And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for (LOL), we present to you Chuck and Lori’s “Best Of” travel list for 2013!
Our selection for best airline is:
- Delta. Well, if you live in Atlanta it’s hard not to be a fan of Delta (it’s easy to like an airline which has direct flights from your home town to … pretty much anywhere). But even applying a bit of objectivity, our experience with Delta is head-and-shoulders above other airlines. From on-time performance to fantastic clubs, and from plenty of flights to a near-perfect website, Delta is clearly our best-of airline.
- Honorable Mention! JetBlue. When we blogged about our fall trip to California, we mentioned our brief experience with JetBlue: and it was such a great experience that they jumped into an honorable mention slot. If only they flew out of Atlanta this hard-working airline would give Delta a run for the best-of spot.
Our selection for best high-end hotel chain is:
- Intercontinental. Consistency is the problem for most of the high-end hotels we’ve gotten to stay in, and Intercontinental seems to always deliver a consistent product compared to other high-end brands. (Full disclosure: Intercontinental, like Delta, is an Atlanta-based company, but that really has no bearing on our decision).
Our selection for best mid-range hotel is:
- Hyatt Place. A cool decor, mini-suites with huge TV’s, self service check-in kiosks, and the best continental breakfast around.
Our selection for best budget hotel is:
- Fairfield Inns. For a budget hotel we’re usually looking for a convenient location (often near an airport), clean rooms, a decent breakfast option, and good rates. Fairfield Inns (owned by Marriott) usually has them all.
Our selection for best car rental is:
- Budget. In our opinion, rental cars are a commodity: a Toyota from one company is the same Toyota from another company. Product differentiation being a challenge, it comes down to price, availability, and customer service, all of which we’ve seen Budget excel at. And they have a solid web site too.
And finally, our selection for best general travel site is:
- Kayak. We absolutely loved another travel site for years until we got iPhones and iPads and installed the Kayak apps. With price alerts, the web site is awesome too; they’ve returned the joy to surfing and researching travel. Far and away, Kayak has the best tools for trip planning and booking.
