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Travelers' Intercom

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Good, bad and ugly in Rome

Travelers' Intercom, December 2007 issue
Good, bad and ugly in Rome
Bella Roma! I am a college professor, and together with a colleague we escorted 21 students through Rome’s classical treasures in May ’07. On my final night, as I packed, I watched a spaghetti Western on the hotel TV. It got me thinking about “the good, the bad and the ugly” of our trip. The good ...

Rental cars and CDW

Travelers' Intercom, December 2007 issue
I read with interest the reader’s letter “Rented Car Online for Heathrow” (Aug. ’07, pg. 28), specifically the part regarding the auto rental company’s requirement that he show proof, from his credit card company, of CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) coverage. I have often used the Internet to check on U.K. car rental prices and I have ...

Airfares online with Vayama

Travelers' Intercom, December 2007 issue
To mesh with a Greek Isles cruise in September ’07, I spent months on the Internet looking for an open-jaw airfare from San Diego to Istanbul with return from Athens to San Diego. I would like to highly recommend Vayama (www.vayama.com) for booking international flights. Through this site I found the best price: $929 + $119.61 ...

Re international driver’s license

Travelers' Intercom, November 2007 issue
My daughter, who is a medical missionary in Togo, said she needed an international driver’s license to drive in Ghana for supplies. I was going to get one for her, so I went on the Internet and found all kinds of websites for these licenses. Of course, each wanted my credit card number, etc., in ...

Airport driver lots

Travelers' Intercom, November 2007 issue
A quick comment on cell-phone parking lots at U.S. airports, mentioned in the September ’07 issue, page 2. . . In July ’07 we had occasion to try the lot at Orlando International Airport while collecting some members of the London Symphony Orchestra for the Florida International Festival in Daytona Beach. This was not the greatest ...

Visa cash withdrawal charges

Travelers' Intercom, November 2007 issue
I was in Thailand in February ’07 and made four cash withdrawals at ATMs using my Visa card. The withdrawals totaled $1,152. My next Visa statement showed I was charged a total of $71.46, attributed to finance charges for these transactions. The sketchy explanation on the statement indicated a fee of $10 per transaction for a ...

Bank card interruption

Travelers' Intercom, November 2007 issue
We have used our ATM card around the world and never had a problem. What a shock to find it would not work in Portugal, of all places, in May ’07. Two banks verified that the ATM system that works through MasterCard had been down for weeks. Our travel friends were able to bail us out, ...

Debit card fee error

Travelers' Intercom, November 2007 issue
On our trip to the Azores in spring 2006, in the town of Velas on the island of São Jorge I went one morning to withdraw money from the ATM at the local bank. The screen gave me a message that the machine was not, at the time, operative. Needing cash that day, I went ...

Need a multi-entry visa?

Travelers' Intercom, November 2007 issue
I was on a trip to the North Pole, July 5-28, 2007, with Quark Expeditions (Darien, CT; 800/356-5699, www.quark expeditions.com). The group met in Helsinki and flew to Murmansk, at which time a couple from South America was refused entry into Russia. They had made a short, pre-North Pole trip to St. Petersburg each with ...

Quick passport processing

Travelers' Intercom, November 2007 issue
In the letter titled “Avoid Passport Glitches” (Aug. ’07, pg. 33), tour company owner Bob Parda provides important information about passports. I travel frequently and, due to the visa-page considerations he mentioned, have always requested a 48-page passport. I recently sent in a renewal for my passport, which was to expire in November. I had included ...