Planning Your Vacation Online

There is no shortage of travel resources on the internet. There are two enormous sites dedicated to flight and auto bookings at www.expedia.net and www.travelocity.net. For purposes of exploring the cheapest way to fly from point A to point B, these two options are the best. They will show every flight available, with no bias toward advertisers or major airlines. They will also take a regional approach, and give you the cheapest flight to your destination from all locations in metro areas that have multiple airports. You can retrieve flight information to Boston, for example from San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose – all airports within a fifty mile radius of one another and easily reached via public transit.

You can also book car reservations through these sites, if you are so inclined. Occasionally the auto rental agencies will have bargain rates for online rentals. Both Travelocity and Expedia have hotel packages to match up with your flight destination but those are basically promotional deals and have little to do with enhancing your travel experience.

IF you are interested in some online feedback on hotels and attractions in various locations, www.tripadvisor.com is a good resource. The site has its share of advertising for hotels and other services, but it also has a rating system based on consumer feedback. For San Francisco, the site has a list of the 234 most popular hotels in the city, based on published reviews and opinions submitted by people who have used their site. There is also information on tourist attractions and public transportation for vacation destinations,

You can search the site by destination and retrieve a list of hotels ranked by popularity, by price and by availability. They also provide a list of attractions and dining options, also ranked by popularity and including pricing information. There is a section for maps and an area for forums that will contain commentary on your chosen destination.

Prominent on the page are advertisements for other websites that offer travel packages and deals. There are clickable sections for discount hotels and listings of travel packages that are not advertisers on the site. It's a thorough resource and very informative about destinations and attractions as well as how to get there and where to stay.

You'll find an interesting approach at www.vacationidea.com. Choose from a menu of concepts: beach vacations, weekenders, health spas, romantic getaways, family destinations, golf vacations, low cost choices, etc. The site will give you options in your chosen category that are both near and far, with a range of prices. At www.vacationplanning.net, you can click on any of the fifty states on a map of the U.S.A. Your choice will provide you with a list of popular tourist destinations for the state. Click on a destination within the state, and you'll get details on the location, popular attractions there and links to more local information such as the local chamber of commerce or tourism bureau.

If you do an online search on a destination you've chosen, you'll get lots of sites from local promotional organizations and even governmental sites, such as the Costa Rica Visitors Bureau. There are also United States regional sites to assist in planning touring vacations to some of the countries most scenic or historical areas. After all, there's no rule you have to confine your vacation to a single state.

One of the better ones is http://www.abbington.com/ which is dedicated to planning a vacation in New England. It is a nicely done site, addressing the vacation opportunities for the various seasons in the region. There is a section dedicated to the winter sports, the fall foliage, and a great page for children's attractions at their New England for Kids Page: http://www.abbington.com/kids.html.

These are a few quality selections; the internet is a rich resource for planning vacations. If you opt for a travel package however, be sure to check with the BBB and sources in the travel industry on the reliability of the firm you've chosen.