Once a joke among serious gamblers, it is now the hottest form of betting during this recession.

From the USA Today:

"Bigger casinos used to frown on penny slots," says Bob Sobczyk, vice president of casino operations at penny-slot innovator Ameristar, which owns casinos in six states. "A consultant told us it was a joke to put all those penny machines in. Then we showed him our revenue," Sobczyk says.

He says penny slots are a hit because they're video terminals — full of visual glitz and betting variety — that a mechanical slot machine can't match by lining up three cherries.

Read the entire article by clicking the above link.

Compare parking rates for various city airports

From travel on the dollar:


If you are shopping for best rates to park your car and you’re crunched for time, then BestParking has already crunched the numbers for you and can help you find the best rate.

Great information including the ability to use their mobile site to see where you can save money on airport parking by getting a last minute rate check.

Click here for a link to their mobile site.

Hard times hitting Las Vegas

From Time Magazine:

But I'm here because Las Vegas is on sale. The hotels, led by Wynn Resorts boss Steve Wynn, slashed room prices to increase occupancy rates to 82% from a low of 72%. On the right day in July, you could book the type of 750-sq.-ft. room that was $500 a year ago at the Wynn for $109 and get a $50 gift certificate. The high-end restaurants at the MGM have gotten rid of most of their $400 bottles of wine and replaced them with $100 ones. This is either a model for the rest of the country or, if the reset fails, the beginning of a long, long slide.


Las Vegas is the city hit hardest by the recession. Click the above link to read more from Time Magazine's article that details Las Vegas' bet for a come back.

Worst Part of a Trip May Be Booking It on the Web

From the New York Times

A new report, to be released Tuesday by Forrester Research, found that far from embracing the do-it-yourself era, many consumers were fed up with the complicated process of planning and booking travel.

“What we’ve seen is growing frustration,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, a Forrester travel analyst. “Consumers see other Web sites becoming easier to use — retail Web sites, banking Web sites, media Web sites. But travel is treading water as a category. There are very few travel companies that are really looking to improve the planning and booking process.”

Instead, customers are forced to figure out extra fees, wade through fine print and understand industry terms like the difference between a deluxe and a standard room, in addition to educating themselves about destinations, flights and hotels, Mr. Harteveldt said.

“Travel companies expect the consumer to behave like a travel agent,” he explained. “The question I always ask these guys is, ‘Could your mother-in-law use your Web site without having to call you for help?’ The answer is always no.”

In fact, Mr. Harteveldt said a growing number of consumers appeared to be interested in using an offline travel agency, if they could find one.

“The fact that there are more people now who would consider using a good offline travel agent is telling me people are saying, ‘Enough already,’ ” he said.


Enough already!!!!

Click the above link to read the entire story.

Your bad luck is the airlines good fortune

From the Wall Street Journal

"Unforgiving ticket penalties are unique to the airline industry; other industries typically either allow changes or cancellations, or allow buyers to swap or resell tickets they can’t use. Theaters and sports teams sell non-refundable tickets, but buyers can give them to friends or sell them. Hotels, restaurants and other service providers may charge fees for no-shows, but typically give customers time to cancel, imposing penalties only within 24 hours, or perhaps after 4 p.m. on the day of arrival."

Not all airlines rely on cancellation fees. How can that be? Isn't the lure of more fee revenue too irresistible for the airlines to ignore? Aren't fees so important that they have lured more travelers to the airlines?

But wait why is Southwest Airlines the most successful air carrier in operation today?

"Steve Landes, who runs a Florida organization of travelers who commute by air between home and business, says many frequent travelers are switching to Southwest Airlines Co., which allows ticket changes without a penalty. “That $150 charge is a killer, and people avoid it. Airlines may think they are making money on it, but they must be losing money. They are sending their customers away,” Mr. Landes says.

A Southwest spokeswoman says the carrier hasn’t had to rely on penalties to manage overbooking because it takes historical patterns of customer cancellations and changes into account. She says the airlines believes it draws more customers by making it easier to change travel plans if necessary."

Recently we booked four airline tickets from Chicago to Cleveland over the Labor Day weekend. When searching fares four airlines, United, US, American and Southwest all priced their fares within $1.00 of each other. However, when you factored in the checked baggage fees charged by United, American and US it really meant that their fares were actually higher over all than Southwest.

Southwest, who has stubbornly not gone the baggage fee business model side, won our business yet again.

Why is Southwest the most successful air carrier flying today?

Read more from the Wall Street Journal article about airline cancellation fees by clicking the above link.

Web sites don't always have the best deals

From the Chicago Tribune:

Web sites don't always have the best deals. Kayak.com and Expedia are great, but airlines don't necessarily offer all their discounts to the sites directly; instead, they offer net fares and consolidator tickets to large corporate travel agencies to ensure they fill empty seats without devaluing their inventory. So it can pay to talk to a travel agent; they have access to net and consolidator fares that the discount sites do not, especially for international business and first-class seats.

Click the above link for more of the Ten Secrets Airlines Don't Want You To Know.

And yes of course we do have access to net and consolidator fares at Planet Travel. Just call us.

Higher Car Rental Prices From Artificial Shortage

Click above to read more information from the Consumerist:

Car rental firms have cut their fleets by almost 15% in the last year, creating an artificial shortage that has helped to raise prices. Inside, a few tips that can help lower the cost of your next car rental...

We noticed the increase when we rented a car in Las Vegas last month. Traditionally Las Vegas had the most competitive rental car rates in the nation. Not any more. And despite the tip to check out Priceline or Hotwire, we found both sites prices to be the same as renting from any major car rental site. The lesson learned is to shop and shop earlier rather than later.