Travel Deals at the Click of a Mouse

Looking for a family vacation deal? Grab your computer mouse and start clicking.

Travel planning consistently ranks as a leading reason people turn to the Web, researchers say.

Online vacation travel bookings are expected to grow from $3 billion this year to a whopping $29 billion in five years, reports Forrester Research, a leading think tank on Internet-related issues that recently issued a comprehensive report on the subject.

Airlines, hotels and other travel suppliers are shifting from providing information to online booking, the report said.

That’s because parents traveling with kids represent a huge and growing online market. Parents in their 30s and 40s already account for more than a fourth of those booking online. A third of the 20 million online households who haven’t yet purchased anything online say they plan to use the Web for travel arrangements. And with security safeguards in place, consumers don’t seem to be concerned about using a credit card number online, Web experts say.

“More than half of our users are married and have kids,” says Suzi Levine, product manager for Microsoft’s Expedia.com (https://expedia.com), now generating about $7 million in travel sales a week and planning to expand its family travel offerings. Levine adds that thousands of families every month are trading travel tips through Expedia’s special family and theme park forums.

It’s easy to see why time-crunched parents like the Web for trip planning. It’s like having a travel agent and library open 24 hours. Plan your vacation whenever you have time--in the evening after the dishes and homework are done, when the baby is napping, on Sunday morning.

Get customized information for your family, based on what you like to do, how old the kids are and how much you have to spend. No need to wait for a travel agent to call you back when you can simply link to another area of a site to get the information you’re missing.

Sure, it sounds great, you’re thinking. But what about the times I couldn’t log on to the site I wanted? What about all the junk I had to wade through?

Look for online researching to get easier and faster, with more one-stop shopping so that you can book your entire vacation at a single site. The Internet research firm Gomez Advisors, in fact, has begun to regularly rate the top 20 sites that allow you to book air, hotel and rental car online. You can find its picks at Gomez.com (https://www.gomez.com) and link to these travel Web sites.

The top pick: TheTrip.com (https://www.TheTrip.com) because it’s easy to navigate and it offers an impressive array of city guides and maps. I liked the “Deals-2-U” newsletter, which offers the latest in airline discounts and specials. Car and hotel deals will be added in coming months.

“This still is for people willing to take the time and who like doing the work themselves,” says Gomez Advisors’ John Robb.

The payoff: Whether you’re trying to plan a last-minute getaway or find next summer’s beach rental, you’re assured of the latest information and many bona fide bargains. Some examples:

* You suddenly get a yen (and a break in the schedule) to take the kids someplace for the weekend. Go to Travelweb.com’s “Click It Weekends” (https://www.Travelweb.com) for hotel rates in major cities that are discounted as much as 65%. Most are big chains.

* If you’re looking for a cheap package for winter break, 1travel .com (https://www.1travel.com) has 70-plus offerings for families at special prices, from Hawaii to Florida to London. Book a cruise or a plane ticket overseas at a significant discount, too. The site also lists all of the weekly “cyber fares” by the major airlines. It will e-mail you the deals from your favorite airports.

* You want to plan your first family camping trip but don’t know where to start. Gorp.com (https://www.gorp.com), the Web’s most complete outdoor recreation site, has close to 20,000 pages of information--including how-to family wilderness guides, links to outfitters offering specialized family trips and gear and the chance to exchange ideas with other parents. You’ll find outfitters touting deals here, too.

* You need a quick, affordable getaway to anywhere. Go to Expedia.com or Travelocity.com (https://www.travelocity.com) and browse the special deals area. There’s lots to choose from at not-to-be-believed prices.

Taking the Kids appears the first and third week of every month.