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Every business traveler wants to sit in a big seat at the front of the plane, but getting an upgrade these days is increasingly difficult. I caught up with Matthew Bennett, who runs upgrade advice site FirstClassFlyer.com, for tips on how you can sit in first or business class without breaking your travel budget. -Get What You Ask For. With so ...

We focus so much on hotel and airfare costs that it's easy to overlook other areas where prices have climbed steadily--and sometimes insidiously. Dining is one (we've all eaten the mediocre $35 room-service breakfast). Renting a car is another. Even with gas prices back at tolerable levels--for now, anyway--car rental costs are about as high as they've ever been. But you'd ...

 A former co-worker hipped me to this site and I've been using it and telling everyone about it ever since.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from a senior airline executive. As my former boss and mentor was fond of saying: Plan the work; and work the plan. I have been planning the work and working the plan ever since. And I've found the approach to be as relevant to personal endeavors, like accruing frequent flier ...

At least some good news is coming from the dismal economy: It hasn't been this cheap to fly in years. With fewer people getting on planes, carriers have been forced to drastically reduce fares to attract customers and keep up with the competition. *The cost of many flights is down 30% to 50% from a year ago at this time.* Last ...

*Montego Bay, Jamaica* *LOW AIR:* One-way fares from New York to Montego Bay on Air Jamaica start at $119. *ONCE THERE:* The all-inclusive Holiday Inn Resort Montego Bay is an especially good bet for families, with a ton of kid-friendly supervised activities as part of its KidSpree Vacation Club program. Rates April 3-15 for standard rooms start at $125 per ...

With some budget hotels offering free in-room Wi-Fi, ergonomic work spaces, high-thread-count linens and rewards programs, you might want to consider trading down, at least for short trips. In any price range, Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz can be good places to start. Hotels.com finds rates on more than 70,000 properties worldwide; Priceline lets you request particular hotels. The reviews at Trip­Advisor.com ...

Being online while being airborne is fast becoming reality for U.S travelers. American Airlines (AMR) is announcing on Tuesday that it's joining rival Delta Air Lines (DAL) in making Wi-Fi Internet connections available to most domestic passengers. American, No. 2 in the world in passenger traffic after Delta acquired Northwest Airlines last year, says it will equip more than 300 planes ...

Question: Several months ago, my son booked a five-night trip to Las Vegas on Travelocity. The trip cost $1,656 for the hotel and airfare, and he paid for it using a Chase Visa debit card. He later decided to cancel the trip due to pending surgery. He called Travelocity and was told he could get about $900 back on the hotel ...

In order to serve their customers better, most major airline carriers have banned together in alliances. Be sure to take advantage of these partnerships as it can provide many perks and free resources for you and your boss. Frequent Flyer Miles Frequent Flyer programs are set up to offer rewards to customers after they accrue a certain amount of "points" or ...

Collecting all your frequent flyer miles is a great idea. If you fly with one particular airline frequently, you can start collecting your points. You can later redeem these points for cash or a free ticket. You can even use a credit card to earn those points, without even traveling. However, airlines are not so pleased with your traveling for free. ...

Most business travelers use the web for at least some portion of their trip—whether it's planning, booking or compulsively checking the Weather Channel. But the web can offer more to make life easier. Here are a few under-the-radar sites to note. Remote file access. One of the toughest things about business travel isn't the travel part—although crummy flights, horrible hotels, surly ...

With rising fuel costs and concerns about my carbon footprint, I decided to take the train on a recent business trip. Although I've often used high speed trains in Europe and Japan, riding the rails in America outside the Northeast corridor promised a new adventure. When visiting the East Coast I often use Amtrak to traverse the Northeast corridor between ...

With stock prices falling like acorns, budget-centric websites are rising to the top of more vacationers' bookmark lists. USA TODAY's Laura Bly points a mouse to 25 sites — some old favorites, some newcomers — aimed at bargain hunters. h3. AIRFARES Airfarewatchdog.com Relying on brain power rather than computerized algorithms, Airfarewatchdog's site and newsletter emphasize unadvertised, time-sensitive deals, including Web-only fares. ...

Use the interactive map to locate the changes in your area. Airline cutbacks: About this graphic USA TODAY analyzed domestic airline schedule data from OAG — Official Airline Guide for October 2008. The data reflects what airlines had reported to OAG regarding their October schedules as of June 9. The analysis examined domestic schedules because that's where airlines are making the ...

Need to be productive en route? Take the train. On most Amtrak routes, four people can spread out at a table, use their cell phones, and actually do some work. Amtrak All routes have business-class cars and participate in an awards program, and most have cell phone-free cars. The Boston-to-Washington, D.C., Acela Express is geared specifically for the business traveler, with ...

The big travel sites are hustling for business travelers, but there are other good options. AccessFares.com sells discount first-class and business-class tickets for international destinations on most major airlines. Airlinequality.com offers extensive airline reviews and ratings. Low-cost-airline-guide.com searches fares on budget airlines in Britain and Europe. Kayak.com compares and displays prices from across the Web, often finding deals other travel sites ...

Traveling abroad for business can be exciting, but you should leave yourself plenty of time to prepare before your departure. We’ve compiled a list of things to do before you leave: h4. *1. Renew your passport:* Make sure that you have a valid passport at least three months before you depart. It’s easy to apply for one at your local post ...

Traveling with your boss? Even if you’re headed somewhere warm and exotic, don’t think of it as a vacation. “Even though you’re not in your actual office, you are still at work,” says Anna Post, who teaches business etiquette seminars at the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vermont. “Everything that applies in the office applies on the road.” That means showing ...

Crossing several time zones makes travelers an easy prey for the brain-fogging, energy-zapping disorder known as jet lag. And while nearly everyone’s got advice for how to beat it - ranging from inflight sleeping pills to keeping your watch on the old time - the best remedy is to start resetting your internal clock several days before you leave home. “Get ...