Differences

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--- category:travel [2012/05/30 15:37]
neil tid updated recent deals
+++ category:travel [2013/04/18 19:20] (current)
neil fixed some links
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== Travel ======
-  * [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/cat/travel|Click here]] to view Travel deals recently submitted on OzBargain
+Recent [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/cat/travel|travel deals]]:
-===== Accommodation =====
+{{rss>http://www.ozbargain.com.au/cat/travel/feed 5 10m }}
+===== Accommodation =====
+====Hotels====
+===Price Comparison Sites===
   * [[http://www.hotelscombined.com/|hotelscombined.com]] -- Search & compare over 900,000 global hotel deals from over 30 merchants on one site.
-  * [[http://www.realholidays.com.au|realholidays.com.au]] -- Holiday rental properties Australia wide.
+  * [[http://www.ihotelsdiscounts.com/|ihotelsdiscounts.com]] -- Search and Compare hotel deals worldwide all at once.
-  * [[http://www.wotif.com|Wotif.com]] -- Find 'last-minute' accommodation deals.
-  * [[http://www.hotelclub.com.au | Hotelclub]] -- Hotel deals and every booking earns credit for next booking.
   * [[http://www.kayak.com | Kayak ]] -- Hotel and flight search engine based out of the US. Sometimes different sites offer different prices for the same hotel.
+  * [[http://www.myhotelpower.com/|MyHotelPower.com]] -- Search & compare global hotel deals all around the world.
+===Booking Sites===
+  * [[http://www.agoda.com | Agoda]] -- Hotel deals (especially Asia). Every booking and review earns credit for next booking.
+  * [[http://www.expedia.com.au|Expedia Australia]] But best to go via starthere/buckscoop. You can get special rates that are 6% cashback, and you can prepay in AUD when traveling OS.  BUT warning Expedia while quoted in Australian Dollars and charged what you are quoted, will incur international transaction fees. Use the wizard card here if you have one.
+  * [[http://www.hotelclub.com.au | Hotelclub]] -- Hotel deals and every booking earns credit for next booking.
+  * [[http://www.hotels.com| Hotels.com]] -- Hotel deals. There are [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals/hotels.com|often coupons]] that make them cheaper than other booking sites.
+  * [[http://www.priceline.com|Priceline]] Bid for hotels using inside knowledge from [[http://www.betterbidding.com|Better Bidding]]. Often considerably cheaper than booking sites.
+  * [[http://www.wotif.com|Wotif.com]] -- Find 'last-minute' accommodation deals.
+====Private Accommodation====
+  * [[http://www.airbnb.com|Airbnb]] -- Rent apartments, rooms, or houses from people. Airbnb takes care of payment.
+  * [[http://www.wimdu.com|Wimdu]] -- Rent apartments, rooms, or houses from people. Wimdu takes care of payment.
+  * [[http://www.realholidays.com.au|realholidays.com.au]] -- Holiday rental properties Australia wide.
   * [[http://www.not1night.com.au|Not 1 night]] -- "//The longer you stay, the cheaper the rate//"
   * [[http://www.vrbo.com|vacation rental by owner]] -- "US based but now many worldwide, have apartments for daily weekly rental in many locations, eg got a nice 3 bedroom unit in Breckenridge for $US100 a night shared with 2 other couples = $US34 a night"
-   * [[http://www.expedia.com.au|Expedia Australia]] But best to go via moneybackco You can get special rates that are 6% cashback, and you can prepay in AUD when travelling OS.  BUT warning Expedia while quoted in Australian Dollars and charged what you are quoted, will incur international transaction fees. Use the wizard card here if you have one.
-   * [[http://www.agoda.com|Agoda]] -- Good rates and large user base with reviews. Rewards points are awarded and easily redeemed after previous booking has been used.
 ===== Public Transport =====
 ==== Australia ====
-[[http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/04/lifehacker%E2%80%99s-2011-australian-airport-public-transport-guide/|Lifehacker’s 2011 Australian Airport Public Transport Guide]] - A guide that compiles all the cheaper methods of getting to airports in your major city. [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/44323| OzBargain Discussion]]
   * **Melbourne**
-    * Free City Tourist Shuttle. Free service operates daily every 30 minutes between 9.30am and 4.30pm, excluding Christmas Day. More details here: http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/Gettingaroundthecity/Visitorassistance/Pages/TouristShuttle.aspx
+    * [[http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/Gettingaroundthecity/Visitorassistance/Pages/TouristShuttle.aspx | Free City Tourist Shuttle]]. Free service operates daily every 30 minutes between 9.30am and 4.30pm, excluding Christmas Day.
-    * Free City Circle Tram. http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/route/view/1112
+    * [[http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/route/view/1112 | Free City Circle Tram]].
   * **Sydney**
-    * Free city loop bus 555: The service operates every 10 minutes in both directions on a loop from Central Station to Circular Quay via Elizabeth and George Streets. It runs between 9:30am and 3:30pm on weekdays (extended to 9pm on Thursdays) and between 9:30am-6pm weekends. More details here: http://www.sydneybuses.info/free-shuttles/free-shuttle-information
+    * [[http://www.sydneybuses.info/free-shuttles/free-shuttle-information | Free city loop bus 555]]: The service operates every 10 minutes in both directions on a loop from Central Station to Circular Quay via Elizabeth and George Streets. It runs between 9:30am and 3:30pm on weekdays (extended to 9pm on Thursdays) and between 9:30am-6pm weekends. More details here:
 ===== Car Rental =====
+  * [[ http://www.autoslash.com/ | Autoslash]] says it can constantly check rates and rebook if price goes down, for Car rentals in the US. Testing it now.
+  * [[http://www.carrentals.com/ | Car Rentals]]  - US based.
   * [[http://comparecarrental.com.au/|Compare Car Rental]] -- Compare car hire prices from all over the world.// Australian Owned.//
-  * [[http://www.carrentals.com/]]  - US based.
+  * [[http://www.webjet.com.au/cars | Webjet]]
-  * http://www.insurance4carhire.com  where they give full insurance for much less than getting thru car rental company
-  * [[http://www.webjet.com.au/cars]]
+===== Car Rental Insurance =====
+Some credit cards offer this plus your travel insurance offers something, but these only cover the excess you have to pay. In places like the US the insurances offered by the companies by default, are the minimum required.
+The following lifted from a number of overseas sites may give you some insight, but its not legal advice. Hopefully it just helps you get a better understanding into what is a confusing and complicated area and you do need to rely on your own research and assessment.
+In Australia many times third party insurance is mandatory for registration, and covers third party injury claims. In the US its not always the case and liability is not capped as it is here. Different states have varying minimum requirements.
+Cars can be rented without this insurance but this would be risky and is not something to be undertaken lightly, particularly in the USA where court awards of damages can be staggeringly high.
+You don't have to take out excess insurance – it is completely voluntary but it may make good sense. You can buy it from the car rental company or you can purchase it in advance from an independent insurance company.
+If you know you are going to take out an excess insurance policy it might be worth comparing the offerings of the independent brokers and the car rental companies. There may be fairly significant price differences. As with all types of insurance, always read the policy details as the excess insurance of some insurers/car rental agencies, may still exclude the most commonly damaged parts of the vehicle – windscreen, tyres, roof and undercarriage.
+Rental companies in the US are required by law to have insurance. The limits are often expressed separated by slashes in the following form: "bodily injury per person"/"bodily injury per accident"/"property damage". For example, California requires this minimum coverage:
+    $15,000 for injury/death to one person
+    $30,000 for injury/death to more than one person
+    $5,000 for damage to property
+This would be expressed as "$15,000/$30,000/$5,000".
+Now Car rental agencies, Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) – provides coverage in the event of an accident causing bodily injury or property damage to someone other than the renter and passengers, which increases the minimum that by law they are required to cover. As you can see in the Californian case, the minimum is woefully inadequate.
+Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) – sometimes also referred to as Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) - covers the costs of damage to the rental vehicle in the event of an accident. Note the words **waiver** as the car rental companies are only waiving the excess **they** charge for an accident. In essence since they are not insuring you, they are saying they wont charge you for damages to their car, waiving their right to claim.
+BUT note that although frequently not explicitly stated, US car rental companies are required by respective state law to provide **minimal liability coverage** as per the California example. This covers costs to a third party in the event of an accident. In most states it is illegal to drive a car without liability coverage therefore this must be included in the cost of rental.
+Hence its good to take out the supplemental CDW/SLI from the car rental company OR
+buy a policy from a car rental insurance company. It depends on the length of the rental. You can buy 1 year policies for around $160, which gives you far greater coverage vs $20 a day from the car rental companies. Plus the annual policies are multiple use and the ones that cover the USA will often cover other areas of the world,
+You might say that you have Credit card coverage/ Travel insurance policies that cover any excess.
+BUT this is excess that the car rental company will charge you for damage to their vehicle, not to others, and often this will only cover the **excess** upto $5000.
+So you crash the Rental car into someone else. The Travel Insurance covers the car rental company's excess charge of $4000, but where are you with the liability for the repairs on the other car plus injury to the occupants and with the basic coverage covered above $5000 to cover the other persons vehicle is pretty low.
+SLI as offered by most companies increases this to more acceptable rates, you do need to scope out what this covers as it can vary according to the company. But this SLI does cost and thats where looking at third party coverage helps, as this may be far cheaper.
+US customers can tap into their domestic car insurance policies for this "third party" liability. Australians can't. It can be a big money trap.
+Where as independent insurance from a third party broker gives you much higher coverage in all aspects. This limit isnt discussed here as it depends on which one you go to. It can be as high as a million dollars coverage.
+See
+[[http://www.insurance4carhire.com/index.asp?subRefID=0&curID=1&langID=1&refID=1351]]
+for some good info. Although they now do not sell to anyone outside the EEU
+also
+[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damage_waiver]]
+One company that does is [[https://www.questor-insurance.co.uk/vehicle-hire-excess-insurance.aspx]]
+However going thru this company can give you a discount on the insurance [[http://www.jml-insurance.co.uk/types.php?id=3&sec=2]] and also other companies to compare rates with.
+They have a blog which discusses this issue as well.
+http://www.autoslash.com/blog-and-tips/posts/a-quick-primer-on-car-rental-insurance
+see also [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_auto_insurance]]
 ===== Campervan Hire =====
@@ Line 39: / Line 110: @@
 ===== Flights =====
-  * [[http://adioso.com|Adioso]] -- Adioso is an airline flight search engine for flexible travellers.  Adioso offers a simple natural text search tool to help you find the cheapest flights and the best destinations.
+  * [[http://adioso.com|Adioso]] -- Adioso is an airline flight search engine for flexible travelers.  Adioso offers a simple natural text search tool to help you find the cheapest flights and the best destinations.
   * [[http://adioso.com/au/australia-to-domestic.html|Cheapest domestic flights as found by Adioso]]
   * [[http://adioso.com/au/australia-to-international.html|Cheapest international flights as found by Adioso]]
-  * [[http://iwantthatflight.com.au/wp-Hot-Flights.aspx|Hot Flights list]] -- "//the cheapest flights found in the last 6 hours//" (from the website //I Want That Flight!//).
+  * [[http://www.flightfox.com/|Flightfox]] -- Flight comparison (crowd-sourcing)
-  * [[http://www.webjet.com.au/travel-toolbox/deal-finder|Webjet Deal Finder]] -- shows the cheapest airfares for every day, up to six months away.
   * [[http://www.hipmunk.com|Hipmunk]] -- Great for easily comparing international flights
+  * [[http://iwantthatflight.com.au/wp-Hot-Flights.aspx|Hot Flights list]] -- "//the cheapest flights found in the last 6 hours//" (from the website //I Want That Flight!//).
   * [[http://www.kayak.com|Kayak]] -- Comparison on flights
+  * [[http://www.skyscanner.net/|Skyscanner]] -- Compares flights including budget airlines from around the world.
+  * [[http://www.webjet.com.au/travel-toolbox/deal-finder|Webjet Deal Finder]] -- shows the cheapest airfares for every day, up to six months away.
 == Tips for booking flights: ==
   * Airlines sometimes offer to beat a lower price fare (e.g. [[http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/travel-info/travel-services/price-beat-guarantee.aspx|Jetstar's Price Beat Guarantee]]).
-  * Booking flights by using the airline's own website is usually cheaper than a travel agent or other third-party website. (e.g. after using VVebjet, find the same flight on the airline's website).
+  * Booking flights by using the airline's own website is usually cheaper than a travel agent or other third-party website. (e.g. after using Webjet, find the same flight on the airline's website).
   * Some airlines will allow you to avoid the credit card fee if you pay by bank deposit. (e.g. Virgin Blue has a [[http://www.virginblue.com.au/Helpme/FAQs/categories/Before+You+Travel/POLi+-+Internet+Banking/|'POLi' - Internet Banking]] option)
   * Some airlines will allow you to avoid the credit card fee if you pay by mastercard debit (eg qantas). If you are an existing Westpac customer you can get one of these for free.
   * Some third-party websites (e.g. [[http://www.zuji.com.au|Zuji Australia]]) will allow you to book airfares at the same price as Airlines and pay by credit card without being charged the credit card surcharge or booking fees, which ends up cheaper than booking from the Airline directly.
   * Organise your travel via [[https://http://www.tripit.com|trip it]]
+== Booking Fees ==
+  * Virgin Australia (international) – $25 per person/per booking.
+  * Virgin Australia (domestic) – $4.50 per person/per flight. Same as their PayPal fee.
+  * Qantas (international) – $30 per person/per booking.
+  * Qantas (domestic) – $7.70 per person/per booking.
+  * Qantas (master card debit and Bpay) – $0.00 per person/per booking.
+  * Jetstar (international) – $12.50 per person/per flight.
+  * Jetstar (domestic) – $8.50 per person/per flight.
+  * Jetstar (JQ mastercard, Poli, direct deposit) – $0.00 per person/per flight.
+  * Tiger (domestic) – $7.50 per person/per flight.
+  * Tiger (Mastercard debt) – $0.00 per person/per flight.
+[[http://whrl.pl/RdffNt|Credit: -Someone-]]
+===== Traveling to the Airport =====
+====Australia====
+[[http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/04/lifehacker%E2%80%99s-2011-australian-airport-public-transport-guide/|Lifehacker’s 2011 Australian Airport Public Transport Guide]] - A guide that compiles all the cheaper methods of getting to airports in your major city. [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/44323| OzBargain Discussion]]
+===Melbourne===
+ * [[http://blog.ozbargain.com.au/2012/free-parking-public-transport-at-melbourne-airport/ |Free Parking and Public Transportation at Melbourne Airport]]
 ===== Insurance =====
   * Many "gold" or "platinum" credit cards offer free travel insurance. Check the fine print carefully including eligibility, they may require the entire return flight to be booked on the credit card or some part thereof.
@@ Line 65: / Line 162: @@
 ===== Travel Insurance providers - sites to compare  =====
-http://www.insureandgo.com.au
+[[http://www.duinsure.com.au | Downunder insurance]] -- BUT go via Starthere and get 11% back
-http://www.worldnomads.com.au
+[[http://www.insureandgo.com.au | Insure & Go]]
-Downunder insurance BUT go via Moneybackco and get 11% back
+[[http://www.scti.com.au | SCTI]]
-http://www.duinsure.com.au
-http://www.travelinsurance.com.au
+[[http://www.travelinsurance.com.au | Travelinsurance.com.au]] -- Code for discount found here http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/24772
-Code for discount found here http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/24772
-http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au
+[[http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au | Travel Insurance Direct]]-- Regularly have [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals/travelinsurancedirect.com.au|discount coupons.]]
-Regularly have discount coupons, [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals/travelinsurancedirect.com.au|see recent deals]]
-http://zuji.com.au
+[[http://www.worldnomads.com.au | World Nomads]]
-http://www.scti.com.au
+[[http://zuji.com.au | Zuji]]
-Also try www.Moneybackco.com.au as you can get rebates if you join up and buy through them.
+==== Travel Insurance Advice ====
 All the above sites offer competitive prices. It really pays to look at the policy for each company. For instance Zuji offers $5 Million personal liability while TID only offers $2.5 Million, their are differences between them all for hire car excess, travel delays, etc.
-Have more recommendations edit the wiki.
 A further tip to consider. If 2 of you are going some times having separate policies can save money as a policy for 2 costs the same as 2 individual policies. Eg You want car rental insurance cover, buy for 1 the policy that has this included (the name you will use on the car rental contract)and buy a second policy for your partner that doesn't have this which is usually cheaper
-===== Long Running Deals =====
 ===== Tips and Hints ======
-NZ currency exchange.
+**NZ currency exchange.**
 Best place to get good rates on AUD to NZD is using KiwiBank found in post offices in NZ. Rates are much better than in the bigger banks and with the currency exchanges.
@@ Line 101: / Line 191: @@
 Some details can be found here. http://www.kiwibank.co.nz/personal-banking/international-services/foreign-exchange/fast-branches.asp
+**THAILAND currency exchange.**
+If you visit Bangkok, a shop, superrichthailand, near Central world shopping centre offers the best rate.
+You can check it online here: http://www.superrichthailand.com/editor/rate.html
+Just be careful, there is another shop on the same street which has similar name, superrich: http://www.superrich.co.th/rate.php (actually has same AUD buy rate as at 18/03/2013)
 ===== OS Shopping tips List by country - USA ======
@@ Line 113: / Line 211: @@
 Ross Dress For Less (http://www.rossstores.com/) are an outlet store for a lot of designer labels.  They mainly have clothes, shoes & accesssories (you pay similar prices for clothes as you would in Big W/Target here, sometimes even less), but at good prices are luggage (you can get a samsonite suitcase for around 80 bucks).  They also have kitchenware homewares, toys, food and other miscellaneous departments as you would find in a department store.  As long as you're not hung up on getting a particular line or item, they have a great range of clothes for all ages and sizes.  Each store stocks different stuff, so shop around if you have time.
+More discussions here
+  *  [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/70643]]
+  *  [[http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/70497]]

Last edited by neil on 2012/05/30 15:37

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