Travelers' Intercom
Frequent-flyer seats sparse
We redeemed 120,000 Chase Flexible Rewards points for 100,000 frequent-flyer miles on United Airlines recently. Since 100,000 miles per year was the limit for any one frequent-flyer number, we put 50,000 on my wife’s number and 50,000 on mine.
Coping with and fighting poverty during travels
When my husband, Frank, and I planned our trip to India, we wondered how we would react to seeing people living in third-world slums or on the street, and to beggars, especially children. Would we feel so guilty about having the money to travel that we couldn’t enjoy our trip?
Credit card purchases
Responding to a reader’s request (Oct. ’08, pg. 94), I know of a credit card with NO 3% foreign exchange fee. Any card from CapitalOne.com has this feature. My choice is the “No Hassle Cash Rewards Credit Card.”
A few steps to savings
Istanbul, Turkey, is a wonderful city with many beautiful mosques. When our family disembarked from a cruise ship at Istanbul in July ’08, in a large lot at the base of the gangway there was a sea of taxi cabs.
Oman’s transformation
Oman is an incredible country, the creation of one man, Sultan Qaboos, who took control of the country in 1970 at age 30.
The HK shuttle shuffle
At the completion of an April ’08 Silk Road tour in China, I traveled on my own from Shanghai to Hong Kong for my 15th visit since 1961. While Hong Kong has changed since the British left and is now rather expensive, it is still one of my favorite cities.
Roommate or single supplement
Judy Puckett requested comments from readers as to how they’ve located suitable travel partners (Oct. ’08, pg. 18). I am very glad that she asked for this information. I have a related request.
The Beijing Olympics
Well over a year before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, my wife, Margi, and I discussed the possibility of attending. Never having attended any Olympic event but having some familiarity with China, we felt this might be a unique opportunity.
High conversion fee
My husband, Alan, and I took a cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, July 22-Aug. 6, 2008, with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 800/322-6677). All in all, it was a super trip and we highly recommend it.
An insider in London
The weakened dollar certainly affects our US friends who visit us here in Outer London (Wimbledon), but a bit of research and knowledge can reveal good deals and plenty of freebies.
Equitours, Travelex and Botswana
I booked a week-long horseback safari in Botswana from Equitours (Dubois, WY; 800/545-0019 or 307/455-3363, www.equitours.com) for Aug. 5-12, 2007.
Chilka & Simlipal disappointed
My husband, Clyde, and I were in Orissa, India, in February ’07. Like Joyce Bruck (Sept. ’08, pg. 40), we visited Lake Chilka hoping to see the migrating birds in that famous bird sanctuary and were disappointed. A few ducks swam by our boat but nothing terribly exotic or exciting.
Dizzy dining
In his November ’08 “All Aboard!” column, Jay Brunhouse wrote about Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and described the KL Tower as having “the world’s first revolving restaurant.”
Lugano’s Parco del Tassino
My wife, Paula, and I traveled on a shuttle bus from Milan’s Malpensa Airport in Italy to Lugano, Switzerland, in May ’08, and one of our fellow passengers was an engaging American college undergraduate returning from her home in Arizona to her school, Franklin College (www.fc.edu), an American college in Lugano.
Cruise to Asmat, West Papua
I took an amazing 2-week, September-October cruise through the islands east of Bali, Indonesia, to Asmat, West Papua.
RTC farewell tours
The management and staff of Rail Travel Center (125 Main. St., Box 205, Putney, VT 05346; 800/458-5394, www.rail travelcenter.com) will be retiring in 2010. They are planning to fill their last two years with old favorites as well as some new tours.
Why don’t we have that here — better elevator dispatch
I was visiting my aunt in the hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, in September ’08 and encountered an interesting elevator setup.
Charge fee in Denmark
On a trip my wife and I made to Scandinavia in September ’08, we found that in Denmark, all charges made to a foreign credit card had an extra fee added to the total sale. This fee is to recoup the amount the vendor must pay the credit card company to process a foreign charge.