Fodor's "1,001 Smart Travel Tips" is full of useful advice aimed at making travel easier, like what's the best credit card to use abroad?

The answer: Capital One. Unlike most other forms of plastic that have tacked on fees and percentages that boost your bill, Capital One cards have zero conversion fees (the fees used to switch foreign currency into U.S. dollars) and they've absorbed the 1 percent fee Visa and MasterCard charge to process purchases. American Express charges a flat 2 percent fee and doesn't allow merchants to tack on extra fees at the point of sale, according to the book.

This just in from the folks at American Airlines: American Eagle is starting nonstop service between Dallas Love Field and O'Hare on July 2.

Eagle will operate up to six daily flights using 50-seat jets and will be the only airline offering nonstop service from Love Field to Chicago.

Want to find the best seat on the plane? Or what vaccines you need for that Botswana safari? How about last-minute deals?

The May issue of Consumer Reports' ShopSmart lists the six best Web sites for all of the above. Here's the run down:

For last-minute deals: travelzoo.com

For timing your trip: farecast.com

For the best airline seats: seatguru.com

If you're like me, you don't have an extra $5,000 laying around for a weekend getaway. But just in case your pockets run deep, you might want to know about a new package from Hard Rock Hotel Hollywood.

The "Royalty Rocks" package includes VIP tickets to Sir Eric Clapton's May 5 concert at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel Hollywood.

During the same time, Princess Diana's most famous dresses will be on display at the hotel.

As the Sun-Times travel editor, I get a lot of information sent to me about high-end luxury vacations, but this one gave even me pause...