Travel Coupons

you may not know but it is possible to get travel coupons just like you get for the supermarket only these ones can't be cut out of a magazine. You can get travel coupons for discounts on flights, hotels and vacation packages online. On the usual coupon sites like CouponGirl, Retailmenot, Redflagdeals and Dealsguide. Just google Travel Coupons and you will find many coupon sites offering travel deals at a discount. Perhaps the most obvious to try is Travel Coupons.com and Hoteldeals.com. The most important things to check before going to the trouble of printing up coupons are:
1. Expiry date of the coupon.
2. Can you access the travel site from your country.
3. Is there any small print or conditions to take into account.

The Smart Business Traveler

There are an endless number of travel sites online but if you know what your particular travel style is you can narrow down your search for useful travel information, discounts, money saving tips and current travel news. So if you travel for business this is the site for you, The Smart BusinessTraveler focuses exclusively on business travel, you won't find Disneyland deals here but you will get professional information about a number factors that concern your business travel needs.

On The Smart Business Traveler you'll find flights, hotels, car rentals and other issues uncounted when planning a trip. The site owner has been in the travel industry for the last 15 years specifically handling corporate travel and here he shares his expertise and insights with you.

Smart business travel means not only finding the cheapest deals but also the most convenient ones which fit into your schedule and makes the best use of your time.  You'll also find travel site reviews that point you in the right direction to book the ultimate business trip. The site covers that never ending issue of how to pack for a business trip and the ins and outs of carry-on luggage. There is also an article about how to make business travel less painful and another which examine the various loyalty programs. The Smart Business traveler examines how to choose a good business hotel and gives tips on the must-haves when planning a business event in a hotel and how to handle extended stays.

On The Smart Business Traveler you can buy a selection of books focusing on subjects that interest business travelers, like "The Unofficial Business Traveler's Guide" and "The Wall Street Journal Guide to Power Travel."

The Smart Business Traveler is also a site that gives back, on their site you can read about the charitable donations the site makes towards Food Security Projects and other international relief programs.
You can become a member of Smart Business Traveler and get access to travel eBooks, travel reports on specific subjects, travel videos and special offers. Membership costs $7.97 monthly. Alternatively sign up for free to receive their newsletter full of travel tips and tips on how to save on business travel.http://thesmartbusinesstraveler.com/

Family-Travel-Scoop.com

This family travel site, Family-Travel-Scoop.com covers all aspects of traveling with your kids, there is no focus on a particular aspect or travel destination it simply covers it all. I challenge you to think of a part of family travel which is not covered here. Can you believe there are even printable activities for kids, each month based on a different country.

Some parents don't travel with kids because there are just so many things to think of, what to take, where will kids and parents enjoy themselves, which hotels cater for kid's needs, the expense, which airlines are kid-friendly and the list goes on, But if you use Family-Travel-Scoop to plan your family vacation it should make your life a lot easier.

On Family-Travel-Scoop.com you can search for what you need from the menu on the landing page. Either search by destination of by topics under Family Travel Advice. At the moment there are almost 50 countries to choose from covering the Caribbean, America (USA), South America, Africa, South Pacific, Asia and Europe but the list is growing. Another perk is that it covers several countries which are to covered extensively on other sites like Malta, UAE and Turkey.

Some of the issues covered include health issues when traveling, hotels, flights, travel insurance, attractions which will appeal to kids, budget travel and food for kids in foreign countries. Another useful part of family travel covered on Family-Travel-Scoop.com is travel tips for traveling with teens, babies and toddlers.

Under travel advice are sections like Kid's Clubs, road trips, cruises, RV and volunteer travel. The website is written by two moms (and sisters) who have traveled extensively, lived in several countries and have experience in the travel industry. So you can be sure that the advise on Family-Travel-Scoop.com comes from people who know what they're talking about.

10 MInute travel - A must for knowing before you go!

10 Minute Travel is a great concept, it is a travel site similar to many but unique in a very special way. It is not as blasé and superficial as Trip Advisor (although I like Trip Advisor it doesn't supply in depth info) and not as fact heavy as reading a history book about a travel destination but it lies somewhere in the middle. At 10 Minute Travel you not only get exposed to unique travel destinations and attractions in those destinations but you also "stop to smell the roses".

The site offers more than the average amount of information about each element within a trip but not too much. It also beaks down the travel destinations in to small (10 minute) slices of info about each site. If you use 10 Minute Travel to plan your trip you'll arrive at your travel destination knowing more than you would have about each site and in addition to that you'll have a few hidden gems up your sleeve!

How does 10 Minute Travel work
Travelers contribute articles, travel tips and reviews about places they've been to and things they've seen and done. Not about complete cities but the individual interesting sites along the way. These travel tips, articles and reviews will take you 10 minutes to digest, and they're accompanied by traveler's photos. Then as a traveler you get to read through the site and get your dose of 10 minute info about the sites at your next travel destination. Because between you and me who can stand to spend more than 10 minutes reading about a site.

Other features on 10 Minute Travel

• There is a useful links page for travelers.



• Articles and tips can be searched for on a world map by destination.



• The site also has a blog with longer posts than your average 10 minute blurb.



• And just when I was about to say, yes but a forum would be good here; I find that 10 Minute Travel also has a forum!

I will definitely be using 10 Minute Travel to plan my next trip in the hope of knowing more before I go and even knowing about some sites others may unintentionally overlook.

CheapOAir.com, BookIt.com and Airfare.com compared

See this honest and detailed comparison between these online travel booking sites.

Where to book travel online

Planning and booking flights on line

In this day and age there is really no need for using the local high street travel agency.

I browse around destinations, and with all the info in front of me on the web I can make a good choice. Then I look at flights. I like to check the airline of my country, and my destination's airline. Czech Airlines, for example have the best prices for flights to Prague. Then I double check at Kayak and Travelocity, I have found the other sites like Expedia not as well priced. There are always new ticket sites being established, and their names are bound to pop-up during your research.
Once I have decided on the best flight for me, but before I book, I check if there are any relevant package deals, for flight and hotel. This can save a lot of money. Travelocity has this option, and several airline sites do as well.

Picture from wikimedia

Tip

Always ask for an upgrade to first class, when flying, you never know you may be lucky!
In fact in hotels and anything else as well, it's your right to ask and their right to say no!

Travel light, always. There is never any reason to take the whole house with you. They sell tooth brushes and underpants everywhere, and how drastically can weather change? Not that much.

Always keep your money in more than one place, in case some gets lost, at least you still have more stashed else where.

Always, go somewhere that is different to what you are used to. Why get more of the same. If you live in a desert, go to where it snows, that's what travel is all about.

Always use the Internet. Pre-Internet travel was a different ball game, you always heard about the really cool places you missed, once you got home. These days, you can know what not to miss.

Always read up about the place and it's history and culture. There is no point staring at a monument and not knowing why it is there. And like wise if your nose is stuck in a guide book you will miss a lot.

Tip

Check local festivals and events before you finalize your travel dates. You could be missing a unuque even just by moving your dates a day or two. Try:http://www.festivals.com/ or http://www.bugbog.com/festivals/festivals.html

Photo by Worldnomads.com

Tip - how to hide your money.

Thieves know that travellers like to keep their money around their waists, so that is not the place to keep it. Try taking a bandanna and folding it into a triangle, sew up the two open sides, leaving a small gap of about an inch, at one end. Stuff the money you wont be using that day inside then tie it around your neck as a scarf. The money for the day you can simply keep in your pocket. Always spread your money around a bit, so if your wallet is stolen you still have your money that's in your pocket, if that goes you have money in your bag. etc.

Photo by Lastonein

Tip - Eating for free in Greece

If you are running low on cash and traveling in Greece, drop in on your local University. The University students in Greece get hot free meals. You do need to show your student card to enter, or, hang around the cafateria until a helpful student offers to get you in!

Tip - Bus Tours

Save your money on those fancy bus tours, take a local bus that does a circular route, and that way you will probably get to see things a little further out of the city centre. It is always nice to see where the people really live, and not just the touristy areas in the centre. For example 3T in Helsinki, and tram 19 in Munich. It is cheaper than a tourist bus and you will be sitting with locals.

**TIP** Booking flights online

Many of the rules applying to booking hotels also apply to flights.
First choose your destination. Shop around. There are many flight sites.

• Make sure you check the national airline of the country you are departing from and the one you are going to.
• Some sites quote the prices before tax, so look for the small print.
• You can save a lot of money if you are willing to have a lay over of a few hours in the airline's home airport.
• Note whether the time of arrival at your destination is not the next day. That can be a nasty surprise.
• If you fly regularly it can pay to join a frequent flier club sothat you get points that can be used for discounts, and free flights (it doesn't hapen often, as you really have to fly alot). If you do join one check out it's partners, so that you can get points from hotels, and other airlines as well.
• There are sites that check other sites for you. Rather do it yourself.
• Prices change, so start looking as far ahead as possible and check back regularly. The earlier you book the cheaper.
• Book off season.
• If you are flexable fly to a city nearwhere you want to go, if it is cheaper. YOu will also get to see another city. Capital cities are of course cheaper to fly to.
• Kayak have a helpful chart called "Chart view" which shows the whole month and which periods are cheaper or more expencive for your flight.

So here are some of my favorite sites in an example of price comparing:

There are many other sites, just search and search, if flying from UK try ryanair, don't forget to check the airline sites, and charter flights.

A return flight from Tel Aviv to Hamburg.

http://www.kayak.com/ Lufthansa $442

http://www.travelocity.com/ Lufthansa $446, El AL$ 476

http://www.czechairlines.com/en/portal/homepage/il_homepage.htm $422 not exact dates

http://www.edreams.com/edreams/english/ $876 Turkish air (for some destinations edream are good. The outward and inward flight prices are quoted seperately)

http://www.expedia.com/daily/home/default.asp?rfrr=-1065 Lufthansa $448

http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/us/homepage?l=en&nodeid=1678690&cid=1000390 $585

**TIP** Hotel Booking

First look around on any site with hotels in the city you are looking for. Once you have narrowed it down to a few hotels, then look for those hotel's web sites. Always start with the Hotel's actual site. Find the price they offer - the cheapest price they can offer is called a Rack Price. Then you can go on to look at other hotel booking sites, in order to compare prices.
Remember:

• If one site says there are no rooms available, other sites could still have rooms.
• The sites with "live chat" help are very useful.
• Compare apples to apples -
• Make sure you are comparing prices in the same currency.
• Does it include breakfast.
• What are the rules for cancelation.
• How close is the hotel to the railway/bus station, and the sites.

To give you a few names of booking sites, and also illustrate how much the prices on the net can vary, have a look at this example, for booking 2 nights in a double room in Helsinki:
Hotel Linna 14/01/09 - 16/01/09 Double
Booking.com 340 Euro
Hoteltravel.com 286 Euro
Linna Hotel 340 Euro
Agoda.com 150 Euro

Needless to say my favorite site is Agoda. Apart from having excellent prices, they also credit you a few Dollars for your next booking, and have livechat help. Notice though, that they can quote the hotel in any currency you choose, but the final bill can then be quoted in Dollars.