China has opened the world’s largest airport terminal in Beijing. The new Terminal 3 opened today with the arrival of a British Airways flight. The terminal has 10 million feet of space, is nearly 2 miles long, and includes 64 restaurants and 84 retail shops. For comparison, the terminal is larger than all five London Heathrow terminals combined.
Photo copyright Tom van DillenNearly every traveler has used a credit card overseas. If you did so between 1996 and 2006, you’re probably due a refund. Visa, MasterCard, and Diners settled a class-action lawsuit that accused them of not disclosing foreign-exchange transaction fees. There are several refund options, all detailed at www.ccfsettlement.com. The simple route is if you don’t have receipts and took only a couple of trips overseas, spending less than $2,500, you can file for the flat $25 refund. Option two asks the number of days you traveled internationally during the time period. The third option, only good for obsessive record-keepers, is to submit receipts for all your travels.
Of course, today, the fees are mostly still there (see our previous posts here and here), but now they’re upfront. There are options for reducing those percentages, most specifically by using a Capital One card. Some Capital One cards (“No Hassle” miles) are even reward/mileage cards, so you can get a little something extra still (even if it’s not the best reward card program) by using those cards.
Here are another two more international travel tips in our ongoing series. (Previous tips here and here.)
Make Lodging Reservations in Advance
Ten years ago, the “conventional wisdom” was that unless you were planning on staying in the Ritz hotel, you could find good and plentiful lodging upon your arrival in most countries (especially in Europe) relatively on the spur of the moment. Then things began to change. Just a couple of years ago, we recommended on our How To Travel Europe website that you make your first night’s lodging reservations at any new destination in advance. Now, we take that ever farther and suggest you book at least your first two nights lodging in advance, for every destination you plan to visit. Europe (especially) has gotten busy and crowded year-round, and two nights gives you time to scope out the lay of the land and also enough time to plan the following two days (either in a new destination; at the same place you’re staying now; or a different hotel in the same city). It is no fun – none – to wander around marginal neighborhoods for three hours dragging your too-many bags in a big city in a foreign country knocking on doors and trying to find a room.
Learn Some of the Language
Not only will you be more easily understood, you’ll gain friends by attempting to speak – however badly – the local language (yes, even in France). Learn the following words and phrases: Hello, goodbye, thank you, please, where is, how much is, hotel, bathroom, please, restaurant, beer/wine, sorry, what time does the train leave, numbers (if possible, sometimes difficult), a few menu items, and similar phrases. We’ve connected with folks in New Zealand when we tried to speak a few words of Maori; we had a great semi-understood conversation with a woman in Cuba as we used our very rusty Spanish. And despite the effort it took for us to learn the useful phrases in Slovene and Czech, it opened a few doors and made us a few friends.
In SloveniaWe really enjoy Rick Steves’ weekly columns in the Seattle Times, as well as his travel guidebooks. Recently, he’s been discussing some of what’s in store for Europe in 2008. Here is a highly condensed summary of information regarding travel changes on the continent for 2008.
ITALY
Rome – The Vatican museum will offer extended hours to accommodate more tourists.
Florence – Reserve tickets to the Uffizi Gallery at least a month in advance.
Venice – The dome of La Salute Church will likely be covered with scaffolding during a renovation.
Milan – The Duomo Museum is under renovation and may be closed for the first part of 2008, as well as the train station.
ENGLAND
London – The transport museum has reopened. The British Museum will undergo remodeling, and several items (including the Magna Carta) will not be on display. There will be no organ recitals at St. Paul's Cathedral in 2008 or 2009 during its restoration.
Stonehenge – This iconic monument is undergoing construction of a new visitors center, and traffic patterns may change.
Stratford-upon-Avon – The Royal Shakespeare Company has closed its Globe and Swan theaters for renovation and is using the Courtyard Theater as its main stage.
IRELAND
Galway – The Siamsa folk theater, which featured the step dancing popularized by Riverdance, will be closed in 2008.
FRANCE
Versailles – The Royal Opera House will likely be closed in 2008.
Paris – The new Quai Branly Museum is loaded with Primitive Art from Africa, Polynesia, Asia, and America. The renovated Petit Palais (and its Musee des Beaux-Arts) has art from Courbet, Monet, and other 19th-century painters. At the Louvre, the Venus de Milo has moved to the Sully wing. Charles de Gaulle Airport continues major renovations.
Nice – The city is finally getting some relief after being a construction mess for years. The first of three new light-rail lines (Le Tramway) is now fully operational.
Grotte de Font-de-Gaume – You can now reserve tickets to see France's best cave for original Cro-Magnon paintings by e-mail.
Chamonix – You can book tickets online in advance for France’s most famous mountain lift, the Aiguille du Midi.
GERMANY
Berlin – The building that formerly housed the Egyptian Museum (which moved to the city’s Museum Island) reopens this spring as the Scharf-Gerstenberg Museum, featuring Surrealist art.
DENMARK
Copenhagen – The helpful Use-It tourist information center is closing, leaving visitors at the mercy of the for-profit “Copenhagen Right Now” franchise.
NORWAY
Oslo – The new Opera House will open in 2008, across from the main train station. The Holmenkollen Ski Jump will close for part of 2008 and be rebuilt in preparation for the 2011 World Ski Jump championship, but the adjacent Ski Museum should remain open.
SWEDEN
Stockholm – Entrance fees have been reinstated at state-run museums in, making the Stockholm Card a good value for visitors. The Museum of Medieval Stockholm will be closed through the fall of 2009 for renovation.
SWITZERLAND
Zurich and Bern – These 2 cites (as well as others) will host the Euro 2008 soccer championships in June. Be prepared for large crowds.
SPAIN
Barcelona – The Palau Guell should reopen in 2008, offering the public a chance to see one of the finest interiors designed by the city's most famous architect, Antonio Gaudi.
Madrid – The Prado Museum’s expansion continues through 2008 and may rearrange the museum’s layout.
Toledo – The El Greco Museum will likely be closed for renovation through 2008, but its 20 El Greco paintings will be on display at the nearby Victorio Macho Museum.
Seville – The town’s grand boulevard – the Avenida de la Constitucion – is now a pedestrian-only thoroughfare.
PORTUGAL
Lisbon – The remodeled Rossio train station still hasn’t reopened, due to construction of a massive tunnel under a nearby roundabout.
Fatima – The Church of the Holy Trinity finally opened this past fall.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague – Renovation of the Charles Bridge continues, but remains open (and crossable) during construction.
SLOVENIA
Ljubljana – A new funicular zips visitors up from the riverside market to the castle above town.
Lake Bled, SloveniaCuban president Fidel Castro has resigned, and handed power to his brother Raul. Some political commentators are suggesting that not only will Raul be more amenable to open relations with the U.S., but that most of our presidential hopefuls may have a global, compassionate attitude toward the country. Plus, Fidel was hated by the politically powerful Miami Cubans, and now the symbolism of his power is gone. What this seems to mean to us is ... a guess only, here ... that Americans may be able to legally visit this fascinating country again. We’d put odds on 2009 as the year.
OPEN SKIES BETWEEN U.S. & AUSTRALIA
Much has been made of the Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and Europe. It seems that a similar agreement has been reached between the U.S. and Australia, which theoretically would increase options for consumers.
LESS COMFORT ON AIR FRANCE & KLM
Air France and KLM have decided to cram an extra seat into each economy row of their B777 planes. The new 10-across seating is another reason to try to use your frequent flyer miles for upgrades out of economy.
Southwest Airlines has apparently begun more strict enforcement of its policy of charging overweight passengers who can’t fit into a standard seat for a second seat. Sounds great to us, but all the civil libertarians are coming out and claiming discrimination against the obese. So why, when hotels ban smoking (Sheraton and Four Points recently joined that club), is it seen as a wonderful thing, yet when Southwest institutes its new policy, it’s deemed discriminatory? We’ve not been big fans of Southwest, but this is great, and other airlines should do the same. (The situation in Canada is different, and the government’s transportation agency has banned the practice of charging overweight passengers more.) Air travel is miserable enough already, and yet you can bet that no airline is going to put in a few wider economy seats reserved for the overweight (which they could charge more for anyway).
We’re going to be traveling for a week away from computers, and we aren’t going to even think about posting until we return February 17. For your travel reading until then....
Here are some of our current favorite and most useful travel websites.
Seat Guru – Get the best seats possible; nearly every airline and every airplane.
USA Today – Travel news, tips, destinations.
Free Frequent Flyer Miles – Ways to maximize your miles accumulation.
Trip Advisor – Quirky, but good reviews and opinions.
Telegraph Travel and Sunday Times Travel – The Brit take on travel.
Airline Route Maps – The best single source for airline flight maps.
International Herald Tribune – World news, including a good travel section.
ITA software – Our favorite “first-reference” airfare tool.
Old postcard, Venice, early 1900sA couple of bloggers we regularly read and enjoy (View from the Wing and Smarter Travel) have recently discussed variations on the theme: “What Frequent Flyer Program To Choose.” A lot of words are spent on this versus that. To us, unless you are truly a “frequent” flyer, where you are aiming for elite status with its upgrades and other perks, the point is moot. You really don’t have to “choose” a preferred program, just join the FF program of any airline you fly – it costs you nothing, and it really isn’t hard to keep miles up-to-date with other activities (sending flowers, dining out, shopping, etc.).
Admittedly, the more miles you dump into the fewest number of programs, the better chance you have for reward flights and upgrades, but we think your airline travel preferences should be routing (non-stop), destinations, convenience (times of day, etc.), price, aircraft configuration/seating, and only then the airline’s FF program (especially with frequent-flyer seats notoriously hard to snag on many airlines). If you do fly a lot, you probably already know a lot about airlines and their FF programs, and then choosing an airline by its FF plan might make sense.
All that said, if you’re savvy enough to know every airline’s other airline partners, you are probably best off trying to consolidate miles in one program. In the View from the Wing article, the example is used of a hypothetical Houston passenger who would normally choose Continental’s FF program, yet who might be better off in Alaska’s program – even if flying Continental he can use an Alaska FF number and accumulate AK miles, which then could be used for FF tix on Alaska’s partners such as Continental, Delta, Northwest, Air France, or KLM. But then, I wonder if most travelers are sophisticated enough to even know which airlines partner with which others. We in the travel biz can get pretty focused on little details that the average traveler just isn’t aware of.
The nominations were opened, the votes were cast, the numbers tallied, and the winners of the 8 Wonders of Kansas are....
Tallgrass Prairie, National Park Service/WikipediaThis is really hard for us to take with a straight face, but....
The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) has started a new blog, where readers are actually able to comment (and receive responses).
In our opinion, airport security in the U.S. (and in a few other countries such as the UK) is more about theater than actual security. So we applaud the theatrics of the TSA blog tagline:
“Terrorists Evolve. Threats Evolve. Security Must Stay Ahead. You Play A Part.”
We’ve often commented how “U.S.-centric” Americans are, and that often goes for the travel blogs, web resources, and travel publications we read.
We enjoy most UK travel magazines (see our archives), and have found several internet resources that, for some reason, Americans just don’t seem aware of – despite the breadth and reach of the web.
If you travel to Europe, and prefer train travel (an option we’ve suggested frequently – see our Train archives), take a look at The Man in Seat Sixty-One. The site offers a lot of great information about European train travel, and even some tips for travel around the rest of the world.
Here's a question for you, our readers:
Have you found the JCB credit card (chip-and-pin) widely accepted in Europe, especially at automated facilities such as gas stations?
There have been some online discussions at Upgrade and Frommers that Europe is going all chip-and-pin, but currently to our knowledge no U.S. Visa or MasterCard offers chip-and-pin cards. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express insist that swipe-and-sign must be available from any merchant that accepts their cards, yet that could be an issue with automated 24-hour gas pumps, self-vending train ticket machines, grumpy waiters, etc.
The JCB credit card is available to residents of certain U.S. states, and could be a useful international travel tool. Let us know your experience obtaining or using a JCB card.
As we’ve noted before, we’re pretty big fans of the Hilton HHonors frequent guest program. According to an email just received, the program has gotten even better. Hilton as now instituted no blackout days and no capacity controls. To quote Hilton: “Reward stays are not subject to blackout dates or capacity controls.” That seems pretty unambiguous to us.
We’ve previously endorsed the HHonors program and the Hilton American Express card, which earns 3 to 5 HHonors points per dollar spent (depending on purchase category). The way we’ve redeemed points (and we’ve used points for both hotel stays and converted them to airline tickets), that translates to roughly 4 cents per dollar – better than most cash rebate credit cards, and generally far better than most airlines’ approximate 2 cents (or less) per dollar redemption rates.
In our opinion, there’s no such thing as a “good” rental car company – there are just varying degrees of “less bad.” The Upgrade blog recently mentioned a Dollar “top-up” charge for returning a car with a full tank. Just last week, we were told by a Budget agent that if we drove too little (“less than 75 miles”) that they would fill up the gas at their price, whether we wanted it or not. Where do they find the lawyers to dream up and write this stuff?
When you rent a car today, you’ll be asked if you want to upgrade, if you want extra insurance, if you want a GPS system. Plus, we’ve heard far too many horror stories of “fake” car damage that the customer is charged for to not believe them. If you’re renting a car anywhere, it’s truly become Buyer Beware. So here are our tips.
1 – Reserve online, which should give you a price guarantee. Keep a copy for when you get to the rental counter.
2 – Decline everything. Upgrades, insurance, everything.
3 – Use a Visa or American Express card to pay for your rental. These cards seem to provide better supplemental rental insurance than does MasterCard.
4 – Offer the rental counter a “second” credit card for them to imprint when you pick up your rental. The car company may (as do some hotels) put a “block” on your card for an absurdly high amount (sometimes several thousand dollars), and if you have a lower credit limit on your card the block may effectively reduce or even cut off your credit line. Assuming you have more than one credit card (and we suggest you always travel with at least two cards), offer one when you rent the car (and the same card when you check into a hotel), but upon return of the car (or check-out from the hotel) pay the final bill with your “main” card if you prefer. (While this is a good option, many car rental companies now use a quick-return scanner that spits out a credit card slip for the card you rented with. If you want to change cards, you may have to return to the counter, and not use the quick-return option.)
5 – Carry a digital camera and take pictures (dated!) of the car from all angles, inside and out, when you pick it up and when you drop it off.
6 – Save your paperwork long after your travels, in case you need to dispute anything later.
7 – As we said, decline supplemental insurance, especially in the U.S. Assuming you have your own auto insurance, it should cover you adequately, especially with the additional coverage provided by your credit card. Do your homework before renting internationally. Several reports indicate that Visa may be the best card to use for overseas car rentals. We’ve also heard that there are a few foreign countries where you do need to (or have to) accept the supplemental coverage offered. We’ve heard that Mexico, Italy, Australia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, and New Zealand can be problematic – we haven’t rented in any of those countries recently, so don’t have up-to-date first-hand knowledge.
Pray that's not your rental car.Here are another two international travel tips in our ongoing series.
Understand Local Transportation
Trains, tubes, trams, subways, metros, busses, cable cars, taxis, and every form of transportation in every city and country is different. If you get nothing more from your guidebook, study in great detail the intricacies of using public transportation systems. On London’s Tube, you’ll want to get one type of ticket depending on your journey, length of stay, etc.; on the Paris Metro, it’s a completely different system, even though many ticket types are similar. On some systems, you’ll need your ticket to exit a station. On some trains/trams you’ll be expected to self-validate your ticket upon boarding; on others, you’re expected to wait for the conductor to validate your ticket. And once you finally get the hang of the system in one country, you’ll cross the border into another and everything will change again. Ah, the joys of travel.
Cell Phones Are Surprisingly Indispensable
Americans think they can’t live without their cell phones. In Europe and much of Asia, “mobiles” are even more ubiquitous (and almost essential). It can sometimes be a hassle finding a cell phone and service for the country you’re visiting (see our previous post), but it may be your most useful travel tool. You can make lodging reservations in advance, leave a call-back number for contacts you’ve missed, or call for dinner reservations. Once, in Amsterdam, we would have missed the best Thai meal of our life if we hadn’t had a cell phone to play phone tag with friends-of-friends who we finally met up with. Get a phone, as well as a good international cell service plan, a local SIM chip, or an international roaming chip (that actually works). And unless you’re a heavy-user business traveler, don’t worry too much about call-per-minute costs – the convenience and reliability of the phone and service is what’s most important.
We're working on a more comprehensive rental-car article (with tips and information), but in the meantime, read this post on the Upgrade blog. We've recently had good luck with Hertz and Budget, but the rental-car companies are getting out of hand with absurdity such as this.
If you have a favorite frequent flyer or hotel program, we encourage you to vote in the 20th Annual Freddie Awards. The Freddies honor the “best” frequent traveler programs – airlines and hotels. We have our own opinions, and have expressed them in this blog and by our vote in the Freddies. We encourage you to do the same – to keep the good programs going and to send a message to the other programs to get their acts together. Voting ends Feb. 29, 2008, and the winners will be announced on April 24, 2008.
We continue to be impressed with Alaska Airlines. Not only is the service more than acceptable in these days of surly flight attendants and delayed flights, but their customer service department and website are actually pleasant to use. One can even make one-way award reservations (try that on one of the Dinosaur carriers); the airline has change fees, but they aren’t criminal (as on some other airlines); their frequent flier program is excellent; and the web flight search is simple and seamless.
Alaska doesn’t have an extensive nationwide route network, but their main lower 48 hub is in Seattle, an airport which has non-stop flights on many airlines to both Europe and Asia. If you’re anywhere on the west coast, look into Alaska. In addition to western-U.S. service (including Alaska and Hawaii), the airline also has non stops to New York, Chicago, D.C., Boston, and Florida, as well as to several destinations in Mexico.
For some weird reason, we get a kick out of the traveller’s surveys that come out of TripAdvisor. The most recent was a survey of 2,500 users of the TripAdvisor website about their outlook on travel for 2008.
Europe was cheaper then: Old postcard circa 1930s, Piccadilly Circus, LondonThe website of the British magazine Business Traveler has a series of quick-bite city guides to various cities around the world. Not at all comprehensive or detailed, the guides nonetheless list about half-a-dozen spots in each city, with a handy small map. These are, obviously, geared to business travelers who maybe have an afternoon free to explore, yet can be useful to anyone. U.S. cities currently covered include Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, and New York. There are more than 30 European cities currently covered, including London, Rome, Cork, Copenhagen, and many more. Around the rest of the world, the guides cover Tokyo, Seoul, Nairobi, and several other destinations. These will never replace Lonely Planet or Michelin, but if you are in any of these cities for business, or are on a very short stop-over on a longer trip, the guides might be just the ticket to lead you to a few interesting sights.
We haven’t tried them yet (but will this fall on our next UK trip), but a new airport-to-hotel shuttle in London sounds very appealing. We’ve used such door-to-door shuttles in many places around the world, but somehow in London we always ended up taking the Heathrow or Gatwick Express trains. The National Express dot2dot service from central London to Heathrow and Gatwick airports seems competitively priced with the express trains, and a lot more convenient than cramming your luggage on the tube, making the train connection, and then schlepping your kit through train terminal and airport.
We don’t know if it’s us or them, but some of our previously favorite travel blogs seem to be going downhill in quality. We won’t mention any names, but will post a few of our new favorites. Some of our old preferences are still OK and offer some good info, but are simply no longer near the top of the list.
Most folks read blogs to experience a variety of voices – our take on things travel is different from another blogger's and that different from another still. And we read travel blogs for different reasons – news, destinations, advice, opinion. Thus, a short list of a few of our favorite travel blogs. We hope you find them – as well as this blog – entertaining and useful.
Upgrade Travel Better
The Cranky Flier
Today In The Sky
Gadling
Travel Rants
Coming up: Favorite travel sites, and favorite travel news sites.
With just a little difference of opinion to my husband’s latest blog about the new Open Skies Agreement, Ken asked me for a counterpoint blog. When I first heard of a new international airline named “Open Skies,” my ears perked up. For me, being the consumer in the family and not the marketing guru, “Open Skies” airlines seems an exceedingly pleasing way to fly overseas. It brings to mind a stress-free, peaceful time in the sky – sort of like daydreaming.
In a nod to the new Open Skies agreement, which allows airlines to fly between any U.S. destination and nearly any European one (not just between the U.S. and the airline’s home country), in June British Airways will begin operating a new airline from New York to either Brussels or Paris (with flights to the other city to begin later in the year). Competing international routes are usually beneficial for consumers, but in reality this may be more about BA being able to offer lower-cost U.S.-to-Europe routes (fees into the UK and Heathrow are high).
The new airline’s name? “OpenSkies.” From a marketing standpoint, brilliant; as a tool to differentiate from the competition and to draw travelers, who knows? (But then, who’d have thought that JetBlue, Virgin, or Eos would sound enticing. Now if someone came out with “No Stress Air,” we’d book every flight on them.)
Everyone is speculating about the impact of the Open Skies agreement on consumer air travel and pricing, and everyone has a different opinion. As the Chinese saying goes: “May you live in interesting times.”
Image courtesy British AirwaysAmerican travelers, especially those who travel abroad experiencing other cultures, are often embarrassed by the few numbers of fellow citizens holding passports. But there was some hope this past year. The Associated Press reported that, “The State Department issued a record 18.4 million passports in fiscal year 2007, compared to 12.1 million in 2006. Thirty percent of Americans now hold passports, up from 27%.” Unfortunately this enhancement was mostly in recognition of new passport requirements for North American travel, not that our country is finally looking past the “fear factor” of other peoples and to the wonders and enjoyment of the world beyond. According to the same report, Americans are expected to travel closer to home over the coming year because the dollar is so weak overseas.
Postcard from Bermuda, early 1900s.China is set to become the world's most visited tourist destination, and U.S. airlines are jumping on the route bandwagon. Announced so far, new China service from the U.S. is scheduled to include:
Spring 2008
Delta – Atlanta to Shanghai
United – San Francisco to Guangzhou
March 2009
US Air – Philadelphia to Beijing
American – Chicago to Beijing
Continental – New York (Newark) to Shanghai
Northwest – Detroit to Shanghai
Well, it looks like TSA has finally figured it out. Batteries are OK in carry-on bags, but not checked. Here's the direct quote now from the TSA website:
"Keep batteries and equipment with you, or in carry-on baggage - not in your checked baggage!"
Honestly, we don’t have a clue about the battery issue. (See our previous entry about lithium batteries.) In it’s infinite wisdom the government continues to contradict itself.
First, we present a direct quote from the TSA’s website (our emphasis in bold).
“Under the new DOT rule, lithium batteries are allowed in checked baggage under one of the following conditions:
The batteries must be in their original containers.
The battery terminals must not exposed (for example placing tape over the ends of the batteries).
The batteries are installed in a device.
The batteries are enclosed by themselves in a plastic bag.”
Second, two direct quotes from different sections of the DOT’s website (bold emphasis is from the DOT copy).
“Pack spare batteries in carry-on baggage.”
“You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage.”
If anyone out there is smarter than us and can figure this out, we’d love to hear from you.
We’re not ones to throw needless money at travel expenses. We’d rather save $500 on airfare so we can spend that much more on food, wine, or shopping at our destination. Yet even though we’re not road warriors, we’ve been eyeing airport lounges more and more. We see them as a way to reduce our travel stress, in the same way that a slightly higher-priced, premium-economy ticket may be worth it. For us, in today’s travel environment, stress-free travel is far more important than saving a small amount on the ticket price.
Since we’re not elite-level fliers on any airline, we’ve been looking into the Priority Pass program, which allows access to “over 500 airport VIP lounges in 90 countries and over 275 cities.” Priority Pass has different price options, but the least expensive two options are $99 per year and $27 per visit (with an additional $27 per guest); and a $249 plan which offers 10 free visits (but still $27 per guest).
Then, we wondered how to evaluate airport lounges themselves. Of course, there are plenty of “best airport lounge” surveys in the media, but the site LoungeGuide.net offers a wiki-type review forum of more than 507 world lounges. This is exactly what is needed for Priority Pass members wondering if while at Chicago O’Hare it’s better to spring for the Northwest, Continental, Delta, or Swiss lounges. (In general, we’d be inclined to vote for a foreign carrier’s lounge, but unfortunately the LoungeGuide site hasn’t yet reviewed the Swiss lounge.) Of course, proximity to your gate and the airline you’re on may influence your lounge choice even more than lounge amenities.
Several writers have recently mentioned the January 1, 2008 limitations on carrying lithium batteries in checked and carry-on luggage. And several of the news sources seem to have gotten it wrong. Go to safetravel.dot.gov for complete information, but the way we read it you can take a lithium battery attached to a device (camera, cell phone, laptop) plus two spares. But the spares must be in your carry-on bag, not checked luggage. The electronic devices themselves (with battery attached) can be in either or both your carry-on and your checked luggage. As with all things governmental and travel related, there are lots of silly exceptions – if you can get through the mumbo jumbo, you should be able to glean the correct information from the SafeTravel website.
Since everybody is getting in the game, we thought we’d play too. Here are our 2008 Travel Resolutions.
Nine more countries have joined the European Schengen Agreement, which essentially eliminates border controls between participating countries. Currently, the countries in Europe which participate in Schengen are Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. (The last nine listed have implemented the land border agreement, but will not implement the agreement for airport arrivals until March 29, 2008.)
Blue areas on this map have implemented Schengen, green areas are set to do so within the next several years. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Two popular travel search websites – Kayak and SideStep – have agreed to a merger. Both sites search many different other travel websites, including airline sites, hotels, and competitive search sites. While some commentators have found value in Kayak’s and SideStep’s searches, we have never found any information that isn’t available elsewhere at the same price, and often more conveniently. We still prefer ITA Software for our first go-to airfare search site, followed by taking a look at route-map sites and individual airline websites.
It seems like Japan has joined the U.S. and Great Britain in the “security as theatre” sweepstakes. According to an email newsletter we received from Continental Airlines, Japan will require foreign nationals arriving at Japanese airports to have fingerprint scans and facial photographs taken. As Continental notes: “Travelers are advised to allow extra time for this new immigration procedure in Japan.”
May your holidays be filled with presents.Under the new Open Skies agreements, airline alliances could become a thing of the past, or they might actually gain some value for travelers. Open Skies goes into effect in March 2008, and only time will tell what the new routes are and how individual airlines will be affected. Here is a wrapup of members of each of the three airline alliances. One thing we would recommend, is that if possible book any multi-leg trips on airlines within one alliance – the process from reservations through frequent-flyer mileage credit will be much more seamless. All three alliance websites (SkyTeam, Star Alliance, oneworld) have a useful routing/flight tool, as well as other good information.
oneworld
American Airlines
British Airways
Cathy Pacific
Finnair
Iberia
Japan Airlines
Lan
Malev
Qantas
Royal Jordanian
Star Alliance
Adria
Air Canada
Air China
Air New Zealand
ANA
Asiana
Austrian
Blue 1
BMI
Croatia Airlines
Lot Polish Airlines
Lufthansa
SAS Scandinavian Airlines
Shanghai Airlines
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
Spannair
SWISS
TAP Portugal
THAI
Turkish Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways
SkyTeam
Aeroflot
AeroMexico
Air Europa
Air France/KLM
Alitalia
China Southern
Copa Airlines
Continental Airlines
Czech Airlines
Delta Airlines
Kenya Airlines
Korean Air
Northwest Airlines
If you have – or have considered getting – a Capital One “No Hassle” miles credit card, take a look at the points (fake miles) redemption rates. We’d previously posted that Capital One was a one-cent-per-dollar scheme (1%), with redemptions starting at 15,000 miles/points for a $150 statement credit for air purchases made on the card. The kicker was that the next redemption level was 30,000 points for a $300 credit, but you had no intermediate options (no $225 credit for 22,500 points).
Now, at least on our account, we’ve been notified that at 12,500 points we can get the same $150 statement credit, and at 25,000 points we can receive a $350 credit (1.4%). This is beginning to look like a much better deal. Of course, the “intermediate” redemptions still kick down to the lower level, so you’ll thus have to make sure your purchases match a redemption level that’s in your favor. (In other words, if you have 25,000 points, make sure you purchase a ticket not over $350, or you will have to wait until the next redemption level. And remember that if you have 25,000 points but want to get a credit for a $151 air purchase, it will still “cost” the full 25,000 points. Hold out for that $349 purchase.)
Credit card companies have different terms for different cardholders, so check your Capital One account. We’ve already begun to move our credit card spending to “points” cards rather than airline miles cards (see our previous entry), so this is a welcome change. Capital One has always been our preferred card for international travel, as they don’t add a “service charge” for foreign transactions (which is frequently 1-3% with other cards).
We’ve all seen innumerable “Top Ten” tips for travelers. As a former magazine editor, I initiated a few too many Top Ten articles myself. Still, most folks enjoy a few bits of timely advice. And what better arena to discuss tips than in the travel realm. So when it’s a slow travel news day (or week), we’re going to post a couple of International Travel Tips until we get tired of doing so. Or until we run out of our Top However Many list. Thus, the first two of our Top International Travel Tips.
Dress Like a Local
In Europe, dress better than you would originally think. Jeans are now totally acceptable, but dress them up with a leather jacket. Do not, not, wear running shoes, shorts (unless you’re in the Caribbean or on the beach), or a fanny pack. Still, don’t try too hard: the Japanese and Chinese wear very western clothes -- you probably shouldn’t wear a kimono in Japan if you’re an Anglo. You’ll probably never really fool a local into thinking you’re another local, but we have been asked (in French and in Dutch, respectively) for directions in Paris and Amsterdam. (Of course, when we said “Parlez-vous anglais?” or “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Dutch” we got an embarrassed laugh and a “never mind.”)
Travel Light (Really, Really Light)
We discussed this in detail in a previous blog entry, but we’ve come to the conclusion that we simply travel with too much STUFF. Try, really try, to travel with only a carry-on bag. This can free you to travel more spontaneously and more comfortably. What do we really need? Unless it’s a “special” trip (diving, skiing, professional photography), we think you can travel anywhere in the world for any amount of time in one bag. That’s what laundry soap was made for.
We’ve lately come to the conclusion that train travel is back as a way to travel in Europe. It used to be, in the hippie days of wandering around Europe, that a Rail Pass was a budget traveler’s best friend. Then, the low-cost airlines (easyJet and Ryan Air the two best examples) made it more practical for many to just hop on a plane across Europe. Now, with the new French high-speed train; the speeded-up Eurostar from London to Paris; and the soon-to-be-opened Loetschberg tunnel in Switzerland, train travel is reviving. As we noted before, what with luggage restrictions, airport security, and crowded skies, the train makes more and more sense. The new Loetschberg tunnel is said to cut many cross-Switzerland times nearly in half (the trip from Bern to Visp – near Zermatt – is reported to be reduced from 110 minutes to 55).
In a November 26 Newsweek article, Fareed Zakaria reports some depressing statistics. During what is probably the world’s largest tourism boom, the U.S. is the only major country which has seen foreign visitation decline.
The article notes that Brits – “people from America’s closest ally, the overwhelming majority...white Anglos with names like Smith and Jones” – have reduced their visits to the U.S. by 11 percent. During the same time frame, the British visitation to India increased 102 percent, to New Zealand 106 percent, and to the Caribbean 31 percent.
Of course, there are many reasons (excuses) for this decline in inbound U.S. tourism, but the prime culprit is the cabal of TSA, Homeland Security, the INS, and a government which wants to keep Americans in fear – fear of the unknown, fear of foreigners, in fear so we will be as docile as sheep when they tap our phones without warrants.
Not only do international visitors enrich us culturally, they contribute greatly to our economy. The article notes that the 17 percent overall decline in tourism since 9/11 represents $94 billion in lost tourism spending, a loss of 200,000 jobs, and $16 billon in lost tax revenues.
A new catagory of travel consultant has been breed – the canine companion concierge. With the Internet basically taking charge of the travel business, sending the “travel agent” out to pasture, many former agents are giving themselves a face-lift to fit into this new niche by sniffing out pet-friendly places to go and things to do that owners can enjoy with their animals. And there is no shortage of pet-friendly accommodations, stores, outings and activities in a world where pets are people’s children.
Finding that clientele with a disposable income and a dog on a leash can be outdated travel agent’s return to life. This travel market is catering to baby boomers and empty nesters focused on luxury travel and exotic destinations. The biggest hurdle for the travel consultant in marketing many interesting and fun destinations is getting the group there. Because airlines limit the number of pets allowed onboard each flight (making it virtually impossible to get 30 people and their pets to a destination as a group), tours must depend on travelers making their own plans to get there; group arrangements then take shape when they are all at the destination.
For a group tour to be successful, participating pets have to be well-behaved around people and other pets. Only spayed and neutered pet tourists are accepted, well-groomed with personal canine hygiene a necessity. In recent years, the pet travel industry has overcome huge stumbling blocks, such as allowing pets in airline cabins and eliminating quarantine regulations to England and Europe. Hopefully this trend will continue. A few on-line pet-friendly resources we’ve discovered include: DogFriendly.com; Pets-Allowed-Hotels; Pet Friendly Travel; Pets On The Go; PetsWelcome.com; and TravelPets.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has opened a new $5 million exhibit called America by Air. The exhibit includes a 1918 Curtiss Jenny and the front nose of a 747. All told, there are seven complete aircraft on display. According to an article on Bloomberg News, “U.S. air travel reached its glamour days in the 1950s and 1960s. The exhibit includes a 19th-century globe that Pan American Airways founder Juan Trippe used to plan worldwide routes, as well as some provocative hot pants and miniskirt outfits that flight attendants of the era were forced to wear.” For any fan of the history of travel, this should be a must-see exhibition if you’re in Washington, D.C.
Amazon has introduced its new Kindle eBook reader, what some are already calling “the iPod for books.” Amazon is initially offering 90,000 different eBooks for the Kindle, priced from $1.99 to $9.99. The books will be delivered to the Kindle device via Sprint’s wireless web access service (with no access charge). Interestingly, the service will include a free web browser for the Kindle reader.
As we wrote some time ago, eBooks could be a great boon for travelers just wishing to read several books but not wanting to take all that weight, but from what we can tell they’re still just electronic versions of a book. Great for reading a novel, but less useful for guidebooks. What we want to see are travel guidebooks created specifically for eBook readers. Some ways we think a real travel eGuidebook should differ from a printed book include:
Content – As much as we’re old-school print journalists, we think travel eGuidebooks should be more of what we call “MTV journalism”: quick bites, top 10 lists, “best of” stories. eGuidebooks also would lend themselves to many more maps, and the maps could be more integrated into text, rather than having to flip to the front or back of the book.
Navigation – Speaking of maps, wouldn’t it be great to read about Leeds Castle and have a quick link that goes directly to a map of how to get there and of the castle itself? Maps could be accessible from anywhere and linked from every reference in the text. Anchor links, just like a “jump link” on a web page that goes to another page of the site, can make this easy. There could also be much more cross referencing, maybe even indexing on every page, as well as the ability to zoom in on maps, or to make type larger for a poorly-lit museum (larger type is apparently available on the Kindle).
Updates – eGuidebooks would lend themselves to updated restaurant reviews, hotel reviews, and cautions or warnings (for example, notifying that a museum is under construction for the next year). And of course only parts of the book would need to be downloaded as updates – maybe publishers would sell a one-time version for $9.99, or an annually updated one for $12.99.
Organization – As with a database, eGuidebooks should allow the ability to reorganize information in many ways. Maybe you might want to list all museums within 5 miles of a train station, or list restaurants by star rating, or simply an alphabetized list of hotels.
Split screens – Tabs, split screens, or partial screens could be very helpful for showing 2 sections of content at the same time. This could be used for comparing 2 restaurant reviews, or showing a museum description on one screen and its map on another.
What we’re really talking about here is an eGuidebook as a sort of mobile website, but with lots more content and without the ads and crap that clutter the web today. (Of course, it probably won’t be long before someone starts selling ads on eBooks. We can see the advertising now: “$9.99 now, or FREE with ads!” Yuck.)
Maybe Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reads our little blog and will discuss with his publishing partners ways to create new content specifically for the Kindle, instead of recycling old printed content. Even currently, though, we can’t wait to get our hands on the new $399 Kindle.
Happy ThanksgivingAccording to David Rowell, The Travel Insider (who produces an excellent newsletter), more than 200 European travel websites may be shut down unless they stop deceptive sales practices, said the European Union's consumer chief. Questionable tactics included:
* The price of the ticket is first indicated without airport taxes and additional fees.
* Offers promising tickets for free or at a low price, but such tickets are unavailable when the consumer wants to buy them.
* Tick (check) boxes for insurance or additional services are ticked "yes" by default, trapping the consumer into buying unwanted items or being included on spam mailing lists.
* General terms of sales are not provided in the language version used by the consumer during the booking procedure, or not available at all in any language.
* No information is given about the rights and procedures of cancellation, transferability and ability to change dates.
We've used European travel websites with success in the past (we lately had good luck with TrailFinders in the UK for a trip to Africa -- their travel insurance was especially well-priced), and have suggested that you explore those possibilities. This news should make any of us exercise caution in our web purchases, from the websites of any country.
Rightly or wrongly, we’ve never been big fans of Southwest Airlines. We haven't found the fares all that cheap, the schedules not that convenient, and we detest the cattle-call, no-assigned-seating policy. But somehow, they’ve made their formula work, and they satisfy a lot of travelers.
Now, though, Southwest seems to be going (in a very clumsy manner) against what they’re known for. They have instituted special business fares, which seem to be just higher prices to be allowed first in line for boarding (plus a few varying benefits such as refundability, a free drink coupon, and more frequent flyer credits). Of course, Southwest still flies from its same airports, which may not be most business travelers' first choices.
For example: We just booked a trip on Delta (with assigned seating) for $249. Using the same airports and dates, the cheapest fare on Southwest (with one leg a “web only” special and the return their “wanna get away” fare) was $228. Their Business fare was $336 and Business Select was $366.
Boy, are we excited.
How would a small town in Nova Scotia, known as the birthplace of giant pumpkin growing, make the most of its unique history? What else, put on an annual “pumpkin boat” race across a lake. The town of Windsor (population 3,700) attracted 10,000 fascinated spectators to the event this year, having grown from 5 entries from the event’s inception to 54 at present.
Competitive pumpkin paddling has become surprisingly common across the U.S. and Canada. As the events grow in status, the more serious racers are looking to bred better-crafted boats. The Atlantic Giant pumpkin is not well shaped for sailing, but when cross-bred with a pink banana squash, a sleeker version can be carved.
“It’s a cranky one this year” believed 72-year old Leo Swinimer, multiple-time race winner, who he prevailed once again this year. Keeping his 600-pound pumpkin on course was a little too tricky, thus talk of his retirement is at hand. “Every year he says it’s the last one,” said his son-in-law, “but as soon as March or April comes up, he’ll be out growing them again.”
For several years, the “conventional wisdom” was that it was best to accrue miles in a single airline program (by flights and credit-card purchases), as well as to collect airline miles themselves rather than convertible “points” that could be used for a ticket. The thinking was that the Capital One, American Express, Merrill, or other points programs redeemed at lower comparative levels than the assumed 2 cents per mile for airline credit-card expenditures and subsequent redemptions.
Now, at least for us, we’re rethinking that model. For more than 20 years, we have lived near small airports (where the dominant carrier didn't always have the best options) and have often driven to other larger airports for various long-haul flights. Thus, we have miles with United, USAir, Alaska, American, and Continental (plus a few on Northwest, Delta, BA, and KLM). We’re not hoarders – we try to use the miles regularly. But redemptions are getting harder to come by, and some commentators have suggested that the "value" of frequent flyer miles has shrunk to barely 1 cent per mile.
We’ve also played the credit card games, switching cards depending on the offers available. Over the years we’ve build up “points” for flights with Capital One, Merrill, and Amex, and used them when we wanted to fly cheap but couldn’t get a carrier’s frequent flyer seat.
Right now, we’ve decided to concentrate on building points using the Hilton HHonors Amex and American Express FreedomPass credit card programs. Hilton’s Amex card offers us 3-5 points per dollar spent, and at their redemption levels, that gets us anywhere from $450-600 worth of Hilton-chain hotel room stays for the same $25,000 in charges that would get us a hard-to-acquire domestic ticket using a United Visa, for example. The American Express FreedomPass program offers essentially 1-1/4 cents per mile, and the points can be used for air tickets on any airline (it’s a “refund” type point arrangement) as well as for other travel services. (Capital One has had a similar long-time program which offers 1 cent per mile, but redemption levels are less friendly.)
So we now use a regular cash rebate credit card for the categories (gas, groceries, etc.) where we can get 3% cash back (better than the “old” 2-cents-per-mile anyway), and use either the Hilton HHonors Amex or the FreedomPass Amex for all our other charges. We still keep our (no-annual-fee) airline credit cards, and use them once or twice a year to keep the clock ticking on each airline’s frequent flyer account in case we don’t fly that carrier.
Nothing is more troublesome for travelers arriving after a long, uncomfortable overnight flight to Europe than a long layover or the prospect of having to kill the morning wandering around an unfamiliar large city such as London while waiting for their hotel or early evening connecting flight. Now, in London, there is an alternative: a compact cocoon for jet-lagged travelers modeled in part on the Japanese capsule hotel and first-class airplane cabins, the Yotel. Gatwick airport offers a low-budget refuge for those needing a nap, a shower, or a just a little privacy during a long layover (the minimum stay is four hours). The Yotel at Gatwick opened in July, with two other airport Yotels to follow: one at Heathrow airport in early November, a third at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam in early 2008.
Pigeon art in LondonThere was snow on the high peaks the last couple of weeks, and our minds are already ready for skiing.
We’ve skied many places around Western North America (unfortunately, we haven’t yet skied the East), and have some definite opinions about the ski experience. Before getting into our specific comments, we should tell you our criteria: we prefer great snow, highly varied terrain, and few crowds. Although, sometimes, we do enjoy the mega resorts. So, a few of our choices.
Moonlight Basin, Montana
An incredible area, right next to Big Sky, but with better (though lesser in extent) terrain, better snow, better grooming, and far fewer skiers. It’s still in its “formative” growth stages (a good thing) – where else have you ever seen a parking lot attendant carry a guest’s skis to the base area? Big Sky touts the “best groomed blue run in North America,” but Moonlight’s Meriwether run tops Big Sky’s Elk Park Ridge by far.
Moonlight Basin -- The easy way down is to the left.
Team Atomic and one badass interloper.Anyone who’s flown in the last couple of years knows the increasing hassles of weight and size limits for both carry-ons and checked luggage. Not to mention dragging all your stuff through multiple airports; nor the chance that your luggage will be “mishandled” (lost, delayed, damaged, or in Nairobi).
So we have a radical suggestion for certain types of trips: Buy your clothing, cosmetics, personal items and the like at your destination. Just carry one small bag onto the plane, into which you have:
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