Travel & Leisure
Ratings & Advice
The latest ratings and advice for San Francisco Bay Area travel & leisure.
Advice
- 30 Tricks Sellers Use to Manipulate You
- 60 Travel Booking Tips
- 65 Things You (Probably) Shouldn't Pay For
- About Checkbook: Why We're Unique
- Airlines that Allow Free Stopovers Let You Design a Vacation with Variety
- Airport Parking Hack
- Amazon Floods Search Results with Ads
- Buy Now, Pay Later Often a Debt Trap
- Cell Phone Services
- Cell Phone Services: How to Avoid a Big Bill When Traveling Abroad
- Cell Phones: Protecting Yours
- Checkbook’s Top Shopping Tips
- Complaining: How to Get Results
- Credit Cards Provide Strong Protections for Consumers
- DNA Ancestry Services
- E-Read for Free
- Fitness Industry Changed by COVID
- Free Perks You Didn't Know You Have
- Hotel Intel: How to Find the Best Rates for Rooms
- Hotels Gouge Guests With Absurd Resort Fees
- Hotels’ ‘Refundable’ and ‘Flexible’ Rates Often Not What They Seem
- How to Make a New Fitness Plan
- Kids' Activity-Kit Services
- Our Editors’ Favorite Websites and Apps
- Paid Loyalty Programs: What Are They, and Should You Join One?
- Parking: Finding the Best Rates
- Rental Car Insurance: Should You Buy It?
- Restaurants Pay Steep Commissions and Fees to Order-and-Delivery Services
- Social Media Headshots: Dos and Don'ts
- Social Media Privacy Tips
- Tickets: Saving on Seats for Shows and Sports
- Timeshare Exit Companies Deserve a Time Out
- Tipping Tips
- Travel Insurance
- Travel Websites Mislead by Falsely Declaring Few Hotel Rooms Remain
- Travel: Health and Safety Info for International Trips
- Travel: Help Finding Cheap Flights
- Vacation Home Rentals
Current Issue
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Plumbers Who Won’t Drain Your Wallet
Use our ratings to find the area’s best drip doctors.
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Saving Energy at Home
30 ways to cut your costs and help the planet.
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Insulation and Air Sealing Projects
The dynamic duo for home energy savings.
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Pest Practices
How to rid your home of bugs and other critters.
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Straight Talk About Nutritional Supplements
Most are deceptively marketed and poorly regulated.
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Amazon Floods Search Results with Ads
We searched for 50 products on Amazon; half of what it showed us were paid promos.
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Guide to Buying Hearing Aids
Affordable new options, ratings of sellers.
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Florists
Ratings of pros, where to save on stems.
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Sofa, So Good
How to buy quality furniture.
- How to Shop for a Mattress
- Getting the Right Tires at the Best Price
- How to Redo a Bathtub or Shower
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