campaigns : Campaign Archive

April 12, 2007

Travel, On the Go in NYC, Shopping Deals, and Fun for Foodies

The great part about the Internet is there’s so much there. And the bad part about the Internet is there’s so much there. So when the The Three Tomatoes come across web sites or other information that we think is useful or just plain old entertaining, we like to share them with you. Here are a few tips for you this week that include getting the best travel deals and shopping deals, finding restaurants on the go in New York City, and a couple of web sites for foodies.

Are you getting the best airfare?

It used to be if you bought an airline ticket in advance you’d get the best deal. Well that’s not always true any more. Airfares are now very volatile and timing is everything as they say. Well here’s a web site we love because it helps answer the question, should I buy that ticket now or wait? Launched last year, Farecast.com is the first airfare prediction website. It offers airfare predictions from over 75 U.S. departure cities to top domestic destinations, with apparently 70 to 75% accuracy. Type in a destination and travel date and up pops a very cool chart showing you where the fares have been and where they predict them go and then advises you to wait, or buy now. Finally, a reason to love statistics.

When you really need to get there on time

Okay, so now you’ve booked your flight, but what are the chances of an on-time arrival? Well check out FlightStats before you finalize that ticket. You just enter the flight number and it will give you the percentage of on time arrivals for that flight. We recently tried it out for a flight we’ve already purchased tickets on, to unfortunately find it only has a 36% on time record -- wish we’d known about FlightStats sooner. You can also check out the average security wait at all the major airports, by terminal and concourse too on the day you’re traveling. Another great feature is its flight tracker, which unlike a lot of the airline’s web sites trackers, is actually reliable and tracked in near real-time. The site is jammed packed with other features too, like mileage award promotions, so check it out before you fly.

And if you’re looking for great deals on luggage, check out this sponsored link from Luggage Online.

You’re out of your hood and you need to find a restaurant

We’re showing our age but we’re definitely not into text messaging, but here’s a reason to try it out. Have you ever been out of your “hood” in New York City and needed to find a restaurant or a bar? We had that happen not long ago when we met some friends, East Siders like us, at an art gallery on the West Side and then decided to have dinner. But where? We were in foreign territory and actually had to call a friend to check out Zagat’s for ideas. If only we had known about New York Magazine’s free texting service that gives you instant access to their restaurant and bar listings on your mobile phone. You send them a text with the query FOOD Sushi Central Park West, for example, and in seconds you’ll receive up to twelve matching listings per search with phone number, address and cross streets. We’ve tried it and it works. It’s simple too. You can get the instructions at http://nymag.com/mobile.

Are you getting the best shopping deal?

There’s a really interesting new service that provides you with an 800 number to call if you’re out shopping in a store and wondering if you can get a better deal online. You call Frucall and it not only reads back the best online prices to you, but it also allows you to buy items directly from online merchants while you're on the phone! And armed with this information in the store, you can often use it to bargain for a lower price at stores like PC Richards, for example. Sign up is free at Frucall.

Deals at Amazon

Here’s an interesting blog that posts daily “secret deals” from Amazon. While they’re not really secret, they aren’t easy to find either and this blog scours Amazon’s site for them. Like a recent 70% off sale of a Calphalon non-stick bakeware set. So check out Secret Amazon Deals, it’s a blog worth bookmarking.

Foodies love other foodies

Here are a couple of fun web sites for people who are passionate about food.

Yummr is a community of folks who are passionate about good food and drink and enjoy sharing their obsession and connecting with others. It's the place to share food-related experiences, recipes, reviews, photos, and your own cooking videos.

Chow covers the food gamut from recipes, cooking gear, video instruction (like how to poach an egg or open a wine bottle without loosing the cork), news, entertainment, discussion, and advice. The site is updated daily.

Here’s to the deal. ‘til next week,

The Three Tomatoes