Air Travel

• Just once in your life you owe yourself a flight on Singapore Airlines in “Raffles Class.”

I obtained through the TravelSmith catalog (800/950-1600 or www.travelsmith.com) two TSA-approved luggage locks with the red TSA-approved logo plainly visible on them. On Nov. 20, ’04, at the end of a trip, I boarded LanChile flight No. 500 from Santiago to Miami. Since I had been forewarned that many foreign countries were not familiar with these locks, I did NOT lock my bag for the flight.

by Theodore Lewis, Severna Park, MD

We spent 18 days traveling in Romania in September ‘04 — a truly great trip. Our itinerary included UNESCO world treasures like the painted monasteries in Bucovina plus picturesque villages and dramatic mountain scenery.

We flew on LOT Polish Airlines from Newark to Bucharest (changing planes in Warsaw), where we were met at the airport by travel agent Costela Petcu and our driver. The driver spoke excellent English and was well informed and very careful.

ITN was mailed a copy of the following letter sent by a reader to U.S. and U.K. offices of the Hertz Corporation.

On Nov. 7, I was scheduled to take Northwest Airlines flight No. 49 to Detroit, Michigan, out of Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport. My e-ticket did not indicate which terminal I would be leaving from. When I told the Gare Montparnasse Navette bus driver “KLM,” he dropped me at Terminal Two. The signage there was for Air France/KLM/Northwest as well as Delta, Continental, Alitalia, Aeromexico, etc.

That cramped feeling you get from sitting in economy class could be a very real ailment.

I read with interest the reader’s comments in the letter titled “Flights Spoiled a Good Cruise” (Jan. ’05, pg. 26), regarding the flights assigned by Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA). We are also Grand Circle “Inner Circle” members.

The reader’s letter “Flights Spoiled a Good Cruise” (Jan. ’05, pg. 26) regarding Edward DeCrappeo’s July 17 Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Washington, D.C., inspired me to write. My wife and I took that same flight in June ’04 and we concur completely with his comments on the discomfort of the airplane.

At Miami Airport I checked in for Virgin Atlantic flight No. 6 to London Heathrow and, putting on my nicest smile, asked if I could possibly have an exit row seat. . . for the stretch-out room. Imagine my surprise when I was told I could “upgrade” to an exit-row seat for the sum of $70. I did pay to get one of the 12 seats available on a 747, but there were some negatives.