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More and more people are booking their own travel deals online, where trip revenue grew to $92.5 billion last year - largely because travelers paid more than they should have, says a recent issue of Consumer Reports MoneyAdviser.

The magazine tells how travel sites get us to pay more while looking for cheap travel.

Buried bargains: The large sites try to prevent our seeing lowest-priced car rentals by configuring their sorting tools to show us the higher-priced bargains of their "preferred vendors" first and the cheaper deals of other companies last - or not at all.

For example, when searching Expedia for car rental prices, the initial sorting tool won't allow us to see all the lowest priced rentals first. It makes us decide whether we want quotes just from the site's preferred vendors or from other companies as well. Only on its second page do we have the option to sort by "car price review" to see all offers.

ConsumerSearch, at tulsaworld.com/consumersearch, surveys 200 travel booking and service provider websites to collect best reviews, analyzes their picks and recommends what to buy.

Don't book until you can reset the search preferences to see all available deals - including those of the truly cheapest. For cars, go to the sites of known cheapest vendors: Alamo, Avis and National, Consumer Reports says.

Dunk the cookies: Every time you visit a website, it gives you a cookie. Not because you're good and deserve a reward but because "cookies" are little spyware programs that record and report back to the home website on your every click. This allows them to keep track of how much you were willing to pay for trips and other services - meaning how much you will be willing to pay for their services and charge you more than other sites.

Erase all traces of past searches by resetting your "browser preferences" to block them. The choices are "accept cookies" and "do not accept cookies." Just say no to cookies.

Plan B: Many times you click on great deals on major travel sites only to learn those rates are no longer available or have jumped higher. Keep the lowest priced sites open as Plan B, and when it turns out to really be the lowest, book it.

Bundles of hooey: When booking flights online, you're asked if you want to add a hotel room or rental car for a package discount, but hold on there. Those deals usually aren't "good deals." Price each component through tulsaworld.com/DealBase - which does the math and lists good and bad bundled deals. Last Friday, DealBase said it posted 472 deals in the past seven days for a total savings of $17.4 million, the average being $310.

AARP, AAA offer discounts on travel

Two membership service organizations offer discounted travel packages as well as roadside emergency assistance - AAA-Oklahoma and AARP.

AAA-Oklahoma: Found on the Web at tulsaworld.com/aaaok , AAA- Oklahoma offers first-year memberships at $68 (including a $15 enrollment fee) and $53 for subsequent years, said spokesman Chuck Mai. This covers up to five free emergency service calls per year: towing up to five miles, flat tire repair, fuel delivery, extrication of keys from locked car, extrication of car from ditch, dead battery jump-start, etc.).

Member services also include travel reservations and discounts such as vacation deals, Disney Destinations, quick getaways, cruise vacations, Spring Beach Break, saving $1,000 on European vacations, winter trips on the Grand Canyon Railway, Universal Orlando, etc.

AARP: Formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, AARP - at tulsaworld.com/aarp - offers members discounted travel services including cruises, tours, vacation packages, car rentals, and hotel and resort discounts, according to its website.

Membership also brings discounts on groceries, shopping, restaurants, insurance products (health, life, etc.), health products (medical, dental, vision, etc.), financial services (credit cards, insurance), etc.

AARP membership also brings a $10 discount on the Roadside Assistance from Allstate fees, ranging from $36 for an individual in the Standard service level up to $91 for a family at the Premier level. Roadside assistance features a 24-hour emergency roadside service hotline, towing up to five miles, flat tire change, battery jump-start, emergency fuel service (member pays only for gas), emergency lockout service, etc. SUBHEAD: Travelers may pay more than needed

(c) 2011 Tulsa World. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved. 

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