The line slithered outside the sliding glass doors of the awesome Newport Beach Public Library one hour before the scheduled presentation of Peter Greenberg. Greenberg, travel correspondent for ABC’s Good Morning America and a New York Times best-selling author of the Travel Detective series, fights to give consumers the best kept secrets such as, “There are secret seats on coach that are better than Business class seats. In case you were wondering, they’re not the bulk head seats or the exit row seats either. Greenberg says they’re in his latest book, Tough Times, Great Travels: The Travel Detective’s Guide to Hidden Deals, Unadvertised Bargains and Great Experiences.
I shall give you a few snippets from his presentation that I found useful and interesting:
* Don’t book tickets online thinking you’ll get the best deal. Call the airline first, get the best deal they offer and book it. The airline will hold it for free for 24 hours. Then go online after and compare prices with the one you got from a real person.
* Greenberg recommends Kayak and onetime to book online tickets.
* Openskies offers only business class seats at a great cost. They fly between New York, Paris and Amsterdam and I checked a flight from NY to Paris one-way in May was only $662.
* Korean airlines fly everywhere in the U.S., for example Los Angeles to Sao Paulo and offer better rates and service.
* 85 banned airlines are still flying abroad.
* Buy one way tickets, then you never need to change ticket.
* Get trip cancellation insurance.
* Never buy insurance from travel provider itself, go through the travel agent.
Other comments of interest:
Greenberg mentioned the worst airports in the U.S. are Miami and LAX, due to passport control and customs delays. The best airports are Portland, Seattle and Chicago.
The best bargains and countries to visit in South America are Argentina, Chile,(has the most to offer in terms of diversity, dry desert in the north, Lake District, Patagonia.) Colombia has turned things around and is a great place to visit now. Paraguay is the most dangerous country for a woman traveling alone in South America.
You know what DELTA stands for? “Don’t ever leave the airport.”
If you’re interested in listening to the podasts of these famous speakers, please click here. It usually takes a few weeks for the podcast to be available after the presentation. So please be patient and come back if you don’t see it right away.
So what are your travel plans this year? Any good tips you can share?
