Hotels: Expedia adds "gay-welcoming" to list of searchable amenities

But guess what? You'll probably still pay less by renting from another agency, even if it does charge fees because you're under 25. The Hertz Young Renter promotion promises to waive the usual fees ($15 or $25 daily) that renters ages 21 to 24 have come to expect. To get the fees waived, you must enter the promo code 144314 when reserving a Hertz automobile, and the offer is valid for rentals picked up by September 30. But if what you're really after is the cheapest price, this is probably one deal you should skip. In the hopes of finding out just how good an offer this truly is (or not), I pretended I was in my early 20s (ah, the glory days) and shopped around for rental car rates this summer. More often than not, a rental car from Hertz was more expensive than its competitors, even after the fees (or lack thereof) were factored in. All of the rates below are for economy cars picked up at the city's major international airport, based on a weekly rate for the dates June 15 to 22. MIAMI Hertz: $296 base rate $397 after all taxes and fees Ace Rent a Car: $149 base rate $227 after normal taxes and fees $15 daily fee for drivers ages 21 to 24, or $105 for seven days $332 total after all taxes and fees Doing the Math: Ace is $65 cheaper for young drivers LOS ANGELES Hertz: $463 base rate $593 total after all taxes and fees Thrifty: $161 base rate $213 after normal taxes and fees $25 daily fee for drivers ages 21 to 24, or $175 for seven days $388 total after all taxes and fees Doing the Math: Thrifty is $205 cheaper for young drivers DENVER Hertz: $457 base rate $604 total after all taxes and fees Payless: $164 base rate $233 after normal taxes and fees $25 daily fee for drivers ages 21 to 24, or $175 for seven days $408 total after all taxes and fees Doing the Math: Payless is $196 cheaper for young drivers Take into account that the quotes here don't include taxes that would be assessed on the young driver fees. (It's hard to get an exact car rental quote over the Internet, as many travelers can attest.) But even if these rates are a bit more expensive once those other taxes are included, the grand totals will still be more expensive with Hertz. The other factor to take into account that these are only three sample markets. Elsewhere, Hertz may offer more competitive rates, and it's always wise to shop around rather than assume that one or another agency will come out cheapest. I personally like starting car rental searches with Orbitz or Kayak to get a quick glimpse of the spectrum of agencies and rates in a given destination. The overall point is that, while there are many arguments in favor of renting from Hertz -- you like the customer service and/or the selection, as examples -- the best price is probably not a valid reason, even when you factor in that the agency is waiving young driver fees this summer.

Say you're staring at a foreign menu, trying to decipher some unfamiliar dishes. You worry you might accidentally order frog brains. What should you do? Well…you could whip out your smart phone and snap a pic of the menu. Your cell phone could "read" the text in the image and then translate the words for you. Pretty neat, huh? That's the ultimate vision behind the weirdly named Goggles Translate—an app that turns your phone into a point-and-shoot translator. It's a free download for phones that use Google's Android operating system, such as the T-Mobile G1 and the Motorola Cliq. It'll eventually be available for other phones, too. I tested the app this weekend at a French restaurant in New York. I was interested in trying andouillette, so I took a pic of the word. On the phone's screen, a blue line appeared and moved across the image of the menu. About 20 seconds later, Google let me know that andouillette is sausage made from pig intestines. I wasn't sure what that might taste like, but at least it wasn't frog brains. On the bright side, I shot a photo, and then picked a language to translate from ("French") and a language to translate into ("English"). So far, the app can read text in five languages: English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. In a nice move, it works without requiring you to type words into a cell phone's tiny keyboard, physical or virtual. It just takes a few clicks to use. The bad news is that Google's translations can be a bit hit-or-miss in this early version. If your cell phone's camera lens isn't sharp, then Google won't be able to accurately read the text in your images. The translations will also be irritatingly slow if you don't have a fast Web connection. But any free app that saves me from accidentally eating frog brains is a wonderful thing. THE DOWNLOAD Go to the Android Market on your phone and search for "Google Goggles." MORE Evernote's app lets you search for text in photos Follow up: Using your cell phone in Europe Convert foreign prices with your iPhone or BlackBerry 11 top travel apps