International Travel News

Travelers' Intercom

May 2015 issue | Appears on page 24

United’s unlocked- luggage policy at Narita

By Jane B. Holt

Preparing to fly back to the US from our second trip to Japan in 2014, my husband, Clyde, and I were at Narita International Airport on Dec. 16. While waiting for the United Airlines check-in counter to open, we saw a new rule posted above each of United’s couple dozen check-in stations: all checked luggage had to be left unlocked, even bags with TSA locks.

This caused us much concern until we spoke to an agent at the check-in desk and learned of an easy solution.

Using the...

May 2015 issue | Appears on page 25

French dining concerns

By Sally Mee

My husband, Jim, and I spent May and June of 2014 in a rental home in the small village of Paziols in southern France, very close to the Spanish border. Our intention was to find a location where the residents didn’t speak English. We found it!

We had progressed to Level 5 in Rosetta Stone, but, though the residents seemed to understand us, we had difficulty understanding their dialect laced with Spanish and Catalan. Nevertheless, we had marvelous experiences in an area that’s been...

May 2015 issue | Appears on page 26

Driver/guide in Greece

By Ann Cyr

Prior to our leaving for a 10-day visit to Greece in May 2014, our travel agent — with Travelive (US office in Bloomfield, NJ; 888/377-5483, www.travelive.com) — arranged for my husband and me to take a private two-day trip to Delphi and Meteora.

Partly because we were 70 and 80 years old, we didn’t want to deal with 40-plus others and possibly several languages on a bus tour, so we rode in a Mercedes on the two-day trip. The journey was an almost 500-mile round trip from Athens....

May 2015 issue | Appears on page 27

Drivers in Chile & Argentina

By Kathy Parsons

My husband and I spent October 2014 visiting Chile and Argentina on a customized tour, and for three days in Santiago we had an excellent English-speaking guide whom we highly recommend.

José Manuel González Holley (Santiago, Chile; phone +569 96403238 or email josemanuelholley@yahoo.com) took us on a city tour, on day trips outside of Santiago, including private wine-tasting in the Colchagua Valley, and to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. A very experienced guide, José is flexible and...

May 2015 issue | Appears on page 28

Finding good snorkel sites

By Brenda Milum

Scuba divers enjoy the availability of schools, guided cruises and even special magazines, but snorkeling aficionados are pretty much left on their own. My husband, George, and I, both 82-year-old grandparents, are certified scuba divers. Claustrophobia caused me to give up scuba diving years ago, so we mostly go snorkeling, but my husband still dives when our children are with us.

We have snorkeled in 50 countries. (If you think about how many countries border a sea AND have...

May 2015 issue | Appears on page 47

Discover card in China

By Bruce Waxman

In an article about Shanghai, a traveler reported that a restaurant did not accept Visa, MasterCard or American Express (Feb. ’15, pg. 11). There’s a simple solution: use a Discover card.

Discover (800/347-2683, www.discover.com) has a relationship with China UnionPay,* a banking network and bank card provider in China. You should be able to use a Discover card wherever the China UnionPay logo is displayed (it’s in English).

Moreover, to make things easier, go online to the...

May 2015 issue | Appears on page 47

Global Entry double-checks

By Charles McCool

In the letter “Issues with Global Entry” (Dec. ’14, pg. 51), a traveler enrolled in the Global Entry program wondered why she and her husband rarely were assigned TSA Pre√TM (Pre-check) status for easier security clearance for domestic flights. In answer, another traveler noted that members had to use the correct series of numbers from their Global Entry cards (Feb. ’15, pg. 14).

There’s another common reason many people often don’t receive Pre√ status on US flights.

Confirm...

May 2015 issue | Appears on page 48

Praise for Squaremouth

By Tony Leisner

When my wife, Patti, and I went to book a 10-day trip (April 30-May 9, 2015) to Peru and Bolivia back in February, the tour company told us they no longer sold trip insurance and now referred people to Squaremouth (St. Petersburg, FL; 800/240-0369, www.squaremouth.com).

We tried booking through the website and it was super-easy! We put in a few details, and, in minutes, 40 different travel-insurance providers were on the screen, with options to compare, filter and select.

I was...