ExpertFlyer

Traveling by air these days is rarely fun. Traveling during the holidays can be an outright hassle. But, why not take some tips from the road warriors who travel all the time and have mastered the art of air travel with minimal pain. Here are six tips that will make this holiday season's travel woes a little less complicated and much more enjoyable.

#1 Pack Small for Carry-On

Today, almost every airline has a fee for checking your bags. Ideally, it would be nice to avoid them altogether but with gifts and heavy winter clothing that may not be possible. First, remember that carry-on bags are limited in size and with a growing backlash from frequent flyers that play by the rules, the airlines will be stepping up enforcement of carry-on bag sizes. Most airlines restrict carry-on bags to 22" x 14" x 9" or a total of 45". Don't even think of taking that big 26-incher on board. You will get flagged.Read more

Navigating the Rules of Carry-on Liquids

Is it worth it? Is it really worth it? Trying to get that bottle of Evian on board just isn't worth the hassle anymore. And clinging to that cup of Starbucks coffee as you wait to board a 6:00 a.m. flight to anywhere only to be told to toss it before entering the security check point is hard to handle.

In spite of all the stated rules for "liquids, gels, creams and similar substances" published by the TSA, the actual implementation of these rules will vary dramatically from airport to airport throughout the US and abroad. Why? The reasons can vary from lack of training, personal interpretation of the rules by individual TSA employees or just plain laziness in adhering to them. After all, TSA employees are looking for needles in a haystack as thousands of travelers pass their patrol. So getting through with your favorite beverage is really a toss of the dice.

As a traveler, you can either argue your case when faced with a screener who insists you dump that fresh bottle of water or you can simply take steps to avoid any unpleasantness that may ruin the start to that dream vacation or that important client meeting.Read more

Availability of a vast array of airline ticket prices is one that is perplexing to most airline travelers. Only a handful of people who control the complex formulas that go into the science and art of Revenue Management inside the caverns of today’s airlines understand it. To both the seasoned and occasional traveler alike, getting the best value in an airfare is the elusive dream that is difficult to consistently achieve.

However, there are some time proven axioms that one can follow to put the odds on your side in helping you to reduce the cost of your air travel:

1. Change the Time You Travel

Don’t be rigid on the time of day you want to travel. Going between New York and Los Angeles, for example, may have one airline offering as many as seven or eight flights on a particular day. If you want to leave in the morning, investigate the three or four departures offered during that time period. Moving your departure time by just one hour, on your departure or return, may save you a significant portion of the ticket price. Read more

January 20, 2009 -- ExpertFlyer.com, the premier air travel information tool offering complete and efficient ways to access the ever changing details of worldwide air travel information, announced that its subscribers were able to find 1,000 award tickets and upgrades during the month of November. Since the company’s inception in 2005, ExpertFlyer has found more than 18,000 awards and upgrades resulting in millions of dollars in potential savings by its customers. The company credits the success to three primary features of its website: Flights Alerts, which notifies passengers when an award or upgrade becomes available on specified flights; Awards & Upgrades, a new feature which makes it even easier for subscribers to initiate an award or upgrade search; and Mobile Access, a feature which allows subscribers to access account information including saved Flight Queries, Flight Alerts and Seat Maps from anywhere in the world. Together, these features provide ExpertFlyer customers with a distinct advantage over other travelers searching for the same information.

“We’re extremely pleased to see that our customers are using ExpertFlyer’s features to secure so many award tickets and upgrades and our service is able to save them hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, especially in this economic environment” says Chris Lopinto, President and co-founder of Expertflyer.com. “As airlines continue to reduce the number of flights, the number of awards and upgrades are proportionately reduced as well. Our job at ExpertFlyer is to find these opportunities for our customers so they can secure them online or through their ticket agent. In the end, our goal is to provide a service that will ultimately result in happy and loyal customers to their preferred airline,” Lopinto added. Read more