Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 30
January 19, 2012
Hot to Get Two-for-One Discounts on European River Cruises
Smart travelers have known for a long time that the prices set forth in cruiseship brochures are fictitious. They are meant to be discounted, and they are discounted when you call the various cruise brokers and (often) the cruiselines themselves. Only the chump pays full price.
That lesson takes on even greater relevance when you book a river cruise of Europe. The world of river cruising has become enormously competitive, with close to a dozen river cruise companies offering essentially the same cruises (in terms of service, staterooms, itineraries, level of cuisine, and extras, like free wine and beer with your meals). Comparative bargains have become so important to the sales by the river cruise companies that many of them are now offering two-for-one pricing on many of their departures. And on many occasions, two for one means two for one airfares as well as actual cruises. In effect, you are offered a 50% discount off the price of your cruise.
So that river cruise selling for $3,500 per person in the initial advertising for it, is really being charged at $1,750 per person -- about $250 per person per day for a what would be called a deluxe river cruise. (Almost all of them are characterized as "deluxe"). In fact, $250 is a rather standard per-person, per-day price for a standard river cruise (like one along the Rhine). And since you receive high quality arrangements (including meals that would put the offerings of the ocean cruise companies to shame), that price should be considered by you to be an excellent value.
So phone the river cruise companies (either the brokers or the cruiselines themselves) and request to be told the dates and the itineraries when two-for-one pricing is offered. Though some of them will be cautious about ever listing those discount opportunities openly, they will reveal the deal to persons who pick up the phone.
An example of this are the river cruise prices offered by RiverCruise.com (tel. 800/510-4002; www.rivercruise.com ), a subsidiary of VacationsToGo.com. Unlike the ocean cruise offerings of its parent company, RiverCruise.com does not show the discounts it's able to offer in its unusually comprehensive list of European river cruises. Instead, it alerts you to phone one of its river cruise specialists to learn what these are.
When you're connected, describe the cruise you're after and your desired dates. And then ask them to advise you of the discounted prices they're able to offer you. You'll be glad you did.
That lesson takes on even greater relevance when you book a river cruise of Europe. The world of river cruising has become enormously competitive, with close to a dozen river cruise companies offering essentially the same cruises (in terms of service, staterooms, itineraries, level of cuisine, and extras, like free wine and beer with your meals). Comparative bargains have become so important to the sales by the river cruise companies that many of them are now offering two-for-one pricing on many of their departures. And on many occasions, two for one means two for one airfares as well as actual cruises. In effect, you are offered a 50% discount off the price of your cruise.
So that river cruise selling for $3,500 per person in the initial advertising for it, is really being charged at $1,750 per person -- about $250 per person per day for a what would be called a deluxe river cruise. (Almost all of them are characterized as "deluxe"). In fact, $250 is a rather standard per-person, per-day price for a standard river cruise (like one along the Rhine). And since you receive high quality arrangements (including meals that would put the offerings of the ocean cruise companies to shame), that price should be considered by you to be an excellent value.
So phone the river cruise companies (either the brokers or the cruiselines themselves) and request to be told the dates and the itineraries when two-for-one pricing is offered. Though some of them will be cautious about ever listing those discount opportunities openly, they will reveal the deal to persons who pick up the phone.
An example of this are the river cruise prices offered by RiverCruise.com (tel. 800/510-4002; www.rivercruise.com ), a subsidiary of VacationsToGo.com. Unlike the ocean cruise offerings of its parent company, RiverCruise.com does not show the discounts it's able to offer in its unusually comprehensive list of European river cruises. Instead, it alerts you to phone one of its river cruise specialists to learn what these are.
When you're connected, describe the cruise you're after and your desired dates. And then ask them to advise you of the discounted prices they're able to offer you. You'll be glad you did.
January 18, 2012
$599 for a Round-Trip Flight to Istanbul is One of the Most Startling Airfare Bargains of the Season
It's hard to predict how long the seats will remain unsold. And the last date you can purchase them is January 23 (for travel that must be completed round-trip by February 29). But if you can make those deadlines, you and a spouse or significant other can enjoy a remarkable Valentine's Day holiday in Istanbul, Turkey, for a round-trip airfare of only $599 per person, including all taxes and fees, and not simply from New York but from Washington, D.C., Chicago or Los Angeles as well. Such are the details of a Turkish Airlines bargain just offered by them.
To book, you can either call a nationwide number, tel. 800/874-8875, or a local number in New York (tel. 718/751-2618), Washington, D.C. (tel. 703/661-4730), Chicago (tel. 312/595-0849), or Los Angeles (tel. 310/640-8989).
Here's one of those occasional airfare deals that seems almost too good to be true, but it's confirmed by top officials with the airline, and it's the perfect basis for a romantic Valentine's Day-period round-trip, with Valentine's Day falling on February 14. The airfare must be purchased by each of two persons traveling together.
To book, you can either call a nationwide number, tel. 800/874-8875, or a local number in New York (tel. 718/751-2618), Washington, D.C. (tel. 703/661-4730), Chicago (tel. 312/595-0849), or Los Angeles (tel. 310/640-8989).
Here's one of those occasional airfare deals that seems almost too good to be true, but it's confirmed by top officials with the airline, and it's the perfect basis for a romantic Valentine's Day-period round-trip, with Valentine's Day falling on February 14. The airfare must be purchased by each of two persons traveling together.
January 17, 2012
Philadelphia Is on the Brink of Becoming An Art Capital of the U.S.A.
In the course of a quick trip to Philadelphia last Saturday to speak at the Philadelphia Inquirer Travel Show, I learned of upcoming developments in that City of Brotherly Love that will make it a real contender for the top American position in the world of art. Three imminent openings of new art museums and museum exhibits will make Philadelphia the equal of any other U.S. city in the cultural field.
The first event, of extraordinary significance, is the opening on May 19 of the new Barnes Foundation Museum in the heart of the city, making available to art lovers hundreds of masterworks that have been available for viewing in previous years only in the most limited sense. In downtown Philadelphia, visitors and residents will be able to view and appreciate some 69 rarely-seen paintings by Cezanne, 59 by Matisse, 49 by Picasso, and a staggering 181 by Renoir, among others--the legacy to our generation from an immensely skilled collector of art, Albert Barnes, who died in 1951.
Barnes was the Philadelphia chemist who invented and produced Argyrol, an effective drug for the cure of infant blindness. He amassed a huge fortune and took it to Europe to purchase masterworks of art at bargain prices -- impressionist, post-impressionist and modern works that he sometimes picked up for a little as a few hundred dollars per painting. His collection is now valued at between $20-30 billion. He gave every such work to a foundation whose resulting activities, however, he severely restricted. They were to be displayed only in a small museum in Merion, Pennsylvania, a difficult-to-reach Philadelphia suburb (he apparently had a dislike for Philadelphia itself), where they could be displayed only two or three times a week, and sometimes not at all. Stories are told of celebrities who begged to view the Barnes collection and were rudely turned down by Barnes himself.
In the years following his death, the trustees of the Barnes Foundation embarked on highly controversial course designed to overcome the limitations he had placed upon them. Ironically, poor financial decisions and terrible leadership did what decades of legal maneuvering couldn't -- a court broke the will in order to save the collection. The works will now move from the crowded walls of Barnes' Merion mansion to an impressive new museum on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the heart of Philadelphia, to attract what I believe will be millions of new visitors to Philadelphia in the years ahead.
But that's only the start of the new upgrades to the cultural treasures found on Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway. This coming spring, on a date soon to be announced, the newly refurbished and expanded Rodin Museum will be re-opened after a partial closing. And that museum, also on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, houses the largest collection of sculptures by Auguste Rodin outside of Paris' Musee Rodin.
Earlier, on February 1, and throughout February, March and April, the famous and equally impressive Philadelphia Museum of Art (also on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway) will unveil a major exhibition of works by Vincent Van Gogh -- the only museum in North America to show those paintings, presumably on loan from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
When you add these attractions to an already-existing array of smaller but excellent art and science museums in Philadelphia (and add also the historic area centered around Independence Hall, and the National Constitution Center), you find that Philadelphia will become an ever-more-stellar destination starting this Spring. You'll be well advised to study the procedures for obtaining tickets to showings that will undoubtedly be heavily booked -- and thus plan your own visit to this remarkable American city.
The first event, of extraordinary significance, is the opening on May 19 of the new Barnes Foundation Museum in the heart of the city, making available to art lovers hundreds of masterworks that have been available for viewing in previous years only in the most limited sense. In downtown Philadelphia, visitors and residents will be able to view and appreciate some 69 rarely-seen paintings by Cezanne, 59 by Matisse, 49 by Picasso, and a staggering 181 by Renoir, among others--the legacy to our generation from an immensely skilled collector of art, Albert Barnes, who died in 1951.
Barnes was the Philadelphia chemist who invented and produced Argyrol, an effective drug for the cure of infant blindness. He amassed a huge fortune and took it to Europe to purchase masterworks of art at bargain prices -- impressionist, post-impressionist and modern works that he sometimes picked up for a little as a few hundred dollars per painting. His collection is now valued at between $20-30 billion. He gave every such work to a foundation whose resulting activities, however, he severely restricted. They were to be displayed only in a small museum in Merion, Pennsylvania, a difficult-to-reach Philadelphia suburb (he apparently had a dislike for Philadelphia itself), where they could be displayed only two or three times a week, and sometimes not at all. Stories are told of celebrities who begged to view the Barnes collection and were rudely turned down by Barnes himself.
In the years following his death, the trustees of the Barnes Foundation embarked on highly controversial course designed to overcome the limitations he had placed upon them. Ironically, poor financial decisions and terrible leadership did what decades of legal maneuvering couldn't -- a court broke the will in order to save the collection. The works will now move from the crowded walls of Barnes' Merion mansion to an impressive new museum on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the heart of Philadelphia, to attract what I believe will be millions of new visitors to Philadelphia in the years ahead.
But that's only the start of the new upgrades to the cultural treasures found on Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway. This coming spring, on a date soon to be announced, the newly refurbished and expanded Rodin Museum will be re-opened after a partial closing. And that museum, also on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, houses the largest collection of sculptures by Auguste Rodin outside of Paris' Musee Rodin.
Earlier, on February 1, and throughout February, March and April, the famous and equally impressive Philadelphia Museum of Art (also on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway) will unveil a major exhibition of works by Vincent Van Gogh -- the only museum in North America to show those paintings, presumably on loan from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
When you add these attractions to an already-existing array of smaller but excellent art and science museums in Philadelphia (and add also the historic area centered around Independence Hall, and the National Constitution Center), you find that Philadelphia will become an ever-more-stellar destination starting this Spring. You'll be well advised to study the procedures for obtaining tickets to showings that will undoubtedly be heavily booked -- and thus plan your own visit to this remarkable American city.
January 13, 2012
National Parks Are Free to Enter This Weekend (And On Several Other Dates), Just in Case You Haven't Heard the News
On three different websites that appear in my list of incoming e-mails, I've been advised by helpful travel journalists that more than a hundred major national parks will be waiving their entrance fees this coming weekend (January 14-16). These include the Grand Canyon (normally charging $25 per automobile load), the awesome Yellowstone National Park ($25; you simply have to visit this one), and Yosemite ($20). On the off-chance that some of our readers may not have received similar alerts, I'm repeating the news here. The National Parks are the pre-eminent destinations for thoughtful, cost-conscious travelers, and if you haven't been to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon or Yosemite, you're missing the most important attractions of America. The same observation applies to those sites of Civil War importance (Gettysburg, Shiloh, Antietam) and to Great Smoky Mountains.
Put down on your calendars that the same entrance fees will be waived three months from now, during National Park Week (April 21-29), and on June 9 and September 29.
Put down on your calendars that the same entrance fees will be waived three months from now, during National Park Week (April 21-29), and on June 9 and September 29.
January 12, 2012
Winter Vacation Escapes for When All You Want to Do is Snooze in the Sun
You're tired and stressed. You've overcome a number of recent business problems, and out-maneuvered an ambitious young person anxious to grab your position in the company for which you work. Now, all you want is a week off in the sun, floating with a snorkel mask on the surface of bathtub-warm waters, thinking of nothing other than the sealife passing lazily below you, and also aware of the lunch that awaits you in the buffet-style restaurant whose cost is already included in the price you paid for the stay (and therefore doesn't seem like an expenditure). Your intellectual pursuits will consist of reading a best-selling, pot-boiler of a novel.
[image error] Photo Caption: Relaxing at Puerto Morelos, Mexico. emorybabe/Frommers.com Community
The one-week vacation that answers your needs is a cheap air-and-land package to an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic, Cancun, Costa Rica, or the Maya Riviera. And those packages are currently available for a moderate price (discussed below) that includes the cost of air transportation there and back, all government fees and taxes, lodgings for seven nights, three meals a day, unlimited drinks, and non-motorized water sports.
If you lived in Canada, you could buy such a package this winter, in high season, for as little as C$1,000 and C$1,100 per person, including airfare and all taxes. Canada's travel industry -- especially companies like Sunquest, Sunwing, WestJet Vacations, and AirCanada Vacations -- have developed remarkable tropical holidays for an audience that's desperate to escape that country's winter weather. Many of the Canadian travel companies own their own airplanes and perform something resembling the charter flights that used to be familiar to Americans and are still heavily booked by Canadians.
But for Americans unable to fly from Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, or Vancouver, the cost of a budget-priced, all-inclusive (both lodgings and meals), air-and-land package to the Caribbean or Mexico in winter will start at a higher $1,200 or $1,300 from most U.S. cities. To see what your own desired package will cost, go to Apple Vacations ( www.applevacations.com ) or Vacation Express ( www.vacationexpress.com ), punch in the name of your departure city and your desired date of departure, and then click on the name of one of the more popular resort destinations in the Dominican Republic, the cheapest Caribbean locale for all-inclusive hotels (these are Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, La Romana, and Cabarete). Or ask for resort destinations in or near Cancun or the Mayan Riviera, or perhaps Los Cabos or Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. You'll quickly be offered the hotel-meals-and-drinks-included packages I've discussed, priced in some instances as low as $1,300 (including airfare) this winter (and for less in subsequent months).
Example: From Apple Vacations, a couple wishing to relax in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic, leaving Philadelphia on a non-stop flight to that resort area on March 17, returning March 24, and not booking cancellation or other forms of insurance, will pay a total of $1,338 per person for round-trip air on American Airlines, seven nights of accommodations at the IFA Villas Bavaro Resort & Spa (member of a well-known, Spanish-owned chain of vacation resorts), all three meals daily, unlimited drinks, transfers, all government fees and taxes, and non-motorized sports.
And you can occasionally do better than that from other cities (especially those in the southern states) or for other departure dates in winter.
The most cost-conscious of our readers may need to access several potential destinations in the Caribbean (because not all the resorts are as low-cost as my example), but it's not difficult, with some effort, to find an excellent value, even at the peak of the winter high season to the tropics.
[image error] Photo Caption: Relaxing at Puerto Morelos, Mexico. emorybabe/Frommers.com Community
The one-week vacation that answers your needs is a cheap air-and-land package to an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic, Cancun, Costa Rica, or the Maya Riviera. And those packages are currently available for a moderate price (discussed below) that includes the cost of air transportation there and back, all government fees and taxes, lodgings for seven nights, three meals a day, unlimited drinks, and non-motorized water sports.
If you lived in Canada, you could buy such a package this winter, in high season, for as little as C$1,000 and C$1,100 per person, including airfare and all taxes. Canada's travel industry -- especially companies like Sunquest, Sunwing, WestJet Vacations, and AirCanada Vacations -- have developed remarkable tropical holidays for an audience that's desperate to escape that country's winter weather. Many of the Canadian travel companies own their own airplanes and perform something resembling the charter flights that used to be familiar to Americans and are still heavily booked by Canadians.
But for Americans unable to fly from Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, or Vancouver, the cost of a budget-priced, all-inclusive (both lodgings and meals), air-and-land package to the Caribbean or Mexico in winter will start at a higher $1,200 or $1,300 from most U.S. cities. To see what your own desired package will cost, go to Apple Vacations ( www.applevacations.com ) or Vacation Express ( www.vacationexpress.com ), punch in the name of your departure city and your desired date of departure, and then click on the name of one of the more popular resort destinations in the Dominican Republic, the cheapest Caribbean locale for all-inclusive hotels (these are Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, La Romana, and Cabarete). Or ask for resort destinations in or near Cancun or the Mayan Riviera, or perhaps Los Cabos or Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. You'll quickly be offered the hotel-meals-and-drinks-included packages I've discussed, priced in some instances as low as $1,300 (including airfare) this winter (and for less in subsequent months).
Example: From Apple Vacations, a couple wishing to relax in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic, leaving Philadelphia on a non-stop flight to that resort area on March 17, returning March 24, and not booking cancellation or other forms of insurance, will pay a total of $1,338 per person for round-trip air on American Airlines, seven nights of accommodations at the IFA Villas Bavaro Resort & Spa (member of a well-known, Spanish-owned chain of vacation resorts), all three meals daily, unlimited drinks, transfers, all government fees and taxes, and non-motorized sports.
And you can occasionally do better than that from other cities (especially those in the southern states) or for other departure dates in winter.
The most cost-conscious of our readers may need to access several potential destinations in the Caribbean (because not all the resorts are as low-cost as my example), but it's not difficult, with some effort, to find an excellent value, even at the peak of the winter high season to the tropics.
January 11, 2012
Mid-Winter Musings and Observations About Recent Travel Developments
The drop in the value of the Euro to $1.27 (it used to cost as much as $1.47) is starting to have a tangible favorable impact on the cost of European travel for U.S. travelers. My sister is staying this week at an excellent, three-star hotel in the trendy Montparnasse section of Paris, in a single room with private bath, enjoying a full buffet breakfast thrown in each morning. That room costs her a total of €135, the equivalent of $171, which I regard as an excellent price for such quality, and considerably less than she would have paid to be lodged in similar facilities in New York or London.
Though the cost of lodging is only one expense of a European trip, we should all be grateful for small favors
On the weekly program that my daughter and I present ( www.wor710.com/frommer-travel-show ), we conducted an interview this last Sunday with George Hobica of Airfarewtchdog ( www.airfarewatchdog.com ), about the rough handling that baggage often receives on passenger airplanes. According to George, baggage checked aboard one of the smaller airplanes (like a 737) gets thrown into the freight compartment of the plane by luggage handlers who are actually called "throwers". The throw is often a violent one, sending the suitcase crashing heavily into the furthest corner of the plane's freight area, with damage frequently resulting either to the suitcase or its contents. This is a reason, he say, to buy high quality luggage that can stand up to such violence. The situation is altogether different, he goes on, when you travel on one of the larger, wide-bodied planes. On them, suitcases are first carefully fitted into a large, multi-suitcase container, which is then carefully slid into the freight compartment
Guess what airlines have recently been honored as the best and second best carriers in American air travel? Though Alaska Airlines, the winner, won't come as a surprise (its itineraries are few, making it easier to keep to schedule and avoid losing luggage), almost everyone will be amazed to find Dela Airlines in second place -- the second "best" American airline, in other words. Turns out that two or three years ago, Delta launched a vigorous effort to better train its baggage handlers and also to emphasize with flight crews the importance of departing and arriving on time. Those efforts have apparently resulted in such improvement that an airline that was rarely regarded as outstanding is today ranked among the best of them
On the same Sunday radio program that I referred to above, I poked fun at the claim that seeing the aurora borealis in winter was such an outstanding experience that it justified a vacation trip to the northerly areas where it can be glimpsed (like a trip this winter to Fairbanks, Alaska, where the aurora borealis will be a large phenomenon). We immediately received a ton of phone calls from people who insisted the aurora borealis was such a thrill that it easily justified such a trip. I'm not convinced, but a broad swath of the public apparently disagrees with me.
Though the cost of lodging is only one expense of a European trip, we should all be grateful for small favors
On the weekly program that my daughter and I present ( www.wor710.com/frommer-travel-show ), we conducted an interview this last Sunday with George Hobica of Airfarewtchdog ( www.airfarewatchdog.com ), about the rough handling that baggage often receives on passenger airplanes. According to George, baggage checked aboard one of the smaller airplanes (like a 737) gets thrown into the freight compartment of the plane by luggage handlers who are actually called "throwers". The throw is often a violent one, sending the suitcase crashing heavily into the furthest corner of the plane's freight area, with damage frequently resulting either to the suitcase or its contents. This is a reason, he say, to buy high quality luggage that can stand up to such violence. The situation is altogether different, he goes on, when you travel on one of the larger, wide-bodied planes. On them, suitcases are first carefully fitted into a large, multi-suitcase container, which is then carefully slid into the freight compartment
Guess what airlines have recently been honored as the best and second best carriers in American air travel? Though Alaska Airlines, the winner, won't come as a surprise (its itineraries are few, making it easier to keep to schedule and avoid losing luggage), almost everyone will be amazed to find Dela Airlines in second place -- the second "best" American airline, in other words. Turns out that two or three years ago, Delta launched a vigorous effort to better train its baggage handlers and also to emphasize with flight crews the importance of departing and arriving on time. Those efforts have apparently resulted in such improvement that an airline that was rarely regarded as outstanding is today ranked among the best of them
On the same Sunday radio program that I referred to above, I poked fun at the claim that seeing the aurora borealis in winter was such an outstanding experience that it justified a vacation trip to the northerly areas where it can be glimpsed (like a trip this winter to Fairbanks, Alaska, where the aurora borealis will be a large phenomenon). We immediately received a ton of phone calls from people who insisted the aurora borealis was such a thrill that it easily justified such a trip. I'm not convinced, but a broad swath of the public apparently disagrees with me.
January 9, 2012
My Appearance This Coming Saturday in Philadelphia is the First in a Series of Talks At Which I Hope to Meet Our Readers
Last week I advised that on Saturday, January 14, at both 11am and 2pm, I will be speaking at the Philadelphia Inquirer Travel Show in Philadelphia's downtown convention center. And I passed on that news in the hope that a great many of our readers might stop by to talk, at the bookstore booth in the convention center where I'll be sitting and signing books following the talks.
On the very same Saturday, but this time in the Los Angeles area (specifically, in Long Beach, California), my daughter Pauline will be delivering a talk on travel at the Los Angeles Travel and Adventure Show, at the convention center in Long Beach, starting at 11am. And, like me, she hopes to meet readers of Frommers.com at that time. Simply go to the bookstore booth on the convention floor, where she'll be signing copies of Pauline Frommer's travel guides following her talk.
Two weeks later, on Saturday, January 28, I too will be appearing in Los Angeles, but this time at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, speaking at 11am. This is an entirely different show and exhibition from the earlier one in Long Beach, and it gives me the opportunity to meet with our West Coast readers. If you live in the area, I'd be delighted if you'd stop by at the bookstore booth where I'll be signing Frommer travel guides after the talk.
Up next: the big Boston Globe Travel Show at the Seaport World Trade Center, Saturday, February 11, at both 11:30am and 2:30pm, both my daughter and I will be appearing together to deliver a joint presentation on travel, alternating with each other in fast 10-minute bursts of oratory. So that's a time for New Englanders and us to get together to discuss the latest news in travel.
And finally, on Saturday, March 3, both at 11am and 2pm, both Pauline and I will be appearing at the New York Times Travel Show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the west side of Manhattan. That event is always an exciting one to visit, and we hope that many of you will stop by our booth, in addition to viewing the several hundred exhibits presented by everyone of note in the travel industry.
(There may be later appearances this winter and spring, and I'll keep you advised in this daily blog).
On the very same Saturday, but this time in the Los Angeles area (specifically, in Long Beach, California), my daughter Pauline will be delivering a talk on travel at the Los Angeles Travel and Adventure Show, at the convention center in Long Beach, starting at 11am. And, like me, she hopes to meet readers of Frommers.com at that time. Simply go to the bookstore booth on the convention floor, where she'll be signing copies of Pauline Frommer's travel guides following her talk.
Two weeks later, on Saturday, January 28, I too will be appearing in Los Angeles, but this time at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, speaking at 11am. This is an entirely different show and exhibition from the earlier one in Long Beach, and it gives me the opportunity to meet with our West Coast readers. If you live in the area, I'd be delighted if you'd stop by at the bookstore booth where I'll be signing Frommer travel guides after the talk.
Up next: the big Boston Globe Travel Show at the Seaport World Trade Center, Saturday, February 11, at both 11:30am and 2:30pm, both my daughter and I will be appearing together to deliver a joint presentation on travel, alternating with each other in fast 10-minute bursts of oratory. So that's a time for New Englanders and us to get together to discuss the latest news in travel.
And finally, on Saturday, March 3, both at 11am and 2pm, both Pauline and I will be appearing at the New York Times Travel Show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the west side of Manhattan. That event is always an exciting one to visit, and we hope that many of you will stop by our booth, in addition to viewing the several hundred exhibits presented by everyone of note in the travel industry.
(There may be later appearances this winter and spring, and I'll keep you advised in this daily blog).
January 6, 2012
It's Travel Show Time, and I Hope to Meet With Readers in Philadelphia on the Weekend of January 14
It's January, and the travel show season is about to begin -- next weekend, in fact. On Saturday, January 14, I will be speaking twice at the Philadelphia Inquirer Travel Show, first at 10:30am and again at 2pm, and I hope to meet with a great many readers of Frommers.com.
The show will take place throughout the weekend of January 14 & 15 at the downtown Philadelphia Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street. My own appearances will be on the Main Stage, and following each one-hour talk, I'll be signing guidebooks at a nearby on-site book store operated by the Penn Book Center. I'm advised that persons buying their tickets online to the entire show (by going to www.inquirertravelshow.com ) can save $5 off the ticket price with code PTA12.
The subjects of my address? Frankly, I'm still working on some wholly new topics, even though the formal titles have been set as "When to Splurge and When to Scrimp on Vacations" and "Get Out of Your Vacation Rut: New Vacations and Destinations to Consider". Our actual discussion will be much broader (and hopefully more substantive) than those titles would indicate, and questions and comments from the floor will be invited following each presentation.
I hope to see and meet with a great many readers of this site and blog, and look forward to talking with you.
And by the way, that show in Philadelphia will launch an entire winter season of appearances, of which my own next one will be in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 28, about which I'll be writing at greater length in a forthcoming blog post. My daughter Pauline will be appearing at still other travel shows that I'll also be listing in about a week.
The show will take place throughout the weekend of January 14 & 15 at the downtown Philadelphia Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street. My own appearances will be on the Main Stage, and following each one-hour talk, I'll be signing guidebooks at a nearby on-site book store operated by the Penn Book Center. I'm advised that persons buying their tickets online to the entire show (by going to www.inquirertravelshow.com ) can save $5 off the ticket price with code PTA12.
The subjects of my address? Frankly, I'm still working on some wholly new topics, even though the formal titles have been set as "When to Splurge and When to Scrimp on Vacations" and "Get Out of Your Vacation Rut: New Vacations and Destinations to Consider". Our actual discussion will be much broader (and hopefully more substantive) than those titles would indicate, and questions and comments from the floor will be invited following each presentation.
I hope to see and meet with a great many readers of this site and blog, and look forward to talking with you.
And by the way, that show in Philadelphia will launch an entire winter season of appearances, of which my own next one will be in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 28, about which I'll be writing at greater length in a forthcoming blog post. My daughter Pauline will be appearing at still other travel shows that I'll also be listing in about a week.
January 5, 2012
When They Recently Applied for Visas to Visit Brazil, My Friends Got a Sharp Insight Into The Obstacles Erected Against Foreign Tourists to the U.S.A.
Friends of mine are planning a winter trip to Brazil. When the time came for them to apply for visas to make that journey, they got quite a shock. The procedures for obtaining visas to enter Brazil are so cumbersome that they found themselves having to schedule several days for the task. And why is that? It's because Brazil is retaliating against Americans by imposing the very same obstacles with which we confront a Brazilian planning to visit the U.S.A.
Take the matter of cost. A Japanese citizen seeking a Brazilian visa pays $25 for the issuance fee. An Australian pays $35, while a Mexican pays $30. And how much do we Yanks pay? A big $140 -- per person. And why so high? On Brazil's website explaining the procedures, it's explained that the $140 per person "is charged in reciprocity for an identical fee paid by Brazilian citizens who apply for a tourist visa to the U.S." Touché!
And that's not all. The $140 fee must be in the form of a U.S. Postal Service Money Order made out to the Consulate General of Brazil. Cash, checks, or credit cards are not accepted, and the would-be tourist must make an additional visit to a U.S. post office to obtain money for the payment.
Also required: a blank page in your passport for affixing of the Visa, a passport with at least six months to run, an in-person appearance at the Brazilian consulate between the weekday hours of 10am to noon, a copy of your round-trip air ticket to Brazil... and so on and on. When my friends expressed irritation at these burdensome requirements enacted in retaliation against our own policies, they were told that U.S. consulates require even more of a would-be visitor to the U.S.A. -- and take upwards of 90 days to issue the actual documentation. The Brazilians do it in about five business days.
We must eventually pay attention to the obvious fact that U.S. visa requirements are robbing our nation of millions of potential tourists, billions of dollars of additional income, and perhaps a couple of million jobs in the industries serving tourism. The whole matter has become a comedy serving no real purpose, and the entire farce is the clear reason why we do not enjoy the enormous benefits that increased foreign tourism to our nation could bring.
Take the matter of cost. A Japanese citizen seeking a Brazilian visa pays $25 for the issuance fee. An Australian pays $35, while a Mexican pays $30. And how much do we Yanks pay? A big $140 -- per person. And why so high? On Brazil's website explaining the procedures, it's explained that the $140 per person "is charged in reciprocity for an identical fee paid by Brazilian citizens who apply for a tourist visa to the U.S." Touché!
And that's not all. The $140 fee must be in the form of a U.S. Postal Service Money Order made out to the Consulate General of Brazil. Cash, checks, or credit cards are not accepted, and the would-be tourist must make an additional visit to a U.S. post office to obtain money for the payment.
Also required: a blank page in your passport for affixing of the Visa, a passport with at least six months to run, an in-person appearance at the Brazilian consulate between the weekday hours of 10am to noon, a copy of your round-trip air ticket to Brazil... and so on and on. When my friends expressed irritation at these burdensome requirements enacted in retaliation against our own policies, they were told that U.S. consulates require even more of a would-be visitor to the U.S.A. -- and take upwards of 90 days to issue the actual documentation. The Brazilians do it in about five business days.
We must eventually pay attention to the obvious fact that U.S. visa requirements are robbing our nation of millions of potential tourists, billions of dollars of additional income, and perhaps a couple of million jobs in the industries serving tourism. The whole matter has become a comedy serving no real purpose, and the entire farce is the clear reason why we do not enjoy the enormous benefits that increased foreign tourism to our nation could bring.
January 4, 2012
Turkey is Among the Top Values in Europe, With Heavily Inclusive 11-Night Air-and-Land Packages for $1,499
In the Caribbean, it's the Dominican Republic. In Asia, it's China (no surprise). And in Europe, it's Turkey. I'm talking about the destinations harboring the best current bargains in travel. And though there's been plenty of discussion in this and other blogs about the first two, Turkey deserves a reminder. It is currently a remarkable vacation bargain, even including the cost of airfare to get there.
An example is the current, eleven-night, escorted tour of numerous major attractions in Turkey offered on weekly departures in April by Gate 1 Travel (tel. 800/682-3333; www.gate1travel.com ), provided that bookings are made on or before January 9. On their 13-day, 11-night package called Turkish Treasures, Gate 1 will fly you round-trip from New York to Istanbul on April 5, 9, 12 and 30, and supply you with first class hotels in Istanbul (3 nights), Canakkale (1 night), Izmir (2 nights), Antalya (2 nights), Cappadocia (2 nights), and Ankara (1 nights), with complete touring also provided (motorcoach, escort, all admission charges) for $1,499 per person, which includes 11 breakfasts and 8 dinners and all fuel surcharges for the flight. I consider this to be one of the top current values in travel.
An example is the current, eleven-night, escorted tour of numerous major attractions in Turkey offered on weekly departures in April by Gate 1 Travel (tel. 800/682-3333; www.gate1travel.com ), provided that bookings are made on or before January 9. On their 13-day, 11-night package called Turkish Treasures, Gate 1 will fly you round-trip from New York to Istanbul on April 5, 9, 12 and 30, and supply you with first class hotels in Istanbul (3 nights), Canakkale (1 night), Izmir (2 nights), Antalya (2 nights), Cappadocia (2 nights), and Ankara (1 nights), with complete touring also provided (motorcoach, escort, all admission charges) for $1,499 per person, which includes 11 breakfasts and 8 dinners and all fuel surcharges for the flight. I consider this to be one of the top current values in travel.
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