Last year was the year of the travel deal, with resorts and airlines practically begging for bookings, and many travelers finding bargain airfares and hotel rooms as a result．Now the economy looks as if it might be on a slight rebound．So now is the perfect time to review your booking strategy（策略）． Here are 4 simple steps you can take to help cut your travel costs in 2010． 1．Find the Cheapest Dates to Fly ITASoftware．com, which provides the technological backbone for many airfare shopping sites, allows users to scan an entire month's fares for the least expensive rate．（Log in as a "guest" and click on "month-long search．"） In January, the 28th and 30th were the cheapest dates to fly nonstop to London from New York （$536） for a week's vacation, according to a recent search．The next best was Saturday, Jan．23, at $640．To book the ticket, users must go to another site．Kayak．com has a flexible-dates option （registration is required）and a calendar that shows the best fares found by other Kayak users in the last 48 hours．Bing Travel, the Microsoft search engine, offers a similar option, found under "plan trips," about halfway down the page． 2．Consider Nearby Airports A recent Web search showed nonstop flights from Los Angeles International Airport to Miami International from $299 round trip on American in early January．But flying into Fort Lauderdale, roughly 30 miles north of Miami, was $219 on Virgin America, an $80 saving． 3．Go Against the Grain If possible, avoid popular travel dates like holidays and spring break because airlines have begun to charge anywhere from $10 to $30 extra at those times．Farecompare．com offers a handy breakdown of the new fees by date, airline and amount．Early-morning and late-night flights may also be cheaper depending on the route． 4．Make Yourself at Home For a 6 to 12 percent booking fee, AirBnB/com connects budget travelers with locals who are offering a place to bed down．The Times's Frugal Traveler, Matt Gross, described it as "a cross between CouchSurfing．com and the vacation rentals section of Craigslist．" There were more than 2,000 listings in a recent search for New York including a futon （床垫） in a one-bedroom near Gramercy Park （$65） and a bedroom with private bath and separate entrance in Hell's Kitchen （$150）． 65．According to the first paragraph, ____． A．the economy in 2010 is surely getting better B．2009 saw a sharp decrease in travel fees C．the booking strategies can be put away in 2010 D．in 2009, airlines begged the travelers to buy more travel guides 66．If you want to book a ticket, you may log on to _____． A．ITASoftware．com B．CouchSurfing．com C．AirBnB．com D．Kayak．com 67．What does "Go Against the Grain" probably mean in the passage? A．Going travelling in the off-season． B．Going travelling without taking any grain． C．Going travelling during holidays and spring break． D．Going travelling without meals served on early-morning and late-night flights． 68．The passage is most probably taken from ____． A．a book review B．a magazine C．a website D．a story book |