Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Matt Kepnes (1) gave a short but very informative interview in the New York Times about travel, which (2) drew me to his blog, which seems current, lively, and useful, so I figured I'd (3) take a chance and invest in his travel book. Well, two out of three ain't bad...I guess. I was surprised that the advice in the book was so elementary. Join frequent flyer clubs, get a credit card that is affiliated with one or more of the clubs to maximize points, consider staying at a youth hostel, use secondary airports, search the internet for cheap airline prices. Before you bid for travel on Priceline or Hotwire, check the internet for information that people post about their own bid history. Very little that I haven't already read several times somewhere else. Also, the thrust of the book was surprising to me. I'm an older (60+) occasional traveler, who considers the watch-out-for-the-hidden-fees world of travel costs to be alternately frustrating and scary, and I'm looking for protection. This book appears to be written for the youthful, carefree, sell-all-your-stuff-and-wander-the-world-for-a-year-or-more backpacking crowd. I really don't need a lot of advice about how to pare my possessions down to the minimum, and get rid of the stuff I don't need. Frankly, I love all my stuff -- PARTICULARLY the stuff I don't need! I would recommend taking advantage of Kepnes's well-written blog, and pass on this book.