My travel partner and I were scheduled to return from London’s Heathrow Airport to Cleveland, Ohio, by way of Chicago on Dec. 17, 2010. Upon our arrival at the airport, we were handed a notice that our United Airlines flight to Chicago had been canceled because of the nonarrival of an aircraft from the US. The United desk rebooked us on another United flight (operated by Continental Airlines) to Newark the next day.
Passengers on connecting flights through Tocumen International Airport near Panama City have an offer from Copa Airlines (800/359-2672) in conjunction with the Panama Tourism Authority.
When booking through Panama to one of Copa’s 52 destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean, mention the “Panama Stop-Over” and you can break your trip for up to a week in Panama at no additional charge for airfare. When booking, request info on lodging deals and local activities.
Named for the famous steam train “Flying Scotsman,” a new express train service was launched between London’s Kings Cross Station and Edinburgh, Scotland, by East Coast Main Line in May.
When I went online and booked my air travel with Continental Airlines for a February ’11 trip to Belize and Guatemala, I impulsively added on the Access America trip insurance offered with my ticket, since the insurance cost only $25.
I then remembered that I also had trip insurance by virtue of having paid for both the trip and the plane ticket with my Continental OnePass Plus MasterCard (issued by the airline but administered through Chase Bank).
From the Editor — Suzanne M. Stein of Chesterfield, Missouri, was partway through an Adventures Abroad tour of Iran, Syria and Jordan, Sept. 30-Oct. 31, 2010, when a paperwork problem forced her to leave the group. What travelers can do so the same thing never happens on any tour they’re taking is part of what I’ll cover here.
By Fred DeVinney. Photos by Jean DeVinney
Oakland, CA
In Northern Ireland, Belfast International Airport (phone +44 0 28 9448 4848) has constructed a smoking area inside the terminal. The area, located by the Bar des Voyageurs, can be accessed using a coin worth £1. This is the first smoking area within the airport’s security zone, past the checkpoints.
As of Feb. 9, 2011, the departure tax charged to passengers on international and domestic flights departing Ecuador is included with other taxes in the price of the airline tickets. (Out of Quito, the tax is $40.80 and from Guayaquil, $29.78.) Previously, passengers had to separately pay the departure tax in cash within the airport.
(ITN thanks Mark Grantham of Galapagos Travel [Aptos, CA] for bringing this to our attention.)
• Puyehue Cordon Caulle Volcano in Chile erupted on June 4, throwing up a cloud of ash more than six miles high. Winds pushed the ash plume eastward, causing flight cancellations and delays all over South America and then in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The cloud started its second pass over Chile in late June, triggering further airport closures.
The volcano is expected to remain active, with another large eruption possible.
by Fred Steinberg, New York, NY