Air Travel

I took the 16-day “Italian Masterpiece” tour with Cosmos, Sept. 29-Oct. 14, 2007. The trip began with two days in Venice, then the itinerary led us south to Rome, which we reached on Oct. 3. From there we continued back to Venice.

My wife, Carol, and I used the Internet to ticket a February ’08 trip from Orlando, Florida, to Christchurch, New Zealand. For booking the flights, we selected www.orbitz.com because it seemed to offer the best connections by combining several airlines. Our order was placed on Oct. 8, 2007, at a cost of $2,411 each.

Over the next three months, we received repeated e-mail confirmations for our Orlando-Los Angeles-Auckland-Christchurch flight on Jan. 31. The return flight was booked for Feb. 24 — Christchurch-Auckland-San Francisco-Orlando.

From a visit in early October ’08, I believe I have finally found the best way to get to Paris and back from the confusing Charles de Gaulle International Airport arrivals/departures “terminals.”

by Donald Tremblay, Santa Monica, CA

by Leslie Romer, Olympia, WA

Whilst I hesitate to recommend a totally reliable firm or individual for Heathrow transfers, I have suggested to friends visiting from the US that they try the Internet (as I have done, despite being a raw beginner with this technology). Just “Google” some appropriate phrase, such as “London Heathrow cabs,” and try a few of the listed sites.

by Nancy Tardy, Henderson, NV

Forget the stories you may have heard about the difficulties of traveling to Easter Island. Though one of the most remote inhabited spots in the world, it is neither hard to reach nor outrageously expensive to visit.

Returning from a trip to England in May ’08, my husband and I were in Philadelphia trying to get home to Las Vegas; however, Delta had delayed all their flights due to inclement weather in Philadelphia. People were camped out in long lines everywhere, and no one knew what the weather would be like in the morning.

At the completion of an April ’08 Silk Road tour in China, I traveled on my own from Shanghai to Hong Kong for my 15th visit since 1961. While Hong Kong has changed since the British left and is now rather expensive, it is still one of my favorite cities.

As many ITN readers know, the new, world-class international airport is located on Lantao Island and is 35 to 40 miles from Kowloon. I stayed on Kowloon, from which there are express trains leaving every 20 minutes for various locations in the former colony.