International Travel News

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March 2009 issue | Appears on page 15

Britain driving more difficult

What’s one thing we would do differently if we were to take our last trip over again? (See Oct. ’08, pg. 2.) After our experience in late April and early May ’08, we would not drive ourselves in England again.

Previously, we had driven all over Great Britain, South Africa and New Zealand, so we have experience with driving on the “other” side of the road. However, on this trip the traffic overwhelmed their roads, from the country lanes to the motorways.

Also, even with our...

March 2009 issue | Appears on page 16

London on foot

I enjoyed Patrick Erricker’s tips on making touring in London more affordable (Dec. ’08, pg. 11). I’m into my sixth year living in Greater London (near the Kew Gardens tube station), and I wanted to share my five tips on enjoying London on foot.

London is a walker’s paradise, especially in April through October when the days are longer. There is more sunshine than people expect, and the weather is rarely worse than a mizzle (between a mist and a drizzle). Best of all, you could walk...

March 2009 issue | Appears on page 18

Traveling with a wheelchair

In response to Thora Jervey’s request for accounts of wheelchair travel (Sept. ’08, pg. 63), might my wife, Gerry, and I offer some thoughts?

We have traveled by land and sea around the globe with Gerry being dependent upon a wheelchair. It takes planning!

First, for land travel we require a wheelchair-accessible room as a base. We have found Holiday Inns to be very dependable here and abroad. They book wheelchair rooms as a separate category. That is to say, it’s like...

March 2009 issue | Appears on page 19

Luggage cart cost

In October ’08 we found airports in Italy now requiring a one- or 2-euro piece to secure a cart to transport your luggage. When you return the cart, you get your money back.

At the Malpensa airport in Milan we were picking up a rental car, and it would have been a LONG walk to take the carts back. So that was about $1.30 per cart.

RICHARD FINERMAN

Palm Springs, CA

March 2009 issue | Appears on page 19

Creative solution to language predicament

What would I have done differently? (See Oct. ’08, pg. 2.)

A few years ago, while on a prolonged visit to London, I decided to fly to Kiev, Ukraine, for a cruise on the Dnieper River. My London travel agent said that if she were to make a hotel reservation for me in Kiev, it would be very expensive. She said that I could find an English-speaking tourist agent at the Kiev air terminal who would be able to help me and it would be much cheaper.

Taking her at her word, I arrived at...

March 2009 issue | Appears on page 28

Couldn’t avoid AA’s booking fee

Around Oct. 31, 2008, I went online and tried to get an award ticket on LAN Airlines from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to São Paulo, Brazil, using American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

AA’s policy is that if you get an award ticket or purchase a ticket on the telephone, they charge a fee of $30, and if you get it at an AA office it’s $20. There is no extra charge if the ticket is purchased online.

I was unable to secure the ticket online, so I called the local AA office at Santa Fe...

March 2009 issue | Appears on page 28

Frequent-flyer woes

I would like to add my comments to the experience that Daniel M. Mitchell had attempting to use frequent-flyer miles with United Airlines (“Frequent-flyer Seats Sparse,” Dec. ’08, pg. 25).

My wife and I had booked a round-trip cruise from Dover, England, for August-September ’09. The first day that flights were listed on the United website, we tried to obtain two business-class tickets for the round trip from Boston to London using 80,000 miles each.

We were told that no seats...

March 2009 issue | Appears on page 30

JAL came through

My husband and I took a 3-week tour of Laos in late November ’08. About a week before we were due to fly home on Dec. 3, citizens of Bangkok, Thailand, demonstrated their dissatisfaction with their government at the airport. No planes were able to fly in or out of the city.

Since we could not fly from Vientiane, Laos, to Bangkok, we rented a van and drove there on Dec. 2. Japan Airlines was not answering the phone, so we took a cab to their downtown office. Up on the 10th floor, we...