MY JOURNALISM JOURNEY

Mind the Gap

Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports Travel Letter, San Francisco-based stepchild of Consumer Reports magazine, was not another glossy leisure and lifestyle publication. It was bare knuckles. It exposed rip-offs and scams.

The Travel Letter searched for the best deals on airfares, hotels, cruises, and car rentals. Like the parent publication, it accepted no advertising.

As a researcher and the designated car-rental surveillant, I had a hand in it all—from fact-gathering to number-crunching to report preparation. On the technical end, I managed production and put together the fact-laden comparison charts that were the hallmark of the Consumer Reports franchise.

And, yes, I got to travel. It was my ticket to visit London, Lisbon, Vancouver/Victoria, New Orleans, Washington DC, and New York. In my old stomping grounds, I reported on 61 New York Hotels Under $125: Good Values in the Nation’s Most Expensive City—steals, even after adding NYC hotel taxes.

The Travel Letter's story titles tell it all:

Airlines: • The Seat Squeeze Aloft • Which US Airlines Are Best? • Are Some Airlines Safer? • Which Frequent-Flier Program Is Best? • Your Best Domestic Airfare Deals • Getting the Lowest Fare? • Winning the Upgrade Game • Airfare Deals for Seniors

Hotels: • Half-Price Hotel Programs • Over 50? Save Money at Hotels • Getting Preferred Hotel Discounts

Cruises: • Finding the Best Cruise Deal • Cruises for People Who Hate Cruises

Overseas Travel: • Airfares Abroad: Just for Visitors • Round-the-World Airfares • Traveling Europe: Road or Rail? • Europe by Train: Your Best Deals • How Secure Are Overseas Airports? • Beware Europe’s Killer Highways

Expenses: • Travel Extras on Charge Cards • Trip Insurance: Gaps in the Fine Print • Buying Bartered Travel

Tours & Tips: • Tours for Tour-Haters • Tipping: Who, When, How Much? • School as a Vacation

Difficulties: • Flight Delay: What to Do • Make Your Complaint Work

And my main remit:

Car Rentals: • CDW: Who Needs It? • Beware of Car-Rental Extras • Beware Additional Driver Charges • Rental-Car Roulette: Elusive Discounts • A Monthly Car Rental? The Long and Short of It • Weekend Car Rental Deals • Rent It Here, Drop It There: Convenience at a Price • Saturday Night ‘Keep’ Cuts Costs • Soaring Rental Taxes Target Out-of-Towners

Have a look for yourself. Hide-and-Seek Car Rates reports the twists and turns shopping for advertised bargains. Bumpy Road to Rental Rewards tracks the path to maximizing frequent-renter payouts.

While you’re on the road, you might consider Discount Dining Programs. They can pay your gas bill.

The Travel Letter had 116,000 subscribers who paid $29 for one-year, $49 for two years. A single article could save a reader that much or more.

In pursuit of the best deals, staff scoured coupon books, half-price programs, tourist bureau promotions, and reservation systems. The publication’s editor, Ed Perkins, a former travel and tourism consultant, sliced and diced the field notes and data to compose the reports. A fact-checker in San Francisco reviewed the articles and charts. Consumer Reports in New York checked the San Francisco fact-checker.

Ed was an iron man. He also wrote a nationally-syndicated travel column for the Chicago Tribune and was on the speed-dial of TV and radio news producers. Ninety years young in 2022, he still writes for the Tribune Content Agency and for online media.

The Travel Letter’s secret sauce, however, was Ed’s wife, Eleanore Perkins, the Associate Editor, who took our bloated reporting and turned it into succinct prose. She brought out the best in everything and everyone, as told in Ode to Eleanore.

A decade into my 12-year stint, Ed and Eleanore retired (sort of). Two years later, Consumer Reports moved the operation back to its headquarters.

I declined an offer to relocate to New York.

Been there, done that.