Travelling on the web

By CHRIS BARTON

Going away for the holidays? Gosh almighty. It's December already and you haven't organised a thing. Never mind, we'll find something on the net.

If only it were that easy. As with so much on the web, the biggest problem is knowing where to start - how to sift through the acres of travel sites and narrow down to something that will work for you.

How do you do that?

Follow your nose. Or ask someone else. I began with the search engines. "Cheap travel" brought up 6770 sites using Google. "Travel New Zealand" - 3690, "holiday packages" - 31,200, "holiday deals" - 3560, and "finding travel" - 680 sites.

All had interesting links, but looking through the first two pages of each search result revealed that some key sites were missing.

The huge travel portal Expedia was top of the list - because it has paid Google to throw up its name first - seemingly every time a someone searches with the word "travel." But the tyrannosaurus of travel sites, Travelocity.com wasn't among the first two pages. Neither, on my New Zealand search, were two great local sites - Travel.co.nz and Travel Online, the latter of which won last month's best travel site at the annual Net Guide awards.

That's the problem with search engines - hit and miss.

What are these sites good for?

By far the most useful aspect is the wealth of information about your intended destination. All the above- mentioned sites and other portals such as Netscape Travel, Excite Travel, Yahoo Travel have a "destination guides" section. Here you will find everything you need to know and more about where you are headed.

If you are away for only a week or so, this is a great way to plan (and, if you want, book) the things you will do, the places you will visit, even the restaurants you will eat at - before leaving home.

Two other must-visit guides are Concierge.com and the traveller's bible, Lonely Planet.

Do online sites save you money?

This depends on whether you are travel-savvy and in the FIT category. That's free independent traveller. These are travellers who are not too fussed about when and where they travel - the type that are comfortable with adjusting plans at the last minute. The idea is to get the best possible price to, say, London or Los Angeles from a local travel agent - and then take advantage of the enormous European or United States travel market to land some extraordinary deals.

To really win at this game you also need the exchange rate in your favour - something that is not happening now. You also need to understand that the world of airline travel is organised on the basis that you should get the best prices on tickets issued in your departing country - unless of course the exchange rate is horribly skewed.

Here is an example: at travel.co.nz I found some great prices for a return flight Auckland to New York leaving on December 19 and returning January 7. The best price was $1865 return with China Airlines - if I booked the travel online myself using travel.co.nz's "booking engine."

To some, navigating through all the steps to make a booking like this is a daunting prospect. So if I wished I could get travel.co.nz to make the booking for me. But then the price would rise to $2069.

The interesting information from "best fare finder" searches like this is the range of prices. For the same trip other flights I could have taken (booking it myself) included Japan Airlines ($2121), Qantas ($2207) or Air New Zealand ($2841).

The savvy traveller technique involves getting a one-way ticket from Auckland to LA from a local site - $1369 from Korean Airlines or $1402 from Air New Zealand. Then on a US site like Travelocity to find the best deals for the rest of the trip.

I found what looked like a great ($US248) return fare for LA-New York. Unfortunately that translated to $NZ598 which meant I was already up to $1967 - more than my round trip and I still hadn't found a price for the one-way leg from LA to Auckland (Air Canada for $US819). Definitely not a savvy way to go if you are a New Zealander, but a great option if you are American.

Is it best to stay on local sites?

Again, it depends on your sense of adventure. With a local site like Travel Online, you can research your holiday and do much of the decision-making at your leisure. You then email your information and requirements and Travel Online takes care of the booking hassle. The advantage is the range of options, and that all the information - from great deals to destination guides - is at your fingertips.

Booking the travel yourself using a booking engine that hooks directly into one of the worldwide airline reservation systems from local sites such as at travel.co.nz or eflights is the next step. The process looks relatively straightforward for some destinations, but gets more complex when stopovers and connecting flights are involved.

But for some travellers, the art of the itinerary is almost as important as the travel itself.

If you plan your holidays with military precision, you will love working your way through the intricacies of connecting flight schedules.

While you are visiting sites, it pays to keep an eye out for "auction" sections. You can bid for packages and flights and get some great bargains.

Next you will want to venture to overseas sites. My foray on to travelocity alerted me to some amazing US-based low cost deals - including an enticing seven-night Caribbean cruise for $US499, or a four-night travel and accommodation package in Cancun, Mexico for $US325. Even in New Zealand dollars - $1198 and $780 respectively - these sounded good.

It was a similar experience when I tried out return flights to Paris - starting at $2146 on Japan Airlines. Despite trying numerous combinations on British sites, there was no way I could get anything cheaper than the local deal. A return flight at Lastminute.com London to Paris for £92.75 seemed a good price - until I converted it using an online currency calculator to $NZ321.

Like many sites in both the US and Britain, lastminute.com holds what is known as "distressed inventory" - unsold seats on flights that get cheaper the closer you get to departure time. The concept is the opposite of the way travel is normally sold - where you pay less if you book months in advance and more closer to the time of travel. We don't have a lastminute.com in New Zealand yet - but travel.co.nz promises to bring the franchise here next year.

On the British site I was particularly taken with the seven-night "last minute" package from London to Chalet les Pleiades "an extremely comfortable and spacious chalet" at an alpine ski resort in Switzerland for £259 ($896). If I were a FIT, I'd be on the next plane.

Links


Google

Expedia

Travelocity

Travel.co.nz

Travel Online

Netscape Travel

Excite Travel

Yahoo Travel

Concierge.com

Lonely Planet

eflights

Lastminute.com

Currency calculator