International Travel News

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October 2006 issue | Appears on page 0

Expected better in BA business class

British Airways had an ad in the Oct. 24, 2005, copy of the New York Times heralding its “business class like no other.” Prior to that, on July 22, 2005, I flew business class from Rome to London (Heathrow). My plane was a 767 that was entirely coach configured. The business class was simply partitioned off, but none of the coach seats were changed. The seats, the width, the pitch and the legroom all were coach. The only thing British Air did was to place some ugly contraption to block off...

October 2006 issue | Appears on page 0

EgyptAir’s business class disappointed

On Feb. 21, 2006, a companion and I flew on EgyptAir from New York (JFK) to Cairo, Egypt, with Grand Circle Travel. We were on GCT’s “Ancient Egypt and the Nile” tour with a 5-day pretrip extension to Jordan. We upgraded to business class (which we do on long flights).

Upon check-in at JFK we were sent to the Swiss International Air Lines business-class lounge, which was the finest lounge I had experienced. It had a full buffet dinner after 4 p.m. as well as free Internet service,...

October 2006 issue | Appears on page 0

To London on MAXjet

In July ’06 I had the opportunity to try out a relatively new airline called MAXjet (888/435-9629, www.maxjet.com), which started up in November ’05 and currently operates from New York’s JFK Airport and Washington’s Dulles Airport to London’s Stansted Airport, though new destinations are planned.

The MAXjet difference is that it features a single class: business. Flying the long-range Boeing 767, a plane that normally carries some 300 passengers, MAXjet has configured it with just...

October 2006 issue | Appears on page 0

Lauds Vantage for alternative tour

My husband, Stanley, and I traveled with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (90 Canal St., Boston, MA 02114; 888/982-6824) in April and May 2006.

We were supposed to have a 2-week river cruise on their “Eastern Europe and the Black Sea” tour, April 13-26. We opted for the post extension Transylvania excursion as well, three nights in Brasov, Romania. When that was over, we traveled from Bucharest to Berlin to begin our second tour with Vantage. It was called “Historic Cities of Eastern...

October 2006 issue | Appears on page 0

Regatta to the Amazon

My wife, Esta Lee, and I took a Miami-Manaus (Brazil)-Miami sailing aboard the Regatta of Oceania Cruises (Miami, FL; 800/531-5658), Nov. 27-Dec. 22, ’05. For an ocean-view cabin, the cost was roughly $4,000 each. It was our second cruise on the Regatta.

Oceania Cruises, the stepchild of the late, lamented Renaissance Cruises line, runs three of Renaissance’s identical 650-passenger “R” ships. Oceania upgraded them by bringing in a new head chef and refurbishing the cabins, among...

October 2006 issue | Appears on page 0

Globotours flexibility

My husband, Foster, and I returned on May 6, ’06, from a 5-night trip with Globotours’ (18725 East Gale Ave., Ste. 209, City of Industry, CA 91748; 800/988-4833 or www.globotours.com) to Singapore and Cambodia (for Angkor Wat), with a 3-day extension to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We also added one extra night in Singapore, bringing the total hotel nights to nine.

This tour was unguided except for two day-tours in Angkor Wat and a one-day tour in Ho Chi Minh City in private vehicles...

October 2006 issue | Appears on page 0

Tips on traveling for months at a time

In the January ’06 issue, page 50, Cecilia Morrissey shared extensive advice on arranging flights around the world. Here she offers advice on other things to consider when planning months-long travels.

GETTING TASKS DONE AT HOME WHILE AWAY — What about the mail and paying monthly household bills while you’re away? You can 1) find some victim to take care of this for you, 2) do most of the arranging before you leave or 3) do a combination of both.

Regarding the monthly bills,...

October 2006 issue | Appears on page 0

’Round-world trips

Are you considering a trip around the world (Dec. ’05, pg. 53)? Our recommendation would be “Go for it!” In March-April ’05 we traveled around the world, spending five weeks in 10 countries, and it was truly the trip of a lifetime. Here are the particulars.

1. We used United Airlines and their Star Alliance partners. They have specially trained agents who assisted us with the itinerary and the details.

The restrictions were minimal: complete the trip within a year, travel in...