The savvy traveler: Tips of the trade (Part 2)

Story and photos by Bob Schulman

Memo to do-it-yourself trip planners: There's a quick way to find out which airlines can take you where you want to go. Visit passrider.com (a site used by airline employees to help plan their trips) and simply enter the city you're flying from, your destination and the day you're leaving. A screen will come up showing uncluttered, one-line listings of all the flights between the cities you entered, their routings (including connections, if any) and how long they take. Once you've picked the most convenient flights you can start checking fares on the websites of the listed carriers.

A tip: You can speed up the process by entering the International Air Transport Association's three-letter codes for each airport. If you don't know the codes, you can find them on iata-airport-code.com.

Good seat, bad seat: Some airlines let you pick your seat online before the flight. Before making a selection, you can find out which seats are good and which are bummers (limited legroom, non-reclining backs, located next to a restroom, etc.) by entering your airline and flight number on this easy-to-use site: seatguru.com.

 

How about a cruise?: You can find just about anything you'd like to know about 25 cruise lines on the website of the Cruise Lines International Association, www.cruising.org. What's more, the site describes the beaches, shopping areas, local restaurants, historical landmarks and other attractions awaiting you at 270 ports of call around the world from Acapulco to Zanzibar.

What a deal: Coach passengers on international flights can enjoy some of the luxuries of business class for a relatively modest add-on to their fare. If you're heading overseas, ask your airline if they offer a “premium economy” class (a separate cabin of a half-dozen or so rows between the plane's business and economy sections). Features of the smaller section typically include wider seats, lots of extra legroom and a personal entertainment system with a long menu of movies, games and TV programs screened on the back of the seat in front of you. Other perks: a choice of entrees at meal times and sometimes even free booze.

You'll pay more than the coach fare for all this, but a lot less than the business class fare.

Mix-and-match fares: Not too long ago, the cheapest fares on most airlines required roundtrip bookings on the same carrier. Now, with mix-and-match one-way fares coming into vogue, if Carrier “A” has a flight leaving at a time that works best for you, and Carrier “B” comes back at the best time, their combined fares might be the same – sometimes even less – than the roundtrip tab on either airline. Let booking sites like www.expedia.com do the math for your.