$25 off JetBlue flights and no pay until April 2010

Here is an exciting offer from JetBlue. You can save $25 on your next JetBlue flight. Only one $25 discount is permitted per person. Although you can book flights until December 18, I suggest you do it right away. Click the JetBlue ad below or here to start shopping for cheap flights. Happy Flying!

Bill Me Later Offer!
We are excited to announce the launch of our Bill Me Later Offer! When you use Bill Me Later you can save $25 off your tickets for holiday flights! This offer takes place TODAY Wednesday, December 9 until Friday, December 18 11:59 PM EST. Hurry and post the below creative to take advantage of this great promotion!

Please see Terms & Conditions for detailed information. Offer ends December 18, 11:59 PM EST.

Holiday Shopping - Get Your Travel Points

Surely you are not one of those people that are already finished with your holiday shopping. There are countless deals out there in cyberworld. I want to make sure that you remember to "earn" as many points as you can.

As I prepare to buy anything online, I visit rewardsdb to see what mile/point values are awarded for my desired vendor. For instance, if I intend to buy something from eddiebauer.com, I see how many miles per dollar each airline (hotel, etc.) program will award.

I use this process because I have several accounts that I can add points to. If you have only one (or just a couple), it may be easier to go directly to the source and buy. By the source, I mean the point issuing website and not the vendor. For instance, logon to mileageplusmall.com and link to the Eddie Bauer website, in order to receive United Airlines miles.

Besides earning bonus points, holiday shopping gives consumers a great opportunity to keep accounts active. Billions of points expire annually from inactive accounts. You do not have to travel to keep your account active. You can spend as little as $1 (buy a song on iTunes).

There are many promotions also. US Airways has a 250% bonus, in addition to the other earned points. To qualify, you need to buy from 5 separate merchants.

If your miles are going to expire and you do not want to buy anything, or you have the holiday spirit, you can donate your points. Make-A-Wish is one charity that can really use any donation of frequent flyer points. Check your desired airline's website for more charities and suggestions.

I intentionally did not go into much more detail in this post. There are other websites and people that cover this topic better than I. For all things related to optimizing travel, I frequently visit FlyerTalk.com. A mileage guru that you should follow on Twitter is Gary Leff.

© 2009, Charles McCool

Trip Ideas - Travel Awards

Last night I read the latest issue (Nov. 2009) of one of my favorite travel magazines, ITN. They just announced a new award for travelers; the Phileas Fogg award. The award is so new that it is not yet listed on ITN's website. The concept of qualifying for an award seemed like a decent blog post. Some travelers need an inspiration, a challenge, to get outta town.

ITN travel awards are available only to subscribers and represent travels to a certain number of places. There are awards for visiting all 7 continents, all countries in Africa/Europe/CentAm/SoAm, all 24 time zones, and more.

Here is the complete list of ITN's travel awards and requirements:

• Phileas Fogg - visit destinations from "Around the World in 80 Days"
• 100 Nations - visit 100 of the 195 listed
• Quarto Mondo - visit 49 countries
• Travel is My Forte - visit 40 countries
• World Traveler - visit the 40 most popular nations
• ITN Globetrotter - visit the 20 most popular nations
• 24 Time Zones
• Continents - separate awards for 6 and 7 continents
• Following the Equator - 13 countries at the center of the world
• All of Africa - all 53 countries
• Half of Africa - 27 of the 53
• All of Europe - all 44 countries
• All South America - 13
• All Central America - 7

Subscribers can receive a certificate by confirming their travels--checking off the countries on a list or listing the month/year of visit. No receipts or documentation is necessary. Each certificate costs around $7. Each issue lists several recipients in the different award categories so people evidently like this program. I can imagine undergoing the challenge of completing the tasks but being realtively unfulfilled with a paper certificate. Perhaps it is said best by ITN in describing their Following the Equator certificate: "It's perfect for covering up cracks in a wall."

BTW, ITN will send you a FREE sample copy.

In my next post, I will write about some other trip ideas. Meanwhile, let me know what you think about these awards or if you know of other awards. What travel challenges have you or someone you know attempted? How about all of the tours offered by A&K, Rick Steves, or Tauck?

© 2009, Charles McCool

Air Traveler's Holiday List

I published this back in 2002. How much is still true?

The following is the last verse, to be sung to the tune of the popular Christmas Carol, "The 12 Days of Christmas." Enjoy!

On the Twelfth Flight of Christmas, the airlines* should give us:
Undamaged Baggage
Pleasant Customer Service
Easier Check-in
No Overbookings
More Non-stop Flights, Please
Better Eating Choices
Convenient Parking
L O W E R A I R F A R E S
Increased Leg Room
More jetBlues**
Fewer Delays and
NO Lines at Se-cu-ri-ty

* Sure, the airline are not to blame for every air travel problem. What fun is there in teasing the airports or FAA?

** Substitute "Southwest" for "jetBlue," if desired.

******************************************************
Happy Holidays!
Charles McCool
author, Winning the Airfare Game
http://www.LowerAirfares.com

How to save on airfares the easy way

This is my article published many years ago on USAToday.com. I have been involved recently in many research projects. I will continue to re-publish favorite travel skills articles. Let me know what topics are of interest to you

How to save on airfares the easy way

Check various routes to ensure you find lower airfares. A nonstop flight may be more or less expensive than a connecting or direct flight. Lower airfares may result from connecting in certain airports rather than others. Being a bit more creative with the routing can save you a bundle. On longer (such as transoceanic) flights, try splitting your itinerary into two separate roundtrips. For instance, lower airfares between Northeast cities and Hawaii can often be found through California (LAX, SFO, OAK). Buy separate Northeast-to-California and California-to-Hawaii roundtrip tickets; the total price can be much lower than the Northeast-to-Hawaii fare. In addition, split tickets allow consumers to select preferred airlines and create a stopover vacation

It pays (saves!) to shop around. Sometimes lower airfares are offered by certain websites, travel agents, or directly from the airline.

When you see a fantastic fare price, such as during a fare war (which can be up to nine months before flying), make your plans. You might not find better deals as the travel date approaches. When the fare drops, however, most airlines allow consumers to rebook and receive a travel voucher for the difference (as long as seats are available).

-Charles McCool, author, Winning the Airfare Game

8 Steps to Getting Lower Airfares

This is my article published many years ago in the Baltimore Sun and other newspapers. I have been involved recently in many research projects. I will continue to re-publish favorite travel skills articles. Let me know what topics are of interest to you.

Be Flexible The most important factor for getting lower airfares is flexibility. When possible, check alternate airports, a range of days and times, other carriers, and various routings. Opportunities for lower airfares increase when you have more options.

Buy Early Most discounted airfares must be purchased several days before the flight­­—usually 21 or 14 for the biggest discounts. However, the lowest prices are offered during fare wars (sales), which may be several months before you want to fly. For instance, the cheapest summer flights to Europe are traditionally sold between the previous Thanksgiving and Christmas. One way to discover fare wars is to use a customized homepage (such as My Yahoo!) and continually check fares for your favorite routes. Investigate whether a sale is in progress when prices suddenly change. Many web sites, including airline and booking web sites, notify subscribers by e-mail when fares drop.

Buy Late Many airlines offer distressed inventory as last-minute airfares. They rarely match the lowest airfares offered during fare sales, but last-minute airfares can be great deals for emergency flights or impulse trips. Airlines release last-minute airfares each week around Wednesday morning for flights that weekend. However, a recent trend is to offer “last-minute” fares for flights more than one week into the future. Sign up to receive e-mail notification from each airline or SmarterLiving.com, who compiles the information from all airlines for most cities.

Surf for Lower Airfares Compare fares offered by major booking web sites to fares listed on the airline’s web site. The airline’s price may be lower or they may offer bonus frequent flyer points. Booking web sites do not include Southwest Airlines, so visit Southwest’s web site to find their fares.

Use a Travel Agent Travel agents usually save you time and stress and often save you money. For instance, they may have preferred discounts with certain airlines and can offer lower airfares than you can find. They can also sell consolidator fares and charter flights that are not available to consumers.

Book Direct Call airlines directly to book bereavement or compassion fares. Some web sites do not offer senior, children, or group discounts. Keep in mind Step 1, Be Flexible, when calling airlines for fare quotes.

Get More, Pay Less Look for packages—lodging, rental car, and/or meals in addition to the flight—that cost a little more or even LESS than the airfare alone. Each winter, packages (including seven nights lodging and rental car) to Australia and other South Pacific destinations cost only $100 more than the airfare. Prices do not increase as the departure date approaches and a Saturday night stay is not required, making packages ideal for last-minute travelers.

Airfare Ploys Big savings can result from splitting long flights into two separate round-trip flights. You can even create a stopover and use different airlines, if you choose. Lower airfares or more convenient flights may be found when using co-terminals, which are different airports in the same city or area. Open jaw, charter, courier, consolidator, or round-the-world flights result in lower airfares in some situations.

Charles McCool is a travel consultant specializing in helping consumers and businesses save money, time, and stress on all aspects of travel. He is the author of Winning the Airfare Game and operates http://lowerairfares.com/.

travel deals on Twitter revisited

Well, I did not get much reaction to my blog post about Twitter not being great for travel deals. I will assume, then, that it is still true.

In the October issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine, Wendy Perrin wrote an article titled, "How to Tweet Your Way to Amazing Travel Deals," with a sidebar article to 21 Twitterers to Follow. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Thank you.
© 2009, Charles McCool