How to Get Luxury Hotels for Cheap
Priceline.com has enhanced its same-day “Tonight-Only Deals” mobile booking platform.
The search for these last-minute deals — where prices can be as much as 40 percent lower — is now more straightforward.
Users enter their location and length of stay.
In addition to filtering the results by popularity, star level and proximity, the new “deals” filter also sorts all mobile exclusives to the top of the list.
The company has added over a thousand new properties around the world, bringing the total to over 4,000 hotel properties.
Source: NY Times
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Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 25)
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Fri Aug 14, 2015 5:27 pm
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
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winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Mon Aug 17, 2015 8:05 pm
Want to Travel When You Retire? 7 Tips on How to Pay for It
By Beth Braverman
Source: The Fiscal Times
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/want-tra ... 00296.html
By Beth Braverman
Source: The Fiscal Times
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/want-tra ... 00296.html
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
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winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Fri Aug 21, 2015 7:49 pm
How to get an upgrade in a hotel
By Sarah Schmalbruch
Source: Business Insider
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/upgrade- ... 34110.html
By Sarah Schmalbruch
Source: Business Insider
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/upgrade- ... 34110.html
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
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winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:05 am
10 Signs You Need a Vacation
By Joseph Mercola
Source: www.mercola.com
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1726931 ... campaign=3
By Joseph Mercola
Source: www.mercola.com
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1726931 ... campaign=3
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
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winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:07 pm
The Best Month to Vacation is Coming
By Dr. David Eifrig
September is the best month to visit many popular vacation spots. Right after the Labor Day rush, some vacation destinations – particularly beaches – offer discounts.
You'll find seasonal spots less crowded, making for a quieter vacation. On the downside, there are fewer activities going on during the "off" season.
We looked at booking an overnight stay in a few different beach towns and found savings of about 25% on the same room in September versus August.
Some hotels also offer senior discounts for the month of September. For example, if you're 59 and older, you can save 15% off a stay at Red Roof Inn.
We like using comparison sites like Kayak.com or TripAdvisor.com to find the best rates on hotels.
Source: ETR
By Dr. David Eifrig
September is the best month to visit many popular vacation spots. Right after the Labor Day rush, some vacation destinations – particularly beaches – offer discounts.
You'll find seasonal spots less crowded, making for a quieter vacation. On the downside, there are fewer activities going on during the "off" season.
We looked at booking an overnight stay in a few different beach towns and found savings of about 25% on the same room in September versus August.
Some hotels also offer senior discounts for the month of September. For example, if you're 59 and older, you can save 15% off a stay at Red Roof Inn.
We like using comparison sites like Kayak.com or TripAdvisor.com to find the best rates on hotels.
Source: ETR
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
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winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Tue Sep 01, 2015 5:36 am
How to Save $1,000 on Your Next Vacation by Marc Lichtenfeld
I've stayed in my share of fleabag hotels. When I was younger and had no money, it didn't bother me. And even if it did, it wouldn't have mattered.
Now, it bothers me a lot. I like to stay in nice places. So when I travel, I'm willing to pay a little more for a clean hotel where I know I'll be comfortable.
But at the same time, I don't like to pay a lot of money to stay in nice places. That's a problem because hotel room prices grew 5% last year and are already up 4.8% this year as demand outpaces supply.
But there are several ways you can save money on your lodging without having to stay in the Downtown Newark Motor Inn.
Rental by Owner
There are several companies out there that allow people to rent their apartments or homes to travelers. Airbnb and HomeAway are a few of the larger ones.
You search and book an apartment or house just like you would a hotel. When you search in a particular location and specify the dates you need, you are presented with the available options. You can view pictures, read reviews, etc.
This summer, my family and I went to Italy. In Rome, we didn't find a decent hotel that would allow the four of us to stay in one room. Rome is expensive, so it was going to cost us more than $400 per room per night for two nights. We booked a hotel that looked nice and was in a very touristy area.
But then we found an apartment on Airbnb for $250 per night. It was a two-bedroom that was a five-minute walk from the Colosseum, but tucked away in a charming residential neighborhood. It was clean and comfortable. The downside was there was no maid service or other amenities that you'd find in a hotel.
The owner was a lawyer and lived in the apartment next door. Although we never met her, we communicated with her several times by text message.
She even told us where to eat.
I don't know about you, but anytime I stay in a hotel and ask for restaurant recommendations, even if I preface it by saying, "I don't want to go to a tourist restaurant, where do the locals go?" I'm always sent to the tourist restaurant.
Our Roman host told us about a tiny place on a side street that has been around since the 1400s. There was no English on the menu and it was one of the best meals we ate in Italy. No hotel concierge would have told us (or even have known) about this little gem.
And best of all, staying in the apartment saved us $900.
Often, the apartment or home is not the owner's primary residence and is simply an investment for them, so it's not like you're crashing at someone's house.
To be safe, when using Airbnb or others, consider places that have lots of reviews (that are mostly positive).
Demand Satisfaction
You'd be surprised what being a squeaky wheel can get you.
On the same trip, we booked a very nice hotel in Venice, by far the most expensive hotel on our trip. It had a rooftop pool that my daughter was excited about and a rooftop bar that had the best view in Venice.
When we arrived, the first thing I noticed was the three police officers with machine guns on the dock. Then I saw the frogmen in the canal. The place was crawling with serious-looking heavily armed men.
When we entered the hotel, we realized that Michelle Obama was staying there.
As a result, the pool and bar were closed. We were not happy. I was paying full retail price and was not receiving all of the amenities. I explained that to the person at the desk when we checked in and when we checked out. She told me to contact the manager.
I did, asking for a 50% refund (I didn't think I'd get it, but I started high, figuring I could always negotiate lower). The manager wrote back and said it was the local police that closed off the pool and bar, not the hotel, so there was nothing he could do.
I'm very stubborn.
In my response back, while copying corporate executives, I explained that of course there was something he could do. He could give me the refund that I asked for considering that I paid full price and didn't receive full service.
Once again, he politely told me to screw off. So I went up the chain of command at this very international hotel company and almost immediately received a note back saying they would deposit tens of thousands of points in my loyalty account - enough for a free night at that very expensive hotel.
It may take some time and require being a pain in the neck, but if you have a legitimate complaint with an airline or hotel, it will often hand you a bunch of points to make you go away. It is tougher to get actual cash back, but the points can be useful for free nights, flights, upgrades, etc.
Airbnb saved me $900 on my last vacation, and making a lot of noise about how Michelle Obama kept my daughter out of the pool got me another few hundred off my next vacation.
You have to work a little bit, but it is possible to not spend a fortune on a vacation, even if you're going to expensive places.
Source: Oxford Club
I've stayed in my share of fleabag hotels. When I was younger and had no money, it didn't bother me. And even if it did, it wouldn't have mattered.
Now, it bothers me a lot. I like to stay in nice places. So when I travel, I'm willing to pay a little more for a clean hotel where I know I'll be comfortable.
But at the same time, I don't like to pay a lot of money to stay in nice places. That's a problem because hotel room prices grew 5% last year and are already up 4.8% this year as demand outpaces supply.
But there are several ways you can save money on your lodging without having to stay in the Downtown Newark Motor Inn.
Rental by Owner
There are several companies out there that allow people to rent their apartments or homes to travelers. Airbnb and HomeAway are a few of the larger ones.
You search and book an apartment or house just like you would a hotel. When you search in a particular location and specify the dates you need, you are presented with the available options. You can view pictures, read reviews, etc.
This summer, my family and I went to Italy. In Rome, we didn't find a decent hotel that would allow the four of us to stay in one room. Rome is expensive, so it was going to cost us more than $400 per room per night for two nights. We booked a hotel that looked nice and was in a very touristy area.
But then we found an apartment on Airbnb for $250 per night. It was a two-bedroom that was a five-minute walk from the Colosseum, but tucked away in a charming residential neighborhood. It was clean and comfortable. The downside was there was no maid service or other amenities that you'd find in a hotel.
The owner was a lawyer and lived in the apartment next door. Although we never met her, we communicated with her several times by text message.
She even told us where to eat.
I don't know about you, but anytime I stay in a hotel and ask for restaurant recommendations, even if I preface it by saying, "I don't want to go to a tourist restaurant, where do the locals go?" I'm always sent to the tourist restaurant.
Our Roman host told us about a tiny place on a side street that has been around since the 1400s. There was no English on the menu and it was one of the best meals we ate in Italy. No hotel concierge would have told us (or even have known) about this little gem.
And best of all, staying in the apartment saved us $900.
Often, the apartment or home is not the owner's primary residence and is simply an investment for them, so it's not like you're crashing at someone's house.
To be safe, when using Airbnb or others, consider places that have lots of reviews (that are mostly positive).
Demand Satisfaction
You'd be surprised what being a squeaky wheel can get you.
On the same trip, we booked a very nice hotel in Venice, by far the most expensive hotel on our trip. It had a rooftop pool that my daughter was excited about and a rooftop bar that had the best view in Venice.
When we arrived, the first thing I noticed was the three police officers with machine guns on the dock. Then I saw the frogmen in the canal. The place was crawling with serious-looking heavily armed men.
When we entered the hotel, we realized that Michelle Obama was staying there.
As a result, the pool and bar were closed. We were not happy. I was paying full retail price and was not receiving all of the amenities. I explained that to the person at the desk when we checked in and when we checked out. She told me to contact the manager.
I did, asking for a 50% refund (I didn't think I'd get it, but I started high, figuring I could always negotiate lower). The manager wrote back and said it was the local police that closed off the pool and bar, not the hotel, so there was nothing he could do.
I'm very stubborn.
In my response back, while copying corporate executives, I explained that of course there was something he could do. He could give me the refund that I asked for considering that I paid full price and didn't receive full service.
Once again, he politely told me to screw off. So I went up the chain of command at this very international hotel company and almost immediately received a note back saying they would deposit tens of thousands of points in my loyalty account - enough for a free night at that very expensive hotel.
It may take some time and require being a pain in the neck, but if you have a legitimate complaint with an airline or hotel, it will often hand you a bunch of points to make you go away. It is tougher to get actual cash back, but the points can be useful for free nights, flights, upgrades, etc.
Airbnb saved me $900 on my last vacation, and making a lot of noise about how Michelle Obama kept my daughter out of the pool got me another few hundred off my next vacation.
You have to work a little bit, but it is possible to not spend a fortune on a vacation, even if you're going to expensive places.
Source: Oxford Club
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
-
winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Mon Sep 07, 2015 6:17 am
China: Punchy new meaning to fighter pilots
After a series of flight disruptions by angry or unruly passengers, the media has revealed a new menace to air travel in the country: fighting pilots.
Two of them came to blows on the flight deck of a China United Airlines flight in June, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Few details such as the route the budget airline was operating, or how many people were on board were available.
The incident only came to light when it was mentioned in a Civil Aviation Administration of China announcement of CUA's penalty a 10 percent cut in its flying hours and a ban on new routes.
The airline sought to play down concerns, saying the pilots only had "some physical contact" due to a misunderstanding and denying it escalated into a fight, the report said.
But CUA said the pair had been grounded for six months.
Unruly passenger behavior regularly makes headlines in Chinese media as air travel booms, with unfamiliar or drunken travelers even sometimes trying to open doors in mid-flight.
The industry also scores poorly for customer satisfaction, with constant flight delays airspace is controlled by the military topping the list of complaints.
In January police detained 25 angry passengers who opened aircraft emergency exit doors before take-off after their flight was delayed by snow.
The previous month, a budget flight from Thailand to China was forced to return to Bangkok after a Chinese passenger threw hot water at a cabin attendant.
CUA has had a string of safety incidents this year, including three in June and July that "seriously violated regulations," Xinhua cited the CAAC as saying.
And the pilot of a Henan Airlines flight that crashed in 2010, killing 44 people, was jailed for three years for trying to land when he could not properly see the runway.
Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
After a series of flight disruptions by angry or unruly passengers, the media has revealed a new menace to air travel in the country: fighting pilots.
Two of them came to blows on the flight deck of a China United Airlines flight in June, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Few details such as the route the budget airline was operating, or how many people were on board were available.
The incident only came to light when it was mentioned in a Civil Aviation Administration of China announcement of CUA's penalty a 10 percent cut in its flying hours and a ban on new routes.
The airline sought to play down concerns, saying the pilots only had "some physical contact" due to a misunderstanding and denying it escalated into a fight, the report said.
But CUA said the pair had been grounded for six months.
Unruly passenger behavior regularly makes headlines in Chinese media as air travel booms, with unfamiliar or drunken travelers even sometimes trying to open doors in mid-flight.
The industry also scores poorly for customer satisfaction, with constant flight delays airspace is controlled by the military topping the list of complaints.
In January police detained 25 angry passengers who opened aircraft emergency exit doors before take-off after their flight was delayed by snow.
The previous month, a budget flight from Thailand to China was forced to return to Bangkok after a Chinese passenger threw hot water at a cabin attendant.
CUA has had a string of safety incidents this year, including three in June and July that "seriously violated regulations," Xinhua cited the CAAC as saying.
And the pilot of a Henan Airlines flight that crashed in 2010, killing 44 people, was jailed for three years for trying to land when he could not properly see the runway.
Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
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winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:21 pm
Have Fun in Cebu, Philippines
By Li Yen
Source: Epoch Times
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1764460 ... ampaign=10
By Li Yen
Source: Epoch Times
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1764460 ... ampaign=10
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
-
winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:42 pm
Discover Croatia—An Untouched Beauty of the Adriatic
By Li Yen
Source: Epoch Times
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1776204 ... ampaign=10
By Li Yen
Source: Epoch Times
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1776204 ... ampaign=10
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
-
winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
Re: Travel 02 (Jul 11 - Dec 15)
by winston » Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:19 pm
5 Things to Do In Tokyo
By Won Xue Li
Source: Epoch Times
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1870690 ... campaign=9
By Won Xue Li
Source: Epoch Times
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1870690 ... campaign=9
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
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winston - Billionaire Boss
- Posts: 112625
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am
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