General travel opinions needed!

[cleo]

Hi all! We're doing a new project and want to get a variety of opinions. Wanna help? If so, copy and paste the questions below and give a quick answer to some or all! If you prefer not to answer here, email your answers to britsguide@yahoo.com

AND THANKS!!!



Which search engines do you use?

If you use various search engines, which ones and why do you chose one over another (which subjects do they find best)?

How do you enter search terms (do you use quotation marks, AND, OR, etc)? What works best for you?

Specifically as regards travel, which blogs, podcasts, forums, etc do you visit?

Which travel guide books do you read (not just Disney...any!)

What do you like best about the travel guide books you use?

Do you view any travel webcams? If so, which ones?

Do you book your accommodation/flights/tickets yourself, do you use a travel agent, or do you do a combination of both. How do you decide which you will do?

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[DawnCt1]

For American travel I use all of the usual websites; travelocity, expedia and orbitz. I also like tripadvisor for opinions on hotels, etc. On trip advisor I found I need to ignore the stars and read the dialog. If people have a great trip and love the condo, hotel, etc, they rate it high. If they have one disappointment, they trash the review. My favorite all around travel blog site is www.fodors.com. I also will visit www.frommers.com but its not as organized. For cruising, I like www.cruisecritic.com. For discussions on mileage use or best way to earn extra airmiles, nothing beats www.flyertalk.com.
Travel books; Fodors and Frommers. For Hawaii all of the 'blue books'. Hawaii Revealed, Maui Revealed, etc augmented with Fodors and Frommers. Website for the blue books is www.wizardpub.com