CyberConcierge LinksAirport Lounges
There are four types of airport passenger lounges: airline-sponsored, pay-per-visit clubs; airline-sponsored lounges reserved for premium-class passengers; public, pay-per-visit lounges operated by third parties; and ad hoc networks of those aforementioned clubs available to credit cardholders and members of third-party club programs such as Priority Pass. Here's how to find virtually all of them.
Clubs sponsored by airlines
Clubs available to certain American Express cardholders
Clubs (pay-per-visit) available in Asian airports
Clubs (pay-per-visit) available in Canadian airports
Clubs (pay-per-visit) available in British airports
Clubs for Diners Club cardholders
Clubs available to Priority Pass members
There is no complete list of all clubs available at all airports around the world, but the Airport Lounge Project is trying to create such a database.
ATM Finders
American Express
Discover/Pulse
MasterCard/Cirrus
Visa/Plus
City Guides
Every Web site on the planet claims to have city guides. Most are drek--and often out-of-date drek to boot. The city guides listed immediately below, however, do have unique strengths and are slightly more cognizant of the needs of business travelers. So start with:
Bradmans, from the folks who sell the Bradmans business-travel guidebooks and publish the in-flight magazine of several airlines.
Economist, which focuses The Economist magazine's resources on guides to major world capitals.
SAS City Guides are from the publishing arm of SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Surprisingly good, but limited to the cities where SAS flies.
TimeOut, the online arm of the network of city magazines, focuses on what's new and notable in major cities worldwide.
If none of those do the trick, you can try the more general city guides from:
AOL CityGuide (United States)
Canada.com (Canada)
CitySearch (mostly United States)
Explocity (India)
In Your Pocket (Central/Eastern Europe)
WCities.com (Worldwide)
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CHECKED-BAG |
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Here's where to find the checked-bag rules of the primary U.S. carriers. |
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BIG SIX CARRIERS |
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American Airlines |
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OTHER AIRLINES |
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Alaska Airlines |
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CONTRACTS |
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Here's where to find the contracts of the primary U.S. carriers. |
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BIG SIX CARRIERS |
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American Airlines |
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OTHER AIRLINES |
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Alaska Airlines |
Dining
It's absurd to suggest that there is any one definitive site to find a good meal or a great restaurant on the road. There is no definitive set of links, either. If cuisine is an important part of your life on the road, you probably have your own favorites. But you can certainly start here:
Citysearch has a good U.S. dining section.
Chowhound is where foodies meet to talk about meat--and everything and anything else on the plate.
Epicurious has access to the restaurant reviews from Bon Appétit and Gourmet magazines.
HappyCow.net is a worldwide guide to vegetarian restaurants.
Michelin Guides are the coins of the old-world realm.
Vegetarian Journal lists natural-food and vegetarian restaurants in the United States and Canada.
Zagat Survey is the coin of the new-world realm.
Fare Resources
Air Travel Price Index, compiled by the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics is a "measure of the change over time in the prices paid by air travelers" since 1995.
BookingBuddy.com allows you to search for fares across more than two dozen airline and third-party Web sites. You enter your data once, choose a booking engine and go…
Dohop.com may be the best way to find and price itineraries across several airlines, including mixing and matching discount carriers and traditional full-service airlines.
ExpertFlyer.com, a subscription site, is gaining a reputation as the best place for frequent flyers to find award seats and upgrade fares and look at actual seat inventory.
Farecast.com says it is the first "airfare prediction website." And if that sounds a little bit like the airline equivalent of weather forecasting, well…
FareCompare.com says it offers fare history for 77,000 markets. It also does a good job tracking the minutia of fare changes on a market-by-market basis.
Orbitz.com is probably the best of the general booking engines thanks to its Bonus Days feature. That allows you to see fares on a route for as many as three days before and after your specified departure and return dates. The prices are displayed on day-by-day matrix. You'll be surprised how dramatic the price spread can be. Click on the "flexible dates" link on the Orbitz.com home page to access the Bonus Days function.
WhichBudget.com allows you to find which low-fare carriers fly to which airports and to which city pairs. Hence the name…
Frequent Travel Plan Tracking
As frequent travel plans proliferate, a small industry has developed to track miles, points, redemptions and the like. The advantage: All your program details, all in one place. The disadvantages: Some sites charge for the service and almost all require you to turn over sensitive information (like your frequent-travel account numbers and PIN codes) so they can fetch details for you. However, the newest of these tracking systems, MilePort, solves both those problems: It's free and the tracking software resides on your computer, not MilePort's servers.
AwardWallet.com
MileageManager.com
MileageMiner
MilePort.com
Luggage Shipping
The following firms will pick up luggage at your hotel (or your home or office) and check you in for your flight. Your luggage will then be waiting at baggage claim at your destination. These firms have geographic limits and offer their services with select airlines:
B.A.G.S.
Bags to Go
These firms will ship your luggage door-to-door between hotels, offices and your home. They work primarily in the United States, but also offer international service. They can ship overnight or via slower, cheaper options such as two-, three or even seven-day shipping:
Direct Baggage
Direct Quest
Luggage Concierge
Luggage Club
Luggage Free
Luggage Forward
Sports Express
XS Baggage
Maps & Directions
Google Maps
Live Local
Maporama.com
Mapquest.com
Multimap.com
Via Michelin
Registered Traveler Programs
Shortly after 9/11, Congress mandated a security-bypass program, popularly called Registered Traveler. To date, however, only three private providers have even attempted to launch a program. The Clear special lanes offer very little in the way of security bypass and they exist at only a handful of airports. Go operates at one airport. FLO hasn't even gotten that far. One benefit: Membership in one gives you privileges at all lanes.
Seat Maps
Most airlines offer seat maps for the aircraft in their respective fleets at own Web sites, of course. But for the most popular U.S., Canadian and international carriers, you're better off using SeatGuru.com. It offers detailed seat width and seat pitch data as well as good commentary on in-flight amenities and the best and worst seats on a particular plane. You can also try SeatExpert.com or the seat maps at the OAG Web site.
Safety & Security Resources
Many nations issue security updates on a country-by-country basis. Here is where you will find the reports from the governments of the major English-speaking nations:
Australia (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
Canada (Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade)
Ireland Department of Foreign Affairs
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office
United States Department of State
United States CIA World Factbook
Among the best and most interesting private sources of travel security information are:
Air Security Intl. Hot Spots
CountryWatch Political Briefing
PapersPlease.org
StupidSecurity.com
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