The Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel: The Art of Cultivating Preferred Customer Status [Paperback]

Joel L. Widzer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2004 | Series: Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel: The Art of Cultivating

Although its emphasis is on getting a good deal, this no-nonsense guide steers people firmly away from no-frills travel and points them toward the wonders of first-class accommodations and preferential treatment. Readers will acquire an intimate knowledge of the art of luxury travel: how and when to visit the most desirable destinations; the role frequent-user programs play; the importance of building long-term relationships with elite travel companies; avoiding scams; and finding shortcuts through the labyrinth of airline and hotel rules. The result? Exceptional service and amenities, hotel and airline upgrades, and the sense of empowerment and freedom that comes from avoiding inhospitable employees and the annoying hassles regularly inflicted on the masses. Written in a refreshingly down-to-earth style, the book explains exactly what to do and how to do it, and is filled with engaging true-life travel anecdotes. Appendices list important phone numbers and websites, and compare major frequent-user programs.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Who says loyalty isn't appreciated? Follow the advice laid out in The Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel and you may find yourself wallowing in the pleasures of luxury without breaking the bank--especially if you travel often and stick like glue to one company. Grateful airlines and hotels often respond to such brand loyalty with free seat or room upgrades, the first steps towards living the life of Riley at the same cost as those Joes cramped behind in coach. Widzer--with a business degree from Pepperdine, a career in marketing, and a million-mile award from his chosen airline--knows all the ropes when it comes to the business side of traveling in comfort, and explains how to ask the appropriate questions to get the desired results. If you're paying full price because you booked last minute, for example, asking for perks often gets you luxury extras. Widzer shares strategies for saving money depending on if the dollar is strong or weak; regularly obtaining airline seat, hotel room, and car rental upgrades; effectively voicing (and being compensated for) complaints, as well as knowing whom to tip when. With an appendix of travel resources, this is the book for those willing to do their homework to win the prize. --Stephanie Gold --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Widzer believes in traveling in style but without paying luxury rates. He manages to achieve this using his travel experience (he flies at least 100,000 air miles each year) and his knowledge of the travel industry. By carefully maintaining customer loyalty and by knowing exactly who, how, and when to ask, Widzer manages to get much more than he pays for. Here he explains how. Arranged topically in ten chapters, clear explanations with examples detail how to leverage customer loyalty and travel mishaps. Examples and strategies attempt to cover all types of travelers, from very frequent to infrequent, but are more effective for frequent travelers. Customer service providers may find this interesting as an analysis of what quality really means to a customer. Purchase for larger public libraries.AAlison Hopkins, Queens Borough P.L., Briarwood, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales; 2nd edition (May 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932361049
• ISBN-13: 978-1932361049
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,705,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joel L. Widzer's travels have taken him to more than a hundred countries, logging over 250,000 air miles a year, and accumulating more than 3 million frequent-flyer miles. Joel's innovative approach to travel has received extensive media coverage. He has appeared on CBS, NBC, and ABC networks, MSNBC News Network, The FOX News Channel, The Travel Channel, The Today Show, CNN, Inside Edition, and in print media including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He writes regular travel columns for MSNBC and Forbes. Joel holds a doctoral degree in the field of industrial organizational psychology. More information on Joel can be found at www.JetReady.com and travelerstales.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Five Pages of Information and Endless Egotism, October 3, 2005

By 

A Customer "A Customer" (Southeast Asia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel: The Art of Cultivating Preferred Customer Status (Paperback)

All of the useful information in this book could have been condensed into a travel magazine article. The remainder of the book is comprised of the author bragging about his free upgrades.

The author has the annoying habit of constantly stating that he's about to divulge a secret to discount luxury travel; then, the author (a) fails to provide any tips on the topic, (b) provides general common sense advice (make friends with the gate agents) or (c) provides anecdotes too specific to his situation to be applicable to most readers.

This is a revised edition of a previous book. Yet the author will occassionally imply that the earlier edition contains additional luxury travel secrets -- so you should run out and buy that book, too.

I was not at all surprised to find on this web page a series of content-less yet five-star reviews which read suspiciously like the book itself.

Avoid. Your time is better invested learning the details of actual frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs on the various web pages devoted to the topics.

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars an ok book, July 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel: The Art of Cultivating Preferred Customer Status (Paperback)

I found the book ok; not brilliant, not terrible. I notice a curious consistency in the other reviews. All five stars, yet strangely generic for people who supposedly liked the book so much. All about the same length, and written in what appears to be the same voice. My guess is they're all written by the same person. So consider this a review of another of the author's works too...

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Common Sense in bloated form, June 8, 2008

By 

Don B. (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel: The Art of Cultivating Preferred Customer Status (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

Instead of any "secrets" to luxury travel the author simply repeats the same common sense "if you just spend enormous amounts of money with travel providers and are nice to them, they'll be nice back" Well Duh. Of course they're nice to someone who's flown 3 Million miles with them. What about the rest of us? Further, the author shamelessly shills for all the major airlines and outright bashes Southwest and other discounters. His plugs for Delta should win him free tickets for life.
Save your money. This is a page of common sense jammed into 300 page plus tome that's not worth your time.