No need to download sidestep anymore, just go to sidestep.com for the same functions. Another similar site is kayak.com.

Also, have them sign up for frequent airline and hotel programs. Even if you don't reach elite status, there may be benefits just for being a member. For example, members of Wyndam by Request get a welcome gift, free internet access, and free local and long distance phone calls.

From a marketing perspective, touting how you can be taking so many more trips for the same money might be a sales pitch. Also could be developed into, say, an alternative to RVing if you can make the numerical case on it. So many seniors get pulled into RVing and there's a real vested interest in selling those depreciating assets, but I don't know if anyone has studied the numbers case with a sharp fly/drive strategy vs. that.

What about the travel auction sites such as Priceline and Hotwire? Then there is the support forums to these sites such as betterbidding.com and Biddingfortravel.com.

I think you could dedicate a whole term to the strategies sometimes involved in getting the hotel you want at the right price.

Other tasks "how to identify the mystery hotels" that some of the discount sites offer - i.e. they give you some information but don't tell you exactly what hotel you're getting until you book.

This about the "Bookmarks / Favorites" is a good idea. Especially providing a CD loaded with them
But I recommend to 'edit' the titles/listings to be easier understandable.

For instance, when adding "http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/" to favorites, it will show as :'FlyerTalk Forums', now when burning the CD with all your favorites you want to provide, rename it as " Lot of Airline Info ", or/and : 'Travel Airfares, hotels, vacations, cruises, car rentals and more at Travelocity.com' from " http://www.travelocity.com/", change to " Direct Booking Trips "

All my favorites/bookmars on my computer are tailored for easier comprehention

I've written an article about planning your first trip to the UK, and there may be many helpful tips and bits of information for them. It's located here:

http://www.greendragonartist.com/articlesEurope.htm

feel free to use it or bookmark it!

Thanks Green Dragon for the link. I will gladly include this with the other sites I recommend.

As someone who also teaches Internet classes... you might also want to cover a little about knowing when a site is legit. If they are paying a lot of money for their holiday, how do they know that the site is secure, registered with IATA, and so on?

How to evaluate reviews and ratings for themselves: eg many great places get terrible reviews on Trip Advisor because someone didn't like the carpet and rated it poorly. Teach them to learn how to look at a few sites and compare. I also like hostelworld.com - not just hostels, also covers budget hotels especially in Europe.

Also cover forums - eg I like Lonely Planet's Thorntree http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com for general questions about where to go and what to do.

Lastly - a couple of insurance sites, but be sure to point them to the conditions.