Boarding Pass

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 406th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

In case you overlooked it in last month’s issue, we’re reprinting on page 71 the notice about our essay contest “What Makes Madrid ‘Madrid’?” Prizes involved!

The Department of Transportation warned several airlines in October that they may not arbitrarily limit compensation to passengers who purchase toiletries and other necessities because their baggage is lost or delayed.

Some carriers had printed handouts, available at ticket counters or from airline agents, advising that they would reimburse passengers for buying necessities only 24 hours or more after arrival (because the baggage was “expected” to reach the passengers) and that this would apply only on the outbound leg of a round-trip flight. In September the DOT fined Spirit Airlines $375,000 for carrying out those policies.

The DOT says that on domestic flights, airlines must cover all expenses caused by lost or delayed baggage, up to $3,300 per passenger. The major domestic airlines have been complying with the rule.

A heads up or two —

~ Most airlines charge you $10 to call their toll-free number and make a reservation (rather than book online). With Delta and United airlines, that fee is now $25.

~ If you’re planning to fly somewhere, check the airline’s website for charges on checking bags (each way!). Policies continue to change. In fact, look for any new and inventive fees, which are constantly being imposed by airlines.

Ever since I saw a sticker saying “Water not potable. Do not drink” over a sink in an airplane’s bathroom decades ago, I’ve never drunk or brushed my teeth with the tap water on any plane, and you shouldn’t either, according to Flyersrights.org, an advocacy group for airline passengers in the US.

While tests of drinking water in airports are conducted frequently, new EPA guidelines call for mandatory testing of tap water on planes only once every five years, though random inspections of water systems will be done.

In the most recent data available, which is a few years old, water systems on many airlines’ planes were found to be contaminated with coliform bacteria about 10 to 15 percent of the time. Northwest claimed a mere 4% and United, 5.6%.

Flyersrights.org even suggests that after washing up in an airplane’s bathroom, passengers should then disinfect their hands.

The group also points out that on many planes, the tap water is used to make coffee and tea and may not always be boiled long enough to kill germs.

In Sofia, Bulgaria, drivers of taxis that do not have meters can charge whatever they want, so long as the rates are posted (lower corner of front window, passenger side). If you can’t phone for a taxi, compare rates on a few and agree on a fare before entering.

Sofia residents know that there is at least one taxi company whose drivers are honest, O.K. Taxi (phone 029732121), and that many others charge several times the normal rates.

At the blog site http://karolinkabulgaria.wordpress.com (“an American Fulbrighter in Sofia”), “Carolyn” points out, “The real O.K. Taxi is a yellow taxi with lettering on the door that is white and says, ‘O.K.’ But it’s really important that the dots between the O and K are red.”

Imitators using the same name may lack the red dots. Another uses the name “CK Taxi” but with the C almost touching the K so it looks like “OK.”

Carolyn points out that all O.K. Taxi cabs use meters and that when you call them for a cab, which is recommended, you’ll reach a dispatcher who speaks English, as they do at the O.K. Taxi counter just outside the sliding glass doors in Terminal Two of the airport.

It looks like the skyline of St. Petersburg, Russia, will drastically change in a few years.

In September local authorities approved construction of the 1,299-foot-tall, steel-and-glass Okhta Centre Tower, which will be the headquarters of the state-controlled gas company, Gazprom.

Situated on the River Neva in an industrial zone in the Okhta Valley, on the edge of the city center (a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, basically, an 18th-century cityscape), the five-sided, slightly spiraling tower will be part of a complex comprising office buildings, a sports arena, a concert hall and a museum.

The 67-floor structure will be three times the height of what is now the city’s tallest building, the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, and will step in as the tallest building in Europe.

Something else that will seem out of place — officers in London carrying firearms. The specialist firearms unit of the Metropolitan Police is being deployed in response to an alarming increase of crime involving guns, particularly in gang areas in North London and south of the Thames River.

A spokesman for the mayor said there is no intention of using armed police in a routine manner, stating “… that should be the exception, not the norm.”

Continuing a special program it has run for several years, until Dec. 31, 2011, Discovery Cruise Line (800/937-4477, www.discoverycruiseline.com) is offering to military personnel who served in Iraq or Afghanistan anytime in the preceding year one free day-long round-trip cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Grand Bahama Island.

The offer also covers onboard breakfast and dinner buffets, service charges, taxes and Bahamian departure fees. With a ship departing at 7:45 a.m. and returning at 10 p.m., Discovery makes the sailing daily.

An ITN subscriber and his wife learned a couple of lessons the hard way on an Eastern European cruise-tour this June and, thoughtfully, decided to share them with you.

After their flight from Houston, Texas, to Frankfurt, Germany, was rerouted to Newfoundland to discharge a passenger having a medical emergency, they missed their connecting flight from Frankfurt to Bucharest, Romania.

Another couple making the same trip called the tour company’s main office in the US and informed them of their new arrival time, asking to be picked up at the Budapest airport by their guide, as expected. When no one met them, both couples took a taxi to the hotel, arriving at 1:30 a.m.

When they did meet their guide, she said she did receive an e-mail from the US office but that she understood the couples were arriving around 12 o’clock noon the next day, not midnight that very day.

Just keep such possible mixups in mind when stating arrival times.

The same couple had another setback on their last night on the cruise.

They left the ship at 6:45 p.m. to have dinner with friends in Budapest, and when they returned at 10 o’clock the ship was gone. After having staff on another ship call their ship for its location, then doing a lot of walking, calling again and finally taking a 15-minute cab ride, they climbed back on board.

The subscriber wrote to the cruise line, “Usually, these repositions are just a few docks away as the one we had that afternoon. Admittedly, we did not see on the printed daily schedule that the ship was going to reposition at 9:45 p.m., but there also should be some sort of a sign posted at the brow indicating where the ship is going to reposition to.”

If you think of it, upon going ashore for an independent outing, ask if the ship will be changing moorings.

Donald K. Layton of Salinas, California, referenced last month’s item in which Marta Goldstein suggested taking a digital picture of luggage to help locate it if it goes missing (page 70).

He wrote, “A good number of years ago when a bag of ours failed to arrive on a Caribbean cruise ship, the purser wanted a list of contents. I was not certain that my list included everything in the bag, so we started a travel sheet for all of our subsequent out-of-the-country trips.

“On one side is a packing list for 1) the suitcase, 2) the carry-on and 3) valuables (i.e., jewelry, cameras and computers). The latter list is at the bottom of the page so it can be torn off if only the suitcase is to be reported.

“On the back of the paper is a color picture of the bag, itself, together with its brand name and dimensions. Also listed are our name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.

“In our carry-ons, we each carry copies of both of our lists in an envelope with copies of our passports, birth certificates and wedding license. Copies stored on our home computer provide a guide for packing for the next trip.

“The last time we had an opportunity to use these sheets was in 2000 when our plane landed in Barcelona without our luggage. When the lady at the lost-luggage counter showed me a large poster with sample models of various bags, asking which ones ours were similar to, I handed her the two pictures of our cases. She commented, “This must have happened to you before.”

Anna Mary Maddy of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, wrote, “I have just completed a wonderful trip from Paris to Normandy on Grand Circle Travel’s riverboat Bizet and, as always, think that Grand Circle does a superior job with its trips, whether on land or boat.

“The following fellow passengers each would like a sample copy of ITN. Since it is the premier travel magazine, one that has been in our household for many, many years, I sing its praises wherever I go. Thank you, and keep those issues coming.”

Yes, ITN will send a free sample copy to anyone on request. How might it be received?…

Doris Hogue of La Palma, California, wrote, “Enclosed is a list of addresses of friends who live and breathe travel as I do. In the early ’80s I was on a cruise in the Greek islands and met a wonderful lady who sent my name and address to ITN for a sample. I have been a subscriber ever since.

“I am a retired travel consultant and for 25 years ITN was a wonderful source of info for my clients and me. My career was probably the best of all possible worlds — helping make dreams come true and also living those dreams, myself.”

Doris, not only can I relate to that, but because ITN is largely reader written and ANY subscriber can share travel tips, finds and recommendations, each person reading this can relate to that, too.

ITN — living dreams!