Sree's Thoughts on Travel Bargains Online
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2001

Spring Break will soon be upon us. That means, for many of us, time for some travel and some Web-based travel planning. More than $12 billion worth of travel bookings were made online in 2000. Expect that number to increase dramatically this year.

Here are places to look for travel bargains.

FARECHASE: There are dozens of airline sites, but the best starting points are the ones that let you comparison shop. That's what FareChase does. You enter where you want to go and when. It then chases down the lowest fares by searching across several different sites. Another site that does the same thing is Qixo.

TRAVELZOO: Travelzoo publishes a weekly list of what it calls "the top travel deals on the Internet." That's a tall claim, but its top 20 list is a useful guide to deals from a range of sites, including Travelocity and bargain sites.

CONCIERGE.COM: Concierge.com offers a range of services, including a list of last-minute deals from airlines sites themselves. You can also look for bargains around the world, divided conveniently by region.

TRAVELSUCKS.COM: Now here's a fun name, one that reflects how many travelers feel these days. Plenty to see and read at TravelSucks.com, including on-time flight stats, plus lots of bargain fares.

Resources:

Send your ideas for coverage -- and feedback: techguru@sree.net

 

Sree's Site of The Week


Vmyths: Truth About Computer Viruses and Hoaxes
http://www.vmyths.com

News report:
"Thousands of computers knocked out by virus named after tennis star Anna Kournikova... The e-mail promised a photo of Kournikova, but was a virus." (Feb. 12, 2001)

This week's "Kournikova virus" proves two things:

1. Not everyone learned the lessons of the "Love Bug" of 2000 -- don't open unexpected attachments.

2. The virus writer knew exactly whom to name it after to get people to open those infected messages. I can't imagine the results would have been the same with, say, a Bjorn Borg virus.

I recommend Vmyths.com ("v" for virus, naturally) as a must-see for those who have to deal with viruses (and that's everyone who uses e-mail). Run by technologist Rob Rosenberger, the site has a no-nonsense approach to the topic and offers plenty of useful, updated information. It also contains news on hoax virus alerts (which are a kind of virus, too, clogging the Net with unnecessary traffic).

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