Sometimes this Cheapest Destinations Blog gets picked in some readers poll or an individual writer gives me a shout-out. But for the second year in a row I’ve been named one of the top travel blogs by the North American Travel Journalists Association. This one’s judged on writing and usefulness, not just how many people you can persuade to vote for you, so it means something.

Last year I got a silver, this year I got…the GOLD!

Here’s how it played out, in good company:

Category: Travel Blog

• Gold: Tim Leffel, Cheapest Destinations Blog
• Silver: Gary Arndt, Everything Everywhere, Everything-Everywhere.com
• Bronze: Jennifer Miner,  The Vacation Gals, TheVacationGals.com

Thanks to everyone who has been reading, subscribing, tweeting, whatever. Especially those who were around when I launched this thing, back in the blogging stone age of 2003.

And proving that when it rains it pours, Perceptive Travel positively cleaned up. It won a Silver for Best Travel Journalism Site (behind some obscure pub called USAToday.com) and three of the individual writers won prizes for stories, including a Gold for me and for Amy Rosen.

Onward!

Time to check in with the travel news and blogosphere to bring home some timely news and tips for travelers on a budget.

I’m quoted in this article from Kiplinger Personal Finance: Your guide to bargain travel in 2012. (If you prefer, here’s just the airfare part of it at the Chicago Tribune instead.)

If you’re irked by resort fees tacked onto the room rate at hotels, here’s a piece on who has resort fees and who doesn’t in Las Vegas.

About.com’s Budget Travel site has a nice 10-part post on Travel Myths for Latin America.

And it’s always good for me to post another myth-busting article about crime in Mexico. As in you’re ten times more likely to be murdered in a drug-related crime in our nation’s capital than you are in Mexico City. The Yucatan is safer than Canada. And let’s not even bring up New Orleans…

Will Panama become a hot travel destination? The New York Times thinks so. I’m not so sure. I like Panama a lot, but their tourism promotion efforts are stuck in the past (“The interwhat?”) and they have a habit of spending their money on silly ad slogans. But the pieces are all there if they can get the word out.

How much does it cost to travel in Thailand? As Nomadic Matt found out when his vacationing friends joined up with him, that depends a whole lot on whether you’re a long-term traveler or you’re on vacation. When time is short, double your budget.

Want to take a trip to New York City on the cheap? How about free? No, it’s not a contest. Just pull up this Earthcam website and you can see the Statue of Liberty from its “torchcam” or see the lower Manhattan skyline from the island with the “harbor cam.”

Despite the millions airlines poured into lobbying against it, as of yesterday the U.S. Department of Transportation has mandated that all flights operating in the U.S. must display the entire airfare up front in the booking process. If an airline advertises a sale price, it must be the real total price, not “before taxes and fees.” Since it has become routine for flights to Europe to have as much or more in fuel “surcharges” as the price of the ticket, the D.O.T. could no longer ignore the flood of consumer complaints.

Read this excellent story from Consumer Traveler to get the details. It’s written by Charlie Leocha, whose Consumer Alliance group should get the bulk of the thanks for making this happen.

Besides the honest airfare disclosure, the companies also have to make it easy for you to figure out how much you’ll have to pay to check bags, depending on your flight. All that info now has to be on one easy-to-find page and at the start of the booking screens.

Most airlines and online travel agencies acted in a civil manner this week, sending e-mails to their customers explaining not to be alarmed by higher advertised costs, that they’re just seeing it all up front now instead of having surcharges added when booking. The airline that everyone loves to hate—Spirit Airlines—took a quite different tack though. I got an e-mail from them that looked like this:

In a bout of double-speak that would make George Orwell and Lenin both proud, the company claimed that this law was all a big conspiracy to somehow hide taxes from you so the government could keep raising them. I can’t imagine even the most delusional Tea Party faithful falling for that one since any airline can break out taxes as clearly as they’d like anywhere on their website. But instead of a link to any page explaining the new law, there was just a link to go complain to your congressperson. How bizarre!

As SmarterTravel said in an article about the company’s actions, “Spirit’s overblown reaction to the government’s passenger protection rules—first legal action and now a very public advertising campaign—underscores the carrier’s reliance on a steady stream of passenger surcharges.” Here’s a fuller explanation of what they were claiming and how far removed it was from actual facts.

There are plenty of others out there who look at the airfare as just a way to get you in the door and start doubling or tripling that amount with extra fees and this law won’t help you on foreign domestic flights. So if you’re flying on Spirit’s kindred souls, like RyanAir or Aerobus, you’ll still need to take every advertised fare for what it is: a bait-and-switch gimmick. Here though, the consumers won one over the big corporate campaign contributors.

Packable winter boots from Teva "weigh less than a pint of beer."

I just spent three solid days checking out the new travel gear that will be hitting the shelves later this year, at a trade show where all the buyers come in and figure out what’s going to be hot and should be in stock. You can catch individual reviews on Practical Travel Gear as they hit the market (and if you’re a guy, go see a little eye candy on the PTG Facebook page.)

Meanwhile, here’s the big picture view of what’s happening now and what’s on the way—plus how it’s hitting your wallet.

Commodity Prices are Way Up

The Week magazine has a section called “Boring but Important” and this is one of those subjects. It’s not just the filling of your car gas tank that has gotten more expensive. Many synthetic fabrics are petroleum-based and even those that aren’t take energy to produce. Natural fiber prices have seen similar spikes though. Fine wool prices doubled just from 2009 to 2011. Cotton prices jumped 150% in that time because of rising global temperatures and devastating droughts in places like Texas. Sooner or later, companies have to pass on those basic materials increases to the retailer and you.

But Competition is Fierce

Are you looking for a new breathable waterproof jacket, a rolling suitcase, sunglasses, a water bottle, a pair of good socks, or a pair of lightweight hiking shoes? There are anywhere from 30 to 100 companies now supplying each of those items. All of them are fighting for their corporate lives to get your attention and get shelf space in stores so you can find them.  So while prices simply have to go up for these guys to even break even, none of them has the ability to really sock it to you as a consumer. So it’s really hard to find travel gear that’s a bad value these days. Sure, you may find items that are more technical than you need or are aimed at upper-end travelers who are less price-conscious, but you can be fairly secure that if you buy a (legit) name brand item, you’re not going to get something crappy. The stakes are too high. With some companies, they’ll even guarantee anything in their line for life: Eagle Creek, Briggs & Riley, Osprey, Tilley Hats, and Gore-Tex for a start.

Everything is Getting Ridiculously Light

The technology in travel gear, apparel, and shoes has progressed so far so fast that if you have a backpack or jacket from even five years ago, there’s a good chance it weighs twice as much as what you would buy now to replace it. I’m routinely running into backpacks I can pick up with one pinky, wheeled suitcases I can pick up with a forefinger. This wheeled carry-on from Osprey at the right weighs all of four pounds.

Big companies like Columbia Sportswear, Sierra Designs, North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Outdoor Research, and Patagonia are putting out wispy thin jackets that are windproof, waterproof, and heat-reflective on the inside—but pack into a little pouch that fits in one hand. You can get down or Primaloft jackets warm enough to let you travel almost anywhere outside the Arctic or high mountains that will stuff down into your daypack. There’s almost no trade-off now between packing space and comfort. And yes ladies, it’s all getting more fashionable and slim-cut too.

Compact Suitcases for Small Living Spaces

Suitcases, backpacks, and bags have a way of taking up a lot of space in your house or apartment. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a place with lots of storage space, no biggie. If you’re in an apartment in a big city, however, every inch can count. I’m starting to see bags that fold down into much smaller footprints, something I would have drooled over when I lived in Hoboken, NJ and worked in Manhattan. The best iterations of this so far are from High Sierra (see an example on the left, only $30-$60) and Eagle Creek (on the right). Later in the year, Eagle Creek is putting out wheeled duffel bags that still fold down to a size you can stuff in the corner of a closet. Very cool.

Don’t Believe the Hype

Take a pause and go put on some Public Enemy music.

Ready now? OK, all the things I’ve outlined above are real. They’re tangible economic and market forces that influence pricing. Then there’s hype that’s driven more by fashion. A lot of what drives retail buying is what’s new, What’s New, and WHAT’S NEW?!?!

It’s fitting I mention Public Enemy because one of the huge (but baffling) trends I kept running into this year was “retro packs” and jackets. Some fashion guru apparently came out and convinced all these gear companies that Jansport had it all right 30 years ago and we just need to update those designs with some new materials. Yeah right. I used those packs and there’s a reason they’re not around anymore—they totally sucked compared to what you can buy now. You’ll be able to buy these retro packs on the clearance rack two years from now I’m sure. So wait a while before you do the time warp and you won’t pay top dollar for these.

Which leads me to my one piece of advice in all this: get last year’s model. Yeah, if your pack or jacket is from five years ago, it’s probably time for an upgrade to take advantage of the advances in technology. But in general terms, the advances from one year to the next are incremental at best. More often, they’re driven by fashion: a new set of colors, new patterns, or a different stitching pattern here or there. Outdoor Research typically puts out 40-50 new hats per year, Chaos even more than that. Do we need that many new hats to choose from? No, but if they just put out last year’s hats again, there’s nothing to talk about with buyers or the trend-happy magazines searching for a new look (or a new look that looks like an old look…)

If you go to the clearance rack at your local store, or the online outlet equivalent at Backcountry, Sierra Trading Post, REI, Moosejaw, or Campmor, you’ll find awesome stuff for 50% off. If you’re buying when it’s not the right season—-like Insect Shield hot weather gear for your Thailand trip when it’s autumn in North America and Europe—you might feel like you’ve hit the jackpot.

Today’s guest post is from a book author who has written for me on several occasions in Perceptive Travel. See the link at the end for the book and blog from Jim Johnston, but he’s just back from India and is giving us the scoop on current prices there. As I noted recently, it’s a good time to visit India if you’re a budget traveler because the U.S. dollar is fetching 50 rupees. So not only is the math easier, but this has made a bargain destination even cheaper. Take it away Jim!

The extremes of poverty and wealth in India make thoughts about money complicated. One of the clearest statements came from Ashish, our guide in Lucknow. Few tourists visit the place and he was thrilled to be showing off his hometown. In the narrow lanes of the oldest part of the city we visited a small workshop where two young men were pounding out silver leaf with heavy wooden mallets. Each square took 15 hours of pounding to make it thin enough to eat-the silver is used to adorn pastries and candies. Each man earned about two dollars for a full day of hammering.

“They do not earn money,” Ashish explained. “No one earns money. You are given the money by God, so what you have is what you are supposed to have.”

What God has given me felt like an awful lot in India, one of the world’s great travel bargains. In fact, you could probably travel on less than $10 a day without much effort (although I wouldn’t want to see where you’d sleep).

The contrasts are striking: you can eat a full vegetarian meal for 75 cents, or go down the block and blow 75 dollars eating at a 5-star hotel. In Lucknow, two of us ate dinner, went to a movie, and had dessert afterwards-and spent under $5 US total. In Jaipur we went to a restaurant that had just opened the day before and were served a huge tandoori meal-for free, to celebrate the new business we were told. If you do splurge at fancy hotels or restaurants, expect to see luxury taxes added to your bill, which can be as high as 25 percent of the total bill.

Hotel prices run the gamut from a few dollars to a few thousand. Cheapest accommodations won’t be found on the internet—just walk around to find them. Clean, good-sized rooms with private baths can be found in most places for under $30. A splurge at the spectacular Bissau Palace Hotel in Jaipur was just $60 a night. Mumbai is notable for the lack of good value in hotels: our $20 hotel in Ahmedabad was larger, cleaner and more attractive than our $60 dump in Mumbai.

Air transportation within India is reasonable. A one-way flight from Mumbai to Delhi, for example, is about $65. The websites Cleartrip.com and Yatra.com offer bookings for low-cost airlines throughout India.

Indian Trains are a bargain, too, although the comfort level varies greatly according to class. You can buy tickets in advance (with a U.S. credit card) from Cleartrip.com and even get a refund if you change plans. Trains fill up fast in India, so it’s best to plan ahead. [Editor's note - see this review of a fun e-book on the Indian Railway system.]

Long distance buses are even cheaper than trains, and it’s easier to get a last-minute seat, although it requires a trip to the bus station to buy tickets. A 130 km (3.5 hours) bus ride in Rajasthan cost us three dollars.

Hiring a car and driver is a great way to get around. We did it a few times, and it averaged about $50 per day, including gas and tolls. If you don’t return to your starting point, expect to pay the cost of the driver to get back home.

Local commuter trains are very cheap. In Mumbai we paid 15 rupees for a half hour ride. A cost of the Delhi metro varies from 10 to 28 rupees, depending on distance.

A 90-minute taxi ride to the airport in Mumbai was 350 rupees (around $7). In Jaipur, a one hour cab ride (includes waiting time) cost 200 rupees. Our taxi from the Kolkata train station to south of city (30 minutes) was 150 rupees ($3). Most short-distance rides within cities will be a dollar or two.

Foreigners are often charged at different rates than locals, and it’s best to let go of any resentment about the fact as soon as possible. “We call it ‘skin tax’ here,” an Indian friend told me. “Most people assume foreigners are rich so it’s OK to ask them for more money.” If you start to feel uncomfortable about it, remember what you paid for your flight to India, which might amount to several years’ wages of the person who is “cheating” you.

Some taxi and rickshaw drivers refuse to use their meters and will quote inflated prices to foreigners (be sure to agree on the price ahead of time), but even these prices are usually cheap by U.S. standards. Many museums and monuments have entry fees that can range from 200 to 500 rupees for foreigners (only 10 to 20 for Indians). Entry to the Taj Mahal costs a whopping 750 rupees for foreigners.

Here’s a sampling of other prices around India. At the time of writing, January 2012, 50 rupees = $1:

Bowl of cut-up fruit (papaya) 10R
Fish with hard boiled egg and rice 40R
Dosa 15R
Apple milk 10R
Pani puri (snack food) 6 for 20R
Vegetarian thali lunch for two with bottled water 180R
Café Coffee Day (a chain selling good coffee) 70R
Chai from street stall 5 to 10R
Liter of water 15R

Shave and haircut 40 – 160R
Public urinals: free (most of these for men only)
Reserved balcony seat in movie theater 100R
Laundry in deluxe hotel: pants 30R, shirt 20R
Laundry in cheap hotel: 30 to 40R per kilo
Internet 10 to 20R hour
Massage on the ghat in Varanasi 400R

Hand embroidered Kashmiri shawl 2000R
Doberman puppy 10,000R male, 9,000R female

Daily wage for agricultural worker 30R

Jim Johnston, writer and artist, lives in Mexico City. His blog is MexicoCityDF.com