New York, Hungary, Paris, Munich, Everyone’s Talkin’ Bout…Last Minute Holiday Travel Deals

Expert Flyer Hot Topics – Where the Rubber Meets the Runway

Our December Hot Topics series covers last minute – or even last second – travel deals that only come around once a year.  Now that business travelers are taking a break and consumers redirect spending to gift giving, travel opportunities at home and abroad abound.  We’ve got the skinny for you in three parts from our friends at TripTwit.com, Momondo.com and OrlandoEscape.com.

In the first installment of our Last Minute Holiday Travel Deal Series, we’d like to introduce you to TripTwit.com, an interesting free service we think you should know about.  Just sign up and plug in your destination alerts – up to 20, and you will receive daily emails informing you of last minute deals from across the Twittersphere.  We asked TripTwit CEO, Naveen Thattil, to share some hot deals to warm up your holiday getaway research.  Bon Voyage!

“If there’s a great last minute travel deal, you can be sure people are talking about it on Twitter,” says Naveen Thattil. “We have found a way to  cull the Twittersphere and extract the travel deals YOU are interested in from the millions of conversations that are happening daily, so you don’t need to worry about following thousands of Twitter accounts yourself. Here are some deals that are trending hot right now…get your bags packed and happy holiday travels!”

@JTravelDeals – Buy One, Get One Free: All Flights Through Fall 2012 on Direct Air
(expires Wed, Dec 7)

@CruisesOnly – We have an Exclusive Royal Caribbean sale going on now thru Wed. Rates start at $139
(expires Wed, Dec 7)

@TravelZoo – Happy Monday! Amsterdam and Brussels #airfare #sale on KLM – travel into April.
(expires Thurs, Dec

@Hertz – Exclusive Facebook deal to SAVE UP TO $50 for you and your friends on Hertz Car Rental
(expires Fri, Dec 9)

@PointsAdvisor – Get 100% Bonus @USAirways Dividend Miles when you buy miles. Offer ends Dec. 31
(expired Dec 31)

Stay tuned later in the week when we explore European deals and your travel color chart with Momondo.com

Expert Flyer Hot Topics – Where the Rubber Meets the Runway

Last week, in part two of our three-part series with Money Crashers personal finance blog editor, Andrew Schrage, we uncovered more practical money-saving strategies for business and occasional travelers. In this week’s series finale, we hope you stock up your smartphones with Andrew’s resourceful travel app picks – Enjoy!

 

Top Travel Apps

What are the smartphone travel apps that our readers should NOT leave home without?

Although  I know I got by just fine before the recent leaps in technology, I  would be lost without my smartphone while traveling, especially when I visit unfamiliar towns. The amount of time my smartphone, and my favorite apps save me, is truly priceless. For food, I like the Foodspotting app. It gives you the best local restaurants and even recommends the  best dishes at each establishment. Also, I need access to the Internet virtually  24 hours a day, so another app I use a lot is called Free Wi-Fi Finder.  With this app, I never have to pay for Internet access while traveling.

To plan my trip, two of the best free travel apps are TripAdvisor and Kayak. Both are virtual one-stop shops for all my travel planning needs, like finding the best airline ticket deals.  For real road warriors, business travelers and frequent fliers, check out the ExpertFlyer mobile app.  If you sign up as a premium member for only $9.99 a month, you can find Flight Status, Flight Availability, Seat Maps or other mobile flight search information using high-end PDA, smartphones and Blackberry devices, as well as simple web-enabled cell phones.

Believe it or not, I also utilize the Google Earth app for my travel.  With this, I can zero in on a hotel or other point of interest to check  out exactly where theyre located, how far they might be from the  beach, and lots of other nifty details.

Finally, sometimes it can  be extremely difficult to keep track of the best tips and strategies for  getting discounted airfares. There are some apps  offered by popular airlines, like Delta and United, that can offer you  guidance in this area, including how to get free flights for travel if you are in a difficult bind, such as getting bumped off a flight or if you were poorly treated by an airline representative.