Jul 25, 2008
The second edition (just published) of Josef Woodman's "Patients Without Borders" has added low-cost hospitals and dental clinics in more destinations
About a year ago, I wrote about the first full-length book to take up the subject of medical and dental tourism in a serious and scientific fashion. The book is Patients Beyond Borders by Josef Woodman, which carefully and soberly lists and describes those hospitals overseas that provide competent medical treatment in various fields at a a highly affordable price -- and those that don't. For the first time, Americans who have no medical insurance, or whose medical insurance doesn't cover the treatment they need, have a way of learning where they can go to obtain that care at a price they can handle (even considering the cost of travel).
Woodman's book was the first to point out, as far as I know, that many of these overseas hospitals are accredited by the very same organization that accredits U.S. hospitals -- and which employs exactly the same criteria. It goes on to point out that many of these overseas hospitals actually have better success rates, lower infection rates, more comprehensive comfort and care, than the average U.S. hospital. Photographs of hospitals in Singapore and Thailand, as one example, are an eye-opener, revealing the most modern facilities imaginable and an unusually high ratio of staff to patient (you can see some of those photographs in www.patientsbeyondborders.com).
Thus, in Thailand's famed Bumrundgrad Hospital, a literal army of nurses and attendants surround you with the most careful attentions.
Last week saw the publication of the second, revised edition of Woodman's Patients Without Borders, and yesterday I placed a phone call to him in Hong Kong, where he is in the course of an Asian tour visiting still other hospitals (Hong Kong itself is not one of the places he recommends, because of Hong Kong's high medical fees).
Woodman advised me that the new revised edition has added, to the former list, appraisals of hospitals in Israel, Jordan, South Korea, New Zealand, Panama, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Turkey. He was particularly enthusiastic about the low cost and high level of medical care in Taiwan. He pointed out that each of these new destinations excels in a particular medical specialty.
I asked him whether the U.S. medical profession had attacked the book; whether, in particular, U.S. doctors had been asked to write critical reviews of it. This hasn't happened, he responded; in fact, at a recent Harvard conference, some participants complained that Patients Without Borders had succeeded too well -- that by revealing the availability of low-cost medical care overseas, it had removed pressures on the U.S. medical system to reform itself! So careful and guarded are the book's factual assertions that apparently, U.S. doctors have thus far found nothing to attack.
The second, revised edition is apparently in the bookstores by now, and can also be purchased through Amazon.com. Or else, you can write directly for a copy (enclosing $22.95) to Healthy Travel Media, P.O.Box 17057, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Or call 919/370-7380. If you have no medical insurance, and need medical or dental treatment, you might consider obtaining a copy of a book that has clarified the way to a new form of travel: medical or dental tourism.
Write and read comments about this post.
Woodman's book was the first to point out, as far as I know, that many of these overseas hospitals are accredited by the very same organization that accredits U.S. hospitals -- and which employs exactly the same criteria. It goes on to point out that many of these overseas hospitals actually have better success rates, lower infection rates, more comprehensive comfort and care, than the average U.S. hospital. Photographs of hospitals in Singapore and Thailand, as one example, are an eye-opener, revealing the most modern facilities imaginable and an unusually high ratio of staff to patient (you can see some of those photographs in www.patientsbeyondborders.com).
Thus, in Thailand's famed Bumrundgrad Hospital, a literal army of nurses and attendants surround you with the most careful attentions.
Last week saw the publication of the second, revised edition of Woodman's Patients Without Borders, and yesterday I placed a phone call to him in Hong Kong, where he is in the course of an Asian tour visiting still other hospitals (Hong Kong itself is not one of the places he recommends, because of Hong Kong's high medical fees).
Woodman advised me that the new revised edition has added, to the former list, appraisals of hospitals in Israel, Jordan, South Korea, New Zealand, Panama, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Turkey. He was particularly enthusiastic about the low cost and high level of medical care in Taiwan. He pointed out that each of these new destinations excels in a particular medical specialty.
I asked him whether the U.S. medical profession had attacked the book; whether, in particular, U.S. doctors had been asked to write critical reviews of it. This hasn't happened, he responded; in fact, at a recent Harvard conference, some participants complained that Patients Without Borders had succeeded too well -- that by revealing the availability of low-cost medical care overseas, it had removed pressures on the U.S. medical system to reform itself! So careful and guarded are the book's factual assertions that apparently, U.S. doctors have thus far found nothing to attack.
The second, revised edition is apparently in the bookstores by now, and can also be purchased through Amazon.com. Or else, you can write directly for a copy (enclosing $22.95) to Healthy Travel Media, P.O.Box 17057, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Or call 919/370-7380. If you have no medical insurance, and need medical or dental treatment, you might consider obtaining a copy of a book that has clarified the way to a new form of travel: medical or dental tourism.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: medical travel
Only a chump buys theme park admissions at the theme park. Buy them at home, before you leave -- and you'll save big
Important, breathless advice: Visitors heading to Orlando should always book their theme park tickets online ahead of time. Like many of the more grungy local amusement parks, which pack the house using a variety of two-for-one promotions available at grocery stores and in area newspapers, the glossy Orlando parks have steady deals, too, which they reserve for web reservations. Only a chump pays the box office price for park tickets.
For example, if you step up to the ticket booths at the two parks at Universal Orlando on the day you attend, you will pay $72 for adults and $60 for children (which across Orlando means between ages 3 and 9). That buys access to a single park, with no option of being able to enter the second park on the same day.
But if you book on Universal's website (www.universalorlando.com/tickets.php), you will have access to a variety of better deals. For example, you can visit both its parks for a day for $80 adults/$70 kids, enabling you to see much of the attractions in a single day. Or you can stick to a one-park ticket offered at the gates, but pay $2 less for it. During the slow season, Universal has been known to sell online a full week of access for around the price of one or two days' tickets. All you have to do is buy your tickets at least 48 hours ahead of time and either print them at home or pick them at ATM-like machines at the front gates, the way you do for reserved movie tickets.
Likewise, while a one-day price for SeaWorld costs $70 adults /$60 kids at the gate, online (www.seaworld.com/orlando) you can get it for $60 with a free second day at the park. You can also get a pass the gets you into both SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa for $90 as opposed to about $70 per park if purchased at the gates (you have to buy these at least seven days ahead online). So if you want to see more than one park, and almost every family visiting Orlando does, you will save considerably by using these.
Write and read comments about this post.
For example, if you step up to the ticket booths at the two parks at Universal Orlando on the day you attend, you will pay $72 for adults and $60 for children (which across Orlando means between ages 3 and 9). That buys access to a single park, with no option of being able to enter the second park on the same day.
But if you book on Universal's website (www.universalorlando.com/tickets.php), you will have access to a variety of better deals. For example, you can visit both its parks for a day for $80 adults/$70 kids, enabling you to see much of the attractions in a single day. Or you can stick to a one-park ticket offered at the gates, but pay $2 less for it. During the slow season, Universal has been known to sell online a full week of access for around the price of one or two days' tickets. All you have to do is buy your tickets at least 48 hours ahead of time and either print them at home or pick them at ATM-like machines at the front gates, the way you do for reserved movie tickets.
Likewise, while a one-day price for SeaWorld costs $70 adults /$60 kids at the gate, online (www.seaworld.com/orlando) you can get it for $60 with a free second day at the park. You can also get a pass the gets you into both SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa for $90 as opposed to about $70 per park if purchased at the gates (you have to buy these at least seven days ahead online). So if you want to see more than one park, and almost every family visiting Orlando does, you will save considerably by using these.
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Jul 24, 2008
Suddenly, the weight of your luggage has become a big deal. Pack light
In years past, if you walked up to the airline check-in desk with luggage that was reasonably over the posted weight limits, you could often talk the clerks into checking it anyway.
But now that the airlines are desperate for cash, people with heavy bags will find themselves slapped with an extra expense. Airlines are uniformly enforcing these policies to the ounce so that they may glean extra funds from overweight baggage fees. Even some conveyor belts at the check-in desks have been reprogrammed to stop moving if they sense heavy luggage.
On British Airways, the coach passenger's allowance is just 51 pounds. Anyone who goes over pays the equivalent of $50. If the bag weighs more than 70 pounds, the airline says it may not even be allowed on board. The charges on American Airlines, to take another example, are almost identical, and Delta charges $80. Worse, fees are almost always for each way, so double them for a round trip.
Although it might seem at first like the simplest of vacation advice, "pack lightly" is not always so easily accomplished. We all have a sense of when our luggage is becoming overstuffed, but we don't always know how close to the weight limits we actually are. Packing your bags is ultimately guesswork, especially when you're on vacation and about to return home with your souvenirs. Despite the fact that these overweight fees are hitting flyers in their pocketbooks, I don't know of any hotels that maintain scales for the purpose of weighing outgoing customers' luggage before it's brought to the airport for the flight home.
So it's imperative that you know how much your luggage weighs when empty. Get out the bathroom scale and rest your empty suitcase on it. Once you have that base weight, you will have a greater sense of how much more you can put into it before reaching the limit.
Simply knowing the weight of your empty luggage will go a long way in helping you avoid any unpleasant and expensive surprises when you show up at the airport and anxiously watch the numbers climb on the airlines' own equipment.
Write and read comments about this post.
But now that the airlines are desperate for cash, people with heavy bags will find themselves slapped with an extra expense. Airlines are uniformly enforcing these policies to the ounce so that they may glean extra funds from overweight baggage fees. Even some conveyor belts at the check-in desks have been reprogrammed to stop moving if they sense heavy luggage.
On British Airways, the coach passenger's allowance is just 51 pounds. Anyone who goes over pays the equivalent of $50. If the bag weighs more than 70 pounds, the airline says it may not even be allowed on board. The charges on American Airlines, to take another example, are almost identical, and Delta charges $80. Worse, fees are almost always for each way, so double them for a round trip.
Although it might seem at first like the simplest of vacation advice, "pack lightly" is not always so easily accomplished. We all have a sense of when our luggage is becoming overstuffed, but we don't always know how close to the weight limits we actually are. Packing your bags is ultimately guesswork, especially when you're on vacation and about to return home with your souvenirs. Despite the fact that these overweight fees are hitting flyers in their pocketbooks, I don't know of any hotels that maintain scales for the purpose of weighing outgoing customers' luggage before it's brought to the airport for the flight home.
So it's imperative that you know how much your luggage weighs when empty. Get out the bathroom scale and rest your empty suitcase on it. Once you have that base weight, you will have a greater sense of how much more you can put into it before reaching the limit.
Simply knowing the weight of your empty luggage will go a long way in helping you avoid any unpleasant and expensive surprises when you show up at the airport and anxiously watch the numbers climb on the airlines' own equipment.
Write and read comments about this post.
Looking for free Wi-Fi while traveling? Equip yourself with a Starbucks card
Starbucks has made a few headlines in recent weeks for its decision to close about 600 of its stores. Apparently, there are plenty of people who have realized that paying $4 for a cup of coffee is perhaps not the wisest use of limited funds and have wisely cut back their consumption. Starbucks itself is also apparently becoming as aware of its saturation as the rest of us.
But the chain, which currently has some remaining 7,000 outposts nationwide, will be no less ubiquitous in the short term. That prevalence can be a good thing for travelers, even those who never drink a drop of coffee. Laptop computer travelers can now use Starbucks as their personal Internet cafe and never pay for web access on the road.
That's because earlier this year, the chain announced that it would change its wireless Internet services, which were a paid service in most fully-sized stores, to become free. The only thing customers must now do to gain access to the Internet with their laptops in its shops is obtain a free Starbucks Card (www.starbucks.com/card). That is a prepaid card, like a gift card, that is loaded with the amount that the customer chooses. As long as they use that card at least once a month, Starbucks Wi-Fi is free for two hours a day.
Customers can buy a water, a coffee, a sandwich to eat while they surf the web, or the usage can be as simple as putting a few more dollars on the card. That means that for the price of a beverage, the web could theoretically be free for a month.
The deal also means that AT&T, which arranges the Internet connectivity, may send customers up to four sales e-mails a year. To keep personal in-boxes unclogged, my suggestion is to set up a special, free webmail account on Yahoo or a similar service to which the pitches will be sent. A list of Starbucks stores with wireless facilities can be found at www.starbucks.com/wifi.
Write and read comments about this post.
But the chain, which currently has some remaining 7,000 outposts nationwide, will be no less ubiquitous in the short term. That prevalence can be a good thing for travelers, even those who never drink a drop of coffee. Laptop computer travelers can now use Starbucks as their personal Internet cafe and never pay for web access on the road.
That's because earlier this year, the chain announced that it would change its wireless Internet services, which were a paid service in most fully-sized stores, to become free. The only thing customers must now do to gain access to the Internet with their laptops in its shops is obtain a free Starbucks Card (www.starbucks.com/card). That is a prepaid card, like a gift card, that is loaded with the amount that the customer chooses. As long as they use that card at least once a month, Starbucks Wi-Fi is free for two hours a day.
Customers can buy a water, a coffee, a sandwich to eat while they surf the web, or the usage can be as simple as putting a few more dollars on the card. That means that for the price of a beverage, the web could theoretically be free for a month.
The deal also means that AT&T, which arranges the Internet connectivity, may send customers up to four sales e-mails a year. To keep personal in-boxes unclogged, my suggestion is to set up a special, free webmail account on Yahoo or a similar service to which the pitches will be sent. A list of Starbucks stores with wireless facilities can be found at www.starbucks.com/wifi.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: websites
Jul 23, 2008
Some leisurely thoughts about the pleasures of traveling in Europe on the slowest trains
The European rail system is generally efficient, fast and affordable. But you must always keep in mind that on many routes, you'll have a choice between an airplane-style high-speed train and a slower one that makes more stops. Improbably enough, the slower variety, in addition to costing much less, are often more pleasant.
The price, first. Taking a six-hour-long fast train between Berlin and Munich will cost €110. But agree to board the local, which takes about nine hours, and the price is about €73. That's a nearly $60 savings for the same day on the same route, and the only difference to your touring schedule will be three hours.
This additional time is often offset by the fact that in some cities, the slower trains run with greater frequency than the more expensive express trains, so they are often easier to schedule. Also, fast trains often require seat reservations whereas slow trains, which are intended for casual commuters, are easier to catch on a whim.
Now these savings are not always possible on every route. In Spain, the new AVE bullet train, outfitted as beautifully as an airplane cabin, goes between Barcelona and Madrid in 2 hours and 43 minutes at a cost of $240 round-trip. Unfortunately, it completely replaced the five-hour trains that cost about $80 less. When you buy your ticket, always ask if there's a cheaper slow train available.
In Europe, the railway can be a very social environment. Taking the train that stops more may involve a longer trip than the fast train does, but it also affords you more opportunities to meet locals, who use this multi-stop service to get around their respective regions.
It's just more proof that often, traveling in the most affordable fashion can not only save you money, but can also supply a richer and often more authentic local experience.
And, of course, you'll have more time to relax, read a book, or get a better look at the foreign countryside as it cruises along at a slower speed.
Write and read comments about this post.
The price, first. Taking a six-hour-long fast train between Berlin and Munich will cost €110. But agree to board the local, which takes about nine hours, and the price is about €73. That's a nearly $60 savings for the same day on the same route, and the only difference to your touring schedule will be three hours.
This additional time is often offset by the fact that in some cities, the slower trains run with greater frequency than the more expensive express trains, so they are often easier to schedule. Also, fast trains often require seat reservations whereas slow trains, which are intended for casual commuters, are easier to catch on a whim.
Now these savings are not always possible on every route. In Spain, the new AVE bullet train, outfitted as beautifully as an airplane cabin, goes between Barcelona and Madrid in 2 hours and 43 minutes at a cost of $240 round-trip. Unfortunately, it completely replaced the five-hour trains that cost about $80 less. When you buy your ticket, always ask if there's a cheaper slow train available.
In Europe, the railway can be a very social environment. Taking the train that stops more may involve a longer trip than the fast train does, but it also affords you more opportunities to meet locals, who use this multi-stop service to get around their respective regions.
It's just more proof that often, traveling in the most affordable fashion can not only save you money, but can also supply a richer and often more authentic local experience.
And, of course, you'll have more time to relax, read a book, or get a better look at the foreign countryside as it cruises along at a slower speed.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: berlin, munich, trains
Exotic Ecuador, anybody? At $1,159 including air, it's a staggering value -- but only with advance booking
A trip to Ecuador, in early 2009, is one of the unexpected bargains of today's travel world, an exotic experience that's full of travel excitement. But you have to book it now (prior to September 5), long in advance of departure.
The tour operator is Friendly Planet (tel. 800/555-5765; www.friendlyplanet.com), the six-night stay is actually called "Exotic Ecuador," your hotels are in Quito and three other locations to which you're taken by motor coach, you receive round-trip air from Miami and airport-to-hotel transfers, and the package is packed with still other values. The price also includes touring (with visits to the traditional town of Otavalo, a pass by the volcano of Cotopaxi, and time at a rescue center for rainforest creatures such as monkeys and tapirs), all hotel nights, and 18 meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
For bookings made by September 5, the price is $1,159 in May 2009, $1,209 in March and April, and $1,259 From January to early March. For bookings made after September 5, however the rate bounces up to well over $1,500. (Solo travelers always pay another $225.) Considering the fact that round-trip airfare to Quito from Miami is currently $800 to $925 on Avianca, American Airlines, and Delta (LAN Airlines is sometimes sold for around $550 but is not always available), the $1,159 and even the $1,259 package price, which includes air (including fuel surcharge), hotels, much food, and touring, is really quite special.
And incidentally, it's an example of what you can do through lengthy advance booking (in this case, prior to September 5). One of the best ways to score a good price on any vacation package will never change, regardless of the economic climate. And that is to reserve many months in advance while spaces are still available at that package's lowest prices. Purchasing way ahead gives tour operators more bargaining power in buying tickets and hotel rooms, so many companies reward vacationers for those early decisions.
Write and read comments about this post.
The tour operator is Friendly Planet (tel. 800/555-5765; www.friendlyplanet.com), the six-night stay is actually called "Exotic Ecuador," your hotels are in Quito and three other locations to which you're taken by motor coach, you receive round-trip air from Miami and airport-to-hotel transfers, and the package is packed with still other values. The price also includes touring (with visits to the traditional town of Otavalo, a pass by the volcano of Cotopaxi, and time at a rescue center for rainforest creatures such as monkeys and tapirs), all hotel nights, and 18 meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
For bookings made by September 5, the price is $1,159 in May 2009, $1,209 in March and April, and $1,259 From January to early March. For bookings made after September 5, however the rate bounces up to well over $1,500. (Solo travelers always pay another $225.) Considering the fact that round-trip airfare to Quito from Miami is currently $800 to $925 on Avianca, American Airlines, and Delta (LAN Airlines is sometimes sold for around $550 but is not always available), the $1,159 and even the $1,259 package price, which includes air (including fuel surcharge), hotels, much food, and touring, is really quite special.
And incidentally, it's an example of what you can do through lengthy advance booking (in this case, prior to September 5). One of the best ways to score a good price on any vacation package will never change, regardless of the economic climate. And that is to reserve many months in advance while spaces are still available at that package's lowest prices. Purchasing way ahead gives tour operators more bargaining power in buying tickets and hotel rooms, so many companies reward vacationers for those early decisions.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: ecuador
Jul 22, 2008
Holy cow, Batman! Today marks the appearance of our 1,000th post! It's been quite a journey
Back in May of 2007, I began this daily blog about travel, and soon turned into a creature of bloodshot eyes and an exhausted, shuffling walk. Gone were the days when I could turn in around 11pm and put myself out with a relaxing mystery novel. When you set for yourself the task of producing two-to-five little essays on world travel on each and every weekday, you can't go to sleep at night before you have completed your daily quota. And if you're like me, you don't begin composing those posts until after a long day of other obligations.
Those one thousand discussions are now available to be read in our archives. You can either look for a favorite topic by inserting the appropriate phrase in "Search this Blog". Or, if you'll click on the words "Arthur Frommer's Blog" appearing elsewhere on this screen, you'll find a list of all 1,000 posts covering almost everything I know about travel and vacations.
Today we start on the second thousand (did I really say that?). But it's first appropriate to supply an explanation of what's coming up.
To begin with, I'm about to return to my former pace of three short essays a day (which followed an earlier pace of five a day). When late August brings a speed-up in travel developments -- in other words, when the summer doldrums have ended -- I'll be back to a larger daily group of tips and tirades.
But while the numbers will increase, the purpose will remain the same: service to the reader -- practical service having a direct bearing on your next trip. Except for an occasional opinion piece (and you'll have to forgive me for those), every other one of the next thousand posts will describe either a concrete travel opportunity, a mishap to avoid, a place or a program that's unusually exciting, a formula for intelligent travel sensibly priced.
Those are the same elements that have made Frommer's the best-selling series of travel guides in North America. And they reflect the same approach that has lifted Frommers.com into the ranks of the single most popular websites on travel.
We have followed that approach because of the high regard we have for travel, because of our belief that travel has become an essential feature of a civilized life, that it is not a mere recreation but an important learning activity.
Yes, a learning activity. Travel impacts the mind in a way that no other activity can quite achieve. You can read endlessly about different destinations, lifestyles, political systems, cultures, and peoples, but nothing matches the benefit of directly experiencing those subjects on the spot. And to do so is a grand opportunity. We are the first generation in human history to be able to travel easily to other continents, and we shouldn't squander that precious right.
Because travel is so important, we approach it seriously. We don't waste your time giggling over travel oddities or chronicling the travels of entertainment celebrities, or writing about fads of no significance to your own travels. We attempt to give you valuable practical assistance in planning your own next vacation
The fact that you are now reading this 1,000th post is strong evidence of your agreement with that approach. So thank you for accessing Arthur Frommer Online (via www.frommers.com/blog), and I look forward to talking with you more.
Write and read comments about this post.
Those one thousand discussions are now available to be read in our archives. You can either look for a favorite topic by inserting the appropriate phrase in "Search this Blog". Or, if you'll click on the words "Arthur Frommer's Blog" appearing elsewhere on this screen, you'll find a list of all 1,000 posts covering almost everything I know about travel and vacations.
Today we start on the second thousand (did I really say that?). But it's first appropriate to supply an explanation of what's coming up.
To begin with, I'm about to return to my former pace of three short essays a day (which followed an earlier pace of five a day). When late August brings a speed-up in travel developments -- in other words, when the summer doldrums have ended -- I'll be back to a larger daily group of tips and tirades.
But while the numbers will increase, the purpose will remain the same: service to the reader -- practical service having a direct bearing on your next trip. Except for an occasional opinion piece (and you'll have to forgive me for those), every other one of the next thousand posts will describe either a concrete travel opportunity, a mishap to avoid, a place or a program that's unusually exciting, a formula for intelligent travel sensibly priced.
Those are the same elements that have made Frommer's the best-selling series of travel guides in North America. And they reflect the same approach that has lifted Frommers.com into the ranks of the single most popular websites on travel.
We have followed that approach because of the high regard we have for travel, because of our belief that travel has become an essential feature of a civilized life, that it is not a mere recreation but an important learning activity.
Yes, a learning activity. Travel impacts the mind in a way that no other activity can quite achieve. You can read endlessly about different destinations, lifestyles, political systems, cultures, and peoples, but nothing matches the benefit of directly experiencing those subjects on the spot. And to do so is a grand opportunity. We are the first generation in human history to be able to travel easily to other continents, and we shouldn't squander that precious right.
Because travel is so important, we approach it seriously. We don't waste your time giggling over travel oddities or chronicling the travels of entertainment celebrities, or writing about fads of no significance to your own travels. We attempt to give you valuable practical assistance in planning your own next vacation
The fact that you are now reading this 1,000th post is strong evidence of your agreement with that approach. So thank you for accessing Arthur Frommer Online (via www.frommers.com/blog), and I look forward to talking with you more.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: blog
Leisure Larry has announced his first package for the autumn: $1,600 including round-trip air, two nights' hotel, and a seven-night cruise
I interviewed Larry Fishkin, aka "Leisure Larry," of Travel Themes and Dreams (www.travelthemesanddreams.com) by phone on my Sunday program last weekend. He's the veteran cruise broker who, until ten years ago, had led the industry in the depth of the discounts he offered for ocean-going cruises (in a company called The Cruise Line, Inc.). A Miami resident, he knows almost everyone in the cruise world, and apparently parlays those contacts into big advantages.
Ten years ago, Fishkin sold The Cruise Line, Inc. to a conglomerate, and devoted the intervening time to various other activities in travel. He has now returned to the fray (last week, as recently as that!) with a new website. And the initial listings on his website are of various cruises offered at a major discount.
But starting in the next several days, he advised me, he will be supplementing the standard cruise prices with "cruise packages" combining round-trip air from the U.S., two hotel nights at the embarkation port, and then a seven-night cruise, for an amount that will represent the largest reduction off published rates that the industry presently knows. By combining airfare and hotel stays together with a cruise, he will be able to avoid the cruise lines' strictures against openly reducing the cruise price to below the levels sold by the cruise line itself (no one will be able to tell what they're paying for the cruise as contrasted with the air and the hotel stay).
He advised me that his first package, going up in just a few days, will be a round-trip flight to Barcelona occurring on autumn dates, two nights at a good Barcelona hotel, round-trip port-to-ship transfers, and seven nights on a Mediterranean ship of Norwegian Cruise Line, all for $1,600-some-odd, but plus taxes and fuel surcharge. Since the round-trip autumn air fare to Barcelona is itself at least $1,200 per person, you are getting the hotel nights and the cruise at an unprecedented low price.
I'm predicting that about two days from now (we're the first blog to make the announcement), you'll be able to book that package or gain additional information about it, by either accessing the website or phoning tel. 877/870-7447.
Write and read comments about this post.
Ten years ago, Fishkin sold The Cruise Line, Inc. to a conglomerate, and devoted the intervening time to various other activities in travel. He has now returned to the fray (last week, as recently as that!) with a new website. And the initial listings on his website are of various cruises offered at a major discount.
But starting in the next several days, he advised me, he will be supplementing the standard cruise prices with "cruise packages" combining round-trip air from the U.S., two hotel nights at the embarkation port, and then a seven-night cruise, for an amount that will represent the largest reduction off published rates that the industry presently knows. By combining airfare and hotel stays together with a cruise, he will be able to avoid the cruise lines' strictures against openly reducing the cruise price to below the levels sold by the cruise line itself (no one will be able to tell what they're paying for the cruise as contrasted with the air and the hotel stay).
He advised me that his first package, going up in just a few days, will be a round-trip flight to Barcelona occurring on autumn dates, two nights at a good Barcelona hotel, round-trip port-to-ship transfers, and seven nights on a Mediterranean ship of Norwegian Cruise Line, all for $1,600-some-odd, but plus taxes and fuel surcharge. Since the round-trip autumn air fare to Barcelona is itself at least $1,200 per person, you are getting the hotel nights and the cruise at an unprecedented low price.
I'm predicting that about two days from now (we're the first blog to make the announcement), you'll be able to book that package or gain additional information about it, by either accessing the website or phoning tel. 877/870-7447.
Write and read comments about this post.
Jul 21, 2008
Did you know you could visit New York's Museum of Modern Art for free (one night a week)?
Visitors to New York City will obviously consider the city's famed Museum of Modern Art (an overwhelming collection of the past century's masterworks) to be a must-see, but many are deterred from stepping in by a hefty $20 per person admission fee. Other great museums of Manhattan theoretically charge as much, but also advise that the fee is simply a "suggested" donation, and I know a great many residents who simply drop a single dollar bill into the admissions box at institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and then saunter gaily inside without being challenged by the ticket takers.
That can't be done at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), which is a privately owned, and not city-run, attraction. There, $20 means $20.
But, Friday evenings at MOMA, from four to eight, are "Target nights" when the nation's Target stores pick up the tab, and admission is therefore free of charge. That policy is known to a great many parsimonious New Yorkers, but certainly not to all, and is unknown (as best I know) to almost all out-of-town visitors. So I feel good about alerting you to the fact that Fridays from 4-8pm, you can visit one of the world's great museums for free.
Don't fail to take advantage of this big opportunity.
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That can't be done at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), which is a privately owned, and not city-run, attraction. There, $20 means $20.
But, Friday evenings at MOMA, from four to eight, are "Target nights" when the nation's Target stores pick up the tab, and admission is therefore free of charge. That policy is known to a great many parsimonious New Yorkers, but certainly not to all, and is unknown (as best I know) to almost all out-of-town visitors. So I feel good about alerting you to the fact that Fridays from 4-8pm, you can visit one of the world's great museums for free.
Don't fail to take advantage of this big opportunity.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: arts, deals, new york city
For visitors to Orlando, the Disney Dining Plan strikes me as a poor way to arrange your meals
If you're an adult traveler to Orlando who wouldn't dream of purchasing a pre-arranged dining plan, you can skip this post. Read no further. But if you're a family going to Mickey Mouse Land, and have booked a room at Orlando's Walt Disney World Resort, you have undoubtedly been offered the chance to opt into the Disney Dining Plan. In its basic version costing $38 per day for anyone over 10, $10 aged 3 to 9, it grants guests credits good for one table-service meal, one meal from a fast-food counter, and one snack at Disney-operated eateries.
Because of the plan's apparent convenience, it has become an extremely popular add-on. Let me point out the following:
According to several families, the dining plan's popularity has created difficulties. So many people use it that the advance reservations systems for restaurants are clogged for weeks ahead of time. Dining Plan users often find they have to do hours of homework and advance telephone work to eat where they want to eat. Booking sit-down restaurants involves an opportunity cost in that they keep you from enjoying the rides and shows you presumably went to Florida to enjoy.
Whereas last year, the dining plan included appetizer, dessert, and tip, in 2008 Disney stripped appetizer and tip from the plan. So your "paid-for" meal isn't really paid for; if you want a starter, you must pay, and there are still gratuities to consider.
Without the plan, you will pay $10 to $12 at a counter-service restaurant anywhere at the resort, which includes a drink. No tipping is required there. Simple math proves that if you stick to counter-service locations, as a majority of Disney guests do, you will spend about $24 (plus the price of snacks, if you eat or drink any) as opposed to $38 (before tips) for the same period with the dining plan. That isn't a savings.
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Because of the plan's apparent convenience, it has become an extremely popular add-on. Let me point out the following:
According to several families, the dining plan's popularity has created difficulties. So many people use it that the advance reservations systems for restaurants are clogged for weeks ahead of time. Dining Plan users often find they have to do hours of homework and advance telephone work to eat where they want to eat. Booking sit-down restaurants involves an opportunity cost in that they keep you from enjoying the rides and shows you presumably went to Florida to enjoy.
Whereas last year, the dining plan included appetizer, dessert, and tip, in 2008 Disney stripped appetizer and tip from the plan. So your "paid-for" meal isn't really paid for; if you want a starter, you must pay, and there are still gratuities to consider.
Without the plan, you will pay $10 to $12 at a counter-service restaurant anywhere at the resort, which includes a drink. No tipping is required there. Simple math proves that if you stick to counter-service locations, as a majority of Disney guests do, you will spend about $24 (plus the price of snacks, if you eat or drink any) as opposed to $38 (before tips) for the same period with the dining plan. That isn't a savings.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: disney
Good news: There are multiple means of cutting your theater-going costs in London
The West End in London rivals Broadway in New York for its range of high-quality, big-budget stage performances. But currently (and for the foreseeable future), you pay two American dollars for just one pound. Since tickets for London's musicals cost about £50 to £60, accessing much of that world-class entertainment is problematic.
But you don't have to pay that much. Exactly as in New York, most London productions (save the ones that are sold out for weeks on end) offer discounts, if only you know where to find them. Several websites round up the going deals, present them to you, and then give you the necessary discount codes and links to book them yourself.
One of those sites is Theatremonkey.com (www.theatremonkey.com), which lists half-price promotions and meal-and-a-ticket packages. The site BroadwayBox.com (www.broadwaybox.com/london), which is mostly about New York, also brings some West End discount codes to the masses.
Some other ways to save?
If all else fails, you can buy same-day, half-price tickets to a range of shows (including dance) at the TKTS booth (www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts) on the south side of Leicester Square. Like the Manhattan booth that inspired it, tickets are half-price there, but unlike the New York booth, it accepts credit cards, not just cash, adding to its convenience.
Happy theater going, mates!
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But you don't have to pay that much. Exactly as in New York, most London productions (save the ones that are sold out for weeks on end) offer discounts, if only you know where to find them. Several websites round up the going deals, present them to you, and then give you the necessary discount codes and links to book them yourself.
One of those sites is Theatremonkey.com (www.theatremonkey.com), which lists half-price promotions and meal-and-a-ticket packages. The site BroadwayBox.com (www.broadwaybox.com/london), which is mostly about New York, also brings some West End discount codes to the masses.
Some other ways to save?
- Given a lead time of a few weeks, lastminute.com (www.lastminute.com) sells many shows for half price, as does LOVEtheatre.com (www.lovetheatre.com; click "Special Offers"). Booking fees of a few pounds usually apply.
- Matinees are often slightly cheaper than evening shows.
- Ask at box offices about standing room tickets. Not all theaters have them, but the Donmar, the National, and the Old Vic, to take three examples, do, and they sell for under 10 pounds. These are usually only available if the show's seats are sold out.
- Seats at the very back of the theater might cost a quarter to a third of what the seats in the front do -- but bring opera glasses.
- Some older theaters sell what are called restricted-view seats. You may have to crane your neck at times to see around the edge of the balcony or a pillar, and if the staging has actors at the extreme sides of the stage you might not be able to see them momentarily, but you'll be in the room. Such seats cost about a third what top-price seats do. Theatremonkey.com posts audience members' opinions about which theatres have decent restricted-view seats and which are too terrible to consider.
- If you're a student and can prove it with I.D., some box offices may offer you discounts of 20% to 40%.
If all else fails, you can buy same-day, half-price tickets to a range of shows (including dance) at the TKTS booth (www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts) on the south side of Leicester Square. Like the Manhattan booth that inspired it, tickets are half-price there, but unlike the New York booth, it accepts credit cards, not just cash, adding to its convenience.
Happy theater going, mates!
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
