Getting from the port at Tianjin, China, where the cruise ships dock, to the airport in Beijing several hours away can be quite a challenge. The port, itself, is 45 minutes from Tianjin.
Cruise lines offer transfers, but they can be expensive. Cab drivers are sparse at the port, and many do not speak English.
In Paris, the RATP (bus/Métro/tram) and RER (commuter rail) continue to make improvements in the ease of purchasing tickets and passes and in recharging passes, as my wife, Roberta, and I found during a visit, Feb. 25-March 4, 2013.
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 448th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine.
My wife, Lois, and I traveled in Asia for five weeks, June 24-July 27, 2012. Organizing 35,000 miles of travel on 15 flights was a challenge met by our travel agent, Dorothy Pogge of Lawrence Travel Leaders (785/842-4000), and all flights went smoothly, with acceptable delays.
Service on Korean Airlines, our main overseas carrier, was fabulous, and Seoul’s Incheon Airport provided entertainment, making it a delightful place to enjoy a layover, as were the Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok airports. (Did I just admit to enjoying layovers?)
I was booked to go to Cuba with Tauck (800/788-7885) at the beginning of November ’12, but Hurricane Sandy closed Newark Liberty Airport. Tauck allowed me to cancel and applied all the money I had paid them to my next trip with them.
United Airlines waived all fees for canceling my air tickets, Newark/Miami, so I was able to apply that money to a ticket for a future flight.
All I lost was the opportunity to visit Cuba in 2012 — that and my electricity, heat and hot water for six days!
A friend and I booked the 15-day tour “Turkish Delight,” April 21-May 5, 2012, with Pacha Tours and got a great price, $1,490 per person, not including airfare. I asked the Pacha agent to book my airfare.
On Jan. 3, I received an email from a Pacha rep stating that I was booked on April 21 on US Air from St. Louis to Chicago and on Turkish Airways for the Chicago-Istanbul leg. I was informed that these were separate flights and I’d have to pick up my luggage at the Chicago airport and recheck it before continuing.
More than 500 flights of Lufthansa were canceled when 6,000 airline employees walked off the job at the Frankfurt, Germany, airport for five hours on March 21. The Verde Union members were demanding higher wages in the wake of a cost-cutting plan and restructuring implemented by the airline.
American Airlines and US Airways announced in February that they have agreed to merge. If approved by stockholders and the US Justice Department’s antitrust division, the combined company will be known as American Airlines and will offer 6,500 daily flights to 336 destinations in 56 countries. The new American Airlines will be the largest of the four major US airlines: Delta, United, Southwest and American.
by Marlene Lomas; Honolulu, Hawaii
In 1993, my late husband and I ran the big white water on the Bío Bío River in Chile. While we were there, we heard tales of the legendary rapids of the Futaleufú River.