Travel Planner
For a description see below the table
Directories
Orbitz World heritage Expedia Yahoo
Travel Guides
Frommer Fodor Rick Steve Lonely Planet Gorp
Airlines
United Continental Southwest Delta Air Asia
Car Rental
Apartments
Mail Order
World Electric, Phone, TV Guide
ATM’s
Mastercard/Cirrus/Maestro VISA
News
The following sites are a good place to start as you begin to plan the trip. If you like nature or historic sites consider checking out the World Heritage site. It is also useful to check out Frommer , Fodor , Rick Steve (Europe) and Lonely Planet (Asia and Africa) guides online. Outdoor travel and scenic drives are catalogued well at the Gorp Site
Tickets can be purchased at reliable prices and predictability at Orbitz. Orbitz at the moment is the best internet site. Others are Expedia and Yahoo. Hotels are expensive on Expedia and much cheaper on Global Travel and Yahoo. Other useful sites are:
Airlines of Web (Has much more than airlines) World heritage
Newspapers of the World
One way to check out a foreign country or place is to look at the local newspapers. You would get a better idea of how the place actually is. This is rarely mentioned in the guide books who rarely give you the real scoop. You can also look in classified section for vacation rentals.
Airlines
For air tickets check New York Times or Sunday Times from London. One way to save is to check the national airlines of a country. They are almost always cheaper than international lines. Best prices are in New York, London, Bangkok and Nairobi. American airlines allow more baggage and have generally better service except for Singapore and Swiss airlines that are just as good if not better.
United Continental Northwest Frontier America West
Hotel Booking
A very useful site especially for International travel Hotel Guide . If Global Travel and Yahoo don't do it for you and you want to go even cheaper try pre-paid Discount Hotel. The problem is heavy duty cancellation fees and often not so nice rooms.
Furnished Apartments
If you plan to stay in a city or country for longer than a few weeks, consider renting an apartment. It is roomier and more comfortable than the hotels. It is also a good way to get to know how the locals live.
Search the web for Corporate Housing, Executive Apartments or Interim Housing
Car Rental
Car Rental is almost always expensive in Europe unless it is two or more people traveling. In Asia and Africa rental is cheap but get the car with the driver.
Avis National (Cheaper and less crowded)
Currency Exchange
Visas Etc.
If you need visas in a hurry or don't want the hassle of paperwork.
ATM Locator
Nowadays it is not necessary to carry traveler's checks. Use your usual ATM card and carry two cards that cover both the MasterCard and Visa networks.
Mastercard/Cirrus/Maestro VISA
World Electric, Phone, TV Guide
World Time
Frequent Flyer Miles
How to keep your different accounts current? Go to this site and they will do it for you. The best use for frequent flyer miles is to upgrade from Economy to Business.
Mail Order Travel Luggage & Clothes
Travel Smith has the best catalogue and Campmor has the best prices. Magellan has reasonable prices and some practical things that you don't see in other catalogues. Luggage is better carried in hard cases with wheels for safety and easy mobility. Try to keep your total weight under 20 Kg. if you plan to travel in Asia and Europe on cheaper flights.
Travel Tips
If you need to know what is necessary, this site has tips from travelers
Cyber Cafes
You can keep in touch using Internet Cafes now available in most countries at very reasonable prices. If you are carrying your own computer, take AOL( local access charges can be as high as $10/hr., best coverage) or Compuserve Classic ( 60 countries, No access charges in Europe) with you. You can also buy local pre paid internet access at very reasonable prices. Look for local internet access providers.