At the Forbidden Palace in Beijing, China, the Qianlong Garden section will open to the public for the first time in 2020 (the Forbidden City’s 600th anniversary). Built in the late 18th century as a retirement home for the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799), the 2-acre section has numerous gardens, pavilions and courtyards and includes original art and furnishings.
The Münzkabinett in Berlin, Germany, has one of the largest numismatic collections (coins and tokens) in the world, and among its more than 540,000 objects are medals, paper currencies and medieval seals. The Münzkabinett, itself, can be visited only for scholarly work; however, thousands of its items are put on display in museums on Berlin’s Museumsinsel (Museum Island).
Single travelers in Sydney or Melbourne, Australia, can sign up with Opera for One to join a group of fellow single opera junkies before the show, meet their opera guide and mingle over canapes and drinks before being seated in the same section.
Opera for One tickets are not available for all shows. To see available dates and book tickets (at the B Reserve level), visit opera.org.au/buytickets/opera-for-one. A Melbourne opera ticket costs AUD144 (near $102). Sydney ticket prices were unavailable at press time.
The 3-hour “Small Group Spy & Espionage Tour of London” is offered by the company Evan Evans (London, England; phone +44 20 7950 1777, www.evanevanstours.com).
The bus tour is led by a former member of the British government, and it visits the headquarters of British Intelligence sections MI5 and MI6 as well as spots where spies secretly exchanged information. The tour ends at the former home of MI6, St. Ermin’s Hotel, for martinis at the bar.
The Federal Aviation Administration upgraded its safety rating for the air authority of Vietnam to "Category 1," meaning Vietnamese carriers now can be granted approval to fly to the US and any of its territories. The upgrade also allows Vietnamese airlines to enter into codeshare agreements with US-based airlines.
The flight- and hotel-booking sites Expedia.com and Orbitz.com stopped offering air tickets and hotel rooms for Venezuela on their websites without announcement in early February.
At press time, American Airlines was the only US-based airline with flights to Venezuela (Caracas), along with only six other international airlines: Copa Airlines, Aruba Airlines, Caribbean Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Iberia and Air France. Venezuelan airline Avior operates one route to the US, servicing Miami.
United Kingdom-based budget airline flybmi filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 17, immediately canceling all of its future flights. The sudden bankruptcy caused a number of passengers to become stranded throughout Europe. At press time, flybmi had refused to offer any refunds on canceled flights.
On Feb. 25, the Transportation Security Administration expanded its Preê (Pre-check) program to include nine more airlines, making a total of 65 airlines whose passengers qualify for Preê.
The new Preê-approved airlines are Air India, Asiana Airlines, China Airlines, Eastern Airlines, Elite Airways, EVA Airways, Japan Airlines, TAP Air Portugal and Volaris.
Budget Irish airline Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) announced on Feb. 14 that it would implement a frequent-flyer program, Ryanair Choice, beginning "end of summer 2019."
The program does not involve earning miles. Instead, for a flat rate of €199 (near $227) per year, members will always get the cheapest seat rate, one bag checked for free (up to 22 pounds) and priority boarding. According to Ryanair, free seats will sometimes be available to Ryanair Choice members.
Milan, Italy, is hosting a "Milan and Leonardo" program in 2019 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death. Visit www.visit-milano.net/en/appointments/leonardo-500 for a list of events.
One significant event is the "Leonardo e la Sala delle Asse tra Natura, Arte e Scienza" exhibit, May 16-Aug. 18, at Sforza Castle (Piazza Castello, 20121 Milano; phone +39 02 8846 3703, www.milanocastello.it/en), where visitors can witness the restoration of a vaulted ceiling painted in a nature motif by Leo nar do in 1498.