Affordable Europe: Tips from the Rough Guides

Starting May 7, US Airways will offer customers the chance to pay a fee (starting at $5 one-way per flight) for an aisle or window seat assignment in the first several rows of coach class. About 8 out of every 100 seats will be up for reservation in this way, though some flights, including the US Airways Shuttle between D.C. and New York City, won't offer the option. US Airways' elite frequent-flier members will be able to book these seats free of charge, says USA Today's Ben Mutzabaugh. The seats have no extra legroom. No extra anything! You'll be able to select one of these "choice seats" during online check-in at an airport kiosk or on usairways.com from between 24 hours and up to 90 minutes before departure. Choice Seats will be available to US Airways' Dividend Miles Preferred members (and companions traveling on the same reservation) for free. They can book theses seats at any time after booking. They'll also have exclusive access to exit row seats. Note, you'll be paying for the upgrade per-flight, so if your itinerary includes a layover, you'll have to pay a second fee for the second flight on the same journey.

Tourism to China is at a record level. Last year, 350,600 Americans visited—a 10 percent jump over the previous year. And this summer China is hosting the Olympic Games, leading the country to spend billions to make itself more welcoming to foreign visitors. So we decided to publish a story in Budget Travel's May issue that gives tips on how you can book your own travel to the country instead of going on a tour ("Do-It-Yourself China"). I would like to add a few thoughts about the benefits of making your own travel arrangements, especially if you want to see more than the main cities. When I was living in China eight years ago, my most memorable trips were the ones that I planned on my own through the countryside—many times with a very loose itinerary. And I'm testament that anyone can do this, given that I spoke absolutely no Chinese when I got to the country. Travel in China has changed a lot in the past 10 years or so, too. With Western hotel chains opening up all over the country, the Chinese chains have been forced to compete, and many have improved their standards as a result. Check out Jin Jiang Hotels—the chain is an established, business-class chain. Chinese trip-planning sites like elong.com and ctrip.com also offer far better deals on airfare than what you'd find on U.S.-based search engines like Expedia and Kayak. You can book internal flights on the sites from the U.S. and pay with your credit card—and the sites are in English so there's no language barrier. Here are some other travel tips to get you started: → Search out unique travel destinations. This doesn't mean skip out on the traditional tourist centers of Beijing, Xi'an, or Shanghai. But try to incorporate travel to lesser-known places—you'll get a far greater sense of what the country is like. On the way to Shanghai to Xi'an by train, for example, are two incredible cities: Kaifeng and Luoyang. Luoyang, one of China’s ancient capitals, has an amazing mountainside carved with thousands of statues of Buddha dating back 1,500 years. The Longmen Grottoes are just as impressive as Xi'an's terracotta soldiers, but nowhere near as famous. Kaifeng is also an ancient capital of China. The city has one of the most beautiful pagodas I saw anywhere in China—the graceful Iron Pagoda, built in 1049. Kaifeng is also home to one of the oldest Jewish populations in China. → Pick up English-language city magazines in Shanghai and Beijing to get the most recent information on museums, galleries, restaurants, bars, music venues, sporting events—you name it. There's a thriving English-language press in both cities, mostly centered on the arts and nightlife. You can find the magazines in most Western-style restaurants or bars; a particularly thorough one is called that's. It's available in both cities. → Use Chinese travel agencies in the major cities—they’ll help you book air and train tickets for a nominal fee. Your hotel can help you find a good agency; we recommend Kingdom Travel in Beijing and Shanghai. The biggest agencies will have English-speaking sales assistants. → If you're curious about Beijing, you'll find a slide show of the newest architecture, an etiquette guide, and a video tour of one downtown neighborhood at budgettravel.com/beijing2008. If you have any tips on saving money, or just getting around, post them here. I'd love to know other ways tourists are finding to travel around China!

Normally I like anything that stimulates travel, but John McCain's proposal to suspend the gas tax for the summer strikes me as populist pandering. No one likes taxes, sure, but come on—does he really think this is going to help the economy? And for the earth's sake, we all need to be more mindful of how much we drive, and there's a strong argument that summer is exactly when we don't want people driving more, more, more. I grew up in southern California but haven't lived there in years, but I can still remember those horrific summer days when the temperature was high and air quality was poor. It's something we should be trying to avoid, not fostering. But maybe there's a case for it that I'm missing?

Did you know that Google Maps lets you plan a trip using trains and buses? Go to maps.google.com and enter your "start address" and "stop address." If there's a public transit option, a link will appear. Click on it to see how you would make transfers at each point on your journey. (The service is still in the testing phase and only covers major U.S. cities.) For a full explanation, see this video: