We're in the midst of a pretty big move. Don't expect much from us until the middle of August.
In the interim, for your reading pleasure, here are a few of our other favorite travel bloggers & websites:
Cranky Flier
Upgrade: Travel Better
Today in the Sky
Ellipses
Telegraph (UK)
USA Today Travel
Times Online (UK)
EuroCheapo Blog
Yellowstone National Park parking lotIf you haven't heard yet, a new European airline start-up, SMINTair (Smokers International Airline), is planning to begin operations October 28. SMINTair is planning to be an "all smoking" airline. Now that the TSA has so wisely decided to allow lighters on planes (but not water), SMINTair may be even able to fly to the U.S.
We love the SMINTair website so much, we thought we'd quote verbatim the text from the opening page.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
SMINTair is set to be the World's Most Luxurious Airline.The world’s most populous country, China, is set to become the world’s top tourist destination by 2014.
According to the World Tourism Organization, China was originally expected to take over number one in 2020. China is also now projected to take over number two from Spain by the end of 2010.
Old postcard, China, early 1900s.Since the winds of politics, marketing, the media, and geography have created such a brand for the Olympics, events are now awarded far in advance. Olympic fans currently have four different games to look forward to. Each event’s website offers a variety of newsletters that you can subscribe to. If you want to stay on top of everything Olympics, here are the contacts for all four games, as well as for the IOC. (It’s interesting to see the four Olympic logos side-by-side on the IOC home page.)
Beijing, China, Summer 2008 - http://en.beijing2008.cn/
Vancouver, Canada, Winter 2010 - http://www.vancouver2010.com/en
London, England, Summer 2012 - http://main.london2012.com/en
Sochi, Russia, Winter 2014 - http://sochi2014.com/
International Olympic Committee - http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp
If you’re anywhere near as fed up with air travel as we are, consider taking the train. Obviously, we’re not talking about the U.S. here, but Europe. The Paris-based International Herald Tribune reports that rail operators from the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgian are developing a new rail alliance called Railteam.
The system hopes to have an on-line ticketing site available by 2009. The Trib reports that already, “Eurostar, which runs trains from London to Paris and Brussels, said it saw a 39 percent jump in the first three months for tickets that connect to French high-speed services that bring travelers to the Mediterranean and the Alps.”
By 2009, we wouldn’t be surprised to see prices competitive with some European air travel. And after you factor in fewer luggage hassles (you have lots of room and convenience on the trains), scheduling convenience (if you miss one train, just get on the next), lots more personal space (no cramped 31-inch seat pitch), easier terminal access (the train stations are often in or near city centers, not out in the countryside), and simplified security (no hours-long waits), rail may again become the way to travel in Europe.
Take a bottle of wine (try that on a plane), a baguette sandwich, some cheeses. Actually see the countryside you’re traveling through. Have room to get up, walk around, socialize. We wouldn’t be surprised to see overseas air travelers re-configuring their air arrangements so that wherever they land it’s more convenient for making train connections.
As you’ve probably read elsewhere, the airlines are shortening their frequent flyer activity periods. Many are down to 18 months – if you don’t have some sort of activity in your account every 18 months, your mileage balance may disappear. But any activity works – buy a book, send flowers, dine out, stay in a hotel, use an airline-branded credit card. There are hundreds of possibilities with most airlines. If your credit is good, consider getting an airline’s no-fee credit card. You won’t get 1-for-1 miles for dollars spent (usually only 1-for-2), but the cards have no annual fees and all you need to charge is a few dollars. The banks/airlines don’t heavily promote these cards, but we know that US Air, United, and American all have no-annual-fee credit cards. (Others may also. Check Gary Steiger’s FreeFrequentFlyerMiles.com for more information.)
Our suggestion is to simply do a once-a-year checkup. In our case, it’s in November, when we do holiday shopping, we may dine out more often, etc. If we haven’t had activity in a particular program, we do one of the things above. This is especially important for those airlines where you have miles you don’t want to lose, but you no longer regularly fly that airline.
Airlines expiration policies:
United 18 months
Continental 18 months
American 18 months
US Air 18 months
Delta 2 years
Alaska 3 years
Northwest 3 years
I'm getting really tired of some of my favorite (travel) bloggers associating themselves with "guest bloggers" to do the dirty work while the head honcho is ... on vacation/sick/too tired to write a new post/whatever. I look at blogs for a personal touch, and now it's disappearing in many instances. Relatedly, too many bloggers (at least in the travel world) feel that it's better to say something inane every day than have some insightful and thoughtful comments whenever it happens. I'd rather read real news and information every 2-3 days or every week than crap on a daily basis.
Almost everyone traveling to Europe knows that many city destinations pretty much shut down during August – when most Europeans themselves are on vacation. We saw a short article on Fodor’s website about restaurants in Paris which remain open in mid-summer. Better yet, we discovered a great blog by a Canadian living in Paris.
By now, everyone should know the news about the bombing attempts in London and at Glasgow airport. The UK terror alert levels have been raised, air passengers are being encouraged to only arrive at UK airports by public transportation, and other security measures are in place. On a practical level for most travellers to Europe, this means one simple thing – PLAN MORE TIME. More time to get to the airport, more time at check-in and security, and more time for just about everything associated with air travel.
Some reporters and bloggers are whining about the Grand Canyon only being fourth on Trip Advisor’s latest list of “Top 10 U.S. Attractions.”
Personally, I’m surprised the Grand Canyon made the list at all. Hey, it says “Attractions” – man-made fun, get it? Here’s the complete list:
1. Orlando, Florida (Universal Studios, Sea World, Discovery Cove, and everything Disney)
2. Cirque du Soleil, Las Vegas, Nevada
3. Hana Highway, Maui, Hawaii
4. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
5. Central Park, New York City
6. Alcatraz, San Francisco, California
7. Top of the Rock Observation Deck, New York,
8. Monterey Bay Aquarium, California
9. Bellagio Fountains, Las Vegas, Nevada
10. San Diego Zoo, California
Before writing about our trip to Washington itself, let’s clear the air about the pop-up camping trailer. Basically, it was (is) a piece of shit. We purchased a Rockwood tent trailer from Bob Scott RV in Grand Junction, Colorado, and the unit totally failed to live up to expectations and what we were told. All systems died within the first two days – electrical, water, propane. We basically had the pleasure of towing an expensive tent for nearly two weeks from Colorado to Washington.
Upon our return, Bob Scott RV completely disregarded our request for a refund, instead offering to “fix” the trailer and “show us how it really worked.” We will never buy or recommend any type of RV from Rockwood and especially from Bob Scott RV.
Our attorney says that, unfortunately, there is no “lemon law” in Colorado for trailers and RVs. So buyer beware – only buy from a reputable dealer, or be like us and figure out how to cut your losses by getting the unit repaired and then selling it.
More about the good aspects of our Washington trip in the next few entries.
The U.S. State Department is asking for up to "two groups of 50" diplomats with "consular experience" to volunteer to help at the National Passport Center in New Hampshire to help deal with the backlog of 3 million passport applications.
Any foreign service diplomats who qualify can spend their summer vacation (July and August) helping the government out of its own mess. Unless my math fails me, that works out to 500 applications per worker per day - including weekends - which means each person would need to process one application per minute.
Our wise government is offering these folks lodging, travel, and a per-diem. Sure seems like a bunch of folks would just jump at this wonderful opportunity. Although New Hampshire is awful pretty in summer.
Travellers, please don't expect your passport to show up any sooner.
Well, if it’s not political, it’s not the Olympics. While there are still two Games before it (Beijing Summer 2008 and Vancouver Winter 2010), the London Olympics is already feeling the heat of controversy.
The new logo/brand has been revealed, and it seems nobody much likes it. It’s pretty blocky and rather boring to me, but what strikes me most is that it says nothing about London. The logo could be for any city, any place on the planet.
As a former marketing (and occasional branding) consultant, one thing I always stressed to destination or location clients (example) was to have their brand establish or reinforce a sense of their unique place in the world. The 2012 logo isn’t, to me, totally dreadful, but it simply neglects to tie itself to what is arguably the greatest city in the world.
See more on the official London 2012 Olympics website.
As with most things governmental, the recent passport requirements for travel between the U.S. and Canada are taking longer to implement than anticipated. The U.S. Office of Travel & Tourism Industries issued the following statement on June 12.
"WASHINGTON – The U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security announced today that U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda who have applied for but not yet received passports can nevertheless temporarily enter and depart from the United States by air with a government issued photo identification and Department of State official proof of application for a passport through Sept. 30, 2007. The federal government is making this accommodation for air travel due to longer than expected processing times for passport applications in the face of record-breaking demand."
Some bloggers have mentioned a requirement for a birth certificate during this temporary period. We don't see this in the above statement.
We’re trying something new for us over the next two weeks. We’re towing a small pop-up (Francesca calls it the Pop Tart) camping tent trailer from Colorado to Washington. If we can get internet access in the woods of the northwest (unlikely where we’re going and with this trip’s agenda) we’ll post some news and photos. Otherwise, look for a report upon our return.
Bank of Internet USA has several checking plans offering an ATM card that can be used anywhere, with no ATM fees from Bank of Internet. In addition, Bank of Internet will reimburse account holders up to $8 per month (depending on account) for ATM fees charged by other banks/ATM owners. ATM withdrawals are limited to $305 per day.
Much has been made recently of this year being the 50th anniversary of the publication of Arthur Frommer’s Europe on 5 Dollars a Day. It surely was a breakthrough work, but was far from the first travel guidebook. So we thought we’d “review” some old travel guidebooks from our bookshelf (some older than Frommer’s, some newer, some just plain eclectic). First on our list:
TWA Vacation Guide and World Atlas – 1956
This book, “compiled for Trans World Airlines,” presents a fascinating picture of world travel in the mid 1950s. Despite covering nearly the entire globe, Russia is not even mentioned in the book. Yet in the Cuba section, the island’s description begins: “For excellent swimming, exciting deep-sea fishing, or just relaxing in the bright sunshine, no place surpasses it. In addition, there is ... beautiful, gay, sophisticated Havana.” So much has changed in the world, yet the photo of Trinidad, Cuba, in the book could have been taken in 1955, yesterday, or 200 years ago.
The TWA Vacation Guide not only covers the then-already-popular riches of Europe, but also speaks highly of Iran (“Land of Omar Khayyam”) and Iraq (“Land of the Arabian Nights”).
Overall, there is hardly a negative word about any destination in the book. We find it most fascinating in its view of a world sometimes seemingly very far away. Yet in many places, it’s still quite possible to use it as a travel guide – the London section would work decently today. (Although you’d not be able to find the once-famous Simpsons of Piccadilly store, Harrods and Fortnum and Mason’s are still London stalwarts.)
The book doesn’t neglect America, with even the state of Nebraska receiving nearly a full page of coverage. And the maps and photos in this 390-page book are still fascinating and educational.
Can you say, “unhappy”? In general, U.S. airlines scored lower than all but one of 19 industries in customer satisfaction, according to the University of Michigan. On a scale where 100 was the best, the airline industry scored 63. For comparison, the cable/satellite TV industry scored the worst at 62, and even the IRS managed to beat the airlines with a 65.
Postcard from the S.S. Normandie's inaugural voyage, 1935We've long been fans of the British (granted, sometimes odd) travel sensibilities and experiences. So we were shocked, shocked I say, to recently discover a travel site we'd never found before.
The Telegraph.co.uk is the on-line home for the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers. As an example of what's on their travel page, we found articles about the new French high-speed rail service, one about the "Not So Little Green Men," and a great blog with entries about female gondoliers and "Why Don't Single Women travel?"
We wrote recently about credit card foreign-exchange fees, touting Capital One and Washington Mutual as the best (lowest fees) in our research.
We just realized that while the American Express Platinum Business “FreedomPass” card carries a 2% foreign-exchange conversion fee, the card’s rewards percentage works out to 1-1/4% ($100 ticket value redemption for 7,500 points, earned at 1 point per $1). This brings the “net” foreign-exchange fee down to 3/4% – better than all but Capital One (0%).
World Responsible Tourism Day offers a way for businesses (especially travel businesses) to become involved in making tourism more responsible and “local friendly.”
In our personal lives we try to “eat local” – buying foods produced near where we live – and to “shop local” – favoring purchases at independent local stores rather than national big-box chains. So why shouldn’t we support the local economy and environment of the places we visit?
Several good responsible-tourism resources include:
The Responsible Tourism Partnership
Harold Goodwin (Director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership)
World Responsible Tourism Day
For our part, we’ve decided that as our way of supporting responsible tourism, now through November 14, 2007 (World Responsible Tourism Day), Travel America LLC will contribute 5 percent of all How To Travel America book sales revenue to art education in Africa.
If you’re going to Europe and traveling either to or through the UK (as many U.S.-to-Europe flights do), it’s worth signing up for the BAA WorldPoints program. Kind of like a frequent-shopper program for goods sold at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh airports, the program also often offers bonus points for surveys and such. Since you’ll probably buy something (even if just water, a newspaper, and a snack) in a London (or other BAA) airport, you’ll accrue points. Without any exorbitant purchases, we’ve gained points for several half-price Heathrow Express tickets (currently discontinued, unfortunately) and £5 shopping vouchers. Other rewards are also available.
Paris Opera, postcard late 1920sRecent research by Ed Perkins at Smarter Travel and Scott McCartney with the Wall Street Journal generally found that, in order, the best airlines for snagging frequent flier seats were:
American – good
United – good
Continental – fair
Northwest – fair
US Air – poor
Delta – none
We’ve recently had fairly good luck with United and American, but haven’t tried any of the other airlines lately.
(The Wall St. Journal original article above requires a paid on-line subscription, but a forum discussing the article is available here for free.)
ADDENDUM: Just tonight, after writing the above, we're trying to book a frequent flier ticket for next Thursday (a week away; domestic). We can't even GET INTO US Air's award booking site, while we found several flights available on United. Nuf said.
Everyone has their priorities when it comes to air travel. Some folks want the absolute lowest fare, others want amenities. For us, it’s about two primary things – seat comfort and non-stop flights.
We can’t afford business class (much less first), so we want the best bang for our economy-ticket buck. Which is why we like United’s Economy Plus; why we love SeatGuru; and why we’ll pay a little more for a butt that still has feeling after we deplane. And since we really hate the airport experience part of traveling, we also want the most direct flights possible. We’ll gladly pay a little more to get to Europe from our small-town airport in one stop instead of two.
Some of what we don’t like we have control over (what airline to fly), some we don’t (airports and security).
What we don’t like is unassigned seating (we live three hours from a Southwest airport, yet have only flown them once); not enough counter agents; unexplained delays; criminally high airport parking fees; onerous change fees; unfriendly/unpleasant flight attendants (hey, your job IS customer service, get over it). And, finally, security. The sole purpose of our current security system is to keep us in a constant state of low-grade fear. In Bowling for Columbine, one of Michael Moore’s contentions is that government and some businesses have a vested interest in keeping Americans in a culture of fear. We have seen the future, and airport security is the closest we’ve seen to an Orwellian nightmare.
Despite a headline which should have raised a lot of eyebrows (“Airline Passengers Subsidizing Private Aviation”), the travel media mostly ignored another potentially hot issue. A recent Associated Press story, reported on CNN.com last week, raised the issue that many ticket fees airline passengers pay are used for benefits to private aviation airports (which don’t see commercial air traffic, and therefore have no direct benefit for commercial passengers).
The story leads by saying: “The federal government has taken billions of dollars from the taxes and fees paid by airline passengers every time they fly and awarded it to small airports used mainly by private pilots and globe-trotting corporate executives.”
Fees and taxes on airline tickets just keep increasing. Read the full AP article, and if this makes you mad, contact your Senators and Representatives. Congress is currently looking into new ways of financing the FAA (which doles out the money to private airports) before the agency’s funding expires on September 30.
The web is a wonderful place. But it sometimes seems that it’s going the route of trash TV, and of graffiti vandalism being called art. In the course of our business and life, we look at way too many websites (especially travel sites) on a daily basis. There is so much crap, intrusive crap, annoying crap, and just plain bad crap on websites now. Not that I’ll ever be able to do anything about it, except ignore those sites completely that don’t respect my sensibilities.
Complaint #1 – The “dancing moron” ads. Most of these are from LowerMyBills and ClassesUSA (both Experian companies – yes, the credit agency folks). Maybe I’m not in their target demographic and just don’t get it, but I will never patronize any business which annoys me so much so frequently.
Complaint #2 – “Enter” pages on websites. I don’t want to see your gauzy, too-cool intro pages. I don’t want to wait (even with broadband) until I finally see a “skip intro” button. I just want to see your damn information.
Complaint #3 – Unwanted noise, music, narration on any website, for anything. I like Yakima car racks, but their moronic little narrator “coach” drives me away from their products. Especially when I can’t get him to shut up. Mobal’s world cell-phone site has another very annoying narration with no easy "SHUT-UP" option.
Complaint #4 – Browser pop-up blockers have finally helped control pop-up and pop-under annoyances, but some still get through. The latest are the “floater” or “fly-over” ads, the little boxes which run across your screen too fast to hit the close X (unless you’re a better gamer than I am), and which obstructs the article you really want to read.
Complaint #5 – Spam. Yea, it isn’t directly a website issue, but every website should be conscious of the ways in which it may inadvertently help promote spam. Spammers are the lowest form of life on the planet – another form of vandalism, just like graffiti. If caught, spammers (and graffiti vandals) should have one testicle removed upon first offense, and the second one if caught again. At least that way they can’t breed.
Much of my past professional career was in marketing and advertising. I understand what all the above techniques are trying to accomplish, and certain (questionable) studies show that even annoyances, especially in advertising, create name recognition (the theory that “bad publicity is better than no publicity”). Maybe that once worked for toilet-paper purchases in the grocery store, where you grabbed whatever name first came to mind, not remembering that it was a negative connotation. Maybe I’m in the minority, and annoying web ads, noise, and navigation really do work in today’s sound-bite world. I hope not, because there aren’t many ad-free and noise-free places left in the world. Maybe I’ll start by moving to a state (Maine, Vermont, Alaska, and Hawaii, last I knew) or community with an anti-billboard law.
Kansas wants to be more on the minds of travelers and tourists. The state, through the non-profit Kansas Sampler Foundation, is soliciting nominations for The Eight Wonders of Kansas. To us, Kansas is a state of sweeping vistas, beautiful tall-grass prairies, and, well, more nice stuff.
The Associated Press reports that Caleb Asher, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Commerce, told The Wichita Eagle: “The best places you can find are in those small towns, in some of those family-owned restaurants that fix fried chicken and fresh-baked pies.”
The Eight Wonders campaign is seeking nominations through May 6, when 24 finalists will be selected (we hope they find that many family restaurants serving fresh pie). Voting on the finalists will continue until December 31, and the eight winners will be announced on “Kansas Day,” January 29, 2008.
If you’re a traveler and skier, you’re probably already anticipating the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. And what will be the best way to see the vast slopes of the Alpine ski venues at Whistler? How about a new 2.7-mile-long (4.4 km) gondola which will stretch from the peaks of Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain.
Scheduled for completion in December 2008, the gondola will feature a free span of nearly 1.9 miles (3 km) and will have 28 cabins, each capable of holding 28 passengers. Whistler’s Peak to Peak website has artist’s views and information (just be sure to turn off the obnoxious music on the intro page).
We generally prefer smaller, powder-rich ski areas, and don’t get too excited about BIG ski resorts (and Whistler is the biggest in North America), but we’d love to see the views from this baby.
So is American Airlines’ “women’s” site really about women, or another foray for AA into the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) market? American was just named the official airline of Olivia, a “lesbian-focused travel company” (according to today’s Wall St. Journal). On their Rainbow web page, American boasts that they have the “American Airlines Rainbow TeAAm - The only LGBT Dedicated Sales Team in the industry.” As we said before, it’s all about marketing.
With the high season for travel to Europe soon upon us, we wanted to remind travelers going to or connecting through Britain that you’re allowed only one carry-on bag. You can not have a purse, laptop bag, camera bag, or briefcase in addition, as you can in the U.S. That one bag must not exceed 56x45x25 cm (22x17x10 inches). The same 3-ounce, 1-plastic-bag rule for cosmetics/liquids as in the U.S. is in force, and your plastic baggie must be able to fit within your carry-on. (Note that you can put a purse, camera bag, or at-your-seat bag inside your carry-on, and remove it after you board.) The latest info can be found at www.dft.gov.uk under the “airport security” section.
There is also a wealth of Europe travel information available at How To Travel Europe.
We love films that take us places – intriguing places we desire to visit; nostalgic glimpses of places from the past; or destinations we’re familiar with, which convey a wonderful sense of that specific place. Here are a few of our favorite travel/destination movies.
The Quiet American – Michael Caine in Vietnam in the early 1950s. Atmospheric and edgy. Like most of our favorite travel films, this makes us wonder what it was really like in that time and place.
Casablanca – Rick’s Café, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Morocco. What more is there? If you don’t want to visit North Africa after seeing this, you just don’t have the travel bug.
Havana – This is Robert Redford’s remaking of – and homage to – Casablanca, but set in Cuba just before Fidel’s victory. Much of it was filmed in the Dominican Republic, but the B-unit shots are certainly Havana, and the historical context is wonderfully entertaining.
Under the Tuscan Sun – Diane Lane as “Francesca” (one of us). Francesca saw the movie just before a trip to New Zealand and a friend said to her, “You’re not going to come back, are you?” (She did.) Wonderful sense of a place.
Planes, Trains & Automobiles – Silly, rude, and wonderful. Too goofy for words, but it “moved” us.
The Out of Towners – The original, not the remake. Who hasn’t been in some sort of similar situation in a big city (in this case, New York)? Plans go awry, flights are missed, lack of sleep – sounds like the typical travel “adventure” to us.
Amelie – The early, cute Audrey Tautou in locations all over Paris. The fun is recognizing sites and attractions. The best evocation of French cafés since Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast.
Notting Hill – For the anglophile in us all. Portobello Road, plus the disgustingly cute Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Loved it nonetheless.
Mindwalk – Deep, talky, and mostly ignored. My Dinner with Andre in France. This still draws Kenneth toward Mont St. Michele.
Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Cuba, early 1930sAmerican Airlines has come out with a new website and (obviously) a new marketing campaign aimed at women travelers (www.aa.com/women). While we applaud almost everything that contributes to the equality of the sexes, we’re not exactly sure what to make of American’s effort. Do women really want or need different booking or destination information? Is there some added value for the female traveler in using a sex-specific website?
Kenneth’s (male) take:
It’s obviously a work-in-progress. Will there be sections of the website that are actually useful for women (those “personal” travel hygiene tips)? Will there be an interactive component of the site, such as a woman-to-woman forum?
Also obviously, the site isn’t designed to offer special discounts just for women – that would be completely discriminatory.
So my take is that it’s simply an American Airlines marketing tool – trying to get more women to fly American. Which, as a former marketing consultant, makes sense to me. Differentiate yourself from the pack, even if it’s with only the sizzle and not the steak.
This is not a knock against American. We’ve generally had good travel experiences on the airline. But my final take is that this is a good marketing gimmick for American, while at this time offering information of questionable value which can probably be found better elsewhere.
Francesca’s (female) take:
I’m sorry, but to me the new women-specific marketing campaign of American Airlines is insulting and offensive to women and men alike. The battle of the sexes was decades ago, and if I recall from my history class, it ended nicely in compromise.
Women have been treated equally and fairly in most walks of life since this treaty’s conception, so why stir up old grumblings now? What inequality is there now while traveling? What “privileges” do men have over women on a plane? Being a very happy, independent, well-traveled, and fulfilled-in-life woman, I feel used like a pawn in the game which big companies play to stay on top.
I’ll be traveling to the shower now to “wash that airline (man) right out of my hair.”
So, are we missing something here? Let us hear your thoughts.
Old postcard 1930s, Luzern (Lucerne), SwitzerlandAfter just praising HSBC in the previous entry for having only a 1% foreign-transaction fee on credit card purchases, today I got in the mail a change of terms and conditions stating the fee will now be 3%. So scratch HSBC off the list. Looks like Capital One (0%) and Washington Mutual (1%) are the last good options.
In the process of planning some upcoming international travel, here’s what we’ve discovered about credit card foreign-exchange fees. This is based on information from the credit card terms-and-conditions literature, the card company’s website, or from talking with customer-service personnel. It may not be correct for your card or your travel situation. It may also not apply to all cards in a company’s lineup. Check with your card company, but this seems to be the latest we could find:
Capital One charges 0% foreign-exchange fees.
HSBC charges 1-3% foreign-exchange fees.
Washington Mutual charges 1% foreign-exchange fees.
America Express charges 2% foreign-exchange fees, but is not as widely accepted internationally.
All other cards we researched charged 3% or more.
Since most “reward” cards (miles, points, cash-back, etc.) generally offer their rewards at roughly equivalent to 1% – and some do not offer rebates/rewards for non-U.S. purchases – the reward would seem generally not enough to offset a higher foreign-exchange fee. Also remember that should you return a purchase while overseas, you’ll get hit with the foreign-exchange fee again for the credit. Finally, don’t ever fall for a merchant’s offer to charge the purchase in U.S. dollars instead of the local currency. Again, you’ll pay dearly in increased fees.
ATM fees are another matter. Most banks (probably yours) charge a fee for use of a “foreign” ATM – but in bank-speak this means any ATM that is not one of theirs. This is usually a fixed amount – we’ve seen most of these fees range from $1.50-$5.00 per ATM withdrawal. Which means, withdraw as much as you think you’ll really need, rather than smaller amounts several times. But... don’t get so much cash that you’ll have to convert it back to dollars, as then you’ll really take a hit. We’re generally really pleased with ourselves if all we have left after our trip is a few dollars worth of coins (which will come in handy for our next trip). ATMs also charge a 1% wholesale exchange commission, on top of the fee above.
Two ways to lower your ATM fees that you might consider:
1 – Get an HSBC ATM card, and hope that you can find an ATM in the wide HSBC network (18,000 locations). A good way to do this is to open a free on-line checking account with HSBC, fund it with only a little more than you think you’ll need in cash for your trip (to limit your potential theft/fraud loss), and get an ATM card linked to that account only.
2 – Get an ATM card from Bank of America. BofA is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, which claims 12,000 ATMs operated by member banks in the U.K., Germany, Australia, New Zealand, France, China, Mexico, and Canada.
Despite the fees, credit cards and ATM cash withdrawals are still better and cheaper than carrying traveler’s checks or exchanging hard dollars for local currency. Still, you might as well pay as little as possible for the convenience and safety of plastic.
Old postcard, Thames Embankment, London, 1928
“Ten Best” lists can get awfully boring. Our eyes really glaze over and we reach for the bottle of wine when we see “The 100 Best.” Yet like most journalists, we do have our favorites, and we’re opinionated enough to want to share them with you. So without embellishment, and without including any of our own websites, here is a short list of our favorite on-line travel resources.
Our 6 Favorite Travel BLOGS
Perrin Post - http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/perrinpost
Today in the Sky - http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/
Upgrade: Travel Better - http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/
The Cranky Flier - http://www.crankyflier.com/
Ellipses - http://ellipses.elliott.org/
Johnny Jet - http://www.johnnyjet.com/blog/myblog.html
Our 6 Favorite Travel WEBSITES
USA Today Travel - http://www.usatoday.com/travel/default.htm
New York Times Travel - http://www.nytimes.com/pages/travel/
Sunday Times Travel (London) - http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/
CNN Travel - http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/
International Herald Tribune Travel (Paris, in English) - http://iht.com/pages/travel/index.php
TripAdvisor - http://www.tripadvisor.com/
Our 3 Favorite Travel NEWSLETTERS
Internet Travel Tips - http://home.netcom.com/~rcowen/newsletters.htm
The Travel Insider - http://www.thetravelinsider.info/index.htm
Visit Europe - http://www.visiteurope.com
Our 1 Favorite Traditional (Printed) Travel Magazine’s WEBSITE
Conde Nast Traveler - http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler
(We recently ran across a collection of old travel photos by our parents and grandparents, as well as many old travel postcards. We thought we'd share a new image on each of these posts.)
Rennes, France - Old postcard from 1934There are dozens of travel magazines, all offering some useful information to travelers with different tastes and desires. You can always go out and buy a copy of each, and most have good websites associated with their magazine. As an overview, here is what we perceive as the strengths, weaknesses, and targeted audience of several of the most popular and widely available publications.
Travel+Leisure
Travel+Leisure was one of the first big travel magazines. It is geared toward a fairly upscale audience, and seems to focus on cities, fine dining, fashion, and both U.S. and international travel.
Conde Nast Traveler
Conde Nast Traveler covers much of the same ground as Travel + Leisure, with (to our perception) even more emphasis on cities and style. We like Conde Nast’s columnists (especially Wendy Perrin) and their travel tips and advice. The magazine also generally includes good cruise info.
National Geographic Traveler
National Geographic Traveler leans much more toward outdoor, active travel (but still carries articles on urban travel). It may have a bit more bias toward U.S. travel than either of the two above, yet still covers destinations around the world. Another of our favorite columnists, Chris Elliott, writes for NGT. While we subscribe to many of the magazines listed here, this is our favorite.
Budget Travel
Budget Travel has a folksy, more down-to-earth take on travel. Its editorial focus varies, but generally strikes a balance between both U.S. and international travel destinations. It seems geared to the audience described in its title – budget.
National Geographic Adventure
National Geographic Adventure features many U.S. destinations, with a strong adventure-travel bent. It seems focused on a younger, trendy audience, with sound-bite journalism rather than in-depth articles.
Wanderlust
Wanderlust is a UK publication, and another of our favorites. It has the usual mix of tips and info, as well as many feature articles about destinations around the world – many you might not have even heard of. It does offer articles on U.S. and North American destinations, but to a much lesser degree than any of the U.S. magazines. And despite being based in the UK, it does not have a heavy focus on British travel.
Sunday Times Travel
Sunday Times Travel is another UK magazine, put out by the Times Newspapers. It covers many international destinations, but seems to focus on cities (especially European) and more “civilized” destinations that does Wanderlust. It probably has a bit more info on UK travel than does Wanderlust. It, too, occasionally offers articles on U.S. travel, but most stories cover other international locations.
Both UK publications are available at many newsstands in the U.S., and Wanderlust’s U.S. subscription rates are not unreasonable.
There are also several other travel publications, which to us seem to have smaller distribution and/or less useful content, including CNN Traveler, Endless Vacation (good, but only available to RCI timeshare members), Town & Country Travel, Weekends, and others. One worth mentioning is Outside. Outside is generally not what we’d consider a “travel” magazine, but they publish an annual Outside Traveler issue (usually bundled with a fall issue of the magazine, and probably also available stand-alone on the newsstands), which usually has good travel and destination information, especially covering Caribbean and other warm-weather locales.
Should travel writers/journalists/bloggers mention sites or attractions which are not environmentally friendly? In a world that believes that “any publicity – even bad – is good publicity,” should we even mention the unethical, unfriendly, and disturbing destinations? Should journalists be gatekeepers of the unseemly? Or do we just report everything?
What got me thinking is the abominable new Grand Canyon Skywalk on the Hualapai Indian reservation in Arizona. This weird structure offends me deeply, yet the attitude of the tribe is that, like publicity, “all tourism is good tourism.”
The WashingtonPost.com quotes former Grand Canyon superintendent Robert Arnberger as saying, “I think it’s a real travesty ... it desecrates the very place the Hualapai hold so dear.” Of course, tribal leaders contend such comments are elitist, or worse. Hualapai Tribal Council Chairman Charlie Vaughn said such criticism comes from “people ... eating tofu and pilaf and sitting in Phoenix with their plasma-screen TVs. Our tribe started in these canyons. We’ve always been here, and we’ll always be here.”
So, if I dislike the Skywalk desecration, should I even mention it? Should I tell people about it but urge them not to go there? Should I let folks make their own decisions? The question would be easier to answer if the news hadn’t already been splashed across every travel media in the U.S., but it has. Yes, sadly, everything has been found. So, I guess by posting this, I’ve set myself firmly in the camp of “Tell About It, But Don’t Recommend It.”
Please avoid the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Speak with your pocketbooks. Don’t support industrial, exploitative tourism. There are hundreds of similar travesties around the planet. Avoid them all and send a message to their makers and keepers.
Timeshares, and their accompanying reputations, have been around for decades. They are still out there, but the sleazy operators have been weeded out, and the reputable developers can usually be trusted. But….
Why do you want a timeshare, and if you do, how do you plan to use or exchange it?
One of our favorite travel bloggers, Wendy Perrin of the Perrin Post, discussed timeshares in her March 5, 2007 post. She also referenced another popular blogger, Ed Perkins of Smarter Travel. Both articles contained the conventional wisdom about timeshare pitches and buying.
What is quite frequently not mentioned in these articles is the timeshare resale market. Basically, one can often buy a timeshare for a few hundred dollars from timeshare resale brokers, or even on ebay. When the upfront cost is reduced from, say, $10,000 to $600, a timeshare can make great sense. If….
1) You plan to use it every year, or trade it and use the trade every year. Once you miss a year, your annual maintenance fees effectively double.
2) You only buy a timeshare in a place you want to visit frequently, or you know your travel habits enough to know you’ll enjoy a trip where you’re based in one location for a week (the usual timeshare interval).
We’ve had great success with timeshare trades, despite the stories that “it’s hard to trade for a good resort/week/etc.” In prime color season last fall, we traded into a timeshare in the heart of Vermont (photo above). And the week before Christmas, we traded for a ski week in Banff, Canada (photo below).
The key to good trades is to buy a good trading property. Which means, basically, that you own….
1) A prime (“red”) week.
2) Preferably a two-bedroom unit.
3) And have low annual maintenance fees.
Do the math. Figure your amortization of the initial purchase price (including closing costs). Add you annual maintenance fees. If you plan to trade, add the cost of the trade company membership (the two big ones are RCI and II). Add the cost of the actual trade.
If, like us, you know that your annual costs work out to about $700 per year (trade), you can make an informed decision that you can or can’t find lodging for a ski week in Canada for $100 per night.
Bottom line, for us, is that we'd never purchase a new timeshare, but we'd certainly purchase a resale that afforded us good trades or was in a location we knew we'd visit every year.
* Do you stuff a couple of complete, 600-page guidebooks to Europe in your pocket, when you just want the dozen pages covering Prague?
* Are you frustrated with the book you bought in 2007 which was published in 2005 and probably researched from 2002 to 2004?
* Do you find it next to impossible to find lodging options when you know that hundreds more, and better, exist that aren’t listed in your guidebook?
* Do a third of the restaurants listed in your guidebook no longer exist? Are another third full only of other guidebook-toting tourists? And is the food in the final third terrible and overrated?
There have recently been a lot of articles, blogs, and comments about the current state of the guidebook industry. Some commentators suggest that conventional, printed travel guidebooks consist of old, inaccurate, shoddy work by underpaid and disinterested writers. Other folks suggest that guidebooks are still far superior to doing travel research on the internet.
One of the most damming comments appeared in an article on the Times (UK) Online headlined “Travel Guidebooks Slammed.” Here is a short excerpt from that article:
A senior editor at a leading publisher, who also requested anonymity, said that he found young writers often produced “quite embarrassing chunks of prose”. Some also accepted “freebies”. “A writer may have stayed in a cockroach-infested heap, but if it’s free, it will be given a glowing write-up.”
For several years, we’ve felt strongly that traditional, printed travel guidebooks are excellent tools for general travel planning – for armchair travel, if you will – but are much less effective on the ground. Our biggest complaints concern the listing of lodging and dining establishments in the guidebooks, for all the reasons other commentators have noted: Listings are limited, out-of-date, full of guidebook-toting tourists, inaccurate, and subject to favoritism. We generally suggest that the best lodging and dining recommendations come from research on the internet, from personal recommendations from friends (and maybe even from websites such as TripAdvisor), and (in the case of dining) from talking to real locals and even just wandering the streets and taking your chances.
We have also found fault with guidebooks listing unique attractions and activities which are surely personal favorites of the authors and not based on what the general traveling public would enjoy. (One exception is with Rick Steves. In general, we like his personal suggestions and opinions. But then Rick very pointedly always says that the opinions are his alone.)
Finally, we also generally have found that the guidebooks covering the smallest region (a single city, only part of a state or country) are the best and most accurate.
Our vision of where the travel guidebook industry should be going is toward eBooks. Combined with internet research into lodging options, the potential of eBooks seems immense. eBooks offer the opportunity for constant updates, detailed analysis, and even other travelers’ views and opinions.
Imagine an eBook travel guide to England. The initial book could cover everything that’s already been done in Fodor’s or Frommer’s or Lonely Planet or whatever. But an eBook could also have a section with far more details about hiking in the Highlands or historical sites in London. Additional special sections could be added at will. Changes could be made as soon as the publisher could post the new information, and readers could download new versions of the book or new pages as soon as they’re published.
We’ve never felt bad about ripping apart printed guidebooks and stuffing the 12 pages on Notting Hill in our pocket, while leaving the rest of the two-pound book behind. With eBooks, readers could simply print out those same 12 pages and carry them on their journey. eBooks could also be downloaded to a PDA or other device, so the full book would be available if those 12 pages aren’t quiet enough.
Another huge advantage of eBooks is the ability to include updated travel news. Are subway stations closed for repair? Is the museum you planned your trip around being remodeled for the next two years? Are there travel warnings to the region you’re considering visiting?
Of course, no book, even a travel guide eBook, can or will have the latest breaking news about every aspect of a destination, but the odds of having updated information are so much greater with eBooks. Combined with an associated travel website, an eBook publisher could provide a worthwhile on-the-ground book with timely travel news.
Also, eBooks (and that associated website) offer the chance for reader comments and suggestions. The good eBook publishers will moderate and filter those comments, so they don’t sound like a sniping tech bulletin board. Conversely, of course, eBooks could lend themselves to the same complacency, inaccuracies, and outdated information in a printed book.
Still, it seems to us that for destination guidebooks, eBooks should be the wave of the future. Printed books will probably be with us forever (and never run out of batteries), but many travelers to many destinations might be better served by timely eBooks.
Why aren’t there travel guide eBooks out there in any quantity? We’d suggest several reasons. 1) Traditional book publishers have a lot invested in infrastructure, distribution networks, and the like. 2) Book distributors and bookstores are dependent on traditional printed books. 3) eBook publishing is still facing a few challenges regarding distribution, piracy, security, printing, and such. 4) Marketing systems for traditional printed books are firmly established. eBooks may require a new marketing paradigm. 5) There needs to be a few “breakthrough” travel eBook to show the potential of the model.
What else are the benefits of eBooks beyond what we discussed above? Cost. eBooks should be much cheaper to produce and distribute. Research and writing costs for the eBook publisher may be the same or slightly cheaper, but marketing costs may be a lot less. And distribution costs (wholesales, bookstores) are nearly non-existent. Thus, the final cost of the book to the consumer should be significantly less than for a printed book. (A printed book at $20 retail might cost the bookstore $10 and the distributor $6, and cost the publisher $3 to print and pay the writers and photographers.) Our guess, and it’s only that, is that an eBook should generally cost the consumer about half what a printed guidebook currently costs.
We would also be remiss if we didn’t note that several traditional guidebook publishers have made their books available as eBooks. This is simply re-packaging an existing guidebook and hoping folks will buy the electronic version rather than a printed book. To us, that does NOT constitute a “real” eBook. If a traditional publisher simply offers an eBook version of a printed book, it should cost no more than half the printed version, in our opinion. Otherwise, what’s the point? eBooks aren’t much fun to take into the bathroom, so make them cheaper or don’t make them at all. And remember, an eBook version of a traditional guidebook still has ALL the limitations of the printed book – lack of timeliness, inaccuracies, limited entries, etc.
(Painting: Art By Francesca)
In general, it doesn’t make too much sense for international visitors to sign up for U.S. airline frequent flyer programs (or “schemes” as our UK friends say). It’s usually better to book your air through a code-share agreement and gain frequent flyer miles in your own program. (For example, if you fly United from Germany to the U.S., it’s better to book your flights through Lufthansa – a United Star Alliance partner – and you can get Lufthansa miles in your account even if you’re on a United plane.)
Yet many hotel chains also offer “frequent guest” or “frequent stay” programs, and it may be worthwhile to sign up for some of those. If you’re traveling around the U.S. and expect or want to stay in the same chain’s properties in several places, you can build points for free rooms and other discounts quite quickly.
For example, if you like Hilton-level hotels (Hilton, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, others), joining the Hilton HHonors program can gain you points you can use worldwide. Likewise, if your budget leans more toward mid-range motels, the TripRewards (Days Inn, Ramada, Travelodge, Super 8, others) or Choice (Comfort Inn, Quality, Clarion, Sleep Inn, others) programs may be worthwhile on your travels.
Not only do you acquire frequent-guest points, but many plans offer room upgrades, free newspapers, the ability to trade points for airline miles, and other small amenities for program participants.
The programs which to us seem to be the best possibilities for international visitors include:
Hilton HHonors (Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, others)
Priority Club (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, others)
TripRewards (Days Inn, Ramada, Travelodge, Super 8, others)
Choice Privileges (Comfort Inn, Quality, Clarion, Sleep Inn, others)
Starwood Preferred Guest (Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, St. Regis, others)
Other programs, which may have less variety and geographic distribution, fewer amenities or point trade possibilities, or are limited to only one property (Best Western) yet which may still be worth considering include:
Best Western Gold Crown Club
Marriott Rewards
Hyatt Gold Passport
Even if you’re initially unsure of what properties you’ll be staying at until you begin travelling, you can usually sign up for a hotel’s program upon check-in for your first stay. Then, if you continue to stay with that hotel, you’ll be building points in the program immediately.
All these programs have extensive websites detailing their offerings. We belong to many of these programs, but for our travels we most frequently lean toward the Hilton HHonors and Choice Privileges programs. Most programs have no cost to join, so sign up for any you think you might use. And for U.S. residents, several of these programs have associated credit card programs, where you can accrue hotel points with your charge purchases. We are happy with the Hilton American Express card, and have also heard good reports about Starwood’s America Express card. Several other hotel chains have credit cards associated with their programs.
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