Air Travel

During an overnight flight on Air France from Houston to Paris on Dec. 14, 2014, my husband and I were in the economy-class section trying to sleep. However, the young ladies in the seats in front of us were talking all night.

Is it the cabin crew’s role to tell passengers to be quiet? Or is this just an inevitable hazard related to the crowded nature of air travel?

Since we rely on ITN as a forum for anecdotal experience in travel, I am interested in how other travelers have dealt with this problem.*

SAL SHEEHY

In the letter “Efficient Use of British Air Avios” (March ’15, pg. 14), Robert Tews pointed out that British Airways is a member of the airline alliance oneworld (www.oneworld.com), which has a fee structure based on zones. The longer the distance, the higher the fees charged when redeeming their frequent-flyer miles (Avios) for air tickets. British Air flights within Europe will have the most reasonable fees (zones 1, 2 and 3), and long-distance international flights will have the highest fees.

The physical isolation of Antarctica, the anticipated viewing of wildlife and spectacular scenery and reports of disappearing Antarctic ice shelves all were factors that led my wife, Betty, and me to Antarctica as a destination. 

Budget European airline Germanwings will have changed its name to Euro­wings by November 2015. The name change is already in effect on flights between Germany and the United Kingdom. The name change had been planned before the crash of a Germanwings flight on March 24 that killed all 150 people on board.

Iceland is a beautiful country that is very affordable in the winter, but the weather can change quickly. When my parents and I traveled there independently, Feb. 21-25, 2015, we had three days of gale-force winds and two days of significant snow, but we made the most of our vacation due to careful pre-trip preparation. Here are a few travel tips.

• Wear good walking shoes. They’re essential. In the snow, slush and ice, most travelers wore boots. 

On March 31, Delta Air Lines became the first airline in the world to introduce a pet-tracking GPS device; it’s called the PT300. 

Along with its location, the device, which is placed in the pet’s carrier, collects data on the ambient temperature and on its orientation so Delta employees know if the pet is in danger of overheating or if the crate is askew. Due to cellular restrictions, however, it can transmit data only before and after a flight. 

In 2005 I made a vow that in 10 years I would revisit a topic of increasing concern at that time: “Is the US airline industry moving in the direction of becoming a monopoly?”  Forty-seven years ago, in 1968, Simon and Garfunkel lamented to a war-weary American public, in the famous line from the hit song “Mrs.

In the Gulf of Tonkin off of northeastern Vietnam, Ha· Long Bay is known for its 1,600 naturally sculpted limestone islands and islets. From one of those islands, Tuãn Châu (accessible by road), 25-minute flightseeing trips above the bay are operated daily by Hai Au Aviation (70-72 Ba Trieu Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam; phone +84 [0] 96 296 0689, www.seaplanes.vn/en). A ticket costs VND5,912,500 (near $274). The seaplane departs from and returns to the Tuãn Châu Marina.

I read the item “Myanmar eVisas” about applying for the visas online at http://evisa.moip.gov.mm (Jan. ’15, pg. 4). 

Using a different website, I applied for an online visa in early October 2014, with plans to visit Myanmar Nov. 11-14. I followed the instructions given on the website, included a photo and gave my credit card info to pay the $50 fee.

My cousin, Robert, and I have always used Icelandair (800/223-5500, www.icelandair.us) to travel between the US and Europe. Their Saga Club (business class) is excellent, with wide seats, good food and first-rate service. And the airfare in that cabin class is somewhat affordable at about $3,500 per person, round trip, from Denver to most of their gateways in Europe (Frankfurt, Stockholm, Paris, etc.).