Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 16

Arthur's Blog: For Now, Egypt Doesn't Appear Safe as a Tourist Destination for Americans

For weeks, I've been giving a fairly uniform response to readers of this blog and listeners to our weekly Travel Show who ask if it is safe to visit Egypt. I've responded that, as best I know, the local police forces there have virtually disappeared from the public scene and are unavailable to assist you in the event of emergencies or problems. The ineffectiveness of the police has been ascribed, by many commentators, to the fact that they are held in contempt by a great many Egyptians and therefore maintain a low profile. But now, an additional factor has been added to the lack of public order within Egypt.
In my opinion, it appears that the government of Egypt's President Mohammad Morsi has itself whipped up anti-American sentiments among the Egyptian population. Certainly, that government has been silent about the recent violence directed against the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and that government failed to take measures to protect the Embassy from the recent attacks.
Until matters change, and steps are taken by Egyptian officials to discourage such violence, I think it unsafe for Americans to visit Egypt as tourists. I feel sad to voice that opinion, because I think of all the fine Egyptian people who are dependant on tourism. Safety comes first, and, currently, Egypt is not safe.

Arthur's Blog: Three Companies Lead the Way in Alternative Accommodations

It was founded less than four years ago, and yet is currently worth more than 1.3 billion dollars according to analysts. It recently received more than $112M in extra funding, and is currently being used by tens of thousands of travelers each week.
I'm talking about the home, apartment, and spare-bed-renting organization AirBnB.com. Together with its giant competitor, HomeAway, Inc., its more recent adversary, Flipkey.com (a subsidiary of TripAdvisor.com), and the various independent subsidiaries of HomeAway (which include VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com), AirBnB is now at the leading edge of one of the fastest-growing fields in travel, the rental of homes and apartments in place of hotels. In America and all over the world, travelers are increasingly turning to apartments, homes, and spare beds in apartments and homes, for their overnight lodgings.
A reason for this trend? Travelers are frequently finding that they can save a great deal of money by staying in a private residence instead of a hotel. And when they rent an entire apartment or home, rather than a hotel, they often luxuriate in surroundings far more spacious and comfortable than any hotel offers. Particularly in the super-expensive cities of the world (New York, San Francisco, London, Paris to name a few), the cost of hotel rooms has reached such heights (as much as $400 a room per night and up) that cost-conscious travelers are often forced to turn to less expensive apartments and homes.
Then, too, many cities become totally booked up during periods of trade shows or conventions. It was this discovery by the founders of AirBnB.com which led them to collect a list of persons who were willing to rent spare beds or spare rooms in their apartments to persons arriving in the founders' hometown. The list proved so popular that they quickly drew the right conclusions and determined to go nationwide with similar lists.
Actually, VRBO.com was perhaps the earliest of the Internet services to permit the owners of vacation homes or apartments to offer their digs to a nationwide audience, at a cost that was extremely gentle. By paying as little as $25 to be listed for a month on a website consulted by multitudes of travelers, they were able to rent their homes or apartments far more successfully and quickly than local newspaper ads had ever achieved.
The owners of Homeaway.com (headquartered in Austin, Texas) spotted the successful VRBO.com and quickly acquired it, in addition to acquiring VacationRentals.com. They also proceeded to create local specialists in major countries overseas: HomeAway.co.uk in Great Britain, HomeAway.de in Germany, HomeAway.es in Spain, and Homelidays.com in France.
In Australia today, you find HomeAway.com.au, and in Brazil you find AlugueTemporada.com. Obviously, the rental of homes, apartments, and private beds has become a major worldwide industry.
That's not to say that the local real estate agents have been entirely pushed out. In Orlando, Florida, a company called FloridaDreamHomes.com has become a leading source of entire vacation homes in the Orlando/Kissimmee area. Go to its products in Kissimmee particularly, and you will find rental opportunities that match the low prices of any nationwide firm.
What has the hotel industry done to slow this wholesale flight away from hotels and towards homes and apartment? One example is the enormous Wyndham Hotel chain creating EVRentals.com to offer home rentals in competition with its own hotels.
I've heard only good things from persons who have rented vacation homes and apartments in place of hotels. But clearly, both hosts and guests have to exercise great care in making these arrangements. Recently, AirBnB has stressed that it has created all sorts of safety mechanisms to screen out improper people from the use of its services, in addition to providing insurance coverage to their hosts. We'll soon to be able to determine whether they've destroyed this abuse of their services.

Arthur's Blog: Cheap $565 Per Person Packages Make Ireland the Autumn Must-Do Destination

No fewer than five major tour operators are now offering air-and-land packages to Ireland for autumn dates for as little as an astonishing $565 per person, based on only two persons traveling together. No sooner did Brian Moore International (BMIT.com) lower the price to $729, $749 and $779 for scattered departure dates in October and November, than AerLingusVacationStore.com dropped the tab for exactly the same thing (round-trip air to Dublin and a car with unlimited mileage for a week) to $565 and $585 for dates between November 8 and December 22 (though you'll be asked to book by September14 to obtain the most radical bargains). The same AerLingus VacationStore is offering round-trip air, car, and 6 nights at good hotels in Ireland for an equally-amazing $791 per person.
Meanwhile, the long-established Ireland specialist SceptreTours.com has suddenly highlighted a package of round-trip air to Dublin, a car with unlimited mileage for a week, and 6 nights at a "luxury lodge" outside of Dublin (Johnstown House in Meath) for $699 per person, provided again that you book by September 14 and -- this time -- are a party of four traveling together. But it is now clear that Sceptre's deadline dates for bookings are really "rolling deadlines" that are soon extended once they have expired.
Ten nights in Ireland, including round-trip air to Dublin, a car with unlimited mileage for that length of time, and hotel accommodations with breakfast daily for nine nights in an assortment of Irish cities? For that you go to EuropeanDestinations.com for its $1,039 air-and-land package, which actually offers a similar assortment of well-priced air-and-land packages to Ireland. And if you're able to plan ahead till next Spring, and want a fully-escorted, group motorcoach tour of Ireland's most famous sights, you go to Go-Today.com, where you'll find various April dates on which you will pay $1,499 for air and an escorted six-night tour.
Given the clear indication that Ireland is the current place for low-cost air-and-land vacations, it's obvious that the other Ireland specialists -- Brendan Tours, Celtic Tours, Tenon Tours, and others -- will soon weigh in with their own blockbusters. You'd be well advised to survey all of them before booking your own Ireland vacation this autumn.

Arthur's Blog: Airline Charges Family 300€ for Failing to Print Boarding Passes; Company President Calls Mother "Stupid"

Although his astonishing comments been reported by a dozen news outlets in Britain and Canada, I feel obliged to bring your attention to remarks by the president of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, who called a passenger -- Suzy McLeod -- "stupid" for failing to print boarding passes for her family of five before they arrived at an airport in Spain to board their Ryanair flight back to the U.K. Because of the oversight, she had to pay a penalty of 300€ -- 60€ per person, the total equivalent of about $378 -- for the privilege of using her already-purchased tickets on Ryanair.
McLeod had explained that she had vacationed in a rural area of Spain and had no access to the Internet for printing such boarding passes. O'Leary responded, among other suggestions, that she could have phoned her relatives back home in England and asked them to print out the passes and presumably mail or fax them to her. Because she didn't, she should pay this horrific fee of $378 "for being so stupid." She is being charged, added O'Leary, "for being an idiot." To passengers failing to print their boarding passes within the several days prior to the return leg of their flight, O'Leary concluded (in an interview with a London newspaper), "bugger off."
This is not the first time that Ryanair's CEO has expressed such disdain for the people who support his airline. He is the same person who actually contemplated charging passengers for the right to use the airplane's toilets mid-flight. He has recommended -- in jest, of course -- shooting environmentalists and travel agents.
You might keep him in mind the next time you think about buying an air ticket for an intra-European flight. Do you really want to do business with this gentleman?
$378 for failing to print out your boarding passes! What kind of airline would impose such a charge?

Arthur's Blog: Southern US Vacation Package from $799 is a Refreshing Alternative to More Difficult International Travel

No more concern about roaming charges, or whether your passport has six months of remaining life. No more need to worry about obtaining euros or pounds. No jet lag from a trans-Atlantic flight. Fewer security worries. I'm talking about a vacation in colorful cities located right at home -- places you've always been determined to visit, which are now available at a more-than-reasonable price from Gate 1 Travel's latest bargain offer.
It's called a "Southern Culture" tour to visit South Carolina and the most interesting parts of Georgia, and once you land there (airfare is included from places like Chicago and elsewhere) you visit the greatest hits of those states, from the genteel antebellum airs of Charleston and Savannah to the big city vibrance of Atlanta to the refined relaxation of Hilton Head.
The price starts at $799 and includes:
Round-trip airfare, with all taxes and fuel surcharges (sample price is out of Chicago); similar flights are available from all over at the same or lessAn 8-day car rental (Chevy Aveo or similar) with unlimited mileage, including all taxes and fees7 hotel nights (2 each in Atlanta, GA, Savannah, GA, and Charleston, SC, plus 1 on Hilton Head, SC), with daily breakfast and parking included
Available for departures every Friday this fall (except Nov. 2) through Dec 14.-though prices vary from $799 to $899 (there's also a Dec. 21 departure for $999).

Arthur's Blog: Fall Packages to Mexico and the Caribbean are Probably the Top Travel Bargains of the Year

You'll find endless varieties of these travel bonanzas, at prices that surely undercut any competing products, and make a vacation easily affordable. Start by searching the sites BookIt.com, CheapCaribbean.com, AppleVacations.com, VacationExpress.com, PleasantHolidays.com, or VacMart.com for their September and October deals.
What exactly do you currently find at those websites?
Essentially, you pick up air-and-land packages leaving from a gateway city near where you live in September and October, that fly you on a well-known airline to a beach resort in Mexico or the Caribbean for a seven-night stay, including everything: not only the airfare (with all taxes and fees thrown in) and airport-to-hotel transfers, but also seven nights of beachfront lodgings, all three bountiful meals a day, unlimited drinks (both hard and soft), unlimited non-motorized sea sports -- and all for as little as $700 to $900 per person, a remarkable value.
The lowest prices are from Miami, but the extra airfare from other cities is only a small amount more. And you stay at a big seafront hotel with multiple swimming pools (some with swim-up bars), jacuzzis nearby, multiple restaurants, lounges and bars, and an expansive white sand beach stretching before the modern high-rise hotel building at which you've been booked (like the Allegro Playacar on the Mexican Riviera minutes from Playa del Carmen and a few minutes more from the airport of Cancun). To the hotel I've just named, there are flights from Miami (and accompanying land arrangements for seven nights) selling for as little as $692 per person in September and October from BookIt.com (tel. 888/301-9981).
Why so cheap? First, it's hurricane season. You embark on such a vacation by having to make a mathematical bet that the odds are terribly slight that such adverse weather events will occur in the place to which you're going on the exact days of your stay. And then the months of September and October are not your usual periods of relaxation and respite. School and commerce have resumed after the summer hiatus and most people are heavily involved in resuming their non-vacation activities. The number of resort guests is at a low ebb, and most hotels are frantic for business; they eagerly discount their rates.
What results from all this are unparalleled vacation opportunities -- prices that are never again encountered except in September and October. Companies like PleasantHolidays.com send you from Miami to the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort in Montego Bay in Jamaica for $799 per person, including round-trip airfare and seven nights of accommodations and meals. From Dallas, Texas, VacationExpress.com sends you to an all-inclusive resort (airfare, room and meals for seven nights) near Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific coast for $933.
CheapCaribbean.com sends you in October to popular Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, all the way from New York City (with airfare included) to enjoy seven nights of room, meals and drinks at a huge and well-endowed seaside resort, for all of $889 per person.
These are vacation prices so low for what you get that they might give you pause. Most of us are able to take off a week in autumn to enjoy the warm ocean waters and white sand beaches of the tropics, and with the cost so gentle, we might consider doing so.

Arthur's Blog: Four Questions that Stumped Me on Last Week's Travel Show

Usually on the Travel Show that my daughter and I present every Sunday, listeners' questions relate to standard travel issues on which we have at least a partial answer or opinion. But last Sunday, four different puzzlers left me gasping to reply. I literally had nothing to say, and am now asking readers of this blog to assist for a follow-up to the same questions next Sunday. Here are the infamous four:

1. A friend has suggested we travel to  Trieste  for a few days, on our next trip to Europe. Is that a worthwhile idea?" 

I blanked. My last memory of Trieste was the violent political battle between Italy and Yugoslavia at the end of World War II to determine whether Trieste (now in northeastern Italy, but then under U.N. rule) was to be in Italy or Yugoslavia. When most of Trieste was awarded to Italy, I turned off my mind and never gave another thought to the city. Certainly, I never went there, nor ever met anyone who had. Mainly a large port, it appears to be simply a standard Italian city of about 200,000 people with the requisite castles, churches, and museums along its waterfront. Any reason to visit it? I'd be grateful for any first-hand reports.

2. Our cruise ship will stop for a few hours in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome. Since we've already been to Rome numerous times, is there anything we could see or do by simply staying in Civitavecchia or nearby?

My first reaction to that question: Are you nuts? I've been in Civitavecchia in advance of boarding a cruise ship or coming off one, several times, and the city appears a sprawling industrial port of no conceivable interest except as a launching place for buses or trains going to Rome (a full hour away). Should anyone spend their day touring Civitavecchia? Should anyone spend their day touring Newark? Does anyone regard either as a secret gem of a city?

3. After staying for several days at a prominent hotel in Chicago, before returning home to London, England, we received a phone call from hotel officials stating there was some reason to believe that L -- legionnaire's disease had affected several recent guests there -- and suggesting that we see a doctor. Since we had, in fact, felt woozy and even nauseous back home, we quickly underwent a series of tests in a London hospital, but were told we were ok. Nevertheless, we still believe that our health may have been damaged, and symptoms suffered, because of the stay there. Do we have any rights against this big and prominent hotel?

My response to that question was to run from it. You're not going to catch me suggesting that you sue a major hotel property, I felt. And anyway, though you felt bad for a few days, you obviously had not incurred the worst effects of legionaire's disease; you're alive today. Does any reader of this blog believe I was overly timid, indeed cowardly, in refusing to comment on the question? Should I have told them to sue?

4. Our Mediterranean cruise will stop for overnight at Le Verdon on the coast of France, supposedly the stop for a visit to famous  Bordeaux . Is there a cheap, efficient way for us to get to Bordeaux (and back) from Le Verdon?

I again blanked. Though I had vaguely heard of Le Verdon as a port city for Bordeaux, I had no notion as to whether any do-it-yourself means of transportation was available to visit Bordeaux from Le Verdon. I have since learned that Bordeaux is 60 miles away from Le Verdon, poorly served by train service from Le Verdon, and that cruise ships save money by not continuing to sail along the Gironde River from Le Verdon to Bordeaux. Is there any cheap way of getting to Bordeaux on your own? Or are you, in this one instance only, required to take the cruise ship's costly motorcoach from Le Verdon to Bordeaux? And anything to do in Le Verdon itself (a container port)?

C'mon, friends, I need help. And listen from noon to 2pm ET on WOR710.com for the results.

Arthur's Blog: Mergers Are Roaring Ahead in the Airline and Car Rental Industries, Posing Problems

When de-regulation of the airline industry was proposed some twenty-plus years ago, opponents argued it would eventually bring about a sharp reduction in the number of U.S. airlines -- much to the detriment of the public. So great was the cost of starting and maintaining an airline, they said, that a few giants would soon eliminate their competitors, dominate the field, and enjoy monopoly power.
While we are still a fair distance from that condition, we are getting closer. The Associated Press reported last week that American Airlines is about to merge with US Airways. The article revealed that the two companies are in serious, confidential talks -- a claim that was subsequently confirmed by the president of US Airways. Such a merger would obviously result in the disappearance of competition between American and US Airways. And we are thus on the brink of having exactly four remaining major airlines -- four of them -- to divvy up the United States market.
Consider the following. Delta Airlines has merged with Northwest, and Northwest has disappeared. United Airlines has merged with Continental, and Continental has disappeared. Southwest Airlines has merged with AirTran, and AirTran is about to disappear. So the really big airlines, the ones operating thousands of flights a day, will be reduced to Delta, United, Southwest and American. The remaining carriers, like The inevitable result will be a reduction in air service, as airlines cut back the number of flights and cities they serve, and a remorseless rise in the cost of air transportation. We travelers will have nowhere else to turn but to the private automobile (and to an occasional bus) for our transportation. We have no alternative rail system of any size -- and certainly no high-speed rail -- on which we can rely. Those strident, ideological opponents of rail transportation will have finally placed us in a pretty pickle.
While the airline industry was congealing into a small number of entities, guess what the auto rental industry was doing? In the week prior to last week's disclosure of talks between American and US Airways, the auto rental industry also changed. Hertz announced that it was acquiring Thrifty Rent-a-Car and Dollar Rent-a-Car. When added to earlier acquisitions, there now remain (independent of the mon-and-pop local fly-by-nights) three major, independent car rental agencies: Hertz, Avis and Enterprise. And since Enterprise performs a rather special function in car rentals, we really have only two big companies competing for our car rental expenditures: Hertz and Avis.
A once-hotly-competitive car rental industry has thus congealed into a sluggish group of two or three giants, setting prices as they wished. Car rental rates, which have already increased enormously over the past year, are now destined to go higher still.
It's important now to consider whether legislative action is required for both the airline and car rental industry. Or whether current regulatory agencies are able to do anything to keep competition vibrant and alive in both industries. We must all devote some attention to what is a major problem. I'll be writing more about this in the future.

Arthur's Blog: A Compelling End-of-Summer Travel News Round-up with Info on India, Cuba, Russia, Nicaragua and more.

Not every traveler has a yen to visit India, but if you do, you'll be encouraged by the recent performance of the Indian currency, the rupee. It's now selling at nearly 56 to the dollar, and may weaken even further. At that historically low rate, everything in India is quite cheap to the bearer of U.S. dollars. Go periodically to XE.com for the latest rate and you may be encouraged to take the plunge.
Closer to home, the Central American nation of Nicaragua is also currently offered at ultra-low rates for land-and-air (and seems to be enjoying a boomlet in its tourism as a result). Not the cheapest package, but an excellent one nevertheless, is priced at $999 including round-trip air from Miami. That payment brings you an exceptionally comprehensive four-day tour of Colonial Nicaragua, from Granada to the capital of Managua, the 16th century capital of León Viejo, the market town of Masaya, the hot springs of San Jacinto, the active volcano of Masaya Naitonal Park, and more. The air-included price, good for September and October, also covers lodgings, breakfast, local guides everywhere, entrance fees, and all transfers. Contact Tico Travel (www.ticotravel.com; tel. 800/493-8426).
Nearly all the companies that received licenses to operate legal trips to Cuba in 2012, have recently revealed that they have not received renewals of those licenses from the U.S. Treasury Department bureau in charge of the matter. And thus, the largest single source of such trips (which shall here remain nameless) has (at least temporarily) discontinued sales and marketing for their way-in-the-future programs to Havana. As best I know, there is not a single trip scheduled for spring of 2013 and later that has yet received authorization. Why the hangup? I suspect there's been political pressure from the rigid opponents of travel to Cuba, and in an election year, no one seems to want to make an issue of it.
A number of cruise discounters are currently enjoying heavy sales of their Mediterranean and trans-Atlantic re-positioning cruises (autumn sailings from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean) by including airfare to or from Europe in the price of their cruises. If you're in the market for such a cruise, you might contact any of the various companies (CruisesOnly, VacationsToGo, OnlineVacationCenter, to name a few) and pointedly inquire as to whether they are able to arrange your air transportation. Since it's probable that these firms can get a lower price from the airlines than you can, such a request may result in major savings. And the matter should be raised even if the cruise discounter makes no reference to airfare in its literature or website.
A constant reader of this blog is Johann Thorsson, an Icelander who works as a marketing executive for DoHop.com, the Iceland-based airfare search engine. I know that because nearly every time I mention airfares in this blog, he immediately posts a comment that I should have named DoHop.com as a top source for advantageous prices. Can a little Iceland firm do battle with the giant U.S. companies in the field? I'd be interested to hear of any experiences that readers may have had with DoHop.com.
It's perhaps significant news that Russia has at last dropped its requirement that persons seeking a visa to that country present a written invitation to go there from a Russian company or individual. Starting momentarily, they will simply require that you show proof you have advance hotel reservations for your stay--surely an easier requirement to fulfill than the need to show a personal invitation. While Russia is a forbiddingly expensive country to visit, this easing of its visa requirements may encourage some would-be tourists to take the plunge.

Arthur's Blog: A New $899 Bargain Package on Sale to an Ireland That's Frantic for Tourism

I've mentioned previously the likelihood that both airfares and air-and-land packages to Ireland will be available this fall and winter at unprecedented bargain rates. Few countries have suffered more from the current European economic crisis than Ireland, and Ireland is therefore determined to enjoy the economic benefits of increased tourism. To the air-and-land packages earlier announced by Irish tour operators BMIT.com and SceptreTours.com, you can now add an $899 wonder from AerLingusVacationStore.com. It needs to be booked by September 17 (but that buy-by date will undoubtedly be extended).

On selected days starting in November and continuing through February of 2013, and from $899 per person, they will fly you round-trip between New York and Dublin (and for $100 more from Boston, $150 more from Chicago), supply you with a self-drive, manual-transmission car for a week with unlimited mileage, and put you up at several of the most famous Irish castle hotels for six nights. You'll drive a suggested motoring itinerary through Ireland as you stay for one night in Dumboyne Castle (a 4-star hotel) in Meath, 2 nights in Kilronan Castle (5 stars) in Roscommon, 2 nights in Dromeland Castle (5 stars) in Clare, and 1 night in Fitzpatrick Castle (4 stars) in Dublin. From the solid, 4-and-5-star quality of each of your hotels, you'll see that this is quite a luxurious travel arrangement.

You can add two nights more at another castle hotel for $200 more (which includes an extended car rental), and the tour operator points out that all government taxes and fees are included in the price. But if you make your reservation over the phone (to 800/495-1632) rather than online, you'll pay $25 more.

Before you book, you'll want to compare the somewhat similar packages offered to Ireland by BMIT.com and SceptreTours.com, paying no attention to the booking deadline dates -- you can bet your life that each tour operator will be encouraging further bookings at almost any time in the weeks ahead.