Must Have Travel Links.

The following links are necessary travel links in general.  Most are absolute necessities for travel in Central America.

I always shop multiple sites for my airfare.  The following are good starting points, but remember to visit Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines as well as specific airline web sites as they fit into your potential itinerary.

http://www.bookingbuddy.com/

http://www.kayak.com/

Also remember those frequent flier miles, and the opportunity to get more by applying for airline specific credit cards.  You can also buy extra miles from your airline if you happen to be short to get that free flight.  Beware, and be cautious about buying or getting gifted miles from even a close friend.  There is a lot of fine print and generally a big chance you are taking trying to use privately purchased miles.  It can usually be done, however.

For information on hotels, restaurants, rentals and attractions, the go to place is TripAdvisor.com .  I have in mind doing an entire posting about the pluses and minuses of this site.

      http://www.tripadvisor.com/

To find specific information about your potential destination, the following About.com web site offers a plethora of general information
http://gocentralamerica.about.com/

Rental Homes are one of my favorite ways to travel.  It is not always perfect, but you will not be at the mercy of an expensive hotel's inflated breakfast menu, there is no particular time that the lunch counter is open, and the feeling of freedom to do what you want when you want in a rental house is wonderful.

Vacation Rentals by Owner | VRBO.com

http://www.vrbo.com/

FlipKey Vacation Rentals

http://www.flipkey.com

HomeAway Vacation Rentals

http://www.homeaway.com/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentals

For car rental services I have often relied on a ;local reference to make my decision.  There are reputable "local" companies to choose from, but once again be cautious.  I do typically shop the recognized name brand rental companies, and often rent from them.  I use my AmericanExpress card to rent the vehicle, subscribe to a pay per use service from AmEx that is $24 per rental (I believe for up to 30 days) which covers collision insurance in case it is needed.  You will have to typically buy liability when you rent the vehicle, and it is not necessarily inexpensive.  I am aware that some other credit cards offer similar services, talk with them before you pay for your vehicle to be sure you are covered.

INSURANCE  Your health insurance is usually worthless in a foreign country.  For a relatively small fee you can be well insured for the duration of your travel.  There are many web sites that offer this type of product, as well as travel agencies, airlines and credit cards.  Shop and read the fine print.