$20 for first checked bag, or free? Priority seat selection? $5, $20, $109, or free? Oversize bag? Meal charges? Beverage charges? And on and on …

The dizzying array of extra airline fees keeps growing and changing by the hour, it seems! Let me share a handy tool that just showed up in my inbox:

Airfare expert Rick Seany, one of the founders and CEO of FareCompare.com (an essential airfare comparison tool, check it out), recently posted a handy U.S. Domestic Airline Fee chart on his blog, RickSeany.com.

Rick compiles the fees charged by all the domestic carriers and displays them in one easy-to-read chart, updated frequently. Take a look at the chart, and while you’re there, browse thru Rick’s blog, and check out FareCompare, one of my favorite sites for at-a-glance airfare comparison, discount first-class tickets, and valuable insider travel tips.

And sign up for Rick’s newsletter, full of airline travel tips and insider info — it’s one of the few newsletters I actually read!

Filed under: Air Travel, Budget Travel, General, Travel Tips | No Comments »

Just a quick note to share a recent NY Times Frugal Traveler article Sampling the Best of the Northwest’s Bounty (November 25, 2007). Author Matt Gross recounts his affordable weekend in Seattle, spending a total of $392.39 for accommodations, food and drink, taxi and bus fare. Matt says “The secret of a weekend on a budget: happy hour.”

Click on the link above to read the full article, including all the info on where Matt stayed, ate, drank, had fun, and shopped (he’s a guy, so only mentioned one store — the “garage” for discounted outdoor gear at REI’s flagship store).

Filed under: Budget Travel, Seattle | No Comments »

The November 2007 issue of Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel highlighted five reasonably-priced hotels in San Francisco: Hotel Tomo, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Hotel Beresford, Orchard Garden Hotel, and Galleria Park Hotel. Rates range from $89 to $189. (You can find a link to the Budget Travel article by clicking here.)

Before sharing them here with you, I thought I should did a little deeper. So I checked out the traveler’s reviews for each hotel on TripAdvisor and Expedia. Here’s what I found out:

BEST BETS
Of the five budget hotels mentioned in the article, Orchard Garden Hotel and Hotel Tomo (now Best Western Hotel Tomo) garnered the most consistently positive reviews.

Orchard Garden Hotel is a new, eco-friendly 86-room boutique hotel right next to Chinatown, near Union Square and the Financial District. It’s actually the second most popular SF hotel rated in TripAdivsor.

Best Western Hotel Tomo is a 125-room boutique hotel in Japantown (close to the Fillmore Street chic boutique shopping area) with a fun Japanese pop-culture vibe. Reviewers noted that it’s much nicer than you might expect from the Best Western brand.

LOOKS PRETTY GOOD
Reviews were mixed — but mostly positive — for the Galleria Park Hotel, an Art Nouveau property conveniently located in the Financial District/Union Square. This historic 177 room hotel has been fully restored and all rooms recently renovated.

A BIT MORE IFFY
Hotel Beresford and Sir Francis Drake Hotel both got decidedly mixed reviews.
Sir Francis Drake Hotel is an historic hotel in Union Square. While many reviewers were delighted with it’s charm, location, and cleanliness, quite a few others complained of tiny rooms, noise, and poor service. (To the Drake’s credit, the manager David Watkins reads and responds to most reviews.)
As for the Hotel Beresford, my biggest concern is it’s location right next to the seedy Tenderloin district. Many reviewers were uncomfortable with the numbers of homeless people near the hotel. On the other hand, many others were pleased with the location, cleanliness, and especially the price (the Beresford is the cheapest of the five hotels).

I can’t wait to get out to San Francisco to do my own research!
In the meantime, please feel free to share your favorite San Francisco accommodations — budget, mid-level, or luxury. Just type your comments in the box below (comments get sent to me and I review them before posting) or email me at carol@lipstickgetaways.com.

Filed under: Budget Accommodations, Budget Travel, General, San Francisco | No Comments »