- Ask Arthur Frommer & travel better, cheaper, smarter
Courtesy of Wiley
Ask Arthur Frommer & travel better, cheaper, smarter
by Arthur Frommer. Wiley, 2009; $19.99.
When you see that his book has an 18-page table of contents, plus a 40-page appendix of late-breaking information, it’s obvious that Arthur Frommer has a lot to say in Ask Arthur Frommer. In an interview with TravelMuse, he said he had even more to say, but due to space constraints, he had to rein it in. No matter. There’s enough in this 468-page guide to chew on for months.
In a methodical way, he goes into great detail about the basics: airports, airlines, airfares, accommodations, buses, camping, cruises, safaris, RVs, adventure travel and so on. Then he gets into themes: adventure, learning vacations, nudists, etc. He tackles products, travel agents, insurance, banks and the business side of things. He has a chapter on his favorite places and also a chapter subtitled “My tirade about travel, in a number of fields.” Clearly, Frommer had a ball with this book, letting loose in a manner that you don’t often see from travel industry experts.
Pros
Frommer has seemingly been everywhere, more than once, and has seen and tracked the evolution of travel in his long career (Europe on $5 a Day came out in the 1950s!). He is passionate and articulate about travel, and he makes you care too. There’s almost an urgency about how much he wants people to travel and how vital he thinks it is.
But feelings aside, the book offers solid advice on practical matters, with a large focus on saving money. He goes into a lot of details about different kinds of travel and travelers too, from touring the United States by car to country-hopping in Europe. There’s advice for singles, seniors, students and so on.
An entertaining list of travel “myths” that Frommer debunks are that “you get what you pay for”; “travel prices are fixed in stone”; and you “save by booking at the last minute.” He also offers up his “10 Great Truths of Travel,” which include “the less you spend, the more you enjoy”; “packing light is another key to travel pleasure”; and “by planning in advance to meet residents of the destination, you can enliven your trip.”
Great Tips
The research that Frommer and company have done is beyond compare. I learned that after running a series of tests through known search engines, Frommer feels the best airfares can be found using a Danish Web site, www.momondo.com. And, yes, anyone in the world can book through it. Would I have ever found this out on my own? Perhaps, but tips like these are huge timesavers.
Another interesting tidbit of information revealed is that if a Motel 6 has an interior corridor, it’s probably a new building (as opposed to the grungier old ones with outdoor corridors) and Frommer contends these motels are quite comfortable with modern amenities and one of the best deals around. Facts like these make up a large part of the book and are invaluable.
Cons
Some of the industry insider critiques will not interest the average reader. Most people probably don’t care or think too much about the New York Times travel section, which Frommer rails against, or travel journalists at all, and he dedicates a fair amount of ink to criticizing the state of travel journalism and its current fixation on luxury travel.
Worth Buying?
Absolutely. I can’t imagine $20 better spent than on this book for anyone who is even contemplating a trip anywhere, whether you’re a novice traveler or a seasoned globetrotter. If you use the advice you find here, you’ll save that much money many times over.
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