Amazon

Posted on August 15, 2012 by David Rier

Amazon (www.amazon.com) is the number one shopping site on the Internet. It is by far the biggest. As to whether or not Amazon is the “best” shopping site – that depends on what you are looking for.

Amazon sells something for just about everybody and every interest. However, they do not (and cannot) sell everything. They sell the most common and most popular items, so some specialty items or particular brands may not be available.

I personally like shopping on Amazon. It’s like shopping at an entire shopping mall without the miles of walking or standing in line at the checkout counters. As long as you can buy things that you don’t have to touch before you purchase them, Amazon may well be the place you should shop.

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Shopping Safely on the Internet

Posted on August 7, 2012 by David Rier

So you want to go out and shop at a virtual store – I.e. on a web site. How do you shop “safely”? That is, how do you purchase on the Internet and make sure that you don’t get ripped off?

Here are a few bits of advice to make your Internet shopping experience safer and more enjoyable:

1. Set up a separate “shopping” email box that you use solely for your shopping activities (I.e. receiving confirmation and tracking information, sending emails to customer service, etc.) That way, your shopping emails will not get lost in your mailbox and any spam you receive as a result of your shopping activities will not fill up your personal mailbox.

2. Keep your communications on the web site protected (I.e. encrypted). Encrypted information is hard for the “bad guys” to intercept, decrypt and then use for the purpose of ripping you off. Make sure you only send personal information if the web site address starts with https:” or you see a closed padlock in the lower part of the screen. These indicate that you have to go through a validated sign-on procedure and your personal information is protected via encryption.

3. Pay for your purchases with a credit card. This limits your financial liability if you are ripped off.

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Buying on the Internet

Posted on July 31, 2012 by David Rier

The Internet is full of millions of web sites. There are many types of web sites. Some (like this one) are devoted to dispensing information. Some provide entertainment. Others provide services and products.

It’s these virtual stores that I’ll be exploring over the next month or two. Large or small, companies make their products available over the Internet. I’ll look at some of the sites out there, how to shop safely and how to save money while you’re doing it.

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Your Own Travel Guide

Posted on July 24, 2012 by David Rier

Part of the fun of travel is experiencing new things and new places. There are thousands of travel guides in print and many more travel sites available on the Internet.

Once you’ve decided on your destination and booked your travel, you still need information about your destination. What attractions would you like to visit? Where would you like to eat? Do you want to sample the local bars or nightlife?

Travel guides can be frustrating because they lay out all the possibilities in the area. With your limited travel time, you probably can only see so many of the listed attractions and eat at so many of the restaurants, etc. A 200-page guide may only have information that you really want and need on only a handful of its pages. Do you tear out those just those pages?

A better choice might be to use the Stay.com site. The site allows you to build a list of attractions, restaurants, bars, etc. and then print out or download your own travel guide. If you download the guide, you can even use it to navigate from one place in your guide to another without having to be connected to the site!

One small caveat: The Stay.com is primarily for travel based around cities. If you are getting off the beaten track or into adventure travel, the information will probably not be there.

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Save Some Travel Money

Posted on July 17, 2012 by David Rier

Most everyone likes to travel and just about everyone likes to save money. Put those two preferences together and you have the Priceline travel site ().

Priceline does not exclusively require you to bid for everything that you do in the site. You can also use the site like a regular travel booking site and will get prices for air fares, hotels, cars, packages, etc. at amounts below their list prices.

However, Priceline does still give you the opportunity to “name your own price” for your travel. If you feel comfortable in haggling over the price a bit, then go for it! You will probably save more than the standard pricing, but you give up a measure of control in exactly what you are getting. As an example, you may get a cheap air ticket, but the exact time of the flight, whether it is non-stop, etc. is not under your control.

If your chief criteria when spending your travel dollars is to get the best deal possible, Priceline may well be for you. It’s not the only site in the “cheap travel” space, but it is probably the most well-known.

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Ahhh … The Island Life

Posted on July 12, 2012 by David Rier

Do you like to vacation in the islands? On the east coast, that means going to the Caribbean. According to Wikipedia,”the region comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs and cays.” With all those possible choices, where would you like to go and where would you like to stay?

One site that can help to narrow down you choices and save you money at the same time is cheapcaribbean.com. They specialize in travel to the Caribbean area (hence the name) and the travel can be via air or cruises. They are not totally limited to the Caribbean as they also offer information and travel services for Mexico and Central America.

The site is full of deals. The site is primarily about getting and staying in their covered areas. The packages do not involve extra excursions. If that is your thing, you can check at your hotel or look elsewhere.

I’ve found the site to be full of cost-effective deals.

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That’s How Much!?!

Posted on July 3, 2012 by David Rier

One of the most difficult things about travel is managing your money. Paying for meals or souvenirs in local currency can lead to your paying too much for your purchases.

Currencies fluctuate in value every day. Also, each currency is worth different amounts. With the variations in values and rates, it’s easy to lose sight of how much a Euro (or Pound or Yen or whatever) is worth. If you forget to convert an amount of local currency into your own currency, you can drastically overpay for something.

I personally use a site called XE (www.xe.com) to help me keep track of my currency exchange questions. The site allows you to convert between virtually any two currencies. Although it may be a “one trick pony”, the site can give you peace of mind in your travels by keeping you aware of the true cost of your purchase.

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What’s the Weather?

Posted on June 26, 2012 by David Rier

Going on a vacation trip can sometimes be a trying experience. Setting up all the details of how to get there, where to stay, what to see, etc. can be daunting.

In spite of all the best planning, however, one thing can’t be anticipated – the weather. Weather can make or break any vacation. So how do you get at least a general feel for what the weather might be like, especially in some place you have never visited?

My suggestion would be to check out a site that can give you a look at a location’s historical climate figures. I use Weatherbase (www.weatherbase.com). It shows year-round climate data for almost 30,000 locations world-wide (I.e. monthly average high and low temperatures, monthly precipitation, average number of days with precipitation, etc.).

A little knowledge can at least improve the odds that your vacation will be warm or dry or snowy enough to make you happy.

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Advice From and For Travelers

Posted on June 20, 2012 by David Rier

When I travel, I prefer the fewest number of surprises possible. But how do you check out hotels, their environs and travel tips when the location in question may be half-way around the world?

My advice would be to check out TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com). The site is an amazing amalgam of travel information, advice and experiences. I use the site to see what other travelers think about specific locations, hotels, attractions, etc. As well, I pick up travel tips that are invaluable. (E.g. where to buy a cheap bug net in the Australian Outback – made my sightseeing much more enjoyable than those who didn’t know that the little flies outdoors perpetually try to get into your eyes, ears, nose and mouth.)

A word to the wise: Take the reviews with a grain of salt. Some are submitted by those with an axe try grind. Some people have no patience and expect the world to always bend to them. Some reviews are fakes. However, if there are a large number of reviews and they are pretty consistent in their tone, praise or condemnation, then you can probably rely on the information.

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Have a Seat

Posted on June 13, 2012 by David Rier

I’ve had the experience of making many plane trips – business and pleasure, domestic and international. Being a tall person (6’2”), I’m very affected by the seats that I am assigned for my flights. Leg room helps (a lot!). Also, not being in a middle seat makes my flight experience much better.

When you make your reservations, some airlines or travel sites allow you to choose your seats from a diagram of what seats are open. I personally prefer an aisle seat and choose one when I can. However, if I have a short layover, I will try to get a seat (any seat) that’s closer to the front so my blood pressure stays in control.

If you want to get the layout of your plane to judge how many people might be on the flight, how the seats are arranged, where to get the best view from the plane, etc., you can check out SeatGuru by Trip Advisor (www.seatguru.com). You can put in an airline name and flight number and the site will show you what type of plane your flight will be. It also shows the layout of the plane (I.e. seats, lavatories, galleys, aisles, bulkhead seats, over-the-wing seats, etc.) A little knowledge beforehand can help to make your trip more comfortable or enjoyable.

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