How to travel smart, avoid being stranded and save money
BOSTON - It's been a rough start to the summer for air travel. Stormy weather, staffing and equipment issues have caused thousands of delays and cancellations across the country.
We spoke with CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg for some advice on how to travel smart, avoid being stranded and save some money.
His first piece of advice is fly direct whenever you can, but if that's not possible give yourself plenty of time to make your connection. Airlines are allowed to book a flight with a connection with just 33 minutes in between, but anyone who has ever sat in the back rows knows it can take that long just to get off the plane.
"If you have a 33 minute connect time, you're never going to make it. And as we've all experienced, every plane is full. Even if the airline wants to put you on the next available flight, there is no available flight. It's full," he told WBZ-TV.
Greenberg says you might want to skip the airport altogether and travel by train instead. Amtrak offers 30-day travel passes for $500 and it's about $250 for kids under 12.
If you are looking for a real deal, consider a cruise, says Greenberg.
"I've seen cruise ships on seven-day cruises, selling them for like $480 for a seven-day cruise. That's not even $70 a night. You can't wake up in Boston for $70 a night," he told WBZ.
With WI-FI upgrades, you can work remotely from the middle of the Atlantic.
"What we're seeing in the cruise industry is they're installing state-of-the-art satellite systems and offering free WiFi packages. So you're seeing people take longer cruises, work from the cruises and have no problems at all, because they can also afford the cruises." he said.
If you can wait to travel, you might want to enjoy the New England summer here and go away after what Greenberg calls the magical date of September 8th.
"Right now, on this particular week, the round-trip coach airfield of many cities in Europe. It's about $2,200. Coach! On September eighth. I've seen fare as as low as $450 round trip."
A new low cost airline will launch service to Boston in September as well.
Norse Atlantic is a Norwegian airline that will have flights from Logan Airport to London starting at $167 each way.