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Looking for a cheap flight to Vegas, a cool pod hotel in Tokyo or the perfect place to pop the question in Paris? Before spending hours scouring blogs and consulting online travel agents, consider turning to Twitter.
The popular social networking site is the latest outlet for hotels, cruise lines and airlines to pitch offers, promote their brands and interact with their clients. Travel publications and bloggers offer up-to-the-minute news on everything from traffic snarls to concert cancellations. And with a growing community of tweeting globetrotters who happily share their insider tips on hotels, events and restaurants, Twitter is like having a personal concierge at your fingertips.
After all, tweets add up to a customized stream of information delivered right to your desktop - and both writers and marketers have seen how that can be useful in the ever-changing world of travel. There are countless airlines, hotels, tourism bureaus and travel gurus on Twitter.
Following a hotel chain or airline on Twitter means that you're signing up for marketing, but there can be payoffs in deals and personalized instant service. To find the most informative tweets, hone in on the best listeners. "Advertisers see Twitter as a way to communicate directly with their customers," says Denzil Wadds, a partner and co-creative director at Toronto-based advertising company Fingerprint Communications. "They have to understand that tweeting is about two-way communications, not just pushing information, deals or the company URL out to the followers."
One success, he says, is JetBlue Airways (whose Twitter account is @JetBlue). "JetBlue's team of Twitterers is constantly scanning Twitter for tweets that reference the company. If they find one, they respond immediately with relevant information." With more than 950,000 followers, JetBlue also follows about 118,000 people, alerting passengers to storms and cancelled flights and answering questions about everything from seat assignments to in-flight entertainment systems.
For Canadian travellers, Expedia (@Expedia) has also found a balance between product peddling and customer service.
Not only does the online travel agent use Twitter to provide updates on late-breaking airfare deals, it also suggests itinerary routings. After asking how to get from Winnipeg to Portland, Ore., on the cheap, one follower received driving directions from Winnipeg to Fargo and a link to airfares from Fargo to Portland.
Then there is United Airlines (@UnitedAirlines), which updates its more than 19,000 followers on exclusive "twares" and on the availability of frequent-flier award bookings. When it started receiving tweets about Dave Carroll's now famous United Breaks Guitars YouTube video (the Halifax musician's $3,500 custom-made guitar was severely damaged on a United Airlines flight last spring), the airline speedily fielded questions in 140 characters or less: "should have been fixed sooner & not have happened in the 1st place. Video will be used for training"; "as Dave asked we donated 3K to charity and selected the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz 4 music education 4 kids"; "can't wait 2 make music w/Dave 2 improve service 4 all."
One of the most prolific hotel Twitter sites is Fairmont Hotels (@fairmonthotels). Home to regular contests and last-minute sales, its "suite tweets" also feature personalized advice on which spa treatment, fancy cocktail or golf course to tackle when you get to a Fairmont hotel.
Beyond the nuts and bolts of trip planning, however, Twitter is a great source for unique cultural experiences and insider expertise. Villa owners, food critics and bloggers who don't appear on conventional travel sites are only too happy to open up their little black books for their followers.
For an overview of such sources, check the feed of travel guidebook publisher Lonely Planet (@lonelyplanet), which finds and forwards interesting travel-related posts to its more than 11,000 followers. Why comb through a screen full of tweets when someone else can alert you to the dates of the Hide and Seek Festival London, or provide nine reasons to visit Southeast Asia during rainy season?
If you're taking a sabbatical in Rome and need to know what to do when you get there, then consult Leisure in Rome (@Leisure_In_Rome). The purveyor of apartment rentals in the Eternal City recommends events that are on the local radar, such as the famed Villa Celimontana jazz festival or the more obscure Beer and Bruschetta festival.
From flight delays at LaGuardia to news that a Midtown power station is opening up for tours in October, NewYorkology (@NewYorkology) covers all that is happening in the Big Apple.
Epicureans can get the scoop on food and drink before they get there through following the likes of Tasting Vancouver (@tastingvan), Chicago Bites (@ChicagoBites) and Britain's Good Pub Guide (@GoodPubGuide), which shares beery news and tweets regularly about its Pub of the Day.
For the ultimate in tailored advice, however, you can take advantage of the medium's interactive nature and send a direct question to an in-the-know Twitterer.
Australian-born author and journalist Bryce Corbett (@brycecorbett), who has lived in Paris for almost a decade, was recently tweeted by a Canadian who was flying his girlfriend to Paris for the weekend. He asked: What restaurant would Corbett recommend for a marriage proposal? "Les Ombres at Musée Quai Branly," he replied "It looks up under the Eiffel Tower; couldn't be more romantic."
Not surprisingly, she said yes.
Twitter tips for travellers
Search Use Twitter's search engine to find specific information, like "hotels in Sydney" or "surf camps in Costa Rica." You can also type in #travel or #traveldeals and a stream of results will appear.
Direct Messaging If a travel company starts following you, follow back so you can send direct messages and questions and thereby keep your banter out of the public realm.
Privacy To keep your tweets private, you can protect your account and approve who can follow you. This will also keep your tweets out of search results.