I once stayed at some crappy roadside motel in Nowheresville, Georgia. The towels were thin, the toiletries the cheapest you can buy, the carpet worn, the bathroom held together by many tubes of caulk.

The room rate listed on the back of the entrance door? $399 per night.

Of course nobody in the history of that motel has ever paid more than 1/4 of the listed price for that room. It’s a total joke.

Here’s a photo of the price at Element Miami Airport I stayed in a few days ago when I had some meetings nearby. It was a fine hotel I’d gladly stay in again, with a great suite layout and a kitchen. When I search various dates for it online, the rate is usually around $150 or so. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say sometimes they’re able to charge double that amount. But here’s what’s on the door.

The original idea behind this practice was to keep hotel management or front desk clerks from gouging you. Cities or states required the “rack rate” be listed on the door as the maximum. If anyone paid more than what was listed, they could complain and get compensated.

Follow the logic of how hotel owners are going to respond and you know how we got into this silliness. If the hotel must list its maximum rate, the owner/manager is going to pull a ridiculously high number out of thin air and post it as a pipe dream. Nobody ever complains because nobody will ever pay anything close.

When I go on Trivago.com and search Miami hotel deals, I get 168 hotels to choose from in Miami proper (apart from the beach). That’s what keeps prices in check: competition. When people can go on that site and see prices from nearly every booking site out there, do we really need this silly system anymore?

One travel perk of moving to Tampa for a couple years has been a big improvement in flight options. Besides having lots of airports within a 4-hour drive if needed, one 30 minutes away is a hub for Allegiant Air.

Never heard of them? I hadn’t either before moving here, but it’s a godsend for people living in small and mid-sized cities in the U.S. who want to get someplace warm and sunny in a hurry. If flies direct from St. Peterburg/Clearwater airport (with the yummy abbreviation of PIE) to all kinds of places with normally crappy air connections. Places like Lexington, KY; Roanoke, VA, Chattanooga, TN; Appleton, WI; Duluth, MN, Greenboro, NC. They also send lots of flights to Myrtle Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, and Orlando, plus you can get from Florida all the way up to Niagara Falls direct, which would be an easy way to get to Canada too. They have other hubs in Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Meyers, and five cities out west. See the full route map here.

Their fares are routinely lower than anyone else’s by a wide margin, so besides the time factor, the price is enticing too. Just one problem though: you’ll pay for everything after that. Like Spirit and RyanAir, Allegiant looks at the airfare as a base. It’s the starting point from which they pile extra fees on top of to make the real money. So you’ll pay for anything to drink, a seat assignment, using your credit card, and even a carry-0n if you bring a bag.

Allegiant Bag Fee Blues

Is there any way to avoid all this? Well you can avoid eating/drinking in flight and take your chances on a seat upon arrival—probably ending up in the middle. You can use a debit card instead of a credit card. And you can pack lightly. Really lightly.

I’ve now done four flights on Allegiant without paying a bag fee. It wasn’t easy and when I head to a wedding in October where I have to dress up, I’ll pay up to bring a real suitcase. These two trips were just for a long weekend to hang out with my father though, leaving on a Friday, returning on a Monday. The photo here shows the back I packed and my secret weapon—a Scottevest.

Allegiant and Spirit Air both say to avoid baggage fees, your “personal item” must fit under the seat in front of you. Apparently Allegiant Air’s seats are smaller than Spirit’s because while the latter allows dimensions of 16 by 14 X 12 inches, Allegiant limits you to 16 X 15 X 7 inches. That’s a tad larger than the size of a laptop bag for those with a 15-inch screen or less.

Obviously there’s more height than 7 inches under the seat, but their rules are rules and they enforce them with vigor. Gate agents were slapping $35 fines, errr, baggage fees, on anyone who dared to carry two items of any size or had a bag larger than these dimensions. (Talk about a horrible job to get up for every day!)

Despite all the luggage  and bags I’ve reviewed at Practical Travel Gear, I had to resort to a trade show schwag bag to find something of this size. It held my laptop, laptop cord, and the following: one pair of Sanuk Rasta Pouch shoes, one extra pair of pants, a pair of shorts, two collared shirts, two t-shirts, three pairs of socks and underwear, and a small toiletry kit. In the outside pocket I had an inflatable travel pillow I ended up not using.

In my Scottevest went everything else not in my pants pockets: phone, iPod, earbuds, keys, portable charger, loose change, sunglasses, ticket, boarding pass, lip balm, etc. It could have held a lot more (like underwear or some toiletries) if I really wanted to push it.

Would I go through all this for a longer trip? No, even for a cheapskate like me who’s got plenty of lightweight travel clothing, it would be hard for a real vacation. But since my option was to pay $64 in fees or have $64 to spend with my dad over the weekend, it was worth it.

It’s not hard to hear a lot of gloom and doom in the news these days, but if you’re a traveler, this is shaping up to be one of the best summer vacation seasons in a long time.

Good news for the Yanks

For Americans, this is probably a temporary gift from the gods that we should all take advantage of. Our ineffectual congress and weak housing market aren’t going to suddenly do an about-face and our long-term fiscal debt issues still need real bipartisan compromise to tackle. Also something not very likely in this climate. Compared to Europe though, we look like a superhero standing next to a patient in a hospital bed—our battle scars be damned. So the euro is hovering around 1.25 to the dollar and more than a few pundits have said it’ll go to parity if Greece drops the euro and Spain and Italy default. When the euro goes down, so does the Hungarian forint, the Bulgarian lev, the Czech crown (from 17 to 20 in the past year), and the rest. Not hand in hand, but on the trend line. The expensive destinations in Europe are not as expensive this summer and the cheap ones are cheaper.

In the rest of the world, it’s a mixed bag, but the U.S. dollar is way up against some key currencies for us. Right now you get 14 Mexican pesos to the dollar, compared to 11 or 12 most times I’ve been there over the past decade.  You get 55 Indian Rupees now for a buck instead of 45 this time last year. Exchange rates are better in more expensive Brazil, Chile, and South Africa.

But let’s face it, the way most Americans travel is…in the USA. So gas prices dropping from $4 to $3 a gallon is a big deal. Take that road trip before the nutjobs in Iran start shouting again. I doubt we’ve seen the end of fuel price spikes. Someday soon though, offending airlines might actually do the fair thing and ratchet back those hated “fuel surcharges.” Or at least stop slapping frequent fliers cashing in miles for them. (I’m talking to you British Airways.)

Good news for the maple leaf backpack crowd

For Canadians, your currency is as strong as its been in decades and the natural-resource-based economy has allowed you to prosper in the current commodity climate. Like Americans, you take a lot of vacations domestically and have to go quite far to travel internationally, so lower fuel prices can make a big difference in the budget. At 1.3 loonies to the euro (sometimes less), Europe’s costs are at a record low for the canucks. Go!

Plus the math’s easier these days. At near-parity with the U.S. dollar and Australian dollar, you can cash in loonies for something else that’s easier to exchange around the world and not have to do double-math on what you’re spending.

Do Aussies really need another reason to travel?

Breakfast in Bali

You Australians are currently blessed with an exchange rate your parents probably never dreamed was possible. Places that used to cost them a bloody fortune are now cheaper than home. As with Canada, an economy based on the extraction of things in the sparsely populated ground can mean boom times when said things are in demand. So while Australia has gotten crazy expensive for citizens from the rest of the world (okay, except Japan and Scandinavia), when you take your local earnings abroad it’s party time.

Like the rest of us though, don’t assume this good fortune is going to last. It’s probably not sustainable to count on rich commodity prices forever, especially gold, and China’s not going to keep buying whatever the world can mine forever. Travel now and make good memories.

Where does that leave Europeans?

It’s hard to find a silver lining in Europe, but despite your faltering currency, most of the world is still cheaper than where you live now. And hey, if you come visit us in the U.S. you can fatten up and buy some electronics on the cheap.

Otherwise, take advantage of  your own continent’s problems and roll out your own personal stimulus plan. Grab one of those unbelievable package deals to Greece or the coast of Spain. Rent an apartment in Barcelona or Athens from an owner that needs the money. Buy a vacation home on the cheap from someone who really needs to unload it. There are a lot of bargains out there on places you can reach by train or a budget airline.

Take advantage of what may be temporary

In five or ten years from now, we may look back on this summer as one of the great opportunities to travel well for less. Don’t let it pass you by.

[Top Flickr photo by Naharb, Vegemite one by joeywan]

Consumer Reports checks out the cheap hotel and motel chains most glossy travel mags ignore.

Hampton Inn Downtown Miami

Usually when Consumer Reports magazine gets detailed feedback from its subscribers, it’s concerning physical items like cars, washing machines, and TVs. They do look at service industries as well though, including hospitality, and in a recent issue they took a close look at results on hotels.

What I liked about this one was the depth. They didn’t just focus on the big business and luxury chains like most travel magazines do. They ran through four classes of hotels, down to humble names like Econolodge and Motel 6. After all, in the real world that the 99% inhabit, these chains often have a higher occupancy than the big boys, especially on weekends when the biz travelers have gone home. (Despite the impression you may get from the print  travel press, the average nightly room rate in the United States is generally around $100.)

So who came out on top? I’ll skip the top tier (Ritz-Carlton) and the second tier (Harrah’s and Walt Disney Resorts). In the Moderate category, here’s who got the highest ratings from readers:

1) Wingate by Wyndham
2) Drury Inn & Suites (Slogan: “Where the extras aren’t extra.”)
3) Hampton Inn & Suites

At the bottom were Quality Inn, Clarion, and Ramada.

In the Budget category, there were seven entries. Here are the top three:

1) Microtel (also owned by Wyndham)
2) Red Roof Inn
3) Super 8 (also owned by Wyndham)

In order, the others were Day’s Inn, Motel 6, Econolodge, and America’s Best Value (which apparently isn’t).

The ones that ranked the highest usually got a top score in the “comfort” category and “check-in” was a big factor as well.

Keep this list in mind if you’re booking online or perusing a coupon book you pick up at a rest stop—something I strongly advise on road trips where you want to stay flexible. Remember though that the individual hotels are usually franchises or independently owned in some other fashion. There’s a business arrangement there, but the brand you see on the sign doesn’t mean the Super 8 in Long Beach is the same as the Super 8 in Topeka. For budget motels, newer is generally better, all else being equal. These are not places built to still look good 200 years from now. Or even 25.

Don’t forget about the opaque booking sites.

Interestingly though, Consumer Reports basically said you should throw all this out the window if you want a great deal instead of just a good one: their advice was to book through Hotwire or Priceline whenever your plans are secure. They tried their best to top the deal they got through Hotwire through every means possible—including calling the front desk to request a discount—but couldn’t come close. They paid $133 for a high-end Chicago hotel in the location they wanted. The best price they could get on the same hotel, same night booking it any other way? $230.

As I’ve said before, if you’re not using sites like this, you’re paying far more than you need to—and far more than that cheerful couple in the room next door if that gets your competitive juices flowing. You don’t have to go in blind either. Use message board sites like BetterBidding, BiddingForTravel, and BidLessTravel to figure out what you’ll probably get in each star category. See links to these and more on hotel deal sites here.

It’s time for the new issue of Perceptive Travel, home to the best travel stories from wandering book authors.

This month we’ve got another eclectic batch from multiple continents, plus some reviews of travel books and world music.

Jillian Dickens makes her debut with a tale about her own olive tree in Italy. Becky Garrison contrasts two sides of the Jordan River in Israel and Jordan. And I travel to Las Vegas to find out if a cheapskate from the 99 percent can still find joy in a place increasingly marketing to the remaining 1 percent. (Hint, it helps if you surf for Vegas discounts, go mid-week, and gamble downtown instead of on the strip.)

Susan Griffith returns to highlight two new and noteworthy travel books and one to be avoided. Laurence Michell is back to spin some new world music worth checking out.

This month our gear giveaway is a pair of Ecco hiking boots with Gore-tex, retailing for over $200. The only way to get a shot at them is to be a newsletter subscriber or a follower on Facebook. See how to do both, and see a picture of the boots, on the Perceptive Travel home page.

Have you seen our new blog design over there? It’s a pretty snazzy new suit we’ve put on in celebration of the blog’s 4th anniversary. Go check it out: Perceptive Travel Blog.