Technology - Websites
02.08.10
Have you heard of Momondo.com yet? I’m always scouting for affordable flights, like every savvy traveler these days, and recently came across this Copenhagen-based aggregator (U.S. searches make up one-third of its market).
Whenever I encounter a site like this, I’m skeptical—how can this site really be better than the rest?—but it’s hard to argue with Momondo’s credentials. It claims to search more than 750 airfare sources (U.S. competitor Kayak covers roughly half that), including low-cost carriers, consolidators, aggregators, fledgling and major airlines. And when traveler advocate Arthur Frommer tested the top American agreegators—including Kayak, SideStep, and FareChase—only to find that the European Momondo consistently found fares that were 20 to 40 percent less.
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02.04.10
OK, OK, we're a bit giddy over 3floz.com the genius new high-end beauty site (it launched today)—and for good reason. Founded by friends, co-workers, and longtime travel companions, Kate and Alexi (below), it only sells products
that are TSA acceptable (small enough to carry-on in those transparent
little plastic baggies we frequent travelers hold so dear).
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12.16.09
Hit the ground running. CityGoRound.com, a remarkably useful new website, has compiled tools that can help you get around wherever it is you’re heading. Just type in your destination city for up a list of websites and easily-downloaded apps for mobile phones (not just iPhones) that can get you up real-time help in navigating the mean streets.
Some of the available tools are tried-and-true favorites like Google Maps, but others possess that tingly magic of future must-haves:
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11.12.09
A couple weeks ago I attended a reception celebrating the relaunch of the new Kodak Gallery, the film company's online service that allows members to store, organize, and print photos. Now, let me first say that my interest in attending this event was piqued by my fascination with reality television. (I know, I know...) See, the host of the event was none other than Jill Zarin, one of the Real Housewives of New York City stars.
Pitter patter went my heart. And then I watched as others from the New York City cast showed up. Then my heart stopped. I'm not even going to go into details when I saw that Bravo was there filming for an upcoming episode.
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11.11.09
Everyone has a Thanksgiving travel horror story, don’t they? Heading “over the river and through the woods” takes longer and involves more encounters with the surly and stressed hoi polloi than it did when we traveled by sleigh with lap blankets.
Google has granted travelers a respite from watching people freak out in airports during our holiday layovers en route to grandmother’s house. The benevolent search-master is footing the bill for free WiFi in 47 U.S. airports around the country between now and January 15.
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11.09.09
The holiday travel season just got a little bit better…if you’re flying
Delta, that is. Starting on Tuesday, November 24th, over 250 of Delta’s planes will have free WiFi, via the Internet service provider Gogo,
sponsored by eBay.
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10.14.09
Ever find yourself daydreaming at work about booking a last-minute trip? Thanks to Jetsetter.com—the latest venture from Gilt Groupe, best known for their utterly addictive designer flash-sales—it’s easier and more tempting than ever to do just that.
Every day, the site sends registered members an email with a new batch of specially negotiated—and deeply discounted—hotel stays around the world (at press time, a City View Junior Suite at the Epic Hotel Miami was going for $169 per night—that’s $158, or nearly 50 percent, less than the hotel’s published rate!).
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09.30.09
My friends have been known to call me "Danny Tanner"—the super-organized-to-the-point-of-annoying dad from Full House—when it comes to my travel style. Think typed-up itineraries, folders filled with all necessary phone numbers, addresses, and confirmation codes, and even maps with directions (both to and from all major locations), just in case the GPS doesn’t work.
But things have been pretty hectic lately, which means I haven’t been able to dedicate enough time to being so anal while planning my upcoming trip to Italy. Luckily for me, Tripit.com came into my life to save the day.
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09.25.09
To keep Web surfers from drowning in endless oceans of information, task-focused search engines have been multiplying by the minute. Need to research a trip, or just looking for something to do on the weekend? Let Goby, which launched yesterday, do the fishing for you.
With not one, but three search bars (what you’d like to do, where and when), Goby helps travel planners reel in restaurant, activity and hotel recommendations in destinations all over the U.S. Results—sorted by relevance, distance or name—pop up with clickable tabs that provide additional images, pulled from Google and Flickr, and service information broken down in a neat table.
Like all new search engines, Goby is still working hard to iron out the kinks and to connect users with relevant results (the number one listing for a resort spa in Massachusetts? The Brahma Blue, a 12-acre “holistic oasis”…in Ambergis Caye, Belize). Only time will tell if they’ll sink or swim, but we think they're off to a smart start.
Lisa Cheng is an assistant research editor at Travel + Leisure.
Images courtesy of Goby
09.15.09
When not out and about in the world, I am a modern armchair traveler—vicariously visiting the corners of the planet online. I’ve spent whole evenings in South America via GoogleEarth on my iTouch; am addicted to the TravelandLeisure.com and NYTimes.com slideshows; and check in on my bookmarked travel blogs with religious regularity.
Right now, TheAccidentalExtremist.com, a collection of tales of trips gone bad (or somewhat awry) by writers both amateur and celebrated, curated by adventure writer Christian DeBenedetti (with whom I worked at National Geographic Adventure magazine), has me hooked.
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