Air Travel

AirportParkingReservations.com offers travelers departing from 65 airports throughout the U.S. and Canada the ability to make advance, guaranteed reservations for long-term parking.

Seaborne Airlines, based in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Road Town Fast Ferry, based in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, now offer a high-speed, 2-hour connection between St. Croix and Tortola.

The “Road Town Connection” package includes a Seaborne flight from St. Croix to St. Thomas and a 50-minute ferry ride to Road Town, Tortola, for $150 round trip.

Departures from St. Croix are at 7:15 and 11:15 a.m. and 3 p.m.; return trips leave Tortola at 7 and 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Four of us, who were spending the week of Thanksgiving 2003 in Budapest and Prague, were annoyed that we couldn’t escape popular American music playing everywhere. Also, while we weren’t surprised to find McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC, in Prague we were caught off guard to see pizzerias on every block.

Although it dates from Roman times, Budapest is basically a 19th-century city. Most of the public buildings, apartments and monuments date from this period.

For Christmas 2003, my husband, Bernie, and I decided to give each other an extra-nice present: we would take a 9-day “Hot Air Balloon Flight Over the Alps” tour in January ’04. Two days of the tour would be spent at the International Balloon Festival in Château d’Oex, Switzerland.

On a July-August ’03 trip to England, we found a very good B&B convenient to Gatwick Airport, Castlelodge Guesthouse (28 Massetts Rd., Horley, Surrey, RH6 7DF, U.K.; e-mail info@castlelodge-guesthouse.co.uk).

They charged £50 (near $94) for the room for one night, and airport transfer was included. The Continental breakfast, available to us before we left for our early flight, was a real spread: juices, coffee, yogurt, fruit, pastries and, of course, cereal.

We travel frequently and always use the local SuperShuttle for travel to the airport. SuperShuttle always tries to get us to make a reservation for our return home. For a December ’02 trip, we did make a return reservation since we were flying back to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California; that regional airport closes at night, so we wanted to insure a trip home.

We took a trip to Machu Picchu, Peru, arranged through Analie Tours. The trip was delightful, but we felt Analie Tours was frightful.

Julie Skurdenis’ article on Gujarat (March ’09, pg. 62) brought back many pleasant memories of the trip my wife, Audrey, and I took there in 2003, especially of sites like the Modhera Sun Temple and the hike up Mount Shatrunjaya in Palitana.

After 32 years, Air Zimbabwe ceased flying in March due to financial problems. A debt of over $150 million, labor strikes and aging planes all played parts. The airline may close completely or be purchased by another airline. The airline never had a major air disaster. Other international airlines continue to service Harare.