Travel [Preparation, guides, reservations, help, maps]

Preparation (Getting started, travel conditions, area sites)

Seniors lose out on airline perks

GETTING STARTED


• Tourism Offices Worldwide Directory
• World tourist information
• World travel brochures
• International Travel Information
• Ecola: Travel (visitors' bureaus, magazines)
• Events & festivals
• City Search
• Museum Network (33,000 worldwide)
• Offbeat tourist attractions (roadsideamerica)
• U.S. National Scenic Byways
• JourneyWoman
• Savvy Traveler [public radio program]
• "Traveling in Style for Less"
• International Student Identity Card [museum discounts]
• Embassies in Washington, D.C.
• Newspaper links [local information]

  TRAVEL CONDITIONS
  

• Do's and Don'ts for air travel (TSA)
• U.S. State Department Travel Warnings
• Foreign Entry Requirements
• Centers for Disease Control travel information
• Health information
• Disaster Information Center
• [See help for weather and currency rates.]

  SAMPLER OF AREA SITES
  

• O’Hare & Midway Airports info
• Chicago Office of Tourism
• Enjoy Illinois
• Canadian Tourist Commission
• New York City visit
• Paris tourism

Guide books

GUIDES

• ExxonMobil Guides
• Frommer's
• Fodor's [pricier than Frommer's]
• Time Out [very descriptive]
• Michelin
• AAA
• Lonely Planet (student level) [very descriptive]
• Let's Go (student level)
• Rough Guides (student level)
• Rick Steves' Europe (independent travel)
• Insiders' Guides (U.S.)

Reservations (airlines, airports, rail, bus, hotels, restaurants)

WEB DEALS

• Vitual Tourist [deals and discussion]
• Travel Zoo [top travel deals]
• Travel Hero

AIRLINES
Some "wonderful" fares have steep charges for changes/cancellations.


• Do's and Don'ts for air travel (TSA)
  • Qixo [online comparative searches]
  • SideStep [tool for comparative searches]
• Travelocity
• Expedia
• Orbitz
• Airlines of the Web [a list of direct sites]
• Southwest Airlines [separate reservation system]
• CheapTickets (& hotels) [discounter]
• OneTravel (& hotels) [discounter]
• TravelNow (& hotels) [discounter]
• Opodo [European airline site]

  AIRPORTS
  

• Flight Arrivals and Departures
• OAG (flight status)
• QuickAid (airport information)
• Guide of Airport Rental Cars

  RAIL
  

• Amtrak
• VIA Rail Canada
• Eurail
• RailEurope
• Eurostar (London-Paris, London-Brussels)

  BUS
  

• Greyhound

  HOTELS, B&Bs, PRIVATE HOMES, RENTALS
  Check discounter and hotel chain sites, and also telephone the hotel.
  Some "wonderful" rates have steep charges for same-day cancellations.
  

• TripAdvisor [unbiased reviews of hotels]
• HotelDiscount!com [discounter]
• Hotels.com [discounter]
• Octopus (hotels worldwide)
• Quikbook [discounter]
• Hot Rooms in Chicago [discounter]
• Budget Hotels and Youth Hostels
  See airlines for additional hotel sites.
  B&Bs
  
• Bed and Breakfast
• InnStar (ratings of B&Bs)
• Best Inns (North American, Caribbean B&Bs)
• InnPlace (B&Bs)
  PRIVATE HOMES [minimum age of 50]
  
• Evergreen Bed & Breakfast Club [$15 night]
• Elder Travelers [exchanges]
• Senior Vacation and Home Exchange [exchanges]
  RENTALS
  
• CondoSaver [apartments]

  RESTAURANTS
  

• Zagat (recommendations)
• Gayot/GaultMillau (recommendations)
  See guides for additional restaurants.

Help (useful numbers, maps, translations)

USEFUL NUMBERS

• Weather (forecasts worldwide)
• Currency Converter [exchange rates]
• Local Times around the World
• How far is it? (world distances)
• ZipFind (distance between two Zip codes)
• Help For World Travelers (modem guide, electrical guide, dialing codes)
• E-mail addresses and phone numbers

  MAPS
  

• MapQuest!
• Maps on Us
• Lycos Road Maps
• United Kingdom Street Maps

  TRANSLATION
  

• Language-translation Dictionaries
• yourDictionary (in many languages)
• Online Dictionaries and Translators

Professor Avi Bass (abass@niu.edu), Northern Illinois University.

NewsPlace™ since 1996 ©azb 2012

NewsPlace associate for travel: Elizabeth Bass.