That’s right, folks! According to the Associated Press, good old American Airlines is going to charge you $8 for the privilege of snuggling up in one of their very nice blankets. Oh, you get a pillow, also! Incredible.
Makes me wonder…do we get to keep it?
I’m loving Toyota’s Prius disaster. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t delight in the fact that serious injuries or death could result from Prius’ bad brakes or potential acceleration problems. I’m enjoying the pain, angst and loss of esteem that has fallen upon the legion of Pious Prius owners.
Now we learn that most car rental agencies have taken the mighty Prius out of their rental fleet. At least for the time being. Next time you plan a vacation or business trip would you rent a Prius?
Here are some great deals on Orbitz travel promotions.
Top Travel Deals of the Week
Orbitz: $100 OFF Cancun vacations with promo code CANCUN100 (Book by Feb 28)
Save up to 55% on All-Inclusive Vacations on Orbitz.com. (exp 3-22-10)
Bahamas: Save up to $400 for 4 Night package deal on Orbitz (exp 3-3-10)
Air Deals
Huge AirTran flight sale on Orbitz. (travel thru 5-26-10)
Delta Air Lines: Hot Fares on Hawaii Flights at Orbitz.com. (Book by 2-28-10)
American Flights: Ski destinations on sale at Orbitz! (Book by 2-12-10)
Hotel deals
Marriott Resort: Free $50 Resort credit with every nightt booked on Orbitz. (exp. 3-21-10)
Radisson Resort & Spa St Martin: 3rd night free on Orbitz (stay by 4-10-10)
Save 40% at the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino on Orbitz. (exp 4-9-10)
Rental Car Deals
$20 OFF Budget Weekend Rental Cars on Orbitz (Exp 3-31-10)
AVIS Last Minute Driving Deals at Orbitz.
Go Green & Save Green on Car Rentals at Orbitz.com.
Cruise Deals
Royal Caribbean: 7 Night Mexican Riviera from $456 on Orbitz. (exp. 2-28-10)
7 Nightt Greek Isles – Up to $300 off on Orbitz! (sale ends soon)
Get Up to an EXTRA $200 off on Caribbean Cruises at Orbitz.com. (exp. 3-4-10)
Are you an aspiring freelance travel writer? Although the field the field of travel writing is crowded and the pay isn’t anything close to what it used to be, there still are plenty of benefits, the best of all being free hotel rooms, free admissions to events, free or partially reimbursed airfare and even complimentary food and beverages. Assuming you are at the start of your travel-writing career, here are my suggestions on how to make your dream a reality:
Phase 1 – Establish Your Brand & Become Visible in the Marketplace.
Create a travel website or preferably a travel blog.
Begin writing interesting articles about local interest and post to your site on a regular basis.
Include photographs.
Post reviews of local hotels and restaurants and forward your URL to local newspapers as well as to the property reviewed. Ask for a link back from their website.
Post well-thought comments on travel related blogs and offer to be a “guest contributor”.
Join travel associations such as TravelWriters.com.
Phase 2 – Start Looking for “Comps”.
Contact local hotels, B&Bs and inform them that you will be in the area and would like to set an appointment to interview the owners/managers and review the property.
Point them to your website so they will get a sense of your writing style.
Highlight other publications that feature your writing.
Phase 3 – Go for National Exposure.
Use the same technique as used in Phase 1 except now, go for the national travel market.
There are over 500 travel magazines and 200 newspapers that have travel sections. Submit to the publications that align with your topics. Ask them for opportunities to write articles for compensation.
Contact 4 -5 hotels in your newly targeted location and ask for a complimentary night’s stay for a favorable review. If offered a free night’s stay before you ask, graciously decline and tell them that you already have a complimentary room at another hotel. By doing so, you are building great credibility to your brand and reputation.
Ask for referrals to other properties and their associates in other locations.
Ask for a link back to your website.
Begin the same process in you next target location.
Phase 4 – Go Global.
You know the steps perfectly and are now a master at the craft of travel writing!
Send article proposals to major publications, including travel guidebooks.
Find paid assignments through travel writer associations.
Apply for compensated press tours.
Scour publications, associations and local tourist offices for paid assignments.
Hey, all you travel writers out there! Are you finding it tougher and tougher to get good paying writing assignments? With the Internet and all the free travel ezines that are out there it is difficult to find profitable travel writing gigs.
Scanning through sites such as Travelwriters.com, I see people wanting 500 word articles for $10! That is just crazy. I must call Arthur Frommer immediately and ask his advice. Better yet, Rick Steves!
Seriously, folks. Remember dreaming about living the life of a travel writer? Did you visualize receiving free hotels, flights and other benefits just for the pleasure of writing a 300 – 500 word review or a 10,000 – word article? Unless you have a strong relationship inside the travel publishing community your chances of getting much payment for your masterpiece is slim. Squeezed out by tightened budgets and fierce competition even well established writers feel the pain.
As for me, I will keep writing, posting and looking for well-desired comps on hotels and so forth.
How are you getting along?
Related Article: How to Make Money on your Travel Website or Blog
Have you ever thought about how to make money with your travel website or blog? If not, maybe you should! After all, if visitors to your travel website enjoy what you have written, why shouldn’t you try to generate some cash for those creative posts? I am not suggesting that you would make enough money to quit your day job then sit at home, posting travel articles in your pajamas and live the life of a travel writer but still, you could possibly make some good money from your site. (I will talk about the pros and cons of being a travel writer in another post!)
So, where would you start? Well, if you are at the very beginning of launching a travel website or blog, have somewhere between 25-50 posts before you determining how to “monetize” your site. There are several reasons for waiting:
• You need to be sure you will post updates frequently or you will loose your readership.
• It takes time for search engines such a Google to find and classify your site.
• Advertisers, travel affiliates and Google AdSense want to ensure your site is credible and represents their standards. (I will explain these in a minute.)
• Too many ads while an early stage tend to drive readers away.
Just continue to add well written, unique content and you will be well on your way.
If you already have plenty on unique content then the time has come to decide where to focus your advertising efforts. The easiest way to start is using contextual advertisements provided by Google AdSense. These are the ads you see place in strategic locations on blogs and websites. There is a quick application process through Google that takes only a day or so to gain approval. (Another reason to wait until you have plenty of content. Google does not approve sites that have little content or just looks like a spam site that would have nothing more than ads.)
Another way to generate income on your blog is through affiliate marketing. You can sign up to be an affiliate at site such as Commission Junction and Linkshare. It is a two-step process. First, you must be approved into the program. Next, look at specific companies that you would like to display and apply for affiliation. Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia all offer great affiliate programs and pay well.
It isn’t rocket science by any means. The challenge is to gain readership and keep them coming back for more!
Let me know how you are doing, OK?
Orbitz has updated it’s cruise discounts and promotion with some very good deals. The down economy is forcing cruise lines to steeply discount their rates. Added to that, several new cruise ship are being launched throughout 2010. That’s great news for you. Here are a few examples of the steep discounts Orbitz has arranged:
Casinos at Sea: This is a great theme where you can enjoy two vacations in one.
Last-Minute Cruise Deals – Sail within 30 days, save up to 75%.
Carnival Cruises: Quick Getaways & Weekend Cruises – SAVE up to 75% and Sail from $144.
The Voyage Masters website has updated details for AARP members and senior citizen who are looking for discounts on cruises. There are some fabulous cruise deals out there right now.
Let’s me know of any deals that you find and I’ll post them for you. Here’s the link to Voyage Masters.
Hospitality Giant Marriott has added to it’s global upscale properties by partnering with small luxury independent boutique hotels to form the Autograph Series. The addition of 25 upscale hotels is said to be planned for 2010.
Read more: Marriott
Hotel booking giant, Orbitz, is promotion hotels and B&Bs in Napa and Sonoma county wine country with some very attractive nightly rates: