Aug 17, 2007
Cheapest golf vacation in America? It's in Florida, in September (of course)
The Plantation Inn and Golf Resort (9301 W. Fort Island Trail, Crystal, River, FL 34429) is a spiffy manor house with 126 rooms, all on the Gulf Coast of Florida near Tampa, and its golfing gems are 1) a stunningly-beautiful par-72 18-hole championship course, and 2) a nine-hole "executive" course specifically designed for training and practice. It offers every other amenity imaginable, and yet during the month of September it offers a "special" of $99 per person per night (accommodations in a comfortable room) AND unlimited golf -- to repeat, unlimited golf. The reason, as you might expect, is weather. And yet the Tampa area isn't nearly as hot as in southern Florida, and if you'll simply avoid golfing during the peak of the midday heat, you should do fine. Go to www.plantationinn.com or phone tel. 800/632-6226.
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A follow-up to our joyful shout that "Swan Hellenic Lives!," brings more reason to celebrate
It just arrived: the elegant, 50-page, 2008 catalogue of the resurrected Swan Hellenic Discovery Cruises for thoughtful travelers, each cruise accompanied by "eminent lecturers" ranging from Cambridge dons to curators of famous British museums. In the Swan Hellenic tradition, everything is included: roundtrip airfare from London to the embarkation place, daily shore excursions with lunch, all tipping to staff both on board and ashore, all entrance fees to the places visited on excursions. Prices, remarkably, are as little as $280 and $300 a day per person (for all of the above) if you book during an extremely generous advance booking period that lasts until October 31, 2007.
The itineraries start with 15-day sailings of the North and Baltic Seas, the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. They go on to "Grand Voyages" of 20 to 55 days to Africa and the Indian Ocean, the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Sea, and "Cape to Cape," "Four Continents," South America, and "Grand Explorer." They include several cruises of the Antarctic. And the ship is Swan Hellenic's former-but-refurbished Minerva with country-club-style furnishings and amenities. Everything shows the touch of Lord Jeffrey Sterling, former Chairman of P&O Cruises of Britain, who stepped in to save Swan Hellenic and re-start it, after the brainy cruise line had been crudely (and cruelly) terminated by Carnival, its accidental owner.
The new address is: Swan Hellenic Cruises, Lynnem House, 1 Victoria Way, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9NF. The website is www.swanhellenic.com. The British phone number is 01444 462 180, the fax 01444 462 181. When calling from the U.S., precede everything with "011." Though the website may be sufficient for you, I'm glad I wrote away for a printed catalogue that's about as historic as things can get in the world of travel.
Keep in mind that Martin Randall Tours will also be offering similar cruises in 2008, but only on three occasions (he will undoubtedly increase that frequency in 2009).
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The itineraries start with 15-day sailings of the North and Baltic Seas, the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. They go on to "Grand Voyages" of 20 to 55 days to Africa and the Indian Ocean, the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Sea, and "Cape to Cape," "Four Continents," South America, and "Grand Explorer." They include several cruises of the Antarctic. And the ship is Swan Hellenic's former-but-refurbished Minerva with country-club-style furnishings and amenities. Everything shows the touch of Lord Jeffrey Sterling, former Chairman of P&O Cruises of Britain, who stepped in to save Swan Hellenic and re-start it, after the brainy cruise line had been crudely (and cruelly) terminated by Carnival, its accidental owner.
The new address is: Swan Hellenic Cruises, Lynnem House, 1 Victoria Way, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9NF. The website is www.swanhellenic.com. The British phone number is 01444 462 180, the fax 01444 462 181. When calling from the U.S., precede everything with "011." Though the website may be sufficient for you, I'm glad I wrote away for a printed catalogue that's about as historic as things can get in the world of travel.
Keep in mind that Martin Randall Tours will also be offering similar cruises in 2008, but only on three occasions (he will undoubtedly increase that frequency in 2009).
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Labels: cruise
How to match Southwest Vacation's Orlando deals, even if you're in a city from which the airline doesn't fly
The traffic to Orlando is so massive, and the rewards so great, that numerous tour operators compete for cost-conscious family traffic. Residents of the Midwest should never neglect to check out the offerings of Funjet (tel. 888/558-6654; www.funjet.com), which like Southwest sells three-night air/hotel packages. This fall, prices from Milwaukee will be an amazing $329 per person, and $414 from Chicago, including air.
Vacation Express (tel. 800/309-4717; www.vacationexpress.com) operates charter jets from a number of major American cities, but also creates packages with airfare on scheduled flights to Orlando. Sample deal this fall: an air-included $377 from Atlanta or $346 from Houston to stay three nights at a two-star motel a 10-minute drive east of Disney. Apple Vacations (tel. 800/517-2000; www.applevacations.com) manages similarly low tariffs and offers a wide range of hotel choices. Always check out their website for Orlando flights and packages.
And some of the best deals come from Florida-based eLeisure Link (tel. 888/801-8808; www.eleisurelink.com). Here, you'll not only find air and hotel combined, but often, you'll get a rental car, too. This fall, one of its best promotions is five nights at the Nickelodeon Suites hotel (just outside Disney, and like a theme park unto itself), plus airfare and a car, from $499 per person based on a family of four (additional travelers would pay only $249 more). That price was good from eight major cities, including New York, Dallas, and Chicago, although other cities are available for a little more. Its deals are constantly changing, but they are listed on its website, and they often have booking deadlines that are several months before the travel
dates.
Some general considerations: often, in listing their air-and-land packages, both the airlines and tour operators will create two categories: one for Orlando generally, the other for Orlando vacations using Disney hotels or hotels at Universal Studios. The Orlando deals are as much as 60 percent cheaper than the ones using the Disney-run or Universal properties. The key to saving money on an Orlando hotel is always avoiding the park-run options, no matter what.
Finally, what about Orlando stays for a week and more? Those are best enjoyed using a vacation home (try www.evrentals.com or www.vrbo.com), which often cost less and afford you much more space and privacy.
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Vacation Express (tel. 800/309-4717; www.vacationexpress.com) operates charter jets from a number of major American cities, but also creates packages with airfare on scheduled flights to Orlando. Sample deal this fall: an air-included $377 from Atlanta or $346 from Houston to stay three nights at a two-star motel a 10-minute drive east of Disney. Apple Vacations (tel. 800/517-2000; www.applevacations.com) manages similarly low tariffs and offers a wide range of hotel choices. Always check out their website for Orlando flights and packages.
And some of the best deals come from Florida-based eLeisure Link (tel. 888/801-8808; www.eleisurelink.com). Here, you'll not only find air and hotel combined, but often, you'll get a rental car, too. This fall, one of its best promotions is five nights at the Nickelodeon Suites hotel (just outside Disney, and like a theme park unto itself), plus airfare and a car, from $499 per person based on a family of four (additional travelers would pay only $249 more). That price was good from eight major cities, including New York, Dallas, and Chicago, although other cities are available for a little more. Its deals are constantly changing, but they are listed on its website, and they often have booking deadlines that are several months before the travel
dates.
Some general considerations: often, in listing their air-and-land packages, both the airlines and tour operators will create two categories: one for Orlando generally, the other for Orlando vacations using Disney hotels or hotels at Universal Studios. The Orlando deals are as much as 60 percent cheaper than the ones using the Disney-run or Universal properties. The key to saving money on an Orlando hotel is always avoiding the park-run options, no matter what.
Finally, what about Orlando stays for a week and more? Those are best enjoyed using a vacation home (try www.evrentals.com or www.vrbo.com), which often cost less and afford you much more space and privacy.
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Labels: accommodations, disney, orlando
In our desire to travel in a correct environmental manner, let's not forget the rules of ethical travel
It is altogether proper that we should do all we can to prevent travel from contributing to global warming, that we should also travel in a manner that does not do ecological damage. But we should not permit these concerns to blot out the need to travel in an ethical manner as well. In this post, and in two subsequent posts, I'd like to quote a "Code of Ethics for Tourists" that was widely circulated several years ago, and remains valid today.
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1) Travel in a spirit of humility and with a genuine desire to learn more about the people of your host country. 2) Cultivate the habit of listening and observing, rather than merely hearing and seeing. 3) Realize that often the people in the country you visit have time concepts and thought patterns different from your own. This does not make them inferior, only different. And 4) Instead of looking for that 'beach paradise,' discover the enrichment of seeing a different way of life, through other eyes.Monday: four more rules of ethical travel.
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Labels: tips
Aug 16, 2007
Ever thought of living on a canal boat in Europe? They are fairly cheap, and so very authentic
In their endless quest for vacations bringing them close to the people of the destination, and not costing much money, more and more Americans are renting so-called canal boats, living aboard them, and traveling on them down the waterways of Ireland, Italy, France, Germany and Spain. I'm not referring to the large hotel boats carrying cooks and stewards that cruise the rivers of Europe, but the smaller boats housing four to eight people that you skipper yourself down the very narrow canals and waterways that criss-cross the continent and were dug as far back as the 1600s. These are lined with small villages at which you stop whenever you wish and take your meals in country restaurants, or go bicycling into the interior. You also sleep aboard the boat, and rent one carrying four persons for as little as $1,100 a week in spring and autumn.The newest company to offer that form of vacation to us Yanks is a British firm called European Boating Holidays (their boats are moored in several European countries) that has just opened a booking office in Lake Placid, New York, staffed by an American enthusiast who will take your calls and book your boat. She's at tel. 866/606-5278. And for descriptions of the kind of boats she offers, go to www.locaboat.com.
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For Orlando stays of under a week, the air-and-land packages of Southwest Airlines Vacations are unbeatable in price and value
The least expensive way to enjoy a short stay (i.e., of less than a week) in Orlando is to buy a package that includes airfare and a hotel. When your stay is for only three nights or so, too short a time for renting a vacation home, nothing beats the prices and value offered by the tour operating arm of the aggressive low-cost airline, Southwest Airlines Vacations (tel. 800/243-8372; www.southwestvacations.com).
These are available, obviously, only from cities to which Southwest flies. From each such place, the airfare to Orlando is generally the cheapest of any airline, and airfare is accompanied by equally inexpensive hotels for an unbeatable total price. Southwest's standard formula is to feature a three-night hotel stay, and its prices this autumn for that duration currently average between $250 and $300 per person based on double occupancy, depending on the origin city. (Those prices, please remember, include round-trip airfare). Even all the way from Phoenix, the price is only $314 per person for round-trip air and three-night stays at a hotel within walking distance from the popular Downtown Disney shopping area. It's like getting your hotel almost for nothing, and thus freeing a significant portion of your budget for those high-priced theme park tickets.
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These are available, obviously, only from cities to which Southwest flies. From each such place, the airfare to Orlando is generally the cheapest of any airline, and airfare is accompanied by equally inexpensive hotels for an unbeatable total price. Southwest's standard formula is to feature a three-night hotel stay, and its prices this autumn for that duration currently average between $250 and $300 per person based on double occupancy, depending on the origin city. (Those prices, please remember, include round-trip airfare). Even all the way from Phoenix, the price is only $314 per person for round-trip air and three-night stays at a hotel within walking distance from the popular Downtown Disney shopping area. It's like getting your hotel almost for nothing, and thus freeing a significant portion of your budget for those high-priced theme park tickets.
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For travelers 18 to 38 years of age, here are further details on the unique TrekAmerica
Couple of weeks ago, I wrote about TrekAmerica (tel. 800/TREK-USA; www.trekamerica.com), the largest operator of so-called "cooperative camping tours" (they supply a 14-passenger van with driver/guide, tents and cooking equipment, you show up with a sleeping bag). I have subsequently spoken with staff of TrekAmerica in Rockaway, New Jersey, and feel the need to supply further details about this fascinating firm, too often overlooked by young and/or active/unpretentious Americans.
TrekAmerica offers trips of one to six weeks, limited to 13 persons and a driver/guide -- scores of departures, in both summer and winter -- in North America for the most part (but occasionally in Central America), to and through every major region and attraction. Its program has proved so popular overseas that the overwhelming bulk of its passengers are today from Great Britain and Australia, joined by the occasional American. Everyone pays between $75 and $85 per day on the TrekAmerica program for persons 18 to 38, and about $125 to $150 per day to the older adventurers who book its "Footloose" program, on which there's a greater use of hotels. Everyone chips in $9 per person per day into a "food kitty" for the ingredients of meals cooperatively cooked. (My earlier statement that per day costs averaged $40 and food kitties $6 was based on a typo in my notes).
One of travel's great adventures is to take to the open road and go exploring our own huge and diverse United States. If you have a yen to do so, but limited time and budget for pulling it off, I urge you to look at Trek America.
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TrekAmerica offers trips of one to six weeks, limited to 13 persons and a driver/guide -- scores of departures, in both summer and winter -- in North America for the most part (but occasionally in Central America), to and through every major region and attraction. Its program has proved so popular overseas that the overwhelming bulk of its passengers are today from Great Britain and Australia, joined by the occasional American. Everyone pays between $75 and $85 per day on the TrekAmerica program for persons 18 to 38, and about $125 to $150 per day to the older adventurers who book its "Footloose" program, on which there's a greater use of hotels. Everyone chips in $9 per person per day into a "food kitty" for the ingredients of meals cooperatively cooked. (My earlier statement that per day costs averaged $40 and food kitties $6 was based on a typo in my notes).
One of travel's great adventures is to take to the open road and go exploring our own huge and diverse United States. If you have a yen to do so, but limited time and budget for pulling it off, I urge you to look at Trek America.
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Labels: camping
A whopping big development: the "big boy" hotel chains are now renting non-hotel accommodations in competition with themselves
This one needs a bit of background. It's obvious that more and more Americans have discovered and decided that they can pay far less than hotels charge, and yet enjoy more spacious surroundings, more privacy, by electing to stay on vacation in apartments, condos, cottages, villas and vacation homes.
(A friend just returned from two weeks in London, where he and his family occupied a two-bedroom apartment in the center of that city for less than they would have paid for a single hotel room).
Two weeks ago, the giant Wyndham Hotels (at least 7,000 properties marketed under several brands) launched a website called Endless Vacation Rentals (www.evrentals.com or www.wyndham-vacations.com) to represent no fewer than 60,000 apartments, condos, vacations homes, villas and cottages in America and around the world -- the largest inventory of that sort on the internet. I interviewed the chairman and CEO of that new Wyndham operation on my Sunday broadcast of July 29, and unsuccessfully tried to get him to reveal the secret background reasons for doing this. It's obvious that the big boys in hotels have now decided that non-hotel lodgings are going to play an increasing role in vacation travel.
So now there's a humongous website from which to obtain such non-hotel lodgings -- a site larger than VRBO.com, larger than Rentalo.com, larger probably than all the others put together. You book a non-hotel on that site exactly as you would a hotel, giving them your credit card number. And thereafter your contact is with, and rights are against, not the individual owner of a condo, bungalow or cottage but the enormous Wyndham megalith. Will wonders never cease.
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(A friend just returned from two weeks in London, where he and his family occupied a two-bedroom apartment in the center of that city for less than they would have paid for a single hotel room).
Two weeks ago, the giant Wyndham Hotels (at least 7,000 properties marketed under several brands) launched a website called Endless Vacation Rentals (www.evrentals.com or www.wyndham-vacations.com) to represent no fewer than 60,000 apartments, condos, vacations homes, villas and cottages in America and around the world -- the largest inventory of that sort on the internet. I interviewed the chairman and CEO of that new Wyndham operation on my Sunday broadcast of July 29, and unsuccessfully tried to get him to reveal the secret background reasons for doing this. It's obvious that the big boys in hotels have now decided that non-hotel lodgings are going to play an increasing role in vacation travel.
So now there's a humongous website from which to obtain such non-hotel lodgings -- a site larger than VRBO.com, larger than Rentalo.com, larger probably than all the others put together. You book a non-hotel on that site exactly as you would a hotel, giving them your credit card number. And thereafter your contact is with, and rights are against, not the individual owner of a condo, bungalow or cottage but the enormous Wyndham megalith. Will wonders never cease.
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Labels: accommodations
Aug 15, 2007
Autumn in Montana brings outdoor vacations at bargain rates, especially at the great national parks
By mid-October there's snow; but September in Montana's Glacier National Park is usually quite fantastic in terms of climate and foliage. Yet lakes and hiking trails are far less crowded compared to summer, and visitors are far more likely to spot moose, bighorn sheep, and even bear. Special $99 per night lodging promotions are available for select dates during the month at historic, upscale hotels such as Glacier Park Lodge & Resort and Many Glacier Hotel. In summer, guests seldom find a room at either of these hotels for under $150. By far the best value, however, is just over the Canadian border, in the adjoining Waterton Lakes National Park. Rooms at the gorgeous Prince of Wales Hotel -- one of the most photographed hotels in the world -- generally start at $265 in August, but several dates in September are likewise available for $99. Call tel. 406/892-2525 or go to www.glacierparkinc.com for reservations.Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: american west, parks
Several readers have confirmed our tentative conclusion that Capital One credit cards are the nation's best for international travel
It seemed too good to be true: that Capital One, of Salt Lake City, Utah, not only gave you a favorable exchange rate but did not deduct the 2% "transaction fee" that nearly all banks charge for use of your credit cards in a foreign country. Yet without a dissenting voice (to date), several widely-scattered readers have responded that their actual experience in using Capital One credit cards has been favorable. One typical response: "I have had Capital One cards for several years, and they are the only ones I will use overseas because of this policy. I've never been charged a foreign currency exchange fee of any type by them. Their exchange rates are usually right at what I find at www.xe.com, so they're not burying the fee with higher exchange rates, either."
Another reader claims that in addition to foregoing a bank's 2% transaction fee, Capital One does not charge the basic 1% fee that all Visa and Mastercards incur for use of the cards in a foreign country. One other reader cautions that you should phone Capital One in advance to advise them when you are traveling abroad, since Capital One's super-sensitive security department occasionally blocks a card for "suspicious use" in a foreign country. You obtain a Capital One card by writing to: Capital One Card Center, P.O. Box 30284, Salt Lake City, UT 84130-9842, or by going to www.capitalone.com.
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Another reader claims that in addition to foregoing a bank's 2% transaction fee, Capital One does not charge the basic 1% fee that all Visa and Mastercards incur for use of the cards in a foreign country. One other reader cautions that you should phone Capital One in advance to advise them when you are traveling abroad, since Capital One's super-sensitive security department occasionally blocks a card for "suspicious use" in a foreign country. You obtain a Capital One card by writing to: Capital One Card Center, P.O. Box 30284, Salt Lake City, UT 84130-9842, or by going to www.capitalone.com.
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Labels: money
Two four-letter words: can this "blog" give a "plug" for my daughter's books?
The Pauline Frommer Guides will be replacing the "$-a-Day" books as the major budget series of the Frommer's line. The rate of inflation, and the current weakness of the U.S. dollar, have weakened the logic of those titles, and Pauline will now take up the cudgel for cost-conscious travelers. Her books are for a new generation of travelers wanting to experience the authentic aspects of the places they visit and at sensible costs.
The new books are not meant for backpackers. Though they review the youth hostels, the free-of-charge attractions, and the rock-bottom bargains, they are primarily meant for adult travelers seeking a degree of comfort and dignity in their travels. But they are definitely and proudly cost-conscious, and supplement their lengthy discussion of hotels with alternative lodgings: rooms in private apartments, apartments, religious and university lodgings, guesthouses, hospitality clubs and vacation exchanges, and B&Bs.
Pauline herself wrote the New York and the Las Vegas guides (staying for a night apiece in forty successive Las Vegas hotels, and discovering amazing things about them by doing so), and she carefully chose the authors, supervised the research, and edited the manuscripts of the nine other guides in the current 11-book series. The books presently on sale are Pauline Frommer's New York, Pauline Frommer's Las Vegas, Pauline Frommer's Orlando, Pauline Frommer's London, Pauline Frommer's Paris, Pauline Frommer's Italy, Pauline Frommer's Washington, D.C., and Pauline Frommer's Hawaii. These will shortly be joined by Pauline Frommer's Alaska, Pauline Frommer's Costa Rica, and Pauline Frommer's Ireland. Her guidebook on New York was named Best Guidebook of 2006 by the prestigious North American Travel Journalists Association. So why shouldn't I chime in?
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Labels: pauline, travel guides
Aug 14, 2007
America on $10 a flight? Believe it!
America's new cut-rate airline called Skybus (www.skybus.com), whose hub is Columbus, Ohio, has promised to set aside some seats on each of its flights for sale at a price of $10. How realistic is your chance of snaring one of the $10 fares? Well, a recent test by me showed that the $10 fares were sold out from Burbank and Oakland to Columbus through the spring of 2008, but there were plenty of $10 tickets still available from such airports as Kansas City or Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which is near Boston. And even when the $10 seats were gone, there were plenty of $50 seats readily available. If you're willing or able to fly from the secondary airports that Skybus serves, you can fly awfully cheaply in the months ahead.Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: airlines
Don't look now, but travel has significantly slowed (easing the trips of people who are still determined to go)
The big surprise of 2007, featured in the trade press (see Travel Weekly, July 23, page 16), is that travel to everywhere, after booming in the first quarter of 2007, has suddenly declined dramatically. And some professionals are predicting a reduced number of leisure travelers for the remainder of this year. The reasons cited are the decline in the worth of the U.S. dollar, the high cost of gasoline, escalating mortgage costs, and a drop in the equity value of American homes.
And what does this have to do with you, as an individual, a couple or a family? It means that vacancies are plentiful to a great many popular resorts; that you can make that visit to Banff or to Yellowstone or to London or Hawaii without encountering sold-out conditions. That's a bit of a silver lining.
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And what does this have to do with you, as an individual, a couple or a family? It means that vacancies are plentiful to a great many popular resorts; that you can make that visit to Banff or to Yellowstone or to London or Hawaii without encountering sold-out conditions. That's a bit of a silver lining.
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Labels: money
A big secret of European rail travel: the regional networks offer whopping discounts on their own websites
Ever heard of Thalys? It's the network of high-speed trains that link Paris to numerous cities in Belgium, the Netherlands, and northern Germany (mainly Aachen and Cologne). A little-known fact is that the website of Thalys is constantly offering 50%, 60%, and even greater last-minute discounts on its trains operating between Paris, Belgium, the Netherlands and northern Germany. If you'll go to www.thalys.com, you'll find sales of that sort currently being offered, and available nowhere else.
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Many readers' responses to this daily blog are too good not to be displayed in the main portion of it
If you'll click on the words "Arthur Frommer's Blog" in various parts of this website, you'll see a complete table of contents of every post we've made since the beginning, together with a reference to the number of readers' responses to each post. Click on that, and you'll read the responses, which frequently are too good not to be repeated in this main blog here, as I'm now doing for several of them.
In response to my suggestion of tiny items to bring along on any trip, like dental floss, one reader wrote:
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In response to my suggestion of tiny items to bring along on any trip, like dental floss, one reader wrote:
"Dental floss can be used to slice cheese."Another suggested:
"Pringles in a can (lightweight, leaves space for souvenirs), dry roasted peanuts and Hershey miniature chocolate bars (assorted) work well too."Still another wrote:
"Don't forget crackers to go w/peanut butter (can be stored in the Pringles can). Peanut butter + crackers have saved my life when traveling in Europe where the stores are closed at odd hours. Take Woolite packets for rinsing out of some clothing items, like underwear. Traveling to Hawaii or Japan? Take house slippers or new flip-flops to wear inside, as they consider it very inconsiderate to wear street shoes indoors, especially in homes and at B&Bs. Be sure to carry a cheap pair of socks for the airport. You'll have to take off your shoes to go thru the metal detector; having socks to wear will help your feelings as well as keep your feet clean."One reader suggested we should recommend the Affordable Travel Club (persons willing to provide overnight stays in their home for a modest charge):
"We (the Affordable Travel Club; you can Google it) have members in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere around the world. I have been a member for years, and have hosted numerous guests from Australia, US and Canada. I have also visited new-found friends in the US and Canada. I am planning a 4 month trip to Europe in 2008 and will be staying the majority of the time with ATC members. At $20 per night (breakfast included) in the US and Canada, and $30 a night in Europe, you can't get a better deal anywhere. If you would like more info you can contact me at cannuck57@hotmail.com."And one reader strongly endorsed my condemnation of those airline CEOs who pay themselves tens of millions of dollars a year for taking an airline into bankruptcy:
"No CEO is worth $39 million! The shareholders should revolt. The nerve! I work for a company whose last CEO made $2.5 million (including options). He retired and the new CEO has mad $19 million in 9 months. While doing this he has instituted staffing cuts (1,500) to save money. The airlines, evidently, do not know what they are doing. The service is horrible, the planes are overstuffed with passengers, schedules to other than hub airports are not convenient. The airline executives seem to hop from airline to airline and screw up each airline. They then re-appear at another at a higher salary. Where will it stop? The idiots at Northwest just emerged from almost going under. They forced all of the employees to take salary reductions and then give the executives big raises. What are they thinking? There are many capable people in the market place that would happily take on a airline leadership position for far less salary than some of the boards are willing to give them. Put some ordinary people on the boards of directors to govern the operations of these businesses."Amen.
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Labels: tips from readers
Were you aware that travel luggage can be cheaper on the internet? (Second of a two-part series)
Yesterday, I wrote about the remarkable eBags.com, and the deals it offers for luggage. Two online luggage retailers based in New Jersey are also worth searching for bargains: Luggage Online (www.luggageonline.com) and LuggagePoint.com (www.luggagepoint.com). A recent sale at the former offered a six-piece luggage set from American Tourister, originally priced at $450, for only $170. A closeout special at LuggagePoint.com was a 31-inch four-wheel Samsonite bag, originally priced at $260, for $117, or $143 off.All the internet luggage companies allow for free returns and cover the cost of return shipping, though their policies differ sometimes. Luggage Online only has a 30-day money-back guarantee, while LuggagePoint.com is more generous, giving the customer 90 days within which to make a return.
Another difference is the price-matching guarantee. All three companies have one, but while Luggage Online promises to match any competitor's prices, LuggagePoint.com and eBags.com take it a step further with a 110% price guarantee
Even with the presence of helpful product reviews and easy return policies at these websites, however, some consumers may still be concerned about purchasing such a large item without inspecting it first-hand. For them, the solution is simply to go in-person to a store that has the item in question. If the product proves satisfactory, ask the store to match the price you found earlier online. If it doesn't match or beat the price, head to a computer and make the purchase.
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Labels: shopping
Aug 13, 2007
Another way to continue visiting Europe inexpensively is on a fall/winter package of Go-Today.com
An internet tour operator called Go-Today (www.go-today.com), with whom I have no connection or contact whatsoever, has scored a mighty success by simply providing round-trip trans-Atlantic air and five-to-seven nights of hotel accommodations for prices that aren't matched, as best I know, by anyone else in the industry. They do this for internet bookings (thus eliminating labor costs) and for the most simple of arrangements: all you get is airfare, a hotel, and breakfast every morning. (You do not receive airport-to-hotel transfers, and you should never purchase the over-priced optional transfers they offer. Simply take public transportation from the airport to your hotel.)
Their most spectacular prices are for departures between November 1 and December 15, and then again from January 8 to February 29 (2008). That's when they offer programs consisting of round-trip airfare to Europe (the lead price to London is from Baltimore, Boston, New York, Newark, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.; the lead price to Paris is from New York) and from five to seven nights of hotel accommodations with breakfast, for only: $579 to London, $599 to either Paris or Prague, $869 to Rome, $789 to Nice, $879 for a combined trip to Prague and Budapest, and $979 for a combined trip to Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Add-on fares for persons departing from cities other than those named above are astonishingly low: from Los Angeles to London, you add only $70; from Los Angeles to Paris or Prague, you add only $70 to $170.
Given the probable level of upcoming fall/winter airfares to the European capitals, the total air-and-land prices of Go-Today are no less than remarkable. They have set the standard in international travel, and you'd be well advised to study their website.
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Their most spectacular prices are for departures between November 1 and December 15, and then again from January 8 to February 29 (2008). That's when they offer programs consisting of round-trip airfare to Europe (the lead price to London is from Baltimore, Boston, New York, Newark, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.; the lead price to Paris is from New York) and from five to seven nights of hotel accommodations with breakfast, for only: $579 to London, $599 to either Paris or Prague, $869 to Rome, $789 to Nice, $879 for a combined trip to Prague and Budapest, and $979 for a combined trip to Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Add-on fares for persons departing from cities other than those named above are astonishingly low: from Los Angeles to London, you add only $70; from Los Angeles to Paris or Prague, you add only $70 to $170.
Given the probable level of upcoming fall/winter airfares to the European capitals, the total air-and-land prices of Go-Today are no less than remarkable. They have set the standard in international travel, and you'd be well advised to study their website.
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A top travel secret: luggage is cheaper on the internet (first of a two-part series)
We need luggage to travel, and too often we pay too much for it. The high cost of high quality luggage has sparked the emergence of luggage stores on the Internet, which often undercut the normal prices because they don't have the expense of a brick-and-mortar business.
These e-luggage stores have grown immensely popular. They overcome the reluctance of some people to buy luggage without inspecting the product by offering free shipping (including on returns, if you're so inclined) and radically-reduced prices.
The leader in online luggage retailers is a Colorado-based company called eBags.com (www.ebags.com), whose website sells thousands of bags (far more models than even the largest store would carry) from dozens of popular manufacturers, including Samsonite, Eagle Creek, The North Face, Liz Claibourne, and Pierre Cardin. Shipping is free for most orders over $35; returns are free of hassles and costs: unused bags are refundable within 60 days; and the company includes a pre-paid UPS label with every shipment.
Ebags.com offers many options to help the shopper find exactly the right bag (or the right price). You can search by brand, style, price, bag material (canvas, suede, polyester, nylon, cotton, leather), best sellers, closeouts, and other categories. Each bag is rated by customers who own it on a scale of one to ten, and unlike many hotel-review websites, which often only have a handful of ratings on which to base your decision, many pieces of luggage on eBags have hundreds of reviews to guide shoppers along.
The closeouts section of eBags is where to find the very best deals. Recently, a JanSport expandable carry-on in a discontinued color with a retail price of $160 was selling on eBags for just $50. Even items that aren't closeouts are usually priced far below retail. A four-piece travel set from Samsonite that 263 of 286 eBags customers (92%) said they would buy again was being sold for $150, $70 off the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
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These e-luggage stores have grown immensely popular. They overcome the reluctance of some people to buy luggage without inspecting the product by offering free shipping (including on returns, if you're so inclined) and radically-reduced prices.
The leader in online luggage retailers is a Colorado-based company called eBags.com (www.ebags.com), whose website sells thousands of bags (far more models than even the largest store would carry) from dozens of popular manufacturers, including Samsonite, Eagle Creek, The North Face, Liz Claibourne, and Pierre Cardin. Shipping is free for most orders over $35; returns are free of hassles and costs: unused bags are refundable within 60 days; and the company includes a pre-paid UPS label with every shipment.
Ebags.com offers many options to help the shopper find exactly the right bag (or the right price). You can search by brand, style, price, bag material (canvas, suede, polyester, nylon, cotton, leather), best sellers, closeouts, and other categories. Each bag is rated by customers who own it on a scale of one to ten, and unlike many hotel-review websites, which often only have a handful of ratings on which to base your decision, many pieces of luggage on eBags have hundreds of reviews to guide shoppers along.
The closeouts section of eBags is where to find the very best deals. Recently, a JanSport expandable carry-on in a discontinued color with a retail price of $160 was selling on eBags for just $50. Even items that aren't closeouts are usually priced far below retail. A four-piece travel set from Samsonite that 263 of 286 eBags customers (92%) said they would buy again was being sold for $150, $70 off the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
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Some nations are so revolting in their conduct that I wouldn't dream of visiting them
Let's talk about Libya. Its supreme leader, Colonel Qaddafi, recently "accepted responsibility" for the monsters who blew up Pan Am Flight 103, causing the deaths of 270 persons, including 35 students from Syracuse University and several children under 5. For being such a good sport about it, candidly acknowledging responsibility, and paying compensation, he and his country have been re-admitted to the family of nations. Cruiselines and tour operators are currently scrambling to offer visits there.
It gets worse. Ten years ago, Libya arrested five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor and condemned them to death for having allegedly injected the HIV virus into child patients in a Libyan hospital. Why and for what reason the nurses would do such a thing has never been explained, and yet they were kept on death row in Libya for the past ten years, all the while protesting their innocence.
In July, Libya's Supreme Court commuted these sentences to life imprisonment, which eventually resulted in the nurses' release to Bulgarian authorities (the commutation was brought about through the payments of hundreds of millions of dollars by nations of the European Community). But even though they escaped execution, should the rest of us forget their ten-year ordeal? And should any of us travel within a country that is capable of such conduct? What tourist is safe from being made the object of a similar, wholly illogical trial and conviction on totally trumped-up accusations?
Because Libya supports the Arab boycott of Israel, it also will not permit persons with Israeli visas in their passports to enter the country; over the years, such persons have simply remained aboard ship during port calls in Libya. Now, Libya has gone further, announcing that it will not permit a ship to enter Libyan territorial waters if it is carrying passengers on board who have Israeli visas in their passports, whether or not they remain on board. Based on this ban, the famous P&O Cruises of Great Britain, which is now owned by Carnival Cruises, has ejected passengers from P&O cruises that were scheduled to stop in Libya on sailings through the Mediterranean. In England, there's a controversy raging in the press about British citizens, Bernard and Irene Rose, who were ousted from the cruise they had booked because it was planning to stop at a Libyan port, among many other ports in the Mediterranean. They were refused a refund by the line, but offered a later sailing that did not stop in Libya.
The founder of Carnival Cruises, which owns 74% of P&O, was Ted Arison, who retired to Israel to die. His son, Micky Arison, currently head of the line, pays enthusiastic attention to the Miami Heat, the basketball team he owns. It is not known, as I write this, whether he is aware of the Libyan policy and his own cruise line's acquiescence in it (although I suspect he does know). Shouldn't we all send him a letter?
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It gets worse. Ten years ago, Libya arrested five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor and condemned them to death for having allegedly injected the HIV virus into child patients in a Libyan hospital. Why and for what reason the nurses would do such a thing has never been explained, and yet they were kept on death row in Libya for the past ten years, all the while protesting their innocence.
In July, Libya's Supreme Court commuted these sentences to life imprisonment, which eventually resulted in the nurses' release to Bulgarian authorities (the commutation was brought about through the payments of hundreds of millions of dollars by nations of the European Community). But even though they escaped execution, should the rest of us forget their ten-year ordeal? And should any of us travel within a country that is capable of such conduct? What tourist is safe from being made the object of a similar, wholly illogical trial and conviction on totally trumped-up accusations?
Because Libya supports the Arab boycott of Israel, it also will not permit persons with Israeli visas in their passports to enter the country; over the years, such persons have simply remained aboard ship during port calls in Libya. Now, Libya has gone further, announcing that it will not permit a ship to enter Libyan territorial waters if it is carrying passengers on board who have Israeli visas in their passports, whether or not they remain on board. Based on this ban, the famous P&O Cruises of Great Britain, which is now owned by Carnival Cruises, has ejected passengers from P&O cruises that were scheduled to stop in Libya on sailings through the Mediterranean. In England, there's a controversy raging in the press about British citizens, Bernard and Irene Rose, who were ousted from the cruise they had booked because it was planning to stop at a Libyan port, among many other ports in the Mediterranean. They were refused a refund by the line, but offered a later sailing that did not stop in Libya.
The founder of Carnival Cruises, which owns 74% of P&O, was Ted Arison, who retired to Israel to die. His son, Micky Arison, currently head of the line, pays enthusiastic attention to the Miami Heat, the basketball team he owns. It is not known, as I write this, whether he is aware of the Libyan policy and his own cruise line's acquiescence in it (although I suspect he does know). Shouldn't we all send him a letter?
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A quick glance at the airline- and hotel-related credit cards issued by Citibank (second of a two-part series)
I wrote on Friday about the airline- and hotel-related credit cards issued by Chase, which (when properly used) can snare you a fast and free overnight hotel stay or a flight within the U.S. Chase's competitor, Citibank, is just as active in the field.
At www.citicards.com, similar cards are available with bonuses at American Airlines and Hilton Hotels. The American Airlines AAdvantage card, which has no annual fee for the first year, comes with 20,000 bonus points once the customer has spent $750 in the first four months. That puts the traveler well on her way to the 25,000 points required for most domestic flights. A 15,000-point bonus kicks in after an initial purchase with the Hilton card, translating to a free night in many of the company's fine Hampton Inn brand properties.
But there are many things to be wary of before signing up for a new credit card. Cards with good travel rewards tend to have extraordinarily high annual percentage rates (APR), often over 18% (around 10% is more reasonable). Don't bother signing up for such a card if you're not the type to pay off your monthly bill in full and on time. The goal is to get your bonus points and redeem them on a trip as soon as possible -- without incurring a high-interest-rate debt.
Finally, before signing up for a card through Chase or Citibank, visit the affiliated hotel or airline website, where sometimes the bonuses and terms are superior. A link from www.marriott.com, for instance, offered the same Chase airline card I described yesterday, but with 20,000 bonus points, 5,000 more than at www.chase.com.
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At www.citicards.com, similar cards are available with bonuses at American Airlines and Hilton Hotels. The American Airlines AAdvantage card, which has no annual fee for the first year, comes with 20,000 bonus points once the customer has spent $750 in the first four months. That puts the traveler well on her way to the 25,000 points required for most domestic flights. A 15,000-point bonus kicks in after an initial purchase with the Hilton card, translating to a free night in many of the company's fine Hampton Inn brand properties.
But there are many things to be wary of before signing up for a new credit card. Cards with good travel rewards tend to have extraordinarily high annual percentage rates (APR), often over 18% (around 10% is more reasonable). Don't bother signing up for such a card if you're not the type to pay off your monthly bill in full and on time. The goal is to get your bonus points and redeem them on a trip as soon as possible -- without incurring a high-interest-rate debt.
Finally, before signing up for a card through Chase or Citibank, visit the affiliated hotel or airline website, where sometimes the bonuses and terms are superior. A link from www.marriott.com, for instance, offered the same Chase airline card I described yesterday, but with 20,000 bonus points, 5,000 more than at www.chase.com.
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Labels: money
Aug 12, 2007
It's increasingly apparent that those hundred million internet votes cast for the "Seven New Wonders of the World" were inappropriately influenced
When it was announced recently that Chichen Itza in Mexico, Petra in Jordan, and the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro had been included in the "Seven New Wonders of the World," I smelled something fishy. "Christ the Redeemer" is neither a great work of art nor even especially colossal when compared, say, with the Statue of Liberty. Chichen Itza in Mexico's Yucatan? Petra in Jordan? Neither has the importance or monumentality of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Eiffel Tower, and certainly not the great Pyramids of Egypt.
An explanation was forthcoming this week when a Newsweek reporter discovered that corporations in Brazil had spent tens of millions in rounding up Internet votes for the Christ the Redeemer statue by citizens of Brazil. In Jordan, which has a population of seven million people, fourteen million votes were counted for Petra. It was obvious -- and the Swiss foundation sponsoring the voting has never denied -- that safeguards were not in place to prevent duplicate voting.
In the years ahead, the newly designated "Seven New Wonders of the World" (Christ the Redeemer, Chichen Itza, Macchu Picchu, Petra, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and Rome's Colosseum) will be touted to the world's tourist populations as absolute "must-sees." We'll know better.
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An explanation was forthcoming this week when a Newsweek reporter discovered that corporations in Brazil had spent tens of millions in rounding up Internet votes for the Christ the Redeemer statue by citizens of Brazil. In Jordan, which has a population of seven million people, fourteen million votes were counted for Petra. It was obvious -- and the Swiss foundation sponsoring the voting has never denied -- that safeguards were not in place to prevent duplicate voting.
In the years ahead, the newly designated "Seven New Wonders of the World" (Christ the Redeemer, Chichen Itza, Macchu Picchu, Petra, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and Rome's Colosseum) will be touted to the world's tourist populations as absolute "must-sees." We'll know better.
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Labels: scams
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the