Over at Lifehacker, a brief piece about the as yet unpublished results of a study by economist Makoto Watanabe on when is the best time to book flights.
A few highlights:
- No surprise, given the title of this post, 8 weeks out generally delivers the best deal
- Fares are cheapest in the afternoon
- Not part of Watanabe’s research, but also mentioned in the LH post,- booking on Wednesdays often deliver lower fares
Check out Adam Pash’s Lifehacker article here: The Cheapest Time to Book a Flight is Eight Weeks Before You’re Traveling. He also includes links to a few related articles.
Do you have a different strategy for scoring airfare bargains? If so, please share by commenting!
A way to help you manage Gmail overload, Google Priority Inbox begins its rollout today. Read about it at Fast Company here: Google Priority Inbox Soothes Email-Overload Stress
…and please, Person Who Writes Caution Label Copy For A Living, why are “OPEN” and “IN” in quotation marks? Do you not understand that they are not only unnecessary, but in fact imply the opposite of what you intend to say? “Good” work!
In addition to a couple of usual suspects – Wendy Perrin & USA Today Travel, for instance – a few surprises. See the full list here: 10 Travel Twitterers to Follow, and Why @HuffingtonPost
If there’s a piece of gear – travel or otherwise – you’d like to see reviewed at Practical Hacks, let me know by commenting, and I’ll see if I can line up a review sample. I need to line up reviews for this fall, and would love to know what gear you’re interested in.
And speaking of gear, check out Cool Outdoor Gear You’ll See in Stores Soon, at SpotCoolStuff – Travel.
Travelers, take note: Looking for Airfare Deals? How to Game the System, at USA Today.
I must admit I was dismayed when it was announced that highly regarded travel writer Rolf Potts is going on a six week trip without luggage, and that the trip is sponsored by ScotteVest. Sigh. I love Potts’s writing, but this smacks of both sellout and stunt, and it’s a disappointment. Here’s Rolf’s post on the topic (along with a video): My next journey: around the world with no luggage. And, of course, the obligatory video regarding the challenge from Scott Jordan, the “CEO & Founder” of ScotteVest who will milk the hell out of this thing:
He does mention 3Floz.com, which is worth checking out if you’re in need of travel sized toiletries from a variety of different manufacturers.
Firefox users (39% of Practical Hacks visitors use Firefox, by the way; the next highest is IE, at 31%) – check out 15 Coolest Firefox Tricks Ever. Although the post dates back to ’07, I’ll bet some of you aren’t familiar with everything in the article. From Stepcase Lifehack.
Finally, I found Essential Free Software for your New Computer at Matador Goods. Of course, you don’t need to have a new computer to take advantage of useful free software. I’m testing out PeerBlock – one of the recommendations – in order to add a bit of additional security to my browsing.
Here’s a first: a link to a site that launched a mere four days ago: check out 3 Reasons You’re Doing it Wrong When Your Flight is Canceled – @ hipmunk.com
Have a great weekend – and don’t forget to let me know what gear you’d like to see reviewed here in the upcoming weeks and months.
