Greyhound Bus
Service 800-231-2222, bus service countrywide
Trafalgar Tours (866-247-9880), luxury motorcoach tours throughout the United States,
including Hawaii, as well as Canada, Mexico and other international
destinations.
Trailways/Scheduled
Route, Intercity and Transit Charter and Executive Day Coaches Tours, Travel
Planning Escorted Motorcoach Tours, Guides and Sightseeing Services, Corporate
Commuter and Business Shuttles, School and Military Transfers, Cruise Ship,
Airline, and Rail Connections and more.
Green Tortoise Adventure Travel
began over 30 years ago, with one sturdy bus and
the realization that beautiful places, great food, and sociable people were the
only essentials for gratifying travel experiences. Since then, over 500,000
people have traveled with us, including many repeat riders from all over the
world. Enjoy the beauty, excitement, and inspiration of North and Central
America aboard our "stretch-out-and-sleep" coaches. You can sign up for email
messages about specials.
Car Rentals
All Purpose
Travel Sites like:
www.travelocity.com,
www.expedia.com,
www.orbitz.com,
www.cheaptickets.com and,
www.onetravel.com , can provide reservations for car rentals from most car rental companies.
Pricelines's car rental deals offer many options like one-way rentals, Off Airport Rentals, and international rentals. This site is run by Priceline so you will have to submit your bid and within minutes you will get a car. They are so confident that priceline has the lowest prices for the top five rental car brands (the biggest names in the business) that they make this promise: if you can find a lower price than the one you got on Priceline - we'll refund 100% of the difference! Remember, off-airport rentals do not carry the hefty fee for renting at the airport.
Off Airport Listning list many car rental agencies.
Car rental agencies, Yahoo's list of car rental agencies. You can go directly to any car rental agency to check prices with them.
What to look for before you pay. This is a link to MSNBC's article titled, "The lowdown on car rentals
Advance bookings, local agencies, shopping the web——money-saving secrets you need to know before you rent". Lots of info on what to look for and covers information on insurance and what you need to know before you pay for any the options.
Tips before you rent. When renting cars, consumers are often confronted with a confusing deluge of rental plans, insurance fees, and schedule of potential additional charges for mileage and fuel consumption. While this abundance of auto rental information may seem overwhelming, consumers nonetheless must take the time to fully understand their rental options, or risk paying unnecessary costs or getting poor service. The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs has prepared this checklist of rental car issues and tips that will hopefully help consumers make informed and economical choices when renting cars.
Abbreviated version of Consumer Report article. For complete access
to ratings and recommendations you ned to subscribe today to ConsumerReports.org a fee is associated with the subcription.
Lodging
If you are looking for the lowest possible rates, you need to be willing to surf the web discounters (all purpose sites like Travelocity or Orbitz, bid on a "hidden-provider" sites like PriceLine or HotWire, contacting a travel agent, call the hotel directly and check individual hotel web sites.
SideStep
BookingBuddy
Travelaxe are "aggregator" sites streamline that the search process by combing through many sites to help you find the best deal. You will be required to pay for the rooms when you book.
Hotels.com offers rooms in +12,500 hotels, more than 400 destinations throughout North America, the Caribbean and several European countries and Hong Kong. Besides big cities, it has accommodations in some smaller places not covered elsewhere. Some complain that making changes or
getting refunds is difficult and costly.
Quikbook Features +1,300 properties in 75 destinations throughout North America, Europe and the Caribbean. Quality checks of the properties offered is reliable. Most bookers pay the hotel directly at the end of their stay. The rates offered are not always the lowest.
Orbitz Offers +16,500 properties worldwide. Very user-friendly site that allows travelers to compare rates and star levels of hotels. But, does not include as many independent properties as other sites.
Expedia Offers +2,000 destinations, the largest
selection of any U.S.-based broker. Changing or canceling is more complicated than it should be.
PlacesToStay Features properties in big cities in North America, Europe and other parts of the world. Has many bed-and-breakfasts and smaller properties in resort areas and other regions popular with leisure travelers. But the rates are not always the cheapest.
TravelWeb Gives high profile to major U.S. hotel chains --
including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, InterContinental and Starwood -- and offers discounts at other chains and independent hotels. Not always the lowest price.
Travelocity Has some of the best deals, especially travel packages that include airfare. Canceling or changing can be a hassle.
Travel Abroad
Venere.com Rome agency features +26,000 hotels in more than a dozen countries worldwide, has especially good deals in Italy. Reservations are with the agency, but the hotel is paid directly.
MyTravelDream Features +55,000
properties worldwide especially strong in Germany and Central Europe. You provide the desired dates and locations and within 24 hours four hotels will come back with offers.
French Hotel Reservation Paris agency offering +5,000 hotels throughout France.
Asia Hotel Hong Kong agency offers excellent bargains for rooms in China, Japan and 22 other Asian countries. it has recently expanded into Europe.
Late rooms British site offering +20,000 rooms all over Great Britain
and other European countries. Great bargains are in London.
Utell.com Includes properties throughout Europe, some North and South American and Middle East destinations. Not very user friendly but is useful for finding rooms in smaller European cities.
All-Hotel A Scotland-based site with +100,000 properties in nearly every country -- more than other sites. Has some great deals but check against other sites since some of the rates are higher.
Villa Vacations I have personal experience with this firm. They are very helpful. Each agent specializes in a county: Italy, France or Spain. They have a wide range of property types from apartments to villas and estates.
Rentals Directly with Owners:
Vacation Rental By Owner Over 27,800 properties worldwide. There are advantages and disadvantages since you are dealing directly with the owner. Other sites that do the same are
Cyber Rentals and
Vacation Rentals
These sites require travelers to prepay for rooms before finding out the name and/or exact location of the hotel.
Priceline auctions hotel rooms throughout North America, Europe, the Caribbean and in some Asian cities. You indicate *location, *number of stars of desired property, *part of town and *how much they are willing to pay. You provide your credit card details. Only then are you told if a hotel has met your bid. You can get some wonderful deals but if you do not like the match you are stuck with it.
Bidding for Travel helps with tips on how to bid and negotiate using Priceline.
Hotwire gives the user some more information, like level of property and price, during the search process. Usually features high-quality properties at significant discounts but you must purchase the room with a credit card before you find out the name of the property.
Passport/Visa Information
The Passport Services Office
provides information and services to American
citizens about how to obtain, replace or change a passport.
*Get or Renew Your
Passport *First Time *Renewing *Minors under age 14 *Diplomatic, Official,
and Regular No-Fee *Fees *Processing Time and Status Check
*Applications
and Forms *Application for Passport: DS-11 *Application for Passport by Mail
(Renewals Only): DS-82 *Application for Passport Amendment-Validation: DS-19
*Statement Regarding Lost or Stolen Passport: DS-64 *Statement of Consent:
Issuing a Passport to a Minor Under Age 14: DS-3053
*Lost or Stolen
Passports *Lost or Stolen Passports in the US
*Frequently Requested
Information *Add Extra Pages *Amend or Change Your Name *Schedule an
Appointment *FAQ *Passport Publications
*Passport Policy Information
*News Bulletins and Other Notices *Family and Children's Passport Issues
*Information for Law Enforcement
*Other Services and Information
*Obtain Copies of Passport Records *Guide for Professional Photographers *Order
Applications in Bulk *Travel Professionals *Acceptance Agents *U.S. Passport
Statistics *Obtain a Birth Certificate
*About Passport Services *Who
We Are *National Passport Information Center *Regional Passport Agencies *Where
to Apply in the U.S.
Consular information Sheets
is part of the International Travel Page
from the state department.
Incoming and Outgoing Visas
This is the state department's home page for visa information both incoming and
outgoing.
US Citizen Travel Visas Information
This listing is for U.S. citizens traveling on tourism/business and does not
apply to persons planning to emigrate to foreign countries.
Chamber of Commerce Directory Type in any city in the USA and get the phone number and the Web site of their Chamber of Commerce and/or Tourist Office.