British Airways launching fall fire sale worldwide

Finding an affordable rental car is a common problem faced by travelers today. Here's one uncommon solution. Typical rental car prices have more than doubled in recent years. When you add in one-way rental rates, drop-off fees, and airport taxes and surcharges, it can sometimes seem more cost-effective to buy a car instead of renting, then resell the thing once the trip is over. That's exactly what St. Petersburg Times writer Michael Kruse considered while planning a recent vacation in the Northwest. Krause simply wanted to pick up a car in Jackson, Wyo., tour the Tetons and eastern Washington, and then drop the vehicle off in Seattle five days later. The absolute cheapest rate he could find was nearly $1,300, for a dinky Chevy Aveo no less. That'd work out to a per-day cost of $260, without even adding in insurance or gas. Instead of going with a typical rental car (or buying one), Krause's wife Lauren made an offhand comment about U-Haul, which led Krause eventually to discover that taking a 16-foot Budget moving truck on their adventure would cost under $400 ($372.79, to be exact). They went with the truck, and even after factoring in added costs for gas -- moving trucks aren't known for fuel efficiency -- Krause estimates that they saved $800 to $900. The truck wasn't exactly the ideal vehicle for navigating mountain roads. (For that matter, a Chevy Aveo wouldn't be the first pick of many drivers, either.) But the truck did the trick, and wound up saving Krause and his family a large chunk of change. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: Wheel Deals: Alternatives to Airport Car Rentals Is it cheaper to fly or drive? How to spruce up a rental

I recently wrote a blog post entitled, "Solo travel websites worth checking out," featuring a number of great solo travel resources, mainly for women. A few of our readers responded through our Online Feedback Form, asking for similar tips, only this time geared towards mature female solo travelers. Ladies, thank you for your suggestions—as always, I am more than happy to oblige. At first glance, I wasn't really aware of the amount of great travel resources available for baby boomer women, but it turns out there is a wealth of information out there! After sifting through a number of websites dedicated to "Boomer Travel," I've narrowed it down to a few of my favorites, loaded with tips for anyone over 50 who can't get the travel bug out of their system. A great place to start is Boomeropia, a website designed especially for baby boomer travelers. The left column on their homepage hosts topics ranging anywhere from boutique hotels and river cruises to museums and other historical travel destinations. Their volunteer travel section is quite detailed, as is the "Money is no object" section, for the lucky ones out there. With its subtitle on the home page reading, "Baby Boomer Travel Advice: Tips on how to spend your kids inheritance," Aging Hipsters Travel is another great website geared towards "baby boomers, aging hipsters, over 50's, adult–teenager or whatever you want to call yourself." Tongue–in–cheek travel advice regarding travel visas and passports, packing checklists and a special section on tips for women over 50 who plan to travel alone. Their tips for travelers over 50 include advice on train travel as well as the perks of river cruising, and leaving "the roughing it to the youngsters." Boomer traveler Donna Hull started her own blog, "My Itchy Travel Feet: The Baby Boomers Guide to Travel," offering her personal travel experiences and best tips for aspiring followers. Advice from several solo travel experts is featured on her website, reminding women to stay in public throughout their trips as well as useful tips for embracing the lonely side of solo travel. If you'd rather not go it alone, there are a few online forums where like–minded travelers can connect, discuss and plan their travel adventures. Try looking through the Baby Boomer Travel Groups on Meetup, for starters, to see where ideas are cooking. According to the website, Boomers most interested in travel tend to be in New York City, Austin, TX., and Brisbane, Australia (this is an international group website after all). You can also sign up for updates on MyTC, a free social media website created just for finding travel companions "in the over 50s." For those of you on Facebook, there's even a group, comically named "Not Dead Yet Travel—Baby Boomers, Solo Travellers, Women Travellers" where you can share travel tips, ideas and maybe meet someone you want to travel with. Are you an older, more experienced, female solo traveler? Do you have any special tips to offer? Feel free to leave a comment or two, and feel free to ask us to cover a travel topic that interests you!

New rules issued today by the federal government require that fliers who get "bumped" against their will from their flights receive much fatter payouts than before. The new rules also extend the "passengers bill of rights" protections against tarmac delays to international flights. So, what do you need to know about the new Department of Transportation rules? First, a weather delay gets you nothing, ever. Second, you're owed higher pay-out rates by your airline if it bumps you involuntarily to a later flight. This regulation comes amid soaring bump rates, with more than 700,00 passengers expected to be pushed back this year, a big jump from last year. The reason for the spike? Most airlines oversell flights. (JetBlue is the main exception.) Once upon a time, if you were bumped from your flight, and the airline was able to get you to your destination within two hours of your planned arrival, you were paid the value of your one-way ticket, with a maximum of $400. If they couldn't get you there within 2 hours, you were paid double the amount, up to $800. Not bad. As of today, if the airline boots your from your flight (and you didn't volunteer to be booted) and the airline gets you where you need to go within two hours, you can look forward to getting double the value of that ticket (with a cap of $650). Beyond that, the payout is four times the ticket's one-way value, for a max of $1,300. That's big money, paid in vouchers. But, as we've said before, you should insist on cash—as in green hundred dollar bills—because the alternative, vouchers, can have expiration dates, and the airline may not offer the best ticket for you for routes you're flying before the expiration date. The other big news is that the federal government threatens to fine foreign airlines, not just domestic airlines, up to $27,500 per passenger if they leave an INTERNATIONAL flight on a tarmac for more than FOUR hours without taking off. That said, it's worth saying that this rule already applies to US airlines (with a shorter time window for domestic flights) and the federal government has yet to act on it. So it may be toothless legislation. (Fun fact: Federal agencies aren't required to enforce their regulations. It's true! Congress gives them discretion to decide when to invoke their regulations. This is probably why lawyers make so much money—parsing this stuff.) One other thing to know: Airlines are now required by law to reveal "all ancillary fees on their websites, including fees for checking bags, providing meals and canceling reservations," in the words of USA Today, whose reporting on this topic has been first-rate. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: A new way to get cash back when fares drop Would you book a flight with Spirit Airlines? Top sites Yapta and TripIt team up

Hertz, America's largest car rental company, has switched from its #1 Awards loyalty program to a new rewards system called Gold Plus rewards. Unlike with Avis's program, points can be redeemed for free car rentals without blackout dates. Unlike with Avis's and National's programs, points don't expire as long as you rent a car or cash in points every two-year period. It's free to sign up, and Hertz is offering a 500-point sign-up bonus, redeemable for one free weekend day rental. Even more intriguing, I think, is that Hertz is waiving its usual annual fee for its #1 Club Gold service, which offers expedited service to members. The #1 Club Gold service lets you skip the rental car counters at 40 major airport locations and have expedited service at more than a thousand other locations. It's free, instead of having to pay the first year of the $60 membership fee, for new members joining through September 30, 2011. Check out the Hertz loyalty program website for details. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Book a trip you saw on TV Bookworms rejoice! Harry Potter takes over London and New York The 10 Most Travel-Inspiring Films of the Year