Book details of 'Nettravel: How Travelers Use the Internet (Songline Guides)'

Title	Nettravel: How Travelers Use the Internet (Songline Guides)
Author(s)	Michael Shapiro
ISBN	1565921720
Language	English
Publisher	O'Reilly & Associates

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Nettravel: How Travelers Use the Internet (Songline Guides)':

Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
Michael Shapiro wrote this book for "people who always wanted to turn the travel agent's computer screen around." He accomplished more--he created a resource for those who'd also like to grab a big piece of a good travel agent's expertise. Beyond showing how to book your own travel reservations, Shapiro demonstrates how to get the best deals and how to find the information that will lead you to either painless business travel or to your dream vacation. He even explains how to use the Net as you travel to get the most from wherever you are.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Not too long ago, a user group that shall remain nameless (mostly because we don't know what to call it any more) held a national meeting in Winnipeg. We discussed the agenda online, of course, but also handled all the travel reservations, hotel bookings, and other arrangements that way. In the days before departure, some expressed concern about the weather, the city not being known as "Winterpeg" for nothing. A very helpful member posted the Environment Canada five day forecast, showing temperatures in the minus fifty region, with whiteout blizzard conditions. He had, of course, accessed the weather office's archives for the previous year, and changed the name "Inuvik" to "Winnipeg" throughout. We spent a lovely weekend in shirtsleeve temperatures. Practical jokes aside, there are abundant resources for the traveler on the net. In chapter one, Shapiro provides a quick overview of how people can use the Internet in a variety of ways for a variety of types of travel. You can save money, plan an itinerary, book reservations, obtain detailed information, go beyond brochures, and generally use the Internet for what it is: the largest and most up to date library in the world. Generally overview chapters are pretty boring, being light on detail and heavy on promotion. Promotion there is, here, but Shapiro has also managed to inject some life into the material. He is also not content with a mere listing of sites, but also looks at the importance of personal contacts, always the best way to get local data, and the variety of Internet communication tools for contacting people. Chapter two looks at transport. Not only do you get listings for travel agency and airline reservation sites, but descriptions of using search engines to find train information, and even directions for subways. Food and lodging is covered in chapter three, with the personal stories that are a feature of Songline Guides. Shapiro, however, integrates these stories with each other and the main text by pointing out the common and successful features of the disparate experiences. Chapters four through seven deal with specific types of travel: budget, business, vacation, and adventure, all with useful suggestions such as using group preferences for corporate travel and connecting to the net while on the road. Unlike many similar guides, this one does a reasonable job of comparing different services, noting which is better for what type of traveler or research. While much (but not all) of the material in prior chapters relates to Websites, chapter eight discusses mailing lists and newsgroups. Not content with a simple list, the text also shows how to search for groups, lists, and archived postings on specific topics. A more extensive guide to staying connected away from home is in chapter nine. Travel agents would seem to be the losers in the switch to online booking, but chapter ten finishes off the book by showing how they can use Internet resources to add value and stay on top. Appendix A lists the Websites discussed in the book, grouped by topic. Appendix B is a lightning introduction to the net. The commercial online service offerings in the travel area are briefly described in Appendix C. For anyone who is not already seriously using the Internet for travel this book is probably well worth its price. The resources available will aid you in planning, and definitely save you its cost many times over. Even those who are regularly getting travel data from the net will likely find new and useful resources in its pages. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999
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