The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-387-Vol-3of3.iso/p/pct_v31.zip/HELPMSGS.PCT

Text File | 1993-01-14 | 16KB | 432 lines

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  NAVIGATION GUIDE

This is an extremely easy program to learn as there are only four
basic navigational keys to use, most of which are obvious at first
sight:

(1)  ENTER: This key is used to select the highlighted term, i.e.
     Destination, and to pull up more detailed information on a
     facility once you have selected a specific hotel, restaurant
     or attraction from the general listing.

(2)  DIRECTIONAL ARROWS: These four arrow keys (usually found on
     the right of the keyboard) point right, left, up and down
     and are used to position the highlight bar on the desired
     menu choice.  For example, use the down arrow to move the
     highlight bar down to your selected destination.  Or use
     the right arrow to move across the menu from DESTINATION
     to BEST BUYS, etc.  Note that the down and up arrows move
     the listing a line at a time.  If the highlight bar does not
     move, make sure the NUM LOCK toggle is off.


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(3)  PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN: when you have selected a destination
     (Beverly Hills) and then moved to the right to select a
     facility (city hotels), you press ENTER to obtain a com-
     parative listing of all hotels.  Because there is often more
     than one screenful of hotel or restaurant listings per city,
     you use the <PG DN> key to move the highlight bar down a
     half-screen at a time, and continue paging down until you
     reach the end of the listings.  And, of course, use the
     <PG UP> key to page back up to the top of the listings.  To
     obtain a detailed description of a specific hotel, use the
     up and down arrow keys to position the highlight bar over
     the name of that hotel or restaurant.  Now press the <ENTER>
     key to pull up the selected screen.

(4)  ESCAPE: To return to previous menus, simply press the <ESC>
     key as many times as are necessary.  You also turn off the
     program by using the <ESC> key to exit the program.


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  PREFERRED VENDOR IDENTIFICATION

To tag a preferred facility, first select (highlight) the hotel,
restaurant, or rental car agency from the comparison (multiple
listing) screen and press Enter, which causes the detail screen to
display.  From the detail screen, press P and a window will open
which will allow you to enter a special price, discount, or pre-
ferred vendor code number.  Once this special number has been
input, it will replace the regularly-displayed price on the
comparison screen.  Since the data you enter will appear in the
price column on the comparison screen, you may wish to confine
your entries to discount or specially negotiated prices.

Once the data entry window is displayed, type in your price or
discount and press Enter for each field in the window.  If you do
not wish to enter a price or discount in a particular field, press
Enter to advance to the next field.  After you have pressed Enter
for the last data entry field, the window will close and you will
be returned to the comparison screen.  (If you press Esc from
the promotional data entry window, reply Y to the escape
confirmation message.)

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You will not see the newly entered data at this time, but you may
tag as many facilities as you wish.  When you Escape from the
comparison screen to the facility selection menu, the tags
and related data will be written to the data file, which will
take a moment.  The next time you enter the comparison screen, the
new tags and promotional data you have entered will be displayed.

Note that the P flag and the special prices you input are
displayed only on the comparison screen and do not appear on the
detail screen.

To completely remove the promotional flag and have the regular
price displayed on the comparison screen, simply go into the
detail screen and press U (Undo).  The P flag and related data
will be removed and the regular price restored upon exit from
the comparison screen.



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The special price windows appear as follows in PC TRAVEL
for the databases listed:

   HOTELS - Two fields, seven characters each, one each for
   special single and double rates.  You may use each to enter
   one price, a range of prices, etc.;

   RENTAL CARS - Five fields, four characters each, one for each
   of the five classes of cars;

   RESTAURANTS - One field, seven characters.  For entree price
   range or related data.

Note: If you accidentally go over the alotted space provided in
a special price field, the cursor will cut off at the allotted
space and go directly to the next field, or return you to the
detail screen.  You may go back to a previous field to make
corrections by using the Up Arrow.

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  SELECTING THE BEST TRAVEL VALUE


By moving directly to the main menu selection called BEST BUYS,
you can quickly review the special summary tables of best buys in
hotels, restaurants and rental cars for the destination you have
selected.  These are divided into several price ranges so that you
can easily select the best value for the price you have in mind
for a room, dinner or a rental car.

These Best Buy tables were constructed by dividing the average
price by the numeric ranking to produce a value index that
indicates the bast value per dollar for hotels and restaurants.
For rental cars the prices were simply ranked from low to high
by class of car for a given location.

Best Buys are listed on the screen in descending value order;
that is, the best of the Best Buys is always listed first.




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The regular price-ranked display of hotel, restaurant and rental
car facilities at each destination offers an alternate way for the
user to quickly select the best buy, i.e., the lowest price:

  all hotels, resorts and restaurants are rated from four stars
   down to zero stars (see The Consensus Rating System) and are
   displayed on the screen within their ranking category,
   beginning first with the highest ranking category which is
   usually four stars;

  within each ranking category, the highest-priced hotel, resort
   or restaurant is listed first, followed, in order, by the next
   lowest, etc.  This means that the last facility in each
   category is the lowest priced and therefore the best buy
   within that category of service.  Often there is a difference
   of 25% between the lowest- and highest-priced facility within
   the same quality category;



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  the same pricing comparisons are available and valid for all
   categories of hotels, restaurants and resorts, but the user
   should bear in mind that the lowest room rate quoted by the
   hotel or resort may not be available because only a few rooms
   carry that price.  Let the buyer beware!













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  THE CONSENSUS STAR RATING SYSTEM

The CONSENSUS star rating system employed by the TravelData
Company for hotels, resorts and restaurants is considered to be
one of the most accurate measures of quality and service one can
expect during normal circumstances.  The ratings are constructed
via a proprietary computer program that operates as follows:


  reviews and ratings of hotels, resorts and restaurants are
   collected from a wide array of travel and consumer publications
   plus personal visits by staff members and associates;

  each single review and its rating is assigned a numerical
   weight ranging from 10 to 90 that defines both the authenticity
   and methodology by which that review or rating was generated.
   The highest weighting is assigned to that review(er) whose
   high standards are known to be universally consistent, and are
   backed by direct visits to the facility being rated;



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  from a minimum of three to as many as six individual,
   independent reviews and ratings from recognized travel
   authorities are then processed through a computer program
   that translates the weight and value of each authority into
   a common numeric value to two decimal points (0.00 to 4.00).

  It then averages all of the converted ratings to produce a
   consensus rating for a hotel, resort or restaurant that is
   both dependable and eliminates the bias of a single opinion.

The definition of the star ratings for the four categories found
in PC Travel is as follows:

**** = Superdeluxe world-renowned facility known for its superior
       accommodations or food, service, and atmosphere; the best
       there is.
 *** = An exceptional and luxurious facility with superb
       accommodations or food, outstanding service, and extra
       amenities; excellent in every respect.

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  ** = A very good to excellent facility, attractive, very
       comfortable, and with better than average service or food;
       better than most.
   * = Somewhere between average and good, this facility meets
       your basic requirements, but will not provide a lot of
       extras.

Please note that a slightly different, local star rating
interpretation is used for museums, historical sites, special
tours, parks/gardens, theme parks, music, dance and theater, city
celebrations and children's activities (Kids' Stuff).  There are
no ratings offered for nightclubs, sports/recreation and ticket
agencies.  The ratings, where used for sightseeing and entertain-
ment, are defined as follows:

**** = Nationally recognized and worth a special trip;
 *** = One of the best in the area;
  ** = Worthwhile for special interests;
   * = Only if you're in the neighborhood.

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  PRICE DEFINITIONS


Note that the following price definitions are used for these
facilities:


HOTELS: The price shown is usually the cost of a single and
double room, lowest-to-highest rate, including seasonal changes.
However, hotels change their rates constantly to match demand
and, not unlike the airlines, will reserve and sell a number
of identical rooms at different prices according to their
forecasted vacancy rate;


RESORTS: Some of the resort hotels use the American plan where
some or all of the meals are included in the room rate.  The
prices vary considerably according to season and vacancy rate,
and should be checked carefully by telephone before making a
reservation;


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RESTAURANTS: Prices shown on the screen are the cost range of a
single entree and do not include beverage, tax and gratuity.
But let the diner beware, as restaurants change their prices,
menus and cuisine style more frequently these days, and telephone
verification is absolutely necessary;


RENTAL CARS: The auto rental prices for the five classes of cars
are taken from the airline reservation system and do not include
insurance, drop-off charges, gas refills, etc.  Price changes and
discounts are frequent in the auto rental industry and only
verified rates should be accepted as final.







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  SHOPPING FOR PRICE DISCOUNTS

On rental cars there is one standard ploy that is used by many
savvy travelers: always look for and book the lowest-priced
economy class.  You will usually be upgraded at check-in, as
this class is the most popular and generally oversold.  In any
case, you can always upgrade on the spot if you really want a
larger car.

The pricing of hotel rooms and rental cars is highly competitive,
and persistent telephone shopping can often produce immediate
discounts of 10% to 20% by using one or more of the following
techniques:

  ask immediately for the lowest priced room or car, at which
   point you will probably be quoted the standard price;

  then ask for the special weekend or mid-week rate, and persist
   until a lower price is quoted under some obscure package
   name;


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  alternately, ask for the family plan or double room rates if
   traveling with someone, as there are special rates at all
   chains, at different periods, for families;

  if associated with a company, ask for the corporate rate,
   or the Visa/Amex, or the AAA discount if you are a cardmember;

  if traveling in a large group, ask for the group rate
   telephone number and negotiate directly with that office;

  a few large travel agencies have negotiated small discounts
   with selected chains and rental car agencies and may be able
   to offer you a 5% to 10% price reduction, but you can usually
   do as well or better by direct negotiation;

  Though it will cost a phone call, you can often obtain lower
   rates by calling the local rental car office at your desti-
   nation, or the hotel directly, instead of using the national
   800 number.  This is particularly true of large chains.

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  PRINTING REPORTS


You can print two types of reports/guides with the new PC TRAVEL
print function:

   1) an abbreviated report that contains a single line of
      information on all of the facilities at a particular
      location (ie, the rating, price, name, address, phone);

   2) a detailed report that includes the entire record of each
      facility at a particular location.


For example, you can print a one-line listing of all the downtown
restaurants in Chicago as an abbreviated report, or you can print
a detailed description of all the downtown restaurants in Chicago
as a complete report.




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In order to print either type of report, follow this sequence:

(1) Select the destination from the list of cities;
(2) Select the facility (ie, hotels, restaurants, etc.);
(3) Select location within the city (ie, downtown, airport, etc);
(4) The Comparison Screen will now be seen. A message along the
    bottom of the screen will inform you to "Press F1 to print"
(5) After pressing the F1 key, a window will appear asking you
    to enter an A for abbreviated report, or D for a detailed
    report.
(6) After making your selection, you will be prompted to press
    any key when the printer is ready. The printer needs to be
    connected to your parallel port. The port is known as LPT1.



  Please observe our copyright notice on any material you print
  with PC TRAVEL.  These printed reports/guides are for your
  personal use only and are definitely NOT for distribution.


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  SUBSCRIBING TO PC TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT

  Travel information goes out of date quickly.  To keep our data
  useful, we continuously update our data. The program itself is
  updated on a regular basis, also.

  Furthermore, we add an average of 4 new cities to the data base
  every 6 months.

  To save you the time and trouble of downloading the latest data,
  we offer subscriptions to PC TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT. Subscribers
  are sent an update every six months.  The subscription saves you
  money, time, and trouble.

  If you just want to receive the most current set of data and
  program, you can register as a single user of PC TRAVEL &
  ENTERTAINMENT. You will receive the latest data.


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