GeekSugar

Paper Airline Tickets On The Brink Of Extinction

GeekSugar — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:00:31 PDT

Luddite travelers may need to start making geek friends because the paper airline ticket will be all but extinct by the end of May.

Replacing paper tickets, and the elaborate global system that processed them, with electronic ticketing will save airlines $3 billion annually on the roughly 400 million tickets sold outside of the United States alone, according to the New York Times.

Apparently, 96.86 percent of tickets sold in the United States, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands last month were electronic, so it does appear that most people are able and willing to travel the digital way. Do you use electronic or paper tickets when you travel?

Source

Consumers Now Get a Full Refund on Airline Tickets If Cancellation Is Within 24 Hours

Emily Co — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:24:45 PST

Hooray for air travel rights! Airline passengers can celebrate the new regulations by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which take effect today. Some of these include:

Getting a full refund on all airline tickets if you cancel within 24 hours of making the reservation as long as the departure date is at least one week away.
Holding a reservation without payment.
Passengers have to be notified immediately of cancellations and delays longer than half an hour.
Ticket prices "generally" can't be increased after they are bought (this regulation is pretty vague, but hopefully it'll offer some protection).
Baggage fees must be disclosed when customers book a flight.
Mandatory taxes and fees have to be included in airfares displayed in advertisements.

I think the full refund of airline tickets is a huge bonus and will save lots of people money in the long run. Further, some of these new rules will definitely cut down on a lot of needless discussions with customer service reps! Which regulation are you the most excited about?

How-To: Save Money on Your Air Ticket After You Buy It

Emily Co — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:09:02 PDT

We're always looking for cheap air tickets in order to reduce costs before we make the purchase, but did you know that you can save even more money after your buy? Believe it or not, you can actually get refunded the difference if you buy your ticket from airlines like JetBlue or Alaska Airlines. However, some airlines will charge an extra fee because they will consider it to be changing reservations. AirTran and Virgin for example, charges $75, and American and United charges $150. Savvy tip: make sure you do your homework on the fees incurred.

An easy way to keep track of the changing airline prices will be to use online price tracker Yapta.com that will do the work for you and send you refund alerts when your fare has gone down. Be sure to also check out Yapta's other cool feature, which keeps track of the flights that you're interested in buying and sends you alerts when the price drops for the weekend you wanted to jet away to New York. You can even keep track of hotel prices as well.

Have you ever been refunded the difference after the price of your plane ticket dropped?

Got a cost-saving travel tip? Join our Savvy Travel Tips group and share your expertise!

Is Full Fare Airfare Ever Worth It?

Leta Shy — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 05:00:16 PST

I recently took a last-minute flight to Los Angeles - which meant my usual plans of grabbing a cheap seat went out the window, since many airlines require an advanced purchase for the bottom of the barrel prices. Even so, sites like Sidestep, Kayak, and Bing can grab the best last-minute deals, but this time I decided to pay full fare on my favorite discount airliner, Southwest.

For my trip, Southwest's fares were not that much more than any discounted ticket on other airlines that I found through a search, so I knew that I wasn't paying much more than I would have to in order to fly. But I did end up paying a premium.

So why did I choose the full fare instead of a discounted ticket? Find out after the break.

Travel Tips to See You Through to the New Year

Anna Monette Roberts — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 05:32:11 PST

Holiday season is the busiest travel season, which means the prices of airfare are high, airports are madhouses, and there are tons of presents to be transported via your luggage. For cost-cutting tips on holiday travel, look no further than the guides below.

Skip Fees With an Adaptable Carry-On	What to Do When Your Flight's Been Canceled	The Cheapest Time to Travel This Winter
Save Money on Your Air Ticket After You Buy It	How to Pack Presents in Luggage	Ways to Save on Last-Minute Trips

See more travel tips.

Travel Tips For the Upcoming Holiday Weekend

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:45:22 PST

Traveling this holiday? Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday this year, which makes one big mess at the airport. If you can't take a car or a train, be sure to check out these packing and travel tips to make your life easier while booking flights, getting through security checkpoints, and beyond.

Booking Flights

TripIt - Once signed up for the free service, forward travel confirmation emails to TripIt, which will automatically create a master itinerary of an upcoming trip accessible through the web or a mobile device. The itineraries even include the tidbits we seem to forget like weather updates, local maps, and directions.
Google Flight Search - Book that plane ticket before prices rise any further! Google's flight search engine incorporates travel basics like price point, maximum number of connections, and preferred airline with an easy-to-use interface.
Hotel Tonight - If there are too many relatives in one house, scan the last-minute hotel deals at Hotel Tonight for a chic getaway at a discounted price. Every day three hotels in a city reveal their discounted rates starting at noon, and you then have until 2 a.m. to book the deal and take advantage of a peaceful room.
My TSA - Can homemade fruit cakes go through security? How early should you show up to the airport for a flight on the eve of Thanksgiving? Answer the pressing travel questions that could otherwise cause delays or stress by adding the TSA's free iOS app to your device. The app's airport security line estimator may become the most crucial feature on your phone when planning your airport arrival.
HearPlanet ($3) - Take the time to discover the cultural side of your holiday destination. This interactive app highlights attractions in over 300,000 locations and uses geolocation features so that you don't miss any of the nearby fun, plus it's a great excuse to get out of the house and move around in fresh air.
GasBuddy - Hitting the open road instead of the air? Use the free GasBuddy app to locate the cheapest fuel on the interstate. Show your fellow travelers some love and share the low-price gas station you discover within the app.

Gadget Essentials

iPad or Tablet - If you have the luxury of spending upwards of $500 on a tablet, it's probably the only gadget you'll need to tote during travel season since it can hold your ebooks, surf the Internet, and keep you connected.
eReader - If you're sans tablet, pack up your favorite ereader. Whether it's the latest Kindle or the new Nook Simple Touch, you can read the entire Game of Thrones series without all the paper weight.
Compact laptop - Though the MacBook Air is arguably the most popular lightweight laptop out there, there's plenty of compact PCs and ultrabooks to choose from as well.
Chargers - If you're toting all these gadgets, you're going to (obviously) need some chargers to keep things juiced. Thankfully, many airlines are offering charging stations in the terminal and even seat-side outlets on board, so you can stay 100 percent charged throughout your trip.
Headphones - Keep the roar of 35,000 feet at bay with some nice sound-isolating headphones. If you're going over-the-ear, consider Skullcandy Aviators ($149), which offer great sound and deep bass and are even comfy for those geeks who wear glasses.

Get more tips on how to pack your bag and save some dough after the break.

The Most-Overlooked Tax Deductions

Kiplinger — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:50:44 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Every year, the IRS dutifully reports the most common blunders that taxpayers make on their returns. And every year, at or near the top of the “oops” list is forgetting to enter their Social Security number at the top of the tax form - or making a mistake when entering those nine digits.

But think about it for a minute: Do you think that’s the most common mistake . . . or simply the easiest to notice?

One thing we know for sure is that the opportunity to make mistakes is almost unlimited, and missed deductions can be the most costly. About 45 million of us itemize on our 1040s - claiming more than $1 trillion worth of deductions. That’s right: $1,000,000,000,000, a number rarely spoken out loud until Congress started tying itself up in knots trying to deal with the budget deficit and national debt.

Another 92 million taxpayers claim about $700 billion worth using standard deductions - and some of you who take the easy way out probably shortchange yourselves. (If you turned 65 in 2011, remember that you now deserve a bigger standard deduction than the younger folks.)

Yes, friends, tax time is a dangerous time. It’s all too easy to miss a trick and pay too much. Years ago, the fellow who ran the IRS at the time told Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine that he figured millions of taxpayers overpay their taxes every year by overlooking just one of the money-savers listed below

How the American Airlines Bankruptcy Will Affect You

Emily Co — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:56:27 PST

There's always a feeling of confusion when a major retailer goes bust, but what we really want to know is what it means for us and how we'll be affected. American Airlines announced it was filing for bankruptcy this morning, which leaves loyal customers wondering what's going to happen to their miles and if it's going to be harder to book a flight with them. Here's a quick roundup of burning questions you might have:

Will American Airlines go out of business and stop flying?

When a company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it doesn't mean it's going to close shop and disappear. It just means the airline gets time off from creditors to do some financial reorganization. Chapter 7 bankruptcy, on the other hand, would mean that business would close. American Airlines has not filed for that, and there seems to be no plans to do so. Airlines such as Delta, Continental, and United have all filed for bankruptcy and are now stronger for it after taking the time needed during the bankruptcy period to put their books in order.

Can I still use my miles?

Yes, the airline says that the frequent flier program will not be affected, and you'll be able to redeem and use your miles. In the past, airlines that have gone bust, such as Pan Am and Eastern, transferred miles to the airlines that purchased some of their assets.

What's going to happen to my flight?

You don't have to worry about the tickets you currently hold, according to Rick Seaney, the CEO of FareCompare, a company that helps customers find air travel deals online. “Tickets won’t be an issue because of the kind of bankruptcy they’re filing,” Rick tells Time. The airline has also said it will continue to honor tickets and reservations.

Read on to learn how you should manage your miles.

5 Ways Tech Can Help You Save Money While Traveling

Kristy Korcz — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:05:52 PST

Summer may seem like the biggest travel season of the year, if you're headed abroad, cross country, or to far-off locales, travel time is ripe 365 days a year. Unfortunately, traveling can also have you racking up the charges on your credit card, but with these handy tech tips, you can save money while on the road now, or any time!

Track down free WiFi - There's a number of US airports that offer free WiFi in the terminals (and more being added all the time), which can save you big money if you need to stay connected. Also, there's plenty of WiFi options getting to and from the terminal. Just don't use that mysterious "Free Public WiFi" signal - it could spell trouble.
Get a Google Voice number - Getting a Google Voice number can help you save big bucks on international and domestic calls wherever you are - rates start at just two cents a minute, and calls to US and Canadian landlines are free! Plus, you can use your laptop to make calls, no cell phone required.

Check out the rest of the tips when you read more.

How to Stay Calm and Savvy When Your Flight's Been Canceled

Leta Shy — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:14:15 PST

If you're a traveler, it's never too early to have a game plan in case something unexpected happens, whether it's a canceled flight or a completely shut down airport. I asked Heather Dickson, acting publisher of the Lonely Planet guidebooks, for advice on what to do if you find yourself in these situations happen to you.

On what you should do if your flight's been canceled: "Stay calm, check your ticket contract and get in touch with your airline. All airlines have plans if flights are canceled, but policies can differ from carrier to carrier. Knowing what your ticket contract says can help you obtain the best result for your canceled flight."

On what to do if your airport has shut down: "When airports close, flights are either canceled or diverted to a nearby airport. If you are diverted then it's generally carrier policy to ensure flight connection to your final destination. In either case it's important for travelers to build more time into their journey, have a back-up plan and continue to check in with the airline. Many airlines offer mobile notification services, which give you early notice on the status of your flight and airport closures. Signing up for this service can save you time at the airport."

Read on for more of Heather's advice.