Travel news and deals of interest to YOU from around the Web compiled and edited by NoDebtWorldTravel.com and sponsored by Tours4Fun.com.

Hotels.com did its survey of hotel room rates from around the world:

The Hotel Price Index

You can go through the website or download the study as a PDF file.

Of course I am a big advocate of hostels as opposed to hotels, but for some of you, mention the word hostel and you break out in the shakes. If you’re going to spend money on a full hotel this might get you to perhaps reconsider the destination. I’m not going to Hamilton, Bermuda anytime soon unless I can get cheap accomodations. $447 average per night for a hotel room. That’s two car payments!

What are some alternatives to hotels?

Hostels
Yes, hostels. Some of you will never consider it, but they are great economical offerings for travelers of every age and size and budget. Hostels can accommodate large groups of 20 or more, singles, couples and families. When I was in Hawaii on the Big Island, the hostel I stayed at had a husband, wife, baby toddler and grandma in their own suite. My hostel in Barcelona took in at least 20 teenagers and their chaperones in large dorm rooms.

One of the best things about hostels is the sense of community. There is usually a common area for eating and lists of things to see and do around town. Since hostels are budget oriented, many of those things to do and places to eat are inexpensive to free. If you came alone, you can easily make friends. Try doing that at a hotel. The only interaction you may have with someone are the few seconds you are trapped in the elevator together.

How Much Can You Save Staying In Hostels? The REAL Numbers

More Inside Views of Hostels

Renting Apartments and Houses
The recent Airbnb fiasco aside, I had a very good experience renting an apartment in Vancouver and the vast majority of Airbnb users have had positive experiences. Apartment dwellers and home owners rent out their spare bedrooms, rooms, couches and apartments for travelers. Sites like Airbnb, FRBO (For Rent by Owner), Homeaway and iStopOver act like a middleman, linking places for rent with travelers who want to rent. These websites take a cut of the rental fee, but even with that the costs are much lower than a hotel room. Added with the ability to get a kitchen, bath, etc. your experience can be much better than a hotel.

Another advantage: You get to “live” in a residential area, which is entirely different that staying in a part of town that is tourist oriented or part of a whole section of hotels. You can shop at the market or take the kids to the playground the families in the neighborhood go to. Some owners actually include use of the car for renters, so you can get transportation as part of the deal.

Airbnb Review: It’s Not a Scam and It Can Save You A Ton of Money

While I know some of you need to live in the lap of luxury I look at it like this: If things go well on your trip, you should be only in your room to sleep, shower and get dressed. Why spend all that money on a room you will never see? No one goes away on vacation and says, “Wow I wish I spent more time in my hotel room.” Never. And if you did hear that, I want to see that hotel room myself.

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Alternatives to Hotels? Try These Different aka Cheaper Options is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

This post is sponsored by Tours4Fun.com.

I was headed out to the yearly travel blogger conference in Vancouver. I booked late and was deciding between hostels when Chelle from Browngirlsfly put out a message on Twitter:

I had never tried Airbnb but I was intrigued. As an avowed hostel advocate, I loved the low cost and easy way to meet peiople. But you can’t talk intelligently about accomodations without trying all the options, so I hooked up with Chelle for Airbnb.

For those of you who don’t know, Airbnb allows homeowners and apartment dwellers the opportunity to rent their whole place, a bed or couch in their home. Some owners will be with you in the same living space. If that makes you uncomfortable you could compare it to staying in a hostel.

Others will provide you separate apartments with your own kitchen and bathroom. That’s what we had in Vancouver.

Since our conference was in downtown Vancouver we wanted the usual things:

Clean, Safe, Cheaper than a Hotel – those are a given

We actually spent most of our time when planning discussing how far the potential apartments or house would be from public transportation and the convention centre in Vancouver. That should be a big consideration. If you’re getting a hige house for $50 per person, but it’s an hour from where you want to be, you might want to rethink that.

Our Airbnb Vancouver place

The one we picked looked like it was pretty far from everything but we are booking at the last minute and needed some place besides the streets of Vancouver to sleep at night.

It turned out better than we expected.

Chelle did all the booking and I just showed up. What a great way to travel!

We ended up spending only about $55 per night per person for 4 days.

Some tips:

Ask about amenities around the house or apartment
If you have a kitchen, ask about a supermarket nearby. Need to wash? Is there a dry cleaners nearby. Essentially you want everything you would get if you were living. Because, really you are.

Get a great owner
Kristina was a great owner. She met me at the house when she said she was going be there. Point for her. And folks we did not have to pay for WiFi. We used Kristina’s Internet hotspot as part of the package. With some hotels still charging per day for Internet, that can save you alot.

Ask for WiFi or whatever else you’re going to need to enjoy your time in someone else’s home.

Kristina lived in the apartment upstairs, while we had a separate two-bed apartment with kitchen, bath and its own entrance. Great for a 4 day stay.

When you’re leaving, leave it as clean possible. Why? Because you are literally in someone’s house. Also hosts and hostees can leave reviews for each other. So if you’re a slob who leaves dishes in the sink, you’re well within you right to do so. But if other owners catch wind of it, it may be harder to book you next Airbnb place. And owners, if you don’t give renters clean, well appointed places, you won’t have anyone willing to give you money. Courtesy goes a long way in this relationship and helps both parties.

My verdict on Airbnb – Great experience for me, but I can see it being a nightmare if you get the wrong person. You can’t tell a person’s personality from a photograph but if the reviews are legit you can get a pretty good feel of who they. This is especially important if you are staying in the same apartment or house as them. You can rent a bedroom and strangers sleeping the next room over. But really how is that any different than a hostel. This is just nicer surroundings.

Here is a great post with many more tips on how to get the best Airbnb experience possible.

Tours4Fun is your one stop shop for guided tours in the USA and round the world. Please support NoDebtWorldTravel.com by visiting our sponsor.

Airbnb Review: It’s Not a Scam and It Can Save You A Ton of Money is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

Travel news and deals of interest to YOU from around the Web compiled and edited by NoDebtWorldTravel.com

If you know any great travel stories or tips we all should read, please send it to me and I will put an acknowledgment of your contribution in the posting.

Volunteers give free tours in cities around the world

I forgot they had this program in Tokyo when I was there. Fantastic idea wherever you go so do a quick search whenever you hit a big city. It is pretty nice being in a new place and having a local lead you around, making YOU feel like a local.

Flying Pasties hide your privates from full body scanners

For those of you so concerned about being exposed to the TSA agent behind the counter, you can now cover up. But when they can’t see anything, don’t you think that would just bring more attention to yourself and your privates?

And always remember you can ask to skip the full body scanner and get the full body patdown by a TSA employee.

Travel Video of the Week
How To Get Your Seatmate To Shut the Hell Up
I think the title says it all…

Learning a Language From an Expert on the Web

The language barrier scares a lot of people from taking the plunge and traveling to a foreign country. As the Internet has revolutionized everything else, learning a language has become as easy as getting yourself a microphone so you can speak with a native speaker of any language you want to learn, anytime, from anywhere.

Surprise! Fall bargains will abound — and here’s where to find them

It’s never too early to start thinking about your travel plans. Vegas is a great location because of the glut of hotel rooms. $25 per night on weekdays/$55 per night on weekends if you can find the right deal on The Strip. Continue to watch the euro vs. the dollar and frankly the euro vs the currency of your home country.

World’s Scariest Airports

Some of the takeoffs and landings from these airports would turn even the calmest flier among us into white-knuckled, seat gripping scaredy cats. Why you would put an airport in the middle of mountains is beyond me, other than there really was no other place to put it.

How to Volunteer Your Way Around the World

There are always ways to travel around the world. Volunteering you can help others and get your fill of new people and new experiences. Win/win situation.

Getting Married with Your Sights on Long Term Travel? Check out the Honey Fund

If you’re getting married to someone else who shares your love of travel, the Honey Fund will help you save up the funds for the trip. The typical wedding registry has gifts from a particular vendor. The Honey Fund allows you to collect cold hard cash for your honeymoon or extended travel.

Who needs another toaster anyway?

The Worst U.S. Airlines for Canceled Flights – May 2010

This makes sense. Hawaiian Airlines, which flies mostly in Hawaii (surprise!) had the least cancellations. One thing that would be helpful would be to know if the cancellations were caused by weather, mechanical issues or some other reason.

How New Yorkers Can Spot a Tourist

As a New Yorker I had to drop this in. Just one tip for visitors to the NYC – Nothing annoys us more than a group of 6 tourists who walk side by side down a city block…and then move with the speed of cold molasses. A New York City sidewalk should be thought of as like a highway. Keep to the right for slow strolling, picture taking and examining your map.

Travel Deals and News – August 3, 2010 – Free Tours Around the World, Learning Language from the Internet, Scariest Airports is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

American Airlines to Charge $8 For Blankets

As the travel industry becomes become more ala carte, you’re going to see more things like this.

Which feels worse? Getting charged $8 charged to your credit card (because many flight attendants don’t take cash) or just having another fee added to your ticket?

They cost the same but the $8 in air feels more like robbery. Just add all the fees you want to the ticket the first time so I don’t have to reminded of it afterward. Why don’t the airlines understand this?

Redefining Hostels: Not Just for Young Travelers

Families, couples, everyone is welcome at hostels. Some people have asked about the age requirement and there are some hostels that won’t take anyone over 30 years old. The great thing is that there are very few of those and there are plenty of options if you’re an ‘old fogey’ at 31 years old.

Check out my previous posts on hostels – the cost of hostels and what hostels are really like.

The backpacker’s secrets for travelling Australia on a shoestring

Australia is a long way off from where ever you are in the world and getting there and being able to save is of top concern for travelers.

Travel Video of the Week
Interview with a Pickpocket at the Running of the Bulls Festival in Pamplona – from www.consumertraveler.com

What I find so interesting is the justification of the ‘former’ pickpocket. He says the only entity hurt is the bank because everything else is insured. Do you ask someone as you lift their wallet if their cash and valuables are insured?

Note – he says the easiest targets are drunk men, and the best pickpockets are women. So if a woman approaches you after you’ve had a few drinks, you should be at red alert.

Full-body scanners already in use at Heathrow airport, says BAA

If you don’t go through the scanners, you can’t get on the flight. I’m waiting for the report of the person who refuses and then is not let on a flight. It will happen, or maybe it has already and we just haven’t heard about it already.

Many U.S. adults skip routine vaccinations

Why I mention this? Especially when you go overseas, we assume that we’ve had required shots. Sometimes shots fall through the cracks, especially when it isn’t required by school or work. Get your yellow card that lists all of your vaccinations and keep it with your passport.

FindACrew

I mentioned FindACrew before and wanted to list it again as an alternate to one-way flights or cruises or even a way to work, make money and travel. Love of the open water is a must.

Hotel fees that must die — and how to kill them

If you thought the airlines were the only one guilty of this, you haven’t looked at your last hotel bill closely enough. Classic bait and switch by hotels. Charge low fees and then add on a whole bunch of smaller fees. The one that used to always kill me was the Internet access fee. I remember seeing $11.95 PER DAY for Internet access. I can do without it.

But recently the other fees started to get piled on. Fees for housekeeping and bellhop service? Wasn’t that suppose to be part of the hotel fee?

Look over the bill and challenge these fees if you see them.

Best Travel News and Deals – February 9, 2010 – $8 For Blankets on Flights, Pickpockets in Spain, Stop Hotel Fees, Full Body Scans, Get Travel Shots is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

Want to Get Into Harvard? Take the Year Off

You’ve got to differentiate yourself from all the high testing valedictorians from all over the world. Take off a year to travel and volunteer. The admissions office will be impressed and you’ll be a year older and much more mature than your fellow freshmen.

Ten cool and unusual hotels in New York
From loyal reader Karen

Hip. Funky. Fresh. For Karen, who will not go within 500 feet of a hostel, this is what gets her going. The counterpart to the stylish, boutique HOSTEL is the stylish, boutique HOTEL.

The Global Dinner Network

The Global Dinner Network is a community for WOMEN travelers who want to network. Women meeting men over meals can sometimes be misconstrued and this is a way for women to network hassle free in a new location.

Best Travel News and Deals – December 15, 2009 – Gap Year to Get in an Ivy, Frequent Flyer Tips, Using a Bidet, Swim with Crocs, Win Trip to Africa is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

Best Travel News and Deals – October 13, 2009 – Traveling in Morocco, Home Invading Kangaroos, Hostel Cooking, 10 Worst Hotels, Flashpacking is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

Travel News and Deals – October 6, 2009 – See You in Rio, Pickpocket Havens, Why Chicago Lost, Preparing for Disaster is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

How To Get The Best Deals At Hotels is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel