Traveler 2.0

Google launches new hotel search tool

To paraphrase Billy Joel, the folks at Kayak might be having a little heart attack-ack-ack-ack. 

Google has just launched Google hotel finder. Branded an 'experiment,' hotel finder lets you search for U.S. hotels in a given city by date, location on a map, price, hotel class, and user rating. One cool feature: The hotel finder will tell you how the rate listed for your dates compares to the hotel's regular rates. This way, you can see if you're paying more--and how much more--than usual, which can help you decide when to go. You can also create a 'shortlist' of hotels you prefer. 

The tool also lets you see photos, read reviews, and book a room (by providing links to other sites like Priceline, Expedia, Hotels.com). I like the tool's clean, uncluttered interface, though Kayak still gives you far more filtering options (such as the ability to only search for hotels that have Internet access and a pool, for instance.) 

How to Find the Best Airfares -- Can One Site Do it All?

Is it possible to go to just one Web site to find all the best airfares? According to The New York Times Practical Traveler column, the answer is: not really.

Web analytics firm Compete.com says travelers made an average of 21 visits to various travel Web sites last year before they booked a trip, the Times reports. So the Times columnist Michelle Higgins put one-stop-shop/meta-search travel sites  Kayak.com, Fly.com, Bing Travel and Momondo.com to work, to see how well each did in finding the lowest airfares.

Higgins' piece is well worth reading. But if you don't have time, here's the paragraph you need to read:

"Each meta-search site configures its technology and accesses fares slightly differently, which can affect results. Where the sites also tend to differentiate themselves is through special partnerships and features that might cater to a certain segment of travelers. 'No one site can necessarily do it all for everybody right now,' said Henry H. Harteveldt, a travel analyst at Forrester Research."

TripKick: SeatGuru for Hotels

TripKick is a new site that strives to do for hotel booking what SeatGuru does for frequent fliers. TripKick lets you search for hotel rooms by preference (such as quiet rooms), size, and location, as well as by amenities such as Wi-Fi. You can compare rooms and add your comments about specific rooms you've stayed in. It even includes transportation information, such as typical taxi fares to a hotel and hotel parking rates.

Downside: As of this moment, TripKick only offers hotel information in 11 U.S. metro areas or cities, but the site is regularly adding new ones. Also, I'd love to see more detailed information about Wi-Fi in guest rooms, such as which rooms in a particular hotel have the strongest signals.

If you want to really get the dirt on a hotel before booking, visit TripKick and TripAdvisor before booking.

Good Flight or Bad? InsideTrip Helps You Predict

InsideTrip.com, currently in beta, promises something you don't get from other air travel-booking sites.

After entering your origination and destination cities and dates, you'll get a list of possible itineraries. Nothing unusual there. But here's the difference: Each itinerary is given an Overall Trip Quality score. And each itinerary is rated for speed, comfort, and ease, using icons that look suspiciously like those in Consumer Reports.

I haven't actually booked and taken a flight using InsideTrip yet. But I like the site's clear, easy-to-use tools (with slider bars for changing departure and arrival times, similar to Kayak.com's). Coupled with SeatGuru.com (for picking your seats), InsideTrip could make airline travel at least somewhat less painful.

Skytrax and Other Top Travel Sites

Just read the March Conde Nast Traveler, featuring an article entitled "The Ultimate Guide to Travel Web Sites." I figured I'd know all the sites, and I was familiar with many (Kayak.com, Farecast.com, Hotels.com, etc.).

But I learned about some sites, too.

Example: Skytrax, which was named 'Best Site for Airline Reviews.' Skytrax is kind of like TripAdvisor but for airplanes and airports, with thousands of user reviews. The site's Seat Pitch guide is particularly helpful.

But I differ with the magazine's assessment that Skytrax tops SeatGuru.com, which earned 'Runner Up' status. I don't book a trip without consulting SeatGuru's many airplane seating diagrams, which Skytrax lacks. Also, SeatGuru has excellent airline comparison charts, such as its Domestic Economy chart, providing at-a-glance views of seat pitch, seat width, in-flight video systems, laptop power availability, and power type.

Maybe the two should merge and form one super site?

Redrawing Yahoo and Google Maps

Yahoo's mapping service has been revamped to compete more closely with Google's easy rerouting feature.

Using either Web mapping tool, you can quickly reroute a planned trip just by dragging and dropping the map marker that shows your suggested route. This feature is a welcome addition to both services, because neither one gives excellent directions all the time.

For instance, both frequently route me through densely trafficked neighborhoods in San Francisco, where I live. So now I just pick up the directional line on the map, nudge it away from the congested areas, and get new directions. Of course, for this to work you have to possess local knowledge of where traffic bottlenecks usually exist. And that means you're not as likely to need directions in the first place. But I quibble.

Orbitz Launches Traveler Update

Orbitz has launched Traveler Update, a free service designed to provide travelers with frequent updates on airport security wait times, local traffic, weather, flight status, parking rates, Wi-Fi network accessibility, and such. Traveler Update combines information submitted by users with reports from the FAA, TSA, and other sources. You can use the service on your computer or Web-enabled phones.

I've given the service a quick look-see, both on my PC and my Treo. I like the dashboard-style overview of updates Traveler Update provides. Given that the service just launched last week and is currently in beta, however, the user-generated content is fairly slim right now. But it's a good start, and I'm adding the site to my list of must-do travel Web sites.

Google Street View: A Rogue's Gallery

After reading my recent post about Google's new Street View mapping feature, a visitor to this blog, who goes by the name 'Mapper,' alerted me to a photo blog called 'Street View Gallery.' It's a fun time-waster offering offbeat glimpses of people and places captured by Google's roving camera crew.

Street View Gallery isn't the only site showcasing odd Street View images. Others include Google Blogoscoped, Streetviewr, and Cnet.com.

Here's one Google Street View image to get you started. Judging from the looks of the photo, one thing is clear: it is definitely a buyer's real estate market.

Google Maps Get Street Smart

With its satellite images of urban streets, Google Maps is already an excellent resource for travel planning. For example: Last spring, when I was planning a Honolulu vacation, I typed in my hotel's address using Google Maps to ensure the hotel, as advertised, truly offered unobstructed ocean views. The satellite image of the hotel showed it directly across the street from Waikiki, with no buildings to block its views.

Google has now one-upped itself with its Street View feature. Type in an address, and you can get 360-degree, street-level views of the entire city block--as well as adjoining blocks. (The image below is a Street View of the 24th and Castro intersection in San Francisco.) You can negotiate up or down the street or on either side, as if you were on foot. This is a great tool for travelers who, say, want to return to a restaurant they visited but can't remember the name. You have to at least remember the street or a nearby intersection, of course.

Google Maps' Street View is currently available only in nine U.S. cities. Some images I viewed had areas in which details appeared washed out from sunlight. Still, the feature is well worth your time and, since it's free, definitely worth your money.

The Google video below gives you a quick overview of the Street View feature.