the Internet." Medical Economics Magazine

"For discriminating travelers and potential Web advertisers, a group of travel sites offers much more than just discount airfares." BrandWeekOnline

"Gloves Are Off in the Fight Between Expedia and Travelocity." Travel Agent

"Navigating the Niche." Internet.com

"Booker Loyalty Lags As Online Travel Market Matures, Predicts Forrester Research." Forrester Research