‘Travel Detective Bible’ more manual than guide book

The Travel Detective, Peter Greenberg, has more tricks up his sleeve than Houdini and more solutions than Sherlock Holmes.

“When should I book my airline ticket to the Beijing Olympics?” a man asks during a recent Greenberg appearance at an Ann Arbor, Mich., bookstore.

“Forty-five days ahead,” Greenberg advises. That’s when most discount fares are posted.

“What’s the best way to get to Kazakhstan?” a woman asks.

“Buy a RTW ticket – a round-the-world ticket,” Greenberg says. “It’s cheaper than flying point to point.”

“How can I get a hotel room in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving?” a woman asks.

He frowns. “You’re not flying the day before Thanksgiving, are you?”

Yes, she says.

He shakes his head. Doesn’t she know that’s the worst day to fly? Wait until Thanksgiving morning, and the crowds will be gone.

And you’ll still be in time for the turkey.

Greenberg, travel editor for NBC’s “Today Show,” has crammed everything he’s learned from his two decades of reporting on travel into a new book, “The Complete Travel Detective Bible” (Rodale, $17.95).

It’s an encyclopedia of travel how-tos – and how-not-tos.

“It’s not about happy couples on the beach or beautiful Bermuda, which is meaningless,” says Greenberg, 57.

“It’s not a guidebook. It’s more of a manual.”

Luggage? “There are two kinds of airline bags – carry-on and lost.”

Airport security staff? “As hard-working as they are, they are put in the unenviable position by their managers of being robotic morons. They are not allowed to think.”

Travel brochures? “They lie. The only reason to look at a travel brochure is to get the phone number.”

Travel agents? “I don’t hate travel agents. I hate bad travel agents.”

Best airline and hotel chains? “I don’t have a favorite airline, but if you give me a route, I’ll tell you the airline that does the best job on that route,” Greenberg says.

Same with hotel chains – give him a city and he’ll tell you the good hotels.

The former Newsweek reporter, “Good Morning America” correspondent and syndicated newspaper columnist has homes in Los Angeles, New York and Bangkok. He flies about 400,000 miles a year. He’s also a New York volunteer firefighter, which he somehow fits into his schedule.

When he travels, he always ships his luggage ahead via Federal Express to save himself 2 1/2 hours at the airport.

“How much does that cost?” a practical woman in the audience asks. He tells her it’s $40 per bag, but then scolds her that one should not just calculate cost, but value. Saving time and untold hassles is worth more than $40 to him, he says: “I haven’t checked a bag in eight years.”

Travel today is more complex, and one of Greenberg’s best tips is that no matter if you’re booking an airline ticket, dealing with a hotel or a car rental agency, personal contact is still best.

He calls hotels and talks to the manager to book – then sends a thank-you note confirming his reservation.

He advises that one should never call a national 800 number for a car rental company; call the local office directly for the best deal.

And he’s willing to pay $10 extra to make an airline reservation by phone, “because they have inventory the Internet doesn’t have,” he says.

Greenberg likes a Web site called www.gethuman.com, which tells you how to get to a real person on the phone quickly when calling a business.

One question he doesn’t like to answer? When people ask where his favorite place is. He won’t say.

“I can really only answer that with a question, which is, ‘For what?’ ” he says. “Don’t answer ‘for relaxation,’ because your answer is different from mine. You have to be clear about what you want out of a trip.”

The new book does have travel guidance for categories of travelers, such as families, gays and lesbians, people with accessibility issues, even nudists. Greenberg plans to update it every year or two.

His Web site (www.petergreenberg.com) hears all the time from travelers who confirm the increasing absurdity of modern travel. Once he heard from a flier who had a new camera stolen from his checked bag, then saw his camera being hawked by an airline employee on eBay.

Another time he heard from a musician who was told he couldn’t bring his guitar aboard a plane unless he bought an extra seat for it – then he was stopped at airport security because “Mr. Acoustic Guitar” didn’t have ID.

But after 22 years on the travel beat, Greenberg still relishes the questions – and he’ll never stop trying to find the answers.

“I’m on the ‘Today Show’ about three days a week,” he says, “and it’s all about issues. It’s about what people need to know.”