Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 15

Arthur's Blog: Learn How to Avoid Cellphone Data Roaming Charges When Abroad

Because Seth Kugel of The New York Times has written one of the first understandable articles on the use of cellphones whie traveling abroad, we invited him to be interviewed on this Sunday’s Travel Show.

Cellphone use is a complex topic, but Kugel demystifies it clear by dividing cellphone users into five categories, starting with the relaxed people who simply don’t want to stay in touch during their vacation travels, and leave the cellphone at home ("The Blissfully Disconnected"); and ending with the nervous, pressured types who move about with the instrument almost permanently affixed to their ear or in their hand, desperate to receive e-mails or data throughout the day ("The Addicts").

In between, he discusses the cost-saving tactics to be used by us moderate cellphone users, starting with those who simply wait until they are in a Wi-Fi hot spot like their hotel room before turning on their smartphone to receive e-mails or data ("The Sem-Connected"), keeping data roaming off all the time. The savviest among them also use Skype or Google Voice to actually make calls, again using the Wi-Fi in their hotel room. And then he goes on to discuss the more anxious travelers who need to consider the purchase and use of various foreign SIM cards -- the preferred method of keeping cellphone costs down while you travel. Mind you, use of a SIM card requires some advance planning on your part (and advising friends and colleagues of a dedicated, new phone number for your cellphone), and various other minor adjustments to your life. I’ve never heard anyone making the matter clearer than Kugel, in the interview we taped yesterday in the studios of WOR.

Since this is an important matter involving substantial travel costs, I urge you to tune in. You can hear the entire Travel SHow broadcast streamed live at WOR710.com at 12:06pm Eastern Time. Seth Kugel’s interview takes place at the start of our second hour at 1:06 p.m.

Arthur's Blog: When It Comes to Traveling with a Light-to-Carry Laptop, I Use a Chromebook

Like many travelers, I need to carry a laptop. I need it not only to keep up with the news (which a tablet would do), but to produce a lot of written text, like this daily blog.  And since I need to carry it along with me from place to place, I need one that weighs no more than three pounds, and that has at least seven hours of battery time, so that I don’t need to keep constantly searching for a power outlet.

About a year ago, I realized that a MacbookAir would suit my needs. But a MacbookAir costs around a thousand dollars, which offends my cost-conscious principles. So instead, I bought a Samsung Chromebook, which cost -- at that time -- $349. It -- the original Chromebook -- weighed three pounds and lasted for an astonishing nine hours of battery time. I could carry it around, and constantly use it, without having to worry about re-charging the machine.

I have since replaced the original model with a more powerful, second-generation Chromebook, which cost $449 (a far less expensive Acer version of the Chromebook will come out in mid-October).

Now although the Chromebook is manufactured by Samsung and Acer, it is designed and promoted by Google, which recently acquired the Frommer's brand. So I can be accused of partiality, right? Wrong. I bought my first Chromebook many months before I even remotely heard -- or even dreamed -- of the Google acquisition. So my decision, and current satisfaction, regarding the Chromebook is totally objective.

Why is the Chromebook so light, long-lasting, and cheap? It has no hard drive, no storage capacity to speak of; it saves its files to the Cloud. it works only when you have access to the Internet (although it also permits you to do simple word processing even when you are offline). Many of the techies violently attack the Chromebook because it is unable to perform such arcane tasks as video editing -- but how many of us do video editing?

If you’re an avid traveler, you might consider the weight advantages, the battery advantages, and the cost advantages, of my own, much-cherished, traveler’s friend.

Arthur's Blog: Savored.com Can Bring You Big Discounts at Well-Known Restaurants

I'm impressed by a website called Savored.com, which takes advantage of the need of restaurants to fill their tables at unpopular times. Savored.com is such an obvious idea that other Internet entrepreneurs must be slapping their foreheads and exclaiming, "Why didn't I think of that!"

Here's the background:

If you have ever walked the streets of Miami or Miami Beach at 5:30pm, you have probably noticed the "early bird specials" that major restaurants offer to persons who will take their dinners that early. The same large discounts -- at least 30% off the bill, or even 40% -- are also offered in other cities on weekends, at restaurants that normally cater to a business clientele that isn't around on weekends. Or the discounts are offered on slow Monday evenings at restaurants mainly patronized on the weekends. Nearly all restaurants have periods of time, or whole days, when their business is slow; and they are willing to reduce the price of meals to persons who come in at that time.

Other restaurants are willing to slash the price at the last minute, when they discover that a large group has cancelled the tables that were set aside for them. They would be happy to replace that business at lower meal costs, if they could only quickly (and effectively) advertise the availability of that space within a few hours prior to the time in question.

Yet no one -- at least until now -- has created a means of permitting willing restaurant sellers and willing consumers to match up.

Enter Savored.com. For ten major cities -- New York; Philadelphia; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Miami; Chicago; Denver; Los Angeles; and San Francisco -- Savored.com lists restaurants that will make reservations for meals reduced in price by 30% and 40% at times of the day, or on particular days, when the restaurants are slow to fill up. An example? An extremely elegant and somewhat expensive restaurant located short blocks from where I live will grant a discount of 30% to persons who come in to dine as early as 6pm

And the discounts are granted without embarassment to the customer. You simply mention quietly to the maitre d' that your reservation was made through Savored.com, and the discount will be automatically applied to your bill -- without further discussion of any sort.

Savored.com is currently working to add other cities to its current list of ten. And it is always adding restaurants and various periods of cut-rate dining to its repertoire. I'm predicting a major success for Savored.com and suggest you take a look at it. 

Arthur's Blog: Maui Home Rentals, Small Alaskan Cruiselines, The Travel Show on iTunes and More

Some time ago, I wrote about the efforts of the then-mayor of Maui to severely limit the right of apartment owners to rent those lodgings to tourists for short periods of time. Her drive to eliminate "noisy vacation rentals" would have removed an opportunity for cost-conscious visitors to enjoy comfortable but inexpensive accommodations in this tropical paradise. So it is now a pleasure to report that after years of political battling over the issue, the Maui County Council headed by a new mayor has finally approved legislation that permits the lightly-controlled rental of a great many of those inexpensive digs. There is now a means to enjoy budget-priced vacation apartments during your Hawaii stay. particularly during such tourist-heavy periods as Christmas. The Internet is now full of rental notices, and the Maui prices are good. 

The bankruptcy of the late Chuck West's smalll-ship Alaskan cruise line a couple of years ago left fans of small-ship cruising without a vessel for exploring the coastline of Alaska. Happily, that gap has been now been filled by two new and impressive companies: American Cruiselines (www.americancruiselines.com) and American Safari (the latter's website is the strange www.innerseadiscoveries.com), both of which operate small ships that take you right up to the face of the glaciers, among other places. They often follow the wildlife that you spot, enabling you to approach in kayaks and motorized rafts. I've received rave reviews for both from readers.

From the first days when my daughter and I began presenting The Travel Show on nationwide radio every Sunday, it's been possible to hear recorded commercial-free podcasts of each show during the ensuing weeks at www.wor710.com (scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on The Travel Show). But now, the broadcast is also available on iTunes. You can hear dozens of past programs free of charge at http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-travel-show/id203822900.

An almost omnipresent fear that tourists staying in your apartment or home will break up the place has prevented a great many travelers from undertaking a "vacation exchange," swapping use of their apartment or home with that of another owner in another city or country. But several recent listeners to The Travel Show have sworn that numerous homeowner's insurance policies will cover and reimburse the cost of such damage. Such protection is apparently based on the theory that since you are not receiving money for allowing use of your apartment or home to another person, the transaction is exactly like permitting a friend or relative to stay in your residence while you are away -- and the insurance provisions protect you. I can't verify this claim without reading actual homeowner's insurance policies (to which I have no access), but the possibility of such coverage certainly increases the desirability of engaging in a home exchange.

It's important to know that two different organizations can protect your health while traveling. One is the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT.org), which provides you with the names and addresses of highly-qualified, English-speaking doctors in major foreign cities.  Should illness strike in the course of a trip, you consult such a physician. The second source is Patients Beyond Borders (both a book and a website, www.patientswithoutborders.us), which describes hospitals in overseas locations that (a) have earned the same accreditation that major American hospitals have, and (b) charge a fraction of the sums you'd pay for elaborate medical treatments in the U.S. (hip replacements, heart bypass, dental work). Both are valuable names to keep in mind.

Arthur's Blog: Week's End Round-Up of Significant Events that Could Impact Your Travel Plans

It's been a fairly quiet week in travel. Prince Harry is no longer cavorting in the fleshpots of Las Vegas, and only a single country -- Pakistan -- has been added in the last several days to the State Department's list of places to avoid.

The most significant news of practical interest to travelers is that the pilots of American Airlines are apparently engaged in a work slow-down in protest against the proposed terms of their contract with the airline presented to the bankruptcy court. The result is that a major percentage of AA's flights are nearly an hour late in leaving and arriving, and a huge number of American Airlines flights are being cancelled, wreaking havoc on the travel plans of a great many people. (And, by the way, it was not me or other bloggers who called attention to the problem but the esteemed travel editor of the Wall Street Journal.)

The other significant travel news was announcement of a major airfare sale to London by Virgin Atlantic Airways for most of the remaining weeks in 2012, and from all eight of Virgin Atlantic's gateway cities in the U.S.: New York; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Miami; Orlando; Vegas; Los Angeles; and San Francisco. But it's an example of how high fares have risen that these off-season offers of $854 round-trip from New York and $930 from Los Angeles, are regarded as "sales." Though the discounted prices include all fees, taxes and surcharges of every sort, a tab of $900 or so doesn't seem that cheap to me, and the British pound has also risen a bit in value in recent weeks.

In the world of cruising, various lines are now announcing that they will sell you the right to enjoy unlimited hard drinks (martinis, scotch-and-waters, manhattans, whiskey-sours, beer and wine, you name it) for $49 a day. Two ships of Carnival cruises have joined Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in offering the drink-yourself-silly plan, and I'm betting that other lines will follow in the next few days. If you're a determined guzzler, you might inquire before booking your next sailing. And keep in mind that all-inclusive hotels already offer this facility for no extra charge, but rather included in their rates. I well remember my first visit to a Sandals resort in the Caribbean, where I saw various young people imbibing daiquiris and margaritas at 8 a.m. in the morning. They were free!

The re-positioning cruises of Celebrity Cruises in October and November, as sold by Online Vacation Center, deserve a mention. OVC's gimmick is to throw in air transportation to Europe to board the ships (which then take two weeks to cross the Atlantic to Florida), plus a couple of nights at a European hotel in advance of the cruise, and then to charge less than $2,000 for the totally-all-inclusive two-week package, on an upscale ship. That's quite a bargain, and you can learn more by phoning the cruise discounter at 800/329-9002.

And finally, the State Department's list of countries to avoid has now reached a total of 33 (some are listed because parts of the nation -- not all of it -- are deemed to be unsafe). As a service, they are (starting with the most recent to be named, and proceeding to the oldest): Pakistan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Sudan, Algeria, Libya, North Korea, South Sudan, Guinea, Mali, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Congo, Central African Republic, Kenya, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Haiti, Somalia, Philippines, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Cote d'Ivoire, Burundi, Eritrea, Niger, Chad, Yemen, Colombia, and Mexico. That still leaves plenty of the world to be visited safely.

Arthur's Blog: New Site Claims to Vet UGC Hotel Reviews

When you read a user-generated website containing hotel recommendations, how do you know those reveiws weren't written by or at the behest of the hotels themselves? That conundrum has kept many travelers from having confidence in those sites. Critics have pointed to the ease with which those sites can be manipulated. Indeed, various public relations firms now run seminars teaching their hotel clients how they can insure that such sites are filled with rave reviews for their property (or critical reviews of their competitors).
One commentator has estimated that as many as 40% of the reviews appearing on user-generated sites for hotels are generated by the hotels themselves, and are thus to be read with a critical eye. The operators of those websites have consistently refused to adopt procedures that would require the authors of reviews to prove that they have actually stayed at these hotels.
That's why a recent announcement about a new, user-generated site called HotelMe.com is intriguing. HotelMe, presently appearing in a beta version on the internet and not yet fully developed, is a site that has recently received millions of dollars in funding from such heavyweights as USA Today and its owner, the Gannett Corporation. HotelMe has recently signed up several major hotel chains to cooperate in ascertaining whether the authors of hotel reviews have actually stayed at the hotels they claim to be independently appraising. Apparently, persons submitting reviews to HotelMe will be asked to identify the dates of their stay. HotelMe will then submit those names and dates to the hotels in question, seeking a confirmation of the authors' bona fides before the review is published on the site.
I find this to be a refreshing development, and I will be following the development of HotelMe. If they actually follow through with their fact-checking efforts, they will remove at least some of the skepticism that experienced travelers have about UGC sites. And readers of the site can then exercise their own judgment as to whether the reviews are by total amateurs whose opinions are to be skeptically considered.

Arthur's Blog: The Six Most Common Travel Questions

What are the queries most frequently posed to this blog by readers, or phoned in to the Travel Show? There are six of them repeated over and over most weeks, each reflecting a widespread travel concern.

1. Is it safe to travel to _____? It's the most frequent query of all and the most difficult to answer. In a pinch, I direct them to the U.S. State Department's list of nations to avoid (www.travel.state.gov) and also point out that a similar list maintained by the British Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk) is regarded, by some, as containing even better advice.

2. I am going on a cruise. Should I buy the cruise line's shore excursions? The people who pose that question are apparently aware of the forbidding sums that cruise lines charge for the right to stuff themselves into a motorcoach with their fellow passengers and go whizzing about through a foreign area. I invariably advise that the decision be put off until you are actually on the cruise. You will then learn, from orientation sessions or your fellow passengers, that some port cities can easily be wandered on foot or in a taxi booked with two other passengers; that only a few foreign ports -- Civitavecchia for visiting Rome, Livorno for visiting Florence, Kusadasi for visiting Ephesus in Turkey -- are so distant from the places you wish to see that the cruise line's motorcoach excursions are just about the only practical means to sightsee.

3. How do I find an apartment in _____? Increasingly, Americans are anxious to substitute a modestly-priced vacation apartment for a costly hotel room. I point out that a company called Homeaway.com has become a giant business for finding such apartments, and that it maintains subsidiaries in several foreign countries easily found on the internet. I also mention that Airbnb.com is an up-and-coming competitor to Homeaway, as is Rentalo.com.

4. Can I visit this many places in this amount of time? (For example, "I have ten days in Italy, can I visit these five cities: Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, and Milan?") I respond that they will ruin their trip by attempting to squeeze in too many destinations. I explain that traveling from one city to another occupies an entire day: checking out of one hotel, traveling to train station or airport; checking in to a second hotel and accustoming themselves to the new location. The necessary movements of travel make it extremely unwise to visit five or six cities (or countries) in their usually limited amount of time.

5. Should I buy travel insurance? I almost always answer Yes. Travel is an uncertain activity; things can and do go wrong. Almost 100% of all experienced Europeans buy travel insurance when they go on a trip; we should emulate their wise strategy.

6. What's there to see and do in _____? This is the only question to which I respond with irritation (or less than courtesy). If they have to ask such a question, I say heatedly, then they have not done any advance reading at all. Travel brings to you only what you bring to it. Smart travelers spend an afternoon or two at a library reading about the places they plan to visit, or reading a guidebook at home, or they spend the equivalent time at their computers, doing the same. And thus equipped with substantial information, they enjoy a rewarding trip.

You can tune in to the Travel Show each Sunday to hear my daughter Pauline and I field these and other questions. Details are found at www.wor710.com. 

Arthur's Blog: Cheap Household Items that Do Double-Duty as Treatments for Travel Ailments

There have been a number of recent reports about everyday household items and their usefulness in treating common travel conditions. One of the most perceptive pieces is "Sick on the Road? Try the Grocery Store?" by Christine Negroni of The New York Times, and Pauline interviewed her on last Sunday's Travel Show.

You might have heard Negroni's assertion that plain chewing gum, when vigorously chewed for a fair amount of time, is effective in overcoming indigestion and other stomach ailments. But have you heard about the power of sugar-free chewing gum to overcome that common (and sometimes unspeakable) travel condition called constipation? Turns out that sugar-free chewing gum contains and disseminates sorbitol, which eliminates the effects that different cuisines and eating habits can have over the course of a trip. Though various overseas pharmacists will recommend all kinds of costly pills to take when you consult with them, according to Negroni three to four pieces of sugarless chewing gum (and no more than that) will prove far more effective in eliminating this traveler's ailment.

Any other words of wisdom from specialists in travel ailments? Sprinkle your hair, face and exposed arms with talcum powder to keep bugs away when you travel in the tropics. Then, too, smoke also keeps them away, and that's smoke from the controlled camp fires you would be wise to set in the outdoors. And when one of those bugs gets through to you nevertheless, and administers a painful sting, then either extreme cold (ice cubes) or hot placed upon that sting will make it more bearable. Same for the effects of poison ivy. Numbness overcomes the pain.

As for cuts and burns encountered while traveling? The experts suggest that you sprinkle them with ground pepper or sugar. As for ailments of the eye, wash them out with heavily diluted forms of baby soap -- soap dipped into a lot of water -- and you'll feel better, according to Negroni.

To my surprise, this discussion of amateur medicine set off a great many phone calls from listeners. I, for one, will be trying sugarless chewing gum if, on a future trip, I encounter one of the most troubling forms of travel ailments.

Arthur's Blog: A Deeper Look at Frontier's Decision to Reward Passengers Who Buy Directly from the Airline's Own Site

Frontier Airlines is a fairly small air carrier, flying mainly out of Denver to and from other parts of the country and to Mexico. But the action taken by Frontier last week, creating advantages for passengers who buy their tickets on Frontier's website rather than those of various third-party online travel agents (OTAs like Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity), is bound to have a nationwide and industry-wide impact. That action makes such sense from the airlines' standpoint that it is bound to be copied by the larger carriers -- United, Delta, Southwest, and American. And the theory behind this step is already being followed by such smaller carriers as JetBlue, Spirit, and Theoretically, domestic air tickets are supposed to cost the same regardless of whether you buy them directly from the airline or from an OTA. The airlines' contracts with the OTAs are supposed to contain provisions guarding against price discrimination. The airline can't undercut the prices that they permit the OTAs to quote.
Already, however, airlines like JetBlue, Spirit and Virgin America have become notorious for their short-duration "sales" in which they cut the price of their air tickets for a brief period provided that such air tickets are purchased directly from the airline on the airline's web site. Similarly, Canada-based Porter Airlines flying in and out of Toronto to New York and elsewhere in the U.S. does the same thing; they frequently run sales cutting their fares by as much as $100, provided they are purchased directly from the Porter website.
Frontier Airlines, in its recent announcement, isn't offering cheaper airfares to the persons who book directly through its site -- but it is offering the near equivalent of a price reduction. The carrier is, however, offering better frequent flyer mileage, advance seat assignments, lower fees, and other perks.
Note that Frontier doesn't stop you from consulting flights and fares on the websites of the OTAs; by looking at those sites, you learn about the entire airfare picture for the dates and itineraries you desire; you read about numerous different airlines competing for your business.
But when the time comes to make a commitment and actually buy a ticket, Frontier is offering advantages if you do so directly from Frontier and not from Orbitz, Travelocity, or Expedia. Frontier thus saves the heavy commissions that they would otherwise be obliged to pay to the OTAs, amounts that must surely add up to millions of dollars a year.
So in this manner, buying an air ticket should become a two-step procedure for most members of the public. And because other airlines will surely follow Frontier's lead, it will necessarily become smart for just about everybody to spend twenty minutes or so on consulting the websites of the OTAs to get a total picture, but then to go directly to the airline for an actual purchase. You'll get a better deal if you do.

Arthur's Blog: More About Egypt, Plus News on Fare Increases, Frontier Airlines, and Yosemite

I would have thought that the un-wisdom of visiting Egypt at the present time was so obvious that no one would take exception to my yesterday's blog, advising that American tourists stay away. And yet four readers have done exactly that. If you'd like to read the contrary viewpoints on current tourism to Egypt, go to the several comments that have been posted to yesterday's blog, some from Americans who actually live in Egypt. 
No one should disagree with my earlier prediction that the constant consolidation in the airline industry -- the merger of one airline with another -- will inevitably cause U.S. airfares to rise. Just yesterday, several airlines announced another $10 per flight increase; and we can expect many more, you can be sure.
As you may have read, Frontier Airlines has struck a blow at the O.T.A.'s (online travel agents, like Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity) by denying all sorts of privileges -- like advance seat assignments -- to people who make their bookings through these Internet giants. From now on, at least on Frontier, if you wish to live like a privileged flyer, you will buy your tickets directly from Frontier, and not from Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. I feel confident that other airlines may adopt the same strategy.
For some time now, I've been recommending the 500 tented cabins that make up Curry Village in Yosemite National Park, as among the great travel bargains of America. A family of five can pay a total of $111 a night to stay in these comfortable cabins, enjoying beds with blankets, sheets and pillows. But it was in Curry Village that three recent campers died of the deadly Hanta Virus, an event that caused the closing of some 91 cabins (though some 400 remain in popular use). Such extreme measures are now being taken to fumigate the affected canvas-sided huts, and to prevent the infestation of rodents carrying the disease, that Curry Village will undoubtedly recover its full use. It is still one of the great travel bargains, and Yosemite is a don't-miss grand attractions of America.