Travelers' Intercom
Airport Q Ratings
A reader requested that ITN collect data from travelers to compare wait times at international airports. Here is the second batch of readers’ Q Ratings (see June ’08, pg. 46).
Super OnePass service
I called Continental OnePass (800/344-1411) in December ’08 to book two tickets from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti, using award points. I was told the economy-class tickets would be 100,000 points each, for a total of 200,000 — much higher than I anticipated.
Specialized travel agencies
This is in response to the reader’s letter on code-share tickets (Feb. ’09, pg. 30).
London on foot
I enjoyed Patrick Erricker’s tips on making touring in London more affordable (Dec. ’08, pg. 11). I’m into my sixth year living in Greater London (near the Kew Gardens tube station), and I wanted to share my five tips on enjoying London on foot.
Cusco hotel noisy
On a tour of Peru in September ’08, the itinerary had us spending two nights in Cusco at the Samay Hotel (Av. San Martin 206, Cusco, Peru), then one night in Machu Picchu, then two more nights in Cusco.
SteriPEN® sterilizes water
During my four weeks in Vietnam and one week in Cambodia, Nov. 28-Dec. 10, 2008, I was very pleased with a product I had purchased prior to leaving, the SteriPEN® Traveler (Hydro-Photon, Inc., Box 675, Blue Hill, ME 04614; 888/783-7473, www.steripen.com).
What wallet?
During a visit to Paris, my wife and I used the Métro to travel around. One time we were going down the stairs, staying close to the wall and the handrail, when all of a sudden three fellows came in directly behind me. My wife yelled, “Jack! Wallet!”
Creative solution to language predicament
What would I have done differently? (See Oct. ’08, pg. 2.)
Discovered Tallinn
My wife, Amber, and I decided to add a quick, one-night stay in Tallinn, Estonia, to our 2-week Nordic capitals tour in July ’07 simply because it was easy to get to and because there was a chapter on the city in our “Rick Steves’ Scandinavia” guidebook.
Transnistria ‘toll’
I read with interest the reader’s account of being required to pay money to agents on a train traveling from Chisinau, Moldova, to Kiev, Ukraine (Dec. ’08, pg. 11).
Street crime in Santiago
A friend and I really enjoyed ourselves during an 8-day stay in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 20-28, 2008. The country is very nice, traveling through the wineries was educational, and Valparaíso and Viña del Mar were really spectacular. But be aware that Santiago suffers from a serious petty theft problem.
JAL came through
My husband and I took a 3-week tour of Laos in late November ’08. About a week before we were due to fly home on Dec. 3, citizens of Bangkok, Thailand, demonstrated their dissatisfaction with their government at the airport. No planes were able to fly in or out of the city.
Preparing for an Australia trip
My husband, Ray, and I took the “Ultimate Australia” tour with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/493-6824, www.oattravel.com).
Re scripted school visits
I felt the letter titled “Tour Members’ Encounters Distorted?” (Jan. ’09, pg. 26) presented an unusually negative characterization of a tour experience in Southern Africa with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/493-6824, www.oattravel.com).
Traveling with a wheelchair
In response to Thora Jervey’s request for accounts of wheelchair travel (Sept. ’08, pg. 63), might my wife, Gerry, and I offer some thoughts?
Return to Myanmar
My husband, Paul, and I traveled to Myanmar (Burma), Oct. 12-26, 2008, with Asia Transpacific Journeys (Boulder, CO; 800/642-2742, www.asiatranspacific.com). The trip was wonderful.
Tour group audio systems
This is a postscript to my letter “Pros and Cons of Tour Group Audio Systems” (Sept. ’08, pg. 15), with clarifications.
Couldn’t avoid AA’s booking fee
Around Oct. 31, 2008, I went online and tried to get an award ticket on LAN Airlines from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to São Paulo, Brazil, using American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
Iwo Jima in WWII
Japan opens the island of Iwo Jima to visitors one day each year, usu
Offsetting poverty
In her letter on India, Martha Spring asked how other ITN readers “respond to poverty on their travels” (Dec. ’08, pg. 58).