6 Great Apps For Last-Minute Trip Planning

I'm a Queens girl, originally from Floral Park and currently living in Bayside. For me, Brooklyn has always been this artsy far-away place that sounds great, but is practically a day-trip from where I am. Needless to say, I haven't been out there much, but have always wanted to see what everybody's been talking about. Then I stumbled upon Get Up And Ride, a leisurely bike tour through six different historic Brooklyn neighborhoods along the East River led by Felipe Lavalle, a friendly Brooklynite entrepreneur who started the company last June as a way to combine his passion for cycling with his love of the neighborhood. SEE PHOTOS FROM THE BROOKLYN BIKE TOUR The Classic Bike Tour of Brooklyn is available from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Tours meet on North 12th St. between Bedford Ave. and Berry St. in Williamsburg across from the King & Grove Hotel, just a short hop on the L train from Union Square in Manhattan. After a quick check of the bikes, helmets and CV radio headsets were distributed so we could hear Felipe's commentary about the neighborhoods we passed through. It had been a pretty long time since I'd ridden a bike, so the idea of riding in traffic was a little intimidating at first, but I quickly got the hang of it, especially with Felipe announcing where to go and when to cross as we worked our way around town. We pedaled through old factory rows and past a thriving Polish community in Greenpoint, stopped for a slice at Best Pizza in Williamsburg, and biked on the "Great Hipster Silk Route" on our way to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a behind-the-scenes look at Brooklyn Grange, an urban organic rooftop farm paving the way for fresh veggie growing in big cities. We stopped at WNYC Transmitter Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and along the Brooklyn Promenade for photo-ops with different angles of the New York City skyline. Another perk was stopping at the Brooklyn Roasting Company, a local coffee shop in DUMBO known for their delicious freshly-brewed coffee, espresso, and cortado, a drink guaranteed to restore your energy. We ended the 4.5 hour tour with a scenic ride on the East River Ferry, passing underneath the Brooklyn Bridge on our way back to the tour's starting point in Williamsburg. The tour costs $85 per person and includes a 4.5 hour guided ride through Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Wallabout (the Brooklyn Navy Yard area), Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, and DUMBO; bike rental, bike lock, and helmet; a CV radio headset so you can hear about the neighborhoods as you ride; a behind-the-scenes look at Brooklyn Grange in the otherwise off-limits Brooklyn Navy Yard; and a scenic ride on the East River Ferry from Brooklyn Bridge Park back to Williamsburg. Shorter 2.5 hour themed tours (ie. photography, foodie, and graffiti tours) as well as a shorter tour of Greenpoint and Williamsburg will soon be available for about $50 per person, so check the website for the latest updates. Be sure to pack a water bottle or two, wear sunscreen, and dress comfortably according to the day's weather forecast—most importantly, don't forget to bring your camera!

Hotels can take up a big chunk of your vacation budget. Luckily there are websites out there designed to save you money at the hotel that's right for you. I chatted with Kevin Fliess, the Chief Operating Officer of Room 77, to find out how his site helps travelers score the best available rate—and get the amenities they want as well. Similar to Kayak, Room 77 acts as a metasearch, scoping out deals on thousands of websites at once in a matter of seconds. Room 77's search engine is able to access rates being offered by online travel agencies (think Orbitz or Expedia), prices being offered directly by the hotels themselves, and special rates offered to members of the military, AAA, and AARP (if you qualify), helping travelers find the lowest prices available. Period. You can also book through Room 77's mobile app (available in The App Store and on Google Play), or through their partner site, Expedia.  What also makes Room 77 stand out is their super-detailed hotel pages. Once you track down the perfect price, Room 77 shows you photos of the hotel (including rooms) so you know exactly what you're getting. You can also search by popular freebies like WiFi, parking, breakfast, and airport shuttle, effectively cutting out those extra expenses that can really add up. You can also view the hotel via Google StreetView, explore the hotel floor map, and get a quick preview of what your view will be like from the hotel room. Another useful feature is the Insider Tips on the Best Rooms at this Hotel section, where you'll get advice about where the quiet rooms are, which have the best views, and where to find the oversized rooms.  Narrow it down by preference—do you enjoy staying on a higher floor compared to a lower floor? Is the view an important factor? Do you prefer to be close to the elevator or further away where it's quiet? Will you be needing a connecting room for a family vacation?—to help find the room that works best for you. Room 77 also offers a free room concierge service for bookings on all four or five star hotels or on hotel reservations that total $400 or more made directly through their website—just select your room preferences and Room 77 will request them from your hotel on your behalf within 24-48 hours of your stay. (If you end up booking a lower-tier hotel or through another site like booking.com or hotels.com however, you will have to contact the hotel directly to see if you can get the exact room you want according to your preferences.)

Online travel agents make booking plane tickets and hotel reservations a breeze. But that's usually where the relationship ends. A new free service through Travelocity aims to help you plan all aspects of your vacation—and will even help if disaster strikes. Here's how it works. After booking a vacation package that includes air and hotel through Travelocity, you will be emailed a phone number for a concierge that can help with everything from restaurant recommendations and theater tickets to tee times at local golf courses. Concierges can also assist with travel disasters like stolen luggage and lost passports. Travelocity is the first OTA to introduce a concierge service, but if the program is successful, we bet more sites will follow suit.

Let's face it: We're not in the business of covering luxury tours. Just look at our name. So why is Abercrombie & Kent—perhaps the luxest of the luxe for 50 years—on our radar at the moment? We like to say behind the scenes that Budget Travel is more about "value" than bargain-bin savings. Sure, we care about the bottom line, but the more important question for us is, "How can you get the most bang for your well-earned buck?"Abercrombie & Kent has unveiled a new line of Connections journeys, small group tours (24 to 28 people) that are priced on average about thirty percent lower than their normal offerings. If your idea of "luxury" involves fluffy robes and spa days and Champagne and caviar, you might end up being a little surprised. The Connections program, as its name implies, is surprisingly intimate and focused on hands-on cultural experiences.True, a tour with A&K Connections will still feel upscale. Hotels are 4- or 5-stars, with the occasional 5-star GL (that means Grand Luxe) thrown in for good measure. But there is also an attention to detail when it comes to choosing lodging. On their "Spain: Seven Cities" Connections tour (10 days from $5,495), for example, you might stay in the Belle Epoque Hotel Ritz in Madrid, literally feet from the Prado, or the Moorish-influenced Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville. These are not, by any means, sterile corporate chains.  But what sets these tours apart is how close you'll get to the action. Activities on the Spain trip are focused on getting you away from the tourist circuit to experiences you'd never be able to have otherwise: a private recital by Andalusian musicians in Granada, in a style based on North African music from over 1,000 years ago; a flamenco show and a dinner at a private palace in Seville; sherry tastings at a bodega in Jerez. Guides are local, and you get the sense that they're approaching their subject from the point of view of a passionate academic (that college professor who, through her sheer enthusiasm, actually made you care about Plato or Pythagoras) rather than a tour guide for hire. The A&K Connections program will offer 17 trips around the world, always with an intimate, hands-on focus: eating oysters with a Croat fisherman, visiting a special-needs school in Kenya, exploring an Australian rainforest with an indigenous guide, or meeting Peruvian weavers in the Andes. In a sense, the luxury of access. Let us know below: What kinds of special activities are worth a splurge? Would you pay a little extra for a trip like this?