reading meg hourihan’s post today got me thinking about my own experiences planning trips on the web, and for the most part i have to say they’ve been quite good. when i visit boston, i usually take the train because while it’s four hours as compared to the shuttle’s one, penn and south station are much easier to get to and from than la guardia. amtrak’s site is more or less ideal for buying tickets; you can tell them approximately when you want to leave and return and they’ll offer a selection of trains, regular and express, that are within a few hours of the times you gave. the service on the actual trains themselves leaves a little to be desired - i have yet to ever have a train to boston leave on time - but the site’s nicely done.

when i flew to seattle in november, i bought my tickets through travelocity. i didn’t have any particular airline i wanted to use as i don’t have any frequent flyer miles, and price was my primary concern. because i bought tickets about a month in advance i managed to get to seattle and back for just under $200 flying with ata. this involved a longish layover in chicago both ways, but it was worth it in my opinion. i would use travelocity again because it seems to be an effective way to locate a wide range of very cheap fares, although i’ve heard expedia is okay as well.