Websites – Traveling Tiger

Cheap Flights and Creative Routing

I was recently contacted by Amber from CreditDonkey regarding my post a few years ago regarding the mobile app OnTheFly and the ITA Matrix which it interfaces with. Amber reminded me that with both Thanksgiving and Christmas quickly approaching, it might be helpful to remind folks about these handy tools to navigate the complex task of finding cheap flights.

CreditDonkey recently posted a very friendly refresher article on using the ITA Matrix website to find the flight you want. The article goes on to explain how to use flags to designate a carrier, allow or disallow long layovers, even the airport changes (for cities like New York where there are multiple airports in relatively close proximity).

To give you an idea of just how powerful this application is, Google went out of their way to purchase it and use it as the underlying engine for their Google Flights website. Though Google Flights is much faster, and in many cases allows for direct booking of flights, there are certain features that are only available in the original application. The good news is that you can still access the ITA Matrix to get exactly what you want out of your travel.

Amber also pointed out that while you can’t book the flight you find from the ITA Matrix website, you can leverage tools like OTAs (Priceline, Kayak, Flight Network, and so on), or use BookWithMatrix. BookWithMatrix offers not only a website, but a handy browser add-on (I have used it with both Firefox and Chrome).

What’s your preferred search option to find the flights you want at the prices you want?

Noise-Canceling Headphone Reviews from Reviews.com

I was recently contacted by Elizabeth Reynolds from Reviews.com regarding their analysis of active noise-canceling headphones. For the upper ends of the price range, the headphones listed are definitely solid purchases. As someone partial to Bose, I certainly can’t argue with their placement!

There are a few more affordable headphone options for consideration, though, for those not able to spend $200+ for headphones. I’ve listed a couple of my personal favorites below. All the links below are for Amazon’s Smile, where a portion of your purchases will go to a charity of your choice at no cost to you.

Over The Ear

Audio-Technica ANC7B is my go-to pair when it comes to affordable over-the-ear active noise-canceling headphones. While they go for ~$200 new, you can get factory refurbished headphones for less than half that price. I picked my pair up for $67, and they’re going strong more than a year in! Reducing background noise by 90%, these are amazing for long flights. An added bonus is that you can use the headphones with a dead battery by leaving ANC off. The headphones come with a carrying case, and extra adapters to use them on old-fashioned airline outputs.

Audio-Technica also released an ANC9 version which has 95% reduction. These headphones also have three distinct settings for sound isolation, allowing for greater control over your experience.

TaoTronics also has an over-the-ear offering that is even more affordable coming in at $54. This can further be reduced, for a limited time (with use of coupon code KINJA22J), bringing the final price to $37. In addition to these headphones being wireless (Bluetooth), they have an integrated microphone so you can take phone calls while you use them.

Bose’s QuietComfort25 headphones are currently marked down from $300 to $170, which is an excellent price for a pair that my coworkers have been using since their introduction to the market in 2014. I can safely say you will not regret this purchase.

In The Ear

TaoTronics also has a pair of in-ear headphones. The nice thing about these headphones is that you can charge the embedded battery while using them. This is not common for most ANC headphones, so this is a very nice feature. As with their over-the-ear headphones, this pair has an integrated microphone. For those that want to go wireless, a Bluetooth version is available. Both pairs come in at under $60.

It should come as no surprise that I also mention Audio-Technica’s ANC23 in-ear headphones. Offering an in-ear 90% isolation solution with a comfortable fit, it’s hard to say no for $40!

Staying Sane on the Road

It’s no secret that I spend a somewhat ridiculous amount of time on the road, so I thought I would share my coping mechanisms for staying sane in the air and on the road. Though my main source of entertainment is my phone (music, movies, podcasts… it does it all!), I also love having my Kindle handy.

Kindle Paperwhite

The device for the bibliophile, the Kindle has saved me from countless hours of boredom. The ability to go from book to book on a whim, and having access to hundreds or thousands of titles is truly mind-blowing when you stop to think about it. I recently finished reading “The Bear and the Nightingale” and “The Winds of Khalakovo“, and have started a few more. After having my Kindle for a few months, I can’t imagine life without my Kindle.

Podcasts

ars PARADOXICA – Secrets. The Cold War. Time Travel. Physics. ars PARADOXICA is a thrilling audio drama for those that enjoy believable science-fiction and being kept on the edge of their seats. Season 3 is coming this year!
Black List Table Reads – Hosted by Franklin Leonard, the Black List Table Reads is all about ear movies. Every season, screenwriters are interviewed, writing processes are discussed, and you get a sneak peek into the way movies are made from the ground up. Mixed in, you will be given stories with professional voice actors. Some of my favorites include “Jody“, “Forever Jaying, 1937“, “Celeritas“, “Chrome Noir“, and “The Other Side“. Definitely worth checking out!
Cabin Pressure – Originally radio series produced by the BBC, Cabin Pressure was created by John Finnemore, and stars him as well. Other members of the cast include Roger Allam (yes, from Game of Thrones), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, Sherlock, and oh so many other productions), and Stephanie Cole. As someone who loves flying, Cabin Pressure is a hilarious take on the lives on the lives of the employees of a small charter company.
NPR’s Invisibilia – Taken from the NPR program’s page: Invisibilia (Latin for invisible things) is about the invisible forces that control human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions. Co-hosted by Lulu Miller, Hanna Rosin and Alix Spiegel, Invisibilia interweaves narrative storytelling with scientific research that will ultimately make you see your own life differently.
NPR’s Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me – Taken from NPR’s program page: Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! is NPR’s weekly hour-long quiz program. Each week on the radio you can test your knowledge against some of the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world while figuring out what’s real news and what’s made up. On the Web, you can play along too.
The Adventure Zone – Dungeons & Dragons. So many memories! The Adventure Zone follows the McElroy family (Justin, Travis, Griffin, and Clint) as they make their way through a campaign. Though a little rough at the start, the personality of the characters really comes through.
The Strange Case of Starship Iris – Though another science fiction radio drama, The Strange Case of Starship Iris follows the life of Violet Liu, a biologist, as she struggles to make sense of life after humanity’s war against an extraterrestrial species. And that is all I can say without spoilers.

Google Play Subscription

Much like Pandora or Spotify, Google offers a subscription service for Google Play Music. Pricing varies from $9.99 for an individual or $14.99 for a family plan, where up go 6 individuals can share a membership. This allows for unlimited (ad-free) listening, downloading, and YouTube RED.

Netflix / Amazon Prime Downloadable Content

Amazon introduced offline viewing of content for the primary member of a Prime family (or individual, for individual memberships) in 2015. In November 2016, Netflix followed with offering offline viewing of content. Since then, their offline library has grown considerably, though it should be noted that it doesn’t encompass their entire streaming library. Also, Netflix has a hidden limit on how many times you can download a given title. This is a little frustrating as you don’t know you’re reaching the limit until you’re almost there. Both services have limits on how much content you can have downloaded, and you should only ever delete content when you are connected to a network (cellular or WiFi) to ensure that it properly cleans up the licensing behind the scenes, allowing you to download a new title.

CyberGhost: Mobile VPN

A good friend of mine, Ant Pruitt, recently wrote about CyberGhost’s VPN service on the GoGo blog. Ant goes on to explain just how the CyberGhost product functions. As someone who spends a lot of time online while in the air, this is a pretty big deal for me.

Even if you think nobody could be interested in your information, think about how much information you actually put out there online. Credit card information when you shop? Addresses? Contents of emails? Chat message transcripts?

Though I have access to a VPN thanks to my job, I know many folks don’t. Additionally, many VPN solutions are limited to computer use. Having a way to protect your browsing when you are on your phone is no less important!

Do you use a VPN when you use public services like Boingo and GoGo?

ITA Matrix’s Little Brother: OnTheFly

Though many savvy travel hackers are familiar with the ins and outs of Google Flights and its underlying engine (ITA’s Matrix), not everyone is aware that you can use ITA’s software on your mobile device! The app, OnTheFly, is in both the Android and Apple app stores and is surprisingly easy to navigate.

ITA's Advanced Routing Language — ITA’s Advanced Routing Language

Though you don’t have the ability to use the advanced routing codes that you would when using the web interface, you still have a fair amount of control. You can see these options below.

Unfortunately, you also are limited in the way the flight results are displayed, simply because of the limited screen real estate and functionality limitations of a mobile device. The information is presented in a clear manner, though, and the search is quite fast.

My only real complaint here is the fact that you can’t see time-bars. It is my preferred method of search result display for flights. That said, Hipmunk will give you this information, and it pulls its information from ITA as well. Small world, right?

Once both outbound and return flights are selected, you are shown the fare details, as well as the total trip distance (for those that are conscious on qualifying miles and cents-per-mile!). Naturally, you are shown the fare class, and are even given a breakdown on where the fare price comes from.

For more on ITA’s Matrix, check out Scott Mackenzie’s guides on Travel Codex. It’s very important reading for the aspiring travel hacker!

Have you played with ITA’s Matrix and OnTheFly?

Bulk Fares on @Delta, @United, and @American

Earlier this week Enoch of PointMeToThePlane shared the results of an experiment where he used the Citi ThankYou points portal to pay for part of an American Airlines ticket. While not something unusual at first glance, Enoch pointed out that the earning was based on the distance flown instead of the amount spent. Interestingly enough, the qualifying spend was also based on the distance flown. The reason for this is that the ticket is a special fare.

American is by no means unique in offering special fares. In fact, United and Delta also have these fares. The frustrating thing is that it isn’t always clear what kind of fare you are buying, particularly with Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), because the fare type is different from the fare code. Bulk fares like this will still have the same letters you are used to seeing when purchasing tickets directly from the airline.

Julian over at FrequentMiler expanded on this information in the blog’s Devil’s Advocate column. You can see charts for the fares discussed on each airline’s website. These charts are also below, and each is accompanied by a link to the exception fare page for the respective airline.

While this might seem appealing, especially to earn more miles on cheap fares, be very careful with these bookings. As you might notice with the links above, the spend earning rate is sometimes 0% of the miles flown (as with United for non premium fares).

Another dangerous thing is that when you book using an OTA, you might wind up buying a ‘basic’ fare. Rene at RenesPoints detailed his experience comparing the prices at OTAs with what is offered from the airline, you sometimes don’t receive any warning in your booking. Like Citi, Chase allows you to spend their rewards points to buy tickets through their online portal. Rene pointed out that when booking this way, you don’t receive any warning that the ticket you are buying is Basic Economy.

Website Bugs are Fun! Courtesy of @Delta

With schedule changes, I took some time to dig through all of my upcoming travel when I noticed this gem… I didn’t know Delta used Eurocopter EC155s! 😉

I did verify that I would not be on a helicopter, which I have mixed feelings about… it would certainly make for a fun day! For those curious, this is what a Eurocopter EC155 looks like:

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