by Bill Reed; Denton, TX
Indonesia is a long way away. It was 50 hours from when my wife, Betty, and I woke up in Texas to when we went to bed in Bali. About 20 of those were spent in the air, much of it on Eva Airlines. I’m not sure I have ever flown on an airline with more congenial flight attendants.
Because of our interest in travel, nature and other cultures, my wife, Annie, and I visited Madagascar, traveling May 22-June 6, 2013, on a tour with Far Fung Places (San Francisco, CA; 415/386-8306, www.farfungplaces.com).
My husband, Jim, and I have been accumulating miles with the British Airways Chase Visa card for several years. Recently, I spent time trying to obtain business- or first-class seats to London using my miles plus one companion voucher for Jim (who has bad knees).
We had been able to use miles in 2013 to fly to South Africa, but it was difficult. A very kind British Airways representative helped me find and book the flights.
In the letter “Instead of Heathrow” (Sept. ’14, pg. 14), a subscriber wrote, regarding flying into northwestern England, “And if you choose to get local currency at the airport upon your arrival, be aware that Travelex, the currency-exchange bank, has a monopoly on cash machines in Manchester Airport and offers an outrageous exchange rate.”
Two things to note —
1) Travelex (www.travelex.com) is not a bank. It’s a currency-exchange company.
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 465th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine! You’re invited to subscribe, and subscribers are encouraged to submit trip reports telling both the positive and negative aspects of tours, hotels, museums, shops and whatever else they discovered and experienced outside of the US.
Your letters and articles make up the bulk of the magazine, and we fill in the spaces with other travel-related information, all wrapped around travel-related advertisements, many that you won’t see in other publications.
My Airport Guide, a new service available at Germany’s Frankfurt Airport (FRA), offers personal assistants to help departing and arriving travelers.
The “Welcome Service,” costing €30 (near $40) for two people, includes, for departing passengers, being met at a prearranged point in the airport, helped with bags and escorted to the check-in counter… or, for arriving passengers, welcome at baggage claim, help with baggage and escort to a prearranged location at the airport.
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 464th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine. If you’re reading ITN for the first time, here’s what it’s about.
I use a CPAP machine for sleep apnea. There’s no oxygen tank; it’s just a machine. On flights, I’ve always taken aboard a carry-on, my purse and the CPAP. However, often I’ve put the CPAP in my checked baggage simply to avoid having security have to confirm that it is what it is. I don’t need it on the plane or when sitting up anyway, only when lying down.
Head back to the luggage store. Continental Airlines on Nov. 1 changed the size restriction for passenger carry-on bags from 51 linear inches down to 45 (22"x14"x9") on flights from virtually all locations. New “sizing” bins have been installed at domestic check-in counters.
This brings Continental in line with American Airlines, Delta and Northwest, which recently also reduced the accepted size of carry-on baggage. The 45-inch size is also the current standard size for most European airlines.
