2013年1月31日星期四
10 most useful travel websites (From BBC)
10 most useful travel websites
September 27, 2011 -- Updated 1421 GMT (2221 HKT)
Travel websites can help you before, during and after your trip.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- For planing your trip, Bing Travel, AutoSlash and Plnnr can be helpful sites
- While you're on the road, check TripIt or Tripping for travel advice
- Once you're back home, creatively preserve yur photos with Blurb
So when it came time to
line up our favorites, the task was easy -- we just turned to the sites
we keep revisiting because they're so darn helpful. Our top picks can
help you avoid overpaying for airfare (Bing Travel), bag the primo room
at a hotel (Hipmunk), and never miss a deal on a rental-car reservation
again (AutoSlash).
Some of our favorites are
as useful as a mind-reading tour guide (Plnnr); others are as handy as
having a personal secretary track your frequent-flier balances (Award
Wallet). Put them all together, and they become Budget Travel's picks
for the best the Web has to offer.
For Planning
1. Bing Travel
Buy plane tickets at the best possible time.
Like other booking sites,
Bing lets you comparison-shop for tickets across more than a hundred
sources. Yet unlike most other sites, it also analyzes historical data
to predict whether the price you see on the screen today is likely to
rise (or drop) in the coming week, clearly marking the bargains with a
big, green Buy Now icon. What's more, Bing is the only airfare search
site to have its predictions independently audited. With an accuracy
rate of 75 percent, it's not perfect -- but those are better odds than
blind guessing gets you. bing.com/travel.
2. AutoSlash
Lock in the lowest rate on rental cars.
Here's how it works:
Reserve a vehicle from a favorite agency through the AutoSlash site, and
the site will instantly begin tracking rate changes for your
reservation. If a sale pops up later -- snap! -- it automatically locks
in the lower price on your behalf. You can even use AutoSlash if you've
booked independently. Just enter your confirmation number, and the site
will notify you when it's found a lower rate (which you'll have to
rebook on your own). Neither AutoSlash nor the company you first booked
with charges a fee for the service. autoslash.com.
3. Fly or Drive Calculator
Determine the cheapest way to reach your destination.
Coupon site befrugal.com
crunches data from sources such as AAA and Google Maps to power its Fly
or Drive estimator (found in the site's Tools & Calculators tab).
The more details you supply -- the make and model of your car, the
number of travelers in your group, whether you'd be springing for a taxi
to the airport -- the more accurate the estimates. For the eco-minded,
it even includes a carbon-footprint estimate for each mode of travel.
(Note: The calculator only works for trips within the continental U.S.) befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/.
4. Plnnr
Get instant itineraries tailored to your tastes.
Whether you have a full
week or a few hours, Plnnr can craft a (free!) customized point-to-point
trip guide for 20 popular urban destinations across North America and
Europe. You supply the length of your stay, desired activity level, and
interests (such as outdoors, kids' activities, and culture), and the
site spits out a fully formed itinerary, factoring in each attraction's
opening and closing hours and travel times between spots by taxi or on
foot. You can further fine-tune the results by adjusting the priority
level for even more specific subcategories -- architecture, breweries,
and even cemeteries -- or reject individual suggestions outright. (Plnnr
won't get its feelings hurt.) plnnr.com.
5. Hipmunk
Find a hotel you'll fall in love with.
The folks behind
Hipmunk's airfare and hotel searches know that good trips are about more
than mere numbers. That's why they've incorporated an "agony" scale for
flights with multiple legs and long layovers, and an "ecstasy" rating
for hotels based on a combination of a property's amenities, rates, and
user reviews on TripAdvisor. Even better, Hipmunk's hotel search tool
has built-in color-coded heat maps to display a given destination's best
spots for dining, shopping, nightlife, landmarks, and -- ahem --
"vice." So you'll always end up in a neighborhood that fits your
specific needs (or noise tolerance). The site displays real-time prices
available on Orbitz, Getaroom, Hotels.com, HotelsCombined, or Airbnb and
links out to the appropriate site to close the deal. hipmunk.com.
On the road
6. TripIt
Keep every last confirmation number, arrival time, and prepaid reservation fee straight.
Don't have an
über-organized type among your travel crew? Don't worry. TripIt
consolidates every important detail of your vacation into a single handy
document, which you can access on the go via laptop, tablet, or
smartphone. Just forward each email receipt from booking a flight,
hotel, rental car, or cruise to your TripIt account, and the site will
cull and compile the flight numbers, gate information, and other
relevant items so you never show up in the wrong place at the wrong time
-- or with the wrong confirmation code in hand. Not satisfied? The site
also supplies seat-selection advice for flights, links to check in
online, flight status updates, weather forecasts, and driving
directions. tripit.com.
7. Tripping
Connect with the locals -- through a trustworthy community.
While any old travel
site can add some social-networking features and call itself "the
Facebook of travel," Tripping paves the way for true face-to-face
interactions in about 130 countries across the globe. Primarily a
homestay network -- but just as effective for setting up a casual coffee
meeting or a video chat with a looped-in local -- Tripping manages the
risk factor with its stringent membership policies and strong
user-reference system. (To join, users must display a passport via Skype
and prove a home address.) When you're not traveling yourself, you can
earn some good travel karma by playing tour guide for visitors to your
own hometown. tripping.com.
8. Google Maps
Expertly navigate unfamiliar territory.
Thanks to constant
refining by its mapmakers and graphic designers, Google's gold-standard
mapping tool just keeps getting better. Live traffic information was
recently added for 13 European countries; the site's maps for New York
City, London, and other major cities now have public transit options;
markings for tunnels and highway signs become easier to read every year;
and you can plot your route by car, bicycle, or foot -- although the
latter two options are still in beta. There's simply no more
comprehensive and user-friendly way to explore. maps.google.com.
Once you're back
9. Award Wallet
Never let another frequent-flier mile expire.
Consider it the
loyalty-program counterpart to TripIt's travel-info collector. Award
Wallet streamlines your family's assortment of frequent-flier and
loyalty programs, compiling them in a single, simple, point-tracking
package. The setup takes minutes. For each account, just enter your
log-in information; Award Wallet automatically pulls your points
balances and expiration dates -- so you know to take action if you're on
the verge of losing them. And because the site saves your log-in
information, you only need one password to access all your accounts. awardwallet.com.
10. Blurb
Preserve your photographs in a format that people can't keep their hands off of.
Custom book publisher
Blurb lets you design and print a soft-cover or hardcover travel photo
album using impressive design tools and high-quality inks, paper, and
binding. Most important, it also leaves you broad creative control. (No
floral borders or faux photo-corners necessary.) Price is based on size,
paper stock, cover material, and shipping fees, but single copies start
at $11 for a 20-page book. Think your book has potential beyond your
own coffee table? Blurb can also share your images as a free online
slide show or sell copies of the book through its online shop. blurb.com.
The things they don't tell you in the safety demo (轉載)
Airfarewatchdog.com – Tue, Jan 29, 2013
Have you ever wondered exactly why airlines
dim the lights upon landing, making you grope to find the overhead
light just as you were about to finish your Koduko? (Hint: It's not to
save electricity.) Or why it's so important to put your own oxygen mask
on before helping others? Or what's it like jumping onto a 737's
inflatable emergency slide? And just how heavy are those over-wing exit
doors?
If you're a bit of an airline nerd like me (I said a bit, by the way, I'm not one of those planespotter types), then you might have been curious. Or maybe you're the cautious kind, the kind who wants to have every possible advantage the next time there's a "Miracle on the Hudson" or, a less felicitous water landing, or if a lithium ion battery catches fire and you have to deplane in a hurry.
Well, British Airways has just the thing: the BA Flight Safety Awareness Course, a modified version of the same training that flight crews go through after they're hired and then once a year thereafter. Even if you're not the pessimistic or overly cautious type, it's a fascinating way to spend a day in London.
You get to jump down an emergency slide! And if youve ever wanted to pull the inflation cord on one of those airplane life vests, well this is your chance. You also get to evacuate a cabin filled with smoke (it's the kind used in a theater or rock concert, but does the trick). You'll practice the fine points of the "brace position." And best of all, you understand why some of those more obscure procedures and safety warnings are part of the flight experience.
Check those life vests
One thing they don't tell you in the typical safety demo: people take those life jackets, located under or between your seat, as souvenirs. Its a vile and punishable offense, and while airlines do check each seat at the start of every day, a plane could make several trips in a day, during any one of which a passenger could steal a life vest. So, I learned, its a good idea to check if the life jacket is indeed there. Not that it may much matter anyway. Only a small fraction of the passengers on US Airways Flight 1549 bothered to grab their life vests when Captain Sullenberger ditched his Airbus A320 into the Hudson River.
Put yours on first
Youve heard it over and over: put on your own oxygen mask before helping those around you. But the safety demos never tell you why thats so important. The reason? You might only have 15 or 20 seconds in the event of a cabin decompression, during which all oxygen would be sucked out of the plane (and your lungs), before youd experience confusion and a euphoric stoned state, at which point you might forget everything you heard during the safety demo (if in fact you even listened, which you probably didn't). In 30 to 45 seconds you'd probably pass out. So its important to act quickly. (I think that if the standard safety announcement explained some of these fine points then people might put down their newspapers.) Andy and Diane, our instructors, also explained what else to expect during a sudden decompression: a burning smell from the oxygen canisters, severe vibration, a rapid descent (typically a drop of 20,000 feet in just 3 or 4 minutes), and an automated announcement telling you what to expect (because, obviously, the crew would have their own masks on and wouldnt be able to communicate with passengers).
The proper brace position
Some of the finer points of flight safety may seem particularly arcane and even anal, but there's a reason for every detail. If youve ever bothered, for example, to look at the safety card in the seat back pocket, you may have noticed that the correct brace position is to put your hands on your head, but not in just any slipshod fashion (and definitely not with the fingers locked together). See how the illustration shows one hand over the other? Is that just arbitrary? No as it turns out. Should something fall on you during a crash landing, you want to protect at least one hand (preferably the one you write with) because youll need it to unbuckle your seat belt when its safe to do so. Your other hand is in that position to provide some protection to your "strong" hand, which will be doing the unbuckling.
Why not fly backward?
And speaking of the brace position, wouldn't it be entirely unnecessary, I asked Andy and Diane, if airlines oriented their seats so that everyone was flying backwards? After all, in the event of a crash landing or controlled emergency landing, thered be no need to assume the brace position if the seats didn't face forward. Isnt that why flight attendants face backward in their jump seats? People equate rear-facing seats with trains, Andy answered. "We'd be out of business in a week," said Diane. And why not have three- or four-point harnesses rather than seatbelts, such as those worn by flight attendants, one of my classmates asked? Aren't they safer? You've probably guessed the answer: airlines recommend keeping your seatbelt fastened whenever seated, and no one would want to wear such an uncomfortable contraption during the flight.
"Touch drills" and "muscle memory"
While your pilots are waiting for take off, it may surprise you that they're probably doing a safety drill. What if this or that should go wrong on take off, which buttons would we push or steps would we take? So they actually go through the motions of various procedures, touching and even moving the actual controls. They call these touch drills, and Andy and Diane suggest that passengers do the same thing just before take off, perhaps buckling and unbuckling their seat belts three times. Sounds daft? "It's muscle memory," said Diane. "In an emergency, people panic. They think they're in their cars, and try to release the seatbelt by pushing a button rather than lifting a flap." Indeed, as the final report of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board noted following the crash of US Airways flight 405, which landed in the water after take off from New York's LaGuardia Airport, "Some passengers tried to move from their seats while their seatbelts were still buckled, and other passengers had difficulty locating and releasing their seatbelt buckles because of disorientation."
Why does "red" mean "go"?
And whats with that escape path lighting along the floor? Why would red lights indicate an exit? Shouldnt they be green (as in go) instead? Ever see taillights along the motorway in a fog, Andy explained? Theyre red because they show up better in a smoke filled cabin. And indeed, it's true, as we learned when our "cabin" became a soupy fog.
If you're a bit of an airline nerd like me (I said a bit, by the way, I'm not one of those planespotter types), then you might have been curious. Or maybe you're the cautious kind, the kind who wants to have every possible advantage the next time there's a "Miracle on the Hudson" or, a less felicitous water landing, or if a lithium ion battery catches fire and you have to deplane in a hurry.
Well, British Airways has just the thing: the BA Flight Safety Awareness Course, a modified version of the same training that flight crews go through after they're hired and then once a year thereafter. Even if you're not the pessimistic or overly cautious type, it's a fascinating way to spend a day in London.
You get to jump down an emergency slide! And if youve ever wanted to pull the inflation cord on one of those airplane life vests, well this is your chance. You also get to evacuate a cabin filled with smoke (it's the kind used in a theater or rock concert, but does the trick). You'll practice the fine points of the "brace position." And best of all, you understand why some of those more obscure procedures and safety warnings are part of the flight experience.
Check those life vests
One thing they don't tell you in the typical safety demo: people take those life jackets, located under or between your seat, as souvenirs. Its a vile and punishable offense, and while airlines do check each seat at the start of every day, a plane could make several trips in a day, during any one of which a passenger could steal a life vest. So, I learned, its a good idea to check if the life jacket is indeed there. Not that it may much matter anyway. Only a small fraction of the passengers on US Airways Flight 1549 bothered to grab their life vests when Captain Sullenberger ditched his Airbus A320 into the Hudson River.
Put yours on first
Youve heard it over and over: put on your own oxygen mask before helping those around you. But the safety demos never tell you why thats so important. The reason? You might only have 15 or 20 seconds in the event of a cabin decompression, during which all oxygen would be sucked out of the plane (and your lungs), before youd experience confusion and a euphoric stoned state, at which point you might forget everything you heard during the safety demo (if in fact you even listened, which you probably didn't). In 30 to 45 seconds you'd probably pass out. So its important to act quickly. (I think that if the standard safety announcement explained some of these fine points then people might put down their newspapers.) Andy and Diane, our instructors, also explained what else to expect during a sudden decompression: a burning smell from the oxygen canisters, severe vibration, a rapid descent (typically a drop of 20,000 feet in just 3 or 4 minutes), and an automated announcement telling you what to expect (because, obviously, the crew would have their own masks on and wouldnt be able to communicate with passengers).
The proper brace position
Some of the finer points of flight safety may seem particularly arcane and even anal, but there's a reason for every detail. If youve ever bothered, for example, to look at the safety card in the seat back pocket, you may have noticed that the correct brace position is to put your hands on your head, but not in just any slipshod fashion (and definitely not with the fingers locked together). See how the illustration shows one hand over the other? Is that just arbitrary? No as it turns out. Should something fall on you during a crash landing, you want to protect at least one hand (preferably the one you write with) because youll need it to unbuckle your seat belt when its safe to do so. Your other hand is in that position to provide some protection to your "strong" hand, which will be doing the unbuckling.
Why not fly backward?
And speaking of the brace position, wouldn't it be entirely unnecessary, I asked Andy and Diane, if airlines oriented their seats so that everyone was flying backwards? After all, in the event of a crash landing or controlled emergency landing, thered be no need to assume the brace position if the seats didn't face forward. Isnt that why flight attendants face backward in their jump seats? People equate rear-facing seats with trains, Andy answered. "We'd be out of business in a week," said Diane. And why not have three- or four-point harnesses rather than seatbelts, such as those worn by flight attendants, one of my classmates asked? Aren't they safer? You've probably guessed the answer: airlines recommend keeping your seatbelt fastened whenever seated, and no one would want to wear such an uncomfortable contraption during the flight.
"Touch drills" and "muscle memory"
While your pilots are waiting for take off, it may surprise you that they're probably doing a safety drill. What if this or that should go wrong on take off, which buttons would we push or steps would we take? So they actually go through the motions of various procedures, touching and even moving the actual controls. They call these touch drills, and Andy and Diane suggest that passengers do the same thing just before take off, perhaps buckling and unbuckling their seat belts three times. Sounds daft? "It's muscle memory," said Diane. "In an emergency, people panic. They think they're in their cars, and try to release the seatbelt by pushing a button rather than lifting a flap." Indeed, as the final report of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board noted following the crash of US Airways flight 405, which landed in the water after take off from New York's LaGuardia Airport, "Some passengers tried to move from their seats while their seatbelts were still buckled, and other passengers had difficulty locating and releasing their seatbelt buckles because of disorientation."
Why does "red" mean "go"?
And whats with that escape path lighting along the floor? Why would red lights indicate an exit? Shouldnt they be green (as in go) instead? Ever see taillights along the motorway in a fog, Andy explained? Theyre red because they show up better in a smoke filled cabin. And indeed, it's true, as we learned when our "cabin" became a soupy fog.
Those doors are heavy
And what about those emergency over-wing exit doors? How heavy are they exactly, and how easy are they to open and toss? Well, we practiced on a Boeing 737. The answer? Even for me, a fairly strapping six-footer who goes to the gym regularly, theyre pretty heavy (40 lbs. to be exact). Its not just the weight, but maneuvering them while sitting down that's an awkward challenge. Tip: sit way back in your seat or youll konk yourself on the head when the door swings down. Another tip: use your knee to rest the door and then swing it out and throw it on the wing (dont worry, you wont be sued for damages). I was surprised that the actual latch mechanism is so easy to engage you can do it with one finger. Even though, according to our instructors, its been 27 years since an over-wing exit door has had to be opened on a British Airways plane (other than in this cavernous training hangar, that is), I still feel safer now that I've done it. The bad news is that half the people (probably more) who I see sitting in those exit rows wouldnt have the strength to manage the door. Airlines should not sell these seats to anyone merely because they can pay the fee for the extra legroom. But dont worry if some nut tries to open the doors in flight. Theyre impossible to open owing to air pressure being much higher inside the plane than outside.
Perhaps the most macabre little tidbit
Next time you get on a plane, take note of the handles by the door, just inside the plane. What on earth are those for? Correct, they're grab handles, but why? Well, in a panicked emergency evacuation, when the flight attendants are manning the exit door, passengers, in their mad rush to get off, have a tendency to push them out of the way, sometimes all the way down the slide. The handles are there to make sure that the flight attendants stay on the plane if that's what they need to do.
Why don't airlines tell us all this?
I left the course thinking that more passengers would listen to the pre-flight safety demo if airlines shared some of this insider information before each flight, maybe mixing it up from time to time so that the demo doesn't get overly long and cause more people to tune out. On one flight, the demo might include the finer points of opening the over-wing exits. On another flight, more information about why its so important to put your oxygen mask on first (and quickly) before helping others. More passengers would probably do what they're told in an emergency if they knew the reasons behind these rules (and time and time again, in emergencies, passengers do not listen, do the wrong thing, and become victims).
Speaking of the whys, just why do airlines dim the cabin lights during nighttime take offs and landings? You guessed it: to help adjust your eyes to the dark (either inside a smoke filled cabin or on a darkened runway). And why do some airlines ask that you keep your shoes on (except high heels, which can tear the slide) when taking off and landing? Because the runway might be burning hot after you jump down the slide.
And while it's doubtful that airlines will ever add these extra details to their pre-flight safety drills, the main thing I left the course with was a better respect for the thought that has gone into airline safety over the years, as each crash and emergency landing contributes to collective knowledge. And I have even more respect for flight attendants who, as we all know, are primarily there for no other reason than our safety.
And what about those emergency over-wing exit doors? How heavy are they exactly, and how easy are they to open and toss? Well, we practiced on a Boeing 737. The answer? Even for me, a fairly strapping six-footer who goes to the gym regularly, theyre pretty heavy (40 lbs. to be exact). Its not just the weight, but maneuvering them while sitting down that's an awkward challenge. Tip: sit way back in your seat or youll konk yourself on the head when the door swings down. Another tip: use your knee to rest the door and then swing it out and throw it on the wing (dont worry, you wont be sued for damages). I was surprised that the actual latch mechanism is so easy to engage you can do it with one finger. Even though, according to our instructors, its been 27 years since an over-wing exit door has had to be opened on a British Airways plane (other than in this cavernous training hangar, that is), I still feel safer now that I've done it. The bad news is that half the people (probably more) who I see sitting in those exit rows wouldnt have the strength to manage the door. Airlines should not sell these seats to anyone merely because they can pay the fee for the extra legroom. But dont worry if some nut tries to open the doors in flight. Theyre impossible to open owing to air pressure being much higher inside the plane than outside.
Perhaps the most macabre little tidbit
Next time you get on a plane, take note of the handles by the door, just inside the plane. What on earth are those for? Correct, they're grab handles, but why? Well, in a panicked emergency evacuation, when the flight attendants are manning the exit door, passengers, in their mad rush to get off, have a tendency to push them out of the way, sometimes all the way down the slide. The handles are there to make sure that the flight attendants stay on the plane if that's what they need to do.
Why don't airlines tell us all this?
I left the course thinking that more passengers would listen to the pre-flight safety demo if airlines shared some of this insider information before each flight, maybe mixing it up from time to time so that the demo doesn't get overly long and cause more people to tune out. On one flight, the demo might include the finer points of opening the over-wing exits. On another flight, more information about why its so important to put your oxygen mask on first (and quickly) before helping others. More passengers would probably do what they're told in an emergency if they knew the reasons behind these rules (and time and time again, in emergencies, passengers do not listen, do the wrong thing, and become victims).
Speaking of the whys, just why do airlines dim the cabin lights during nighttime take offs and landings? You guessed it: to help adjust your eyes to the dark (either inside a smoke filled cabin or on a darkened runway). And why do some airlines ask that you keep your shoes on (except high heels, which can tear the slide) when taking off and landing? Because the runway might be burning hot after you jump down the slide.
And while it's doubtful that airlines will ever add these extra details to their pre-flight safety drills, the main thing I left the course with was a better respect for the thought that has gone into airline safety over the years, as each crash and emergency landing contributes to collective knowledge. And I have even more respect for flight attendants who, as we all know, are primarily there for no other reason than our safety.
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