Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Using Online Services for Last Minute Travel Needs

Throughout my 20+ years of travel with NJMET, I often found myself traveling for customer related projects at the last minute out of the state of New Jersey.  As we all well know, booking a flight,  hotel, or any type of arrangement close to the travel date increases the prices and expenses dramatically.

I found that using online services such as Expedia, Priceline, and Travelocity among others has helped me save on travel expenses by nearly 50% However there is a downside.

To save money at the last minute instead of taking a direct flight you may find yourself on one connecting flight and in some situations, depending on how much money you want to save, on 2 stops prior to reaching your intended destination.

I feel strongly that if you have the time and some work to do in the interim AND want to save money, using these services wisely can help you save money.

One of my most recent experiences took me on a trip to Huntsville Alabama.  I found out on a Tuesday afternoon that I needed to be at a meeting in Huntsville at 1 PM the next afternoon.   I found that a direct trip would have cost me around $700.  Instead, I used Expedia,com  and made one stop in Atlanta at 10 AM and was able to arrive in time for the 1 PM meeting with a 50% savings on airfare. 

The services that I strongly recommend are:
Priceline.com
Travelocity.com
Hotwire.com
Orbitz.com
Cheaptickets.com
Cheapseats.com
Shermanstravel.com
Lastminutetravel.com
Budgettravel.com
Tripbase.com
Onetravel.com
Hotels.com
Sidestep.com
Kayak.com
Travelzoo.com
BookingBuddy.com
Travelsites.com
Travel.Yahoo.com
Faremeasure.com

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