10
In reply to my complaint about not having a wheelchair waiting when I got off the plane, printed in the August ’05 issue, page 14, Continental Airlines sent me a 2-page letter that said essentially that the treatment I received was not according to procedure and next time I should ask to speak to a CRO (Complaint Resolution Official).
KIT STEWART
Sequim, WA
For a 3-week trip to Sicily in May-June ’05, I purchased travel insurance from Global Alert! Travel Protection through M.H. Ross Travel (800/423-3632). (The claims are administered by Trip Mate; visit www.tripmate.com.)
Because my luggage was misdirected, I was required to make interim purchases.
While in Italy, I had occasion twice to call Global Alert! at no charge to me to make inquiries regarding the claim I would be making upon returning to the United States. I received prompt and courteous replies to my inquiries.
I was scheduled to depart June 30, ’05, for a “Thorsmork Riding Tour,” which was to be five days of riding with a herd of Icelandic horses. I had made my flight and trip plans through Holly Nelson and Brad Vogel, owners of Horses North, LLC, aka Iceland Adventure, LLC (P.O. Box 475, Millerton, NY 12546; phone 888/686-6784 or visit www.horsesnorth.com or www. icelandadventure.com).
I traveled to Papua New Guinea (PNG), Aug. 12-29, ’04, using the services of a locally based company called Budget Tours. I paid them to make all my tour arrangements, including transportation within PNG, accommodations, guide services, etc.
My wife and I took a trip to India (the “15-Day Romantic Rajasthan Passage”) and Bhutan (4-day extension) with Pacific Delight World Tours, March 12-April 1, ’05. Pacific Delight partnered with Creative Travel of India to handle the Indian component. Creative Travel in turn partnered with Etho Metho Tours & Treks of Bhutan to handle the Bhutan component.
In sum, we’d give Pacific Delight a grade of B+*, Creative Travel an A- and Etho Metho a D-. Following are the details.
by Jay Brunhouse, Contributing Editor
Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. There are no restrictions on length. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.) The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.
This month’s winner is CIDNE ROSSI of Glendale, California:
The following probably won’t make you enjoy filling your gas tank here in the States, but it may ease the pain a tiny bit.
On our trip to Australia in October several years ago, we spent two days in Melbourne, staying at the Hilton. We enjoyed this conservative, most British of Down Under cities with its many parks (we especially liked the Royal Botanic Gardens), museums, cultural events and attractive buildings.
The German railway system offers a great way for travelers to get around while visiting that country. Many guidebooks and websites describe how to use the rail service but often omit facts that would be very useful to novice travelers. The following isn’t a complete primer on the German rail system but is intended to primarily fill in some of the gaps present in other sources of information. It’s based on our visits to Germany in each of the past three years, most recently in May ’05.