TheHomesTour.com's Travel Site Listing

If you have additional travel sites you would like to have listed here, please email webmaster@thehomestour.com.

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Portal Sites

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BestFares.com
Bestfares.com is one of the easiest to use of the sites we looked at, and it has a wide range of discount travel offerings. Editorial features are informative and well written. For full access to the site, though, you must become a member ($59). You then receive the newsletter Deals by E-Mail, which contains such topics as Scam Watch; hotel, car rental, and cruise bargains; news for senior travelers; and information on weather, money on the road, and travel trivia. The list of bargain international trips was a whopping three pages long and had several itineraries at excellent prices, particularly for the high season. Bestfares.com also links with 175 travel bureau Web sites.

Review By PC Magazine


BizTravel.com
biztravel.com focuses primarily on business travelers, but you can book any kind of trip. The site will soon be adding a vacation section. This is the only travel site to offer a guarantee of on-time performance for five of its airline carriers. When you book a flight on Air France, American, British Airways, Continental, or US Airways and the flight is delayed more than 30 minutes, biztravel.com reimburses you $100; you get $200 when the delay is more than an hour, and a full refund if it is more than 2 hours. biztravel.com also offers automated upgrades, wireless alerts, mileage tracking, and price protection. Registration can take a while, but the resulting information is worth the time.

Review By PC Magazine


Expedia.com
Expedia.com is a well-organized and comprehensive site that offers lots of fare-search options. Useful features include Fare Compare and Fare Calendar, where you can search for the best bargains for your desired destination. You can also find a timetable search, arrival and departure information, airline fare lists, and special short-term deals. Thanks to the site's recent upgrade, building your trip is simple, from flights to lodging to car rentals. Destination information is voluminous, thorough, and well written. For all-around user experience, Expedia.com can't be beat. (Disclosure: In November/December, Ziff Davis Media -- PC Magazine's publisher -- is launching the magazine Expedia Travels in partnership with Expedia.)

Review By PC Magazine


Travelscape.com
Travelscape.com was purchased by Expedia but is maintaining its format and independence. This is an accessible and easy-to-navigate site that truly works for you. Once you've entered a travel route or hotel, you're given at least three options at varying price levels. When you request a hotel, you're given several choices, ranging from budget to deluxe. With air fare, you're offered nonstop flights as well as stopovers, so you can choose what's more important to you -- convenience or cost. You'll also find lots of useful destination information.

Review By PC Magazine


Travelocity.com
Another pioneer in consumer travel Web sites, Travelocity.com, is linked to Sabre, the travel agent reservations system. This is a great site for finding in expensive fares; membership is free, and signing up is easy. You're offered daily specials, package vacations, airfare bargains, car rentals, hotel reservations, and a comprehensive destination guide. The site has a feature called Today's Lowest Fares, which lists the lowest fares for 14 of the most popular U.S. destinations. The Fare Watcher service monitors five round-trip itineraries and notifies you of fare changes via e-mail.

Review By PC Magazine


TRIP.com
We liked the wide selection of prices and itinerary options we found at TRIP.com. Registration is relatively quick. Among the site's intriguing features are its reward program, which awards bonus miles each time you book with the service; intelliTRIP, which provides links to multiple airline sites so you can comparison-shop directly from the site; and companyTRIP, which is specifically targeted at business travelers. TRIP.com also offers a Low Fare Notification that sends users weekly alerts on the latest deals; flightTracker, which tracks the status of any flight in progress; Trip Planner, to customize your own itinerary; Tools for Travel, a destination guide and how-to section; and NewsStand, with breaking news and deals.

Review By PC Magazine

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Information Sites

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Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Online
Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Online, the site of budget-travel guru Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine, has won awards for its wide range of travel information. You'll find an archive of feature stories and numerous vacation ideas for niche markets such as singles, seniors, families, and honeymooners, as well as travel tips and resources. The site is easy to use and has an alluring design.

Review By PC Magazine


Concierge.com
The upscale travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler has recently changed the name of its travel site from Epicurious.com (which remains a food and restaurant site) to Concierge.com. The site offers lots of useful features, including a q&a discussion forum, bargain deals, a mapping program, and in-depth destination information (from Fodors.com, reviewed below) for top cities around the world. It links to Expedia.com (reviewed above) for fare-finding.

Review By PC Magazine


Fodors.com
Fodors.com, the Web site of the popular guidebook company Fodor's Travel Publications, provides loads of detailed information -- from money changing and transportation to etiquette and tipping -- for destinations around the world. In addition, you can tailor your own mini-guide to your individual needs: You fill in information about location, price range, dining, and lodging and you get a list of options from which to choose in order to create your mini-guide.

Review By PC Magazine


iExplore.com
iExplore is aimed at travelers in search of adventure and has a roster of online experts who can help you plan your trip. The site offers a list of trips by region or type (Bicycle Touring in Italy and Cultural Tours of Morocco, for instance) and Custom Trip Builder, which lets you design your own itinerary.

Review By PC Magazine


Lonely Planet Online
Lonely Planet Online, the Web site of the guidebooks geared to the more rugged and adventurous traveler, is partially devoted to selling books -- but you'll find a lot of content at the site, too. You can download books to your Palm device -- a nice feature -- and you'll find some interesting chat groups that can be good resources for travel ideas and information.

Review By PC Magazine


TimeOut.com
Time Out, like the regional magazine and guidebooks of the same name, provides in-depth, timely information about events, activities, and attractions in 33 cities around the world. The site caters mainly to the 20-something set and offers student discounts and other deals.

Review By PC Magazine


Travel Weather


Whether you are going across town or across the country, find out how the weather may affect you enroute, as well as what to expect when you reach your destination.


DRIVEcast Weather Report


Weather and the roadway you are traveling on, each are dependant on the other. Utilize DRIVEcast to check current conditions, seek out the best route or get driving tips.

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