Air Travel

We’ll have details of our new game, but, first, results and winners of the latest one. It was asked, “Which airline did you use in 2009 to fly to an overseas destination?”

My husband, Bernie, and I love flying, not only in big jets but by many different methods.

My husband, Tom, and I flew to Amsterdam on our way to board a ship on Aug. 2, 2010, out of Rotterdam. I had purchased our air tickets through our travel agent the previous February. In her office, we had talked about buying them through the cruise company or independently. Because the flight booked through the cruise line might not be direct, we decided to go directly from Seattle to Amsterdam with Delta.

Chile-based LAN Airlines and TAM airlines of Brazil have agreed to a merger. The new company will be called LATAM. When the merger is complete, in April or June 2011, it will create the largest airline in South America, flying 241 aircraft to 115 destinations in 23 countries.

LAN also plans to purchase the second-largest airline in Colombia, the domestic airline Aires, at which point LATAM would be among the 15 largest airlines in the world.

United Airlines and Continental Airlines will be using a new logo after the merger of the two airlines in early 2011. The logo will incorporate the name “United” and Continental’s globe image.

I’m a volunteer for Travelers Aid (202/546-1127, www.travelersaid.org). This charitable organization, founded in 1914, has information desks and helps travelers at 36 sites in the US, mainly in airports but also at bus and train stations.

I’m one of 300 volunteers at Washington Dulles International Airport. (All staff are volunteers; program managers are paid.) We have three information desks in the main terminal manned daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. plus volunteers behind podiums in the other concourses and at two locations inside Customs and Immigration.

My wife, Dorothy, and I traveled through the Western Pacific in September ’10, visiting Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Fiji, Guam, Chuuk and Palau. Many of our flights were on Air Pacific, and while in flight the airplane cabins were sprayed with insecticide.

The spray was nontoxic, BUT it caused the lenses of our lightweight plastic eyeglasses to craze and fog! We had to have the lenses replaced.

Also of note — the departure tax for Palau has been raised to $35 per person.

PHIL MORRIS

Honolulu, HI

Our current game (with prizes, as usual) is “Which Airline Did You Fly Overseas With In 2009?” Entries to: Airlines, c/o ITN, 2116 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818-1910, or to ArmondNoble@yahoo.com. Don’t forget to include your ZIP code. And, remember, our current essay contest is “I Love London” in 300 words or less. Here’s your chance to let your creativity flow. Deadline for both of these is 21 November 2010.

Eight of us flew Delta/Air France from San Jose, California, to Cairo, Egypt, via Paris, France, on Feb. 27, 2010. When we arrived at Paris’ CDG Airport for our connecting flight to Cairo (on Air France 508 or Delta 8622) at 1:35 p.m., we found out that it was delayed due to weather. It was finally canceled at 9:40 p.m.

For an itinerary in January ’08 from San Jose, California, to Dakar, Senegal, with connections in Chicago and Brussels, my wife and I were ticketed with American Airlines (AA). The initial flight, San Jose-Chicago, was canceled due to a mechanical problem. The AA agent in San Jose rerouted our entire trip, issuing new tickets for flights from San Francisco to Dakar via Paris on Air France. This trip involved a lot of miles, for which we wanted frequent-flyer credit.