Tag: Budget Travel
Finally Some Good News on Travel in Mexico
by Peter Ferry | 10.16.09 | 10:21 AM ET
iStockPhoto Drug cartels. Murders. The news is often bad out of Mexico. Peter Ferry journeys beyond the headlines.
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Yahoo! BuzzKimchi Taco, Meet the JapaDog
by Eva Holland | 09.24.09 | 3:18 PM ET
Anyone who was intrigued by L.A.’s kimchi tacos will want to read the latest Frugal Traveler dispatch from Vancouver, wherein Matt Gross explores daikon- and soy-sauce-topped hot dogs and other low-budget fusion delights.
Ryanair: ‘Too Mean’ for Canada?
by Eva Holland | 09.02.09 | 11:13 AM ET
Jaunted predicts that the not-so-cuddly budget airline wouldn’t go over well with Canadians, who “prefer their service providers amiable and their experiences congenial.” Too true, eh?
JetBlue’s Unlimited Flight Pass: Sold Out
by Eva Holland | 08.21.09 | 12:39 PM ET
Arthur Frommer may have had his doubts, but he was in the minority: After unexpected levels of demand, JetBlue cut off sales of the pass two days ahead of schedule.
Ryanair Introduces the Good Samaritan Fee
by Eva Holland | 08.20.09 | 3:01 PM ET
In its latest effort to prove that you get what you pay for, the notorious budget airline charged a nine year-old girl for the return of her lost purse. The price of a good deed? €10.
Is JetBlue’s Flight Pass a Bargain?
by Eva Holland | 08.14.09 | 10:23 AM ET
There’s been a lot of buzz about JetBlue’s new, month-long All-You-Can-Jet flight pass. Arthur Frommer offers a few words of caution.
William Shatner: America’s Favorite Negotiator?
by Eva Holland | 08.13.09 | 10:16 AM ET
Christopher Elliott has come across an unexpected statistic: According to a recent survey, 10 percent of Americans believe that William Shatner, the public face of travel clearinghouse Priceline.com, is “the best negotiator out there.”
Barack Obama clocked in just behind Shatner, with 9 percent of the vote—maybe the President should recruit “The Negotiator” for his ongoing battles with Congress?
Motel 6 Gets an Upgrade
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 1:30 PM ET
Yep, the roadside budget standby has got a flashy new interior design, described as “bold, sleek, frugal euro-modernism”—but don’t worry, the new look won’t affect the reliable prices. The Los Angeles Times has photos and a review.
Contiki: ‘Backpacking is so 1997’
by Eva Holland | 08.03.09 | 1:23 PM ET
So said a message that the popular bus tour company posted on Facebook awhile back, with the added boast that Contiki holidays were “hundreds of dollars” cheaper than independent travel in Europe. Nomadic Matt objected—and now he’s crunched the numbers to prove Contiki wrong, on the savings claim at least. As for backpacking being “so 1997”? I guess that’s subjective.
Gadgets on the Cheap
by Eva Holland | 07.22.09 | 3:36 PM ET
Frugal Traveler Matt Gross has just posted his latest in the New York Times: the top ten travel gadgets that cost less than $50. It’s a good list—I’ve never been much of a gadget lover myself, but I especially liked his suggestions of a money clip instead of a wallet, a power strip with multiple outlets, and a good old notebook and pen.
Parking Fees Around the World
by Jim Benning | 07.16.09 | 3:22 PM ET
The Economist has a great chart on parking fees around the globe. Among the highlights from its report: “European cities have some of the highest daily parking rates, with Amsterdam and London coming out on top. Tokyo is the most expensive place to leave your car outside Europe.”
Cheap travel tip: You’ll find great rates in Chennai, India. Um, road trip!
(Via the Idea of the Day blog)
Give Some Time, Get Some Free Travel
by Alicia Imbody | 07.09.09 | 11:46 AM ET
A new promotion from Sage Hospitality encourages travelers to “give a day” of service and “get a night” back, via a free hotel stay or 50 percent off the rate at 52 hotels across the U.S.
Programs like these show potential to encourage public service in exchange for travel perks, especially among folks with more spare time right now than spare change. There’s no obligation to stay additional nights. Just complete eight documented hours with a registered 501(c)3 non profit organization. Extra (karma) points if you work for a green cause to help offset the environmental impact of your trip.
Backpackers in Thailand Just Won’t Quit
by Alicia Imbody | 07.01.09 | 4:24 PM ET
Photo by René Ehrhardt via Flickr (Creative Commons) Tourism in Thailand has been suffering significant declines lately, and desperate vendors are offering discounts like free domestic flights, extra nights and other perks to lure money-conscious visitors.
But in spite of the setbacks to leisure and luxury travel, the AP reports “budget travel hasn’t suffered as badly, with beer stalls and hostels along Bangkok’s Khao San Road and other havens for backpackers still bustling.”
Keep on, keepin’ on, backpackers!
Cheap European Travel Deals Paying Off
by Alicia Imbody | 06.25.09 | 9:28 AM ET
According to Jean-Philippe Pérol, Chairman of the European Travel Commission, “for the first time in many months, global traffic to Europe is growing,” thanks in part to the fact that the dollar is stretching 15 percent further across the pond today than it did a year ago. The boost in primarily leisure travel was also fueled by drastically lower trans-Atlantic fares and packages, like these discount tips just posted by Frommer’s.
Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Ryanair Passengers ‘Could Put Own Luggage on Plane’’
by Eva Holland | 06.24.09 | 1:54 PM ET
Forget a blurring of the lines: the boundary between Onion-esque humor and real airline news is long gone. Today’s headline caps a story about the budget airline’s plans to scrap checked luggage entirely. The Independent adds blandly: “An in-flight online gambling system is also being considered.”
Which Budget Bus Line is the Best?
by Eva Holland | 06.23.09 | 2:05 PM ET
Slate’s Noreen Malone offers up this amusing “snob’s guide to bus travel”—in which she compares the Northeast’s various discount bus lines, applying “the supremely useful, difficult-to-master art of distinguishing among the baser things in life” for the task.
I haven’t tried out Fung Wah, but I’ve ridden all the other lines mentioned—Megabus, Bolt Bus and good old Greyhound—and I agree with her choices for best and worst: Quasi-hip, wired Bolt comes in tops, while Megabus (whose glowing green ceiling lights kept me awake for the bulk of a 10-hour overnight ride a couple weeks back—honestly, who doesn’t dim the lights on an overnighter?) often makes me wish I’d shelled out for the train.
Got a favorite discount bus line? Or any budget bus horror stories?
Where to Find Free Food in New York City
by Eva Holland | 06.19.09 | 9:45 AM ET
For those budget travelers who sometimes prefer to spend money on our drinks than on our meals (who, me?), Matt Gross has a helpful run-down of New York City’s free bar snacks. I can vouch for the tasty popcorn at Temple Bar.
Vive Mexico!
by Alicia Imbody | 06.17.09 | 12:48 PM ET
Photo by Alicia Imbody It’s official: We can go to Mexico again. The CDC has removed the Mexican travel health warning for Novel H1N1 Flu, aka swine flu, as of this morning. The travel notice was replaced with a general warning about the global status of the virus, which the World Health Organization raised to a pandemic on June 11.
Although I didn’t have a chance to make a trip across the border while the hysteria over the outbreak was crippling the Mexican tourism industry, I was there in March, when throngs of Spring Breakers were warned not to go because of drug-related violence. As usual, I found the Yucatán to be quiet, hospitable, and safer than the Washington, D.C., streets I was leaving behind. Still nervous? Think of it as a way to earn good travel karma, and go anyway. The L.A. Times’ Andrés Martinez makes a convincing moral case to help out our neighbors and indulge in some empathy tourism. And the Washington Post has put together a list of some of the best deals designed to inject a much needed boost into the tourism industry as part of the Mexican government’s nearly $100 million “Vive Mexico” tourism campaign.
‘Social Spaces’: The Budget Traveler’s Happy Place
by Eva Holland | 06.11.09 | 1:31 PM ET
Over at Travel Generation, Bruce Thurlow has put together a list of nine “social spaces”—parks, markets and so on—that he argues are the key to truly appreciating the life of a new city.
I agree: I think I’ve done some of my best people-watching and observation on subway trains, on playing fields or in public squares. And the best part? These spaces are almost always free, or pretty close to it.
Here are a few spots to add to Thurlow’s list:
Budget Dining in Barcelona: How to Do it Right
by Eva Holland | 06.04.09 | 10:38 AM ET
The first time I visited Barcelona, I was at the tail end of a 10-week backpacking trip around Europe. I had just four days left before I caught a plane back to the U.K. (where I’d been living) and then home to Canada—and, predictably, I was out of money.
My British and Canadian bank accounts were both tapped out, and while I could still charge my dorm bed—a clear necessity—to my credit card, I stubbornly refused to charge restaurant meals or withdraw cash for groceries on it. (The interest will kill you, y’know.)
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