Air Travel

by Fritz Oelrich, Stafford, VA

Carry physician ID

Of all the airlines you’ve flown between the U.S. and a foreign country in the last three years, which airline’s flight(s) did you most appreciate? That’s what we asked readers to write about, using the following parameters.

Compare only the airlines’ flights on which you traveled in the same class of service. Rate only the in-flight experience. Do not consider ground personnel or processes, the on-time record, delays due to mechanical problems, etc. Name the airline(s) and where (cities) and when you flew.

by Alan Wolstencroft, Dunnellon, FL

A friend and I took a 10-day “Discovery of Cyprus” trip with Homeric Tours (55 E. 59th St., 17th Fl., New York, NY 10022; 800/223-5570, www.homerictours.com) in October ’07.

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. There are no restrictions on length. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.) The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is GARY MOCKLI of Chesterfield, MO:

My wife, Barbara, and I enjoyed a trip to Russia, Estonia and Finland, Sept. 3-28, 2007, and have some advice for travelers to Russia.

by Philip Wagenaar, M.D. (second of two parts)

We took our second Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trip, “Real Affordable Costa Rica,” Oct. 12-24, 2006. Those interested in traveling to Costa Rica or Peru for the first time may find these trips both informative and well paced, even with the obligatory “gold factory” visit which allows travelers about two hours to purchase goods one can get at any shop in the country.

My wife and I took a Singapore Airlines flight, in business class, from Delhi, India, to Singapore on April 5, 2007. Although Singapore Airlines is a partner of United Airlines, United refused to give me mileage credit (3,229 miles) for the flight because my name on the electronic ticket and boarding pass was truncated: “Alan Don” instead of “Alan Don Rubendall.”

It is interesting that 1) my Mileage Plus number was on the e-ticket, 2) my wife was given mileage credit for the same flight and 3) Singapore Airlines allowed me on the flight in spite of the truncated name.