Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 46

People Who Ridicule T.S.A. Officials When They Pat Down Children Need to Cool Their Jets

The internet is currently full of scarcastic comments by various bloggers and others about the Transportation and Security Administration's practice of patting down some children and the elderly as they pass through security gates at airports. Proudly defending the civil rights of Americans, they either ascribe all sorts of improper motives to the federal security people, or laugh at the supposed absurdity of searching four- and five-year-olds and senior citizens before they board a flight.

I thought about these critic when I read yesterday's news item from Kabul, about an eight-year-old Afghanistan girl who had been tricked by the Taliban into carrying a bomb. She was given a large package to hold, which was then detonated by a remote device when she approached a police vehicle. Her mutilated body was later returned to her family.

And I ask myself: don't those witty critics of the TSA have any concern about the fact that terrorists still harbor the dream of blowing up an  passenger plane? Aren't they aware that these terrorists will use any tactic to achieve that end? And that they will not hesitate to use a child, an unwitting child, as the instrument for carrying an explosive onto a plane? I, for one, appreciate the fact that TSA staff at the airports take serious steps to prevent that from happening -- that instead of simply play-acting at their job, they actually attempt to outwit the ingenious efforts of terrorists. We should be grateful that the TSA examines children, invalids in wheel chairs, senior citizens, and others who may very well be the means by which Al Qaeda or the equivalent of Al Qaeda attempts a repeat of 9/11.

For $5, You Can Buy the App that Brings the Tower of Babel Within Reach

For ages we've yearned for a day when we'd be able to speak to people who don't speak our language. Well, believe it or not, that day has come, with the appearance of Jibbigo ( www.jibbigo.com ), an App that can be used on any iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod) or Android product. And in my own case, it works on the original and outmoded model of the iPhone (I don't yet have a 4), at least for sentences that aren't too long and are translated one at a time.

The Jibbigo app costs $4.99 per language, and is available for translating English both into and back from Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Iraqi Arabic, Chinese, Tagalog, and Korean, each language possessing a 40,000-word vocabulary and costing $4.99 to download. (Until you get the full hang of it, just pay for and download one language.) It takes about 10 minutes for the downloading and installation to be complete.

To use the service, you hold down the red record button by the flag of the language you speak. This turns a broad adjacent rectangle into solid red. Once that rectangle appears in red, you keep holding the red button down (while the red rectangle is showing) and speak a brief sentence into the bottom of your mobile device. You then release the red recording button when done. Wait a few seconds, and -- lo and behold! -- not only does Jibbigo show you the written equivalent of what you've just spoken, both in English and the desired foreign language, but it then speaks back (and quite audibly) the sentence you've uttered both in English and in the desired foreign language.

My first successful sentence on Jibbigo: "I would like a room with private bath for three nights", which was first translated on the iPhone into a written "Quisiera una habitacion con baño privado para 3 noches", and then into a very clear voice saying the same in perfect Spanish. Will wonders never cease!

It might be noted at this point that Jibbigo works entirely on your mobile device and is not connected to any server. You therefore do not incur roaming charges or any other expense when you use it in another country.

On your first use of Jibbigo, you may have to try it a few times before you get the perfect "hang" of the device. But afterwards, you'll become quite proficient in using it. Jibbigo has not yet entered a science-fiction world of long and rapid conversations between people of different languages, but it's an excellent start -- and a vision of a world to come. Our children will wear a transmitter device around their neck enabling them to speak with (and be understood by) anyone on earth! Travel, of course, will then take on an even broader and more pleasant, more rewarding, dimension.

Those New Chip-and-PIN Credit Cards for U.S. Travelers Come with High Exchange Rates

Because I'm flying out tonight on a short, 4-day trip to Europe (explanation by blog at the end of this week), I decided to buy one of those new chip-and-PIN Visa credit cards recently created by the Travelex organization ( us.travelex.com ). And because I didn't have the time to order one online (which takes three business days to be delivered by mail), I went on Friday afternoon to one of those Travelex outlets staffed by live human beings on Time Square in New York.

I was treated with full courtesy and competence by the people who manned the Travelex office, who quickly provided me with a card pre-loaded with $500 worth of Euros. I have no complaint against them. But I have a few cautionary words about the Travelex card itself.

To begin with, the pin number which I will need in using the card in Europe (similar to the pin number you punch into an ATM machine) is, I learned, created not by the purchaser (namely, myself) but by Travelex, and is revealed to you in the cardboard packet carrying each chip-and-pin card. Instead of simply relying on the same pin number which I have established for all my ATM accounts (and which I will never forget), I have to worry about remembering the arbitrary new number that Travelex has created -- because it would be quite a problem if I used the card at a restaurant, say, and then forgot the pin number.

Which means that I will have to write down the pin number successive times on various bits of paper and stash them in my wallet, in my back pocket, in my suitcase, and other receptacles. Why can't Travelex design a system in which the purchaser creates the pin number for his or her own card?

Second, for the $500 that I pre-loaded into the chip-and-pin card in the form of Euros (Travelex' card deals only in your choice of Euros or British Pounds), I received only 310 Euros -- which was highway robbery. I was paying, in effect, $1.61 for a Euro, whose commercial exchange rate is currently $1.42. In other words, I was being charged nearly a 15% fee for the card.

Now I realize that Travelex has expenses and is entitled to a fee. And I assume that fee is no higher than other money-changers receive for exchanging currency. Travelex has guaranteed that if you find a better rate, they will match it. So all the money-changers engage in highway robbery.

What it all goes to show is that use of bank ATM machines found in every European city is a far better way to obtain your foreign exchange when you travel. Those ATM machines rarely ever cost you more than 3% or 4% when all is said and done. They provide you with an excellent exchange rate and a low fee for handling the transaction. And though, after using an ATM machine, you'll have to carry around actual foreign currency rather than a safe-as-could-be chip-and-pin credit card, I'd rather avoid paying a 15% fee for my financial needs.

Here's the Best Five-Night Air/Land Package to Orlando and Universal Studios

This is that time of year when families are eager for savings on a trip to the theme parks of Orlando, Florida. I've named packages that accomplish that goal in the past, but another current one, for summer and fall 2011, has just been disclosed to me by Travel Themes And Dreams (tel. 877/870-7447; www.travelthemesanddreams.com ). It is valid from now until December 15, costs $599 per adult, and brings you the following:
Round-trip air transportation from Philadelphia or Washington, D.C. (see below for additional gateways)Five nights of suite accommodations at the Quality Suites Orlando, well located near both the Disney Parks and Universal Studios, with continental breakfast dailyFive days' compact car rental with unlimited mileage (fuel and optional CDW waiver additional)Two days' Universal Studios Base Pass, which includes admission to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure ("Islands" being the location of the super-popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter). All hotel, air, and car rental taxesThe supplement for additional gateways:BWI or New York (LGA) add $50. Add $250 for departures from various west coast gateways. Kids stay free and are only charged for the air cost in the package.  And note that car rental taxes are included in the price, which is unusual. According to the tour operator, the package is at least $75 per person less than other similar ones (like one offered by Expedia) involving a two-day pass to Universal Studios, but I haven't done the exhaustive search of multiple offers to Orlando to determine whether anyone else also beats the standard rate for such arrangements. As it is, this particular package seems attractive; note that the value of the Universal Studios admissions (which normally cost $82 per adult per day) is itself $164.

When a Deluxe Vegas Hotel Charges $109 a Night for a Suite in July, Is There Any Reason to Stay Anywhere Else?

You'll need to stare at the Vdara's booking calendar for the month of July to believe the astonishing (and almost surreal) summer discounts at this ultra-deluxe, all-suites, 1,500-unit, brand-new hotel. Go to MGM's website ( www.mgmresorts.com ), click on Vdara, and then click on July.

Of the 31 dates in July, twenty-one are days on which elegant Vdara suites are priced at either $109, $119 or $129 per night. That's per suite, not per person. In effect, every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the month of July -- except for one night -- are priced at either $109 (four nights), $119 (sixteen nights), or $129 (one night). Though I reported on this phenomenon some time ago, the number of July dates for which discounts are extraordinary have been increased considerably since then.

How about dates in August? Those have not yet been discounted to the same extent, but just you wait -- they undoubtedly will be (as happened in July). Currently, of the 31 dates in August, prices on 20 of those dates have been reduced to $109, $119 and $129 a night per suite. Since there is plenty of time for further discount decisions, we can expect that figure of 20 bargain dates to be increased to many more than 20 in the month of August.

Surprisingly, suites at the Vdara have been discounted to a far greater extent and more frequently than the rooms in its sister property, the 4,000-room Aria Hotel. One would think that suites at the Vdara have greater value than rooms at the Aria. But this is Las Vegas, where logic doesn't always prevail.

Add SmarTours to the List of Budget Champions that Offer Exotic, Air-Included Tours

When I look nowadays for air-and-land bargains, I usually go to Gate 1 Travel ( www.gate1travel.com ), Virgin Vacations ( www.virgin-vacations.com ), Go-today.com ( www.go-today.com ), Travel Themes And Dreams ( www.travelthemesanddreams.com ), Vacmart ( www.vacmart.com ), and a very few others -- because these are the companies attempting to make faraway travel accessible to the cost-conscious tourist. I am now adding to that list the several-year-old SmarTours (tel. 800/337-7773; www.smartours.com ), which is up there with the best of them. Its latest budget-priced wonder is a one-week, air-and-land package to India for only $1,199 per person (for the departures of September 1 and September 8) and $1,299 for the departure of September 22.

For those extremely modest sum (because we're talking India, remember), you receive round-trip air transportation between either New York or Chicago (yes, Chicago!) and New Delhi, six nights of accommodations in New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, with full buffet breakfast daily, all transfers, a farewell dinner, and escorted sightseeing (including all entrance fees) to all the iconic sights of that exotic and important nation: the Gandhi Memorial, Red Fort, Pink City, Amber Fort, and, of course, the Taj Mahal.

The $1,199 and $1,299 price is available only for bookings made prior to June 30 (and full payment is expected long before departure). Give it a thought.

Stingiest Airline on Earth? Spirit Tries with a $5 Charge for Printing A Boarding Pass, and $1 Fee For Using Its Kiosk

Are there any anti-consumer lengths to which Spirit Airlines won't go? The airline, whose president referred scathingly to his own passengers in a leaked e-mail of some years ago, and that also instituted a $20 to $35 fee for bringing a carry-on into its flights, has now taken the next step: a fee of $5, starting November 1, for boarding passes printed by the person staffing the Spirit airport check-in desk. And to make sure that fewer people will be able to avoid that charge, it's putting into effect (a year from now) a $1 fee for printing out your boarding pass at a Spirit Airlines kiosk. Older Americans, who don't have or use a computer at home, will be especially affected by these new nuisance fees.

All this is supposedly justified by a $5 decrease in airfares that Spirit says it will institute later this year. If you believe that, you will also believe in the tooth fairy.

These thumb-in-your-eye insults to the air passenger have caused a great many Americans, including me, to pass up Spirit Airlines on our flights. If more travelers reacted with the same anger, there might be a change in Spirit's arrogant thumb-in-your-eye tactics.

A Short Sale by Southwest Airlines Drops Fares to $40 One-Way on a Large Number of Routes

Today is Wednesday, and from now until Thursday night Southwest Airlines will be celebrating its 40th birthday by charging as little as $40 one way on numerous of the routes it flies within the United States. In the exact words of the Southwest press release: "Customers can purchase one-way tickets for $40, $80, or $120 to select destinations, based on length of travel. For travel up to 450 miles, fares are $40 one-way. For travel between 451 and 1,250 miles, fares are $80 one-way. For travel more than 1,251 miles, fares are $120 one-way. These fares are available for purchase through 11:59pm PDT June 23, 2011, for travel beginning Aug. 23, 2011, through Nov. 16, 2011. To see the list of available cities, prices, and to take advantage of these special fares, visit www.southwest.com ."

Southwest is thus matching, and improving upon, other sales for autumn travel launched last week by JetBlue and AirTran (AirTran now belongs to Southwest). The news is a wake-up call for all who have vaguely defined plans to travel somewhere this fall. If you're in that group, you might well want to quit daydreaming now and immediately focus on a calendar and make your travel decision. It's rumored that other airlines may well be matching Southwest's $40, $80 and $120 fares.

(And incidentally, the Associated Press has reported that the Southwest sale carries a lot of restrictions: no travel on Fridays and Sundays, blackout dates around Labor Day, and a limitation on the number of seats offered at the above $40, $80 and $120 prices).

University Rooms Discloses Dorms Around the World Offering Cut-Rate Housing for Tourists

I feel very good about the recent chance discovery of a remarkable resource for finding university dorms around the world offering cut-rate housing for visitors: University Rooms (www.university-rooms.com).

This site (part of TravelBookingNetworks, much of which is devoted to various dorm-stay operations) acts as a broker for many colleges and universities looking to pad out their endowments by renting unused dorm space to passing tourists in the summer.

The savings are phenomenal: from a $32 single in London to a $78 double room by Lake Como in Italy to a $315 two-bedroom apartment in Barcelona that includes Wi-Fi and breakfast. Rates start as low as $30 to $50 for a single room, or $50 to $120 for a twin or double room (usually, the cheaper end is if you are willing to share a bathroom down the hall in true dormitory style).

Many include breakfast in the rates; some throw in dinner as well. A few have a two- or three-night minimum requirement, but most are available by the night -- though weekly stays can often result in even better rates, as little as $150 per person for a full week.

Now these are not fancy accommodations -- at least not for the most part. The vast majority are what you would expect from a dorm room: small, simple, with slightly tattered modular furnishings designed to withstand semester after semester of undergraduate abuse. However, some are located in historic castles, villas, or townhomes, and there are many that break the mold, offering flashy modern flats with full kitchens and other facilities.

This site offers one-stop booking for short-term dorm stays, mostly in Europe (the U.K., Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium), but also a few choices in the United States (Worcester, MA), and Canada (Calgary, Montreal, Toronto), with Australia and South Africa to be added soon.

How Much Is That U.S. Airline Ticket? Research Reveals ... it Depends

On the Travel Show yesterday ( www.wor710.com/frommer-travel-show ) I interviewed Scott Meyerowitz, the airlines reporter for the Associated Press, about an article he recently co-authored. Based on several weeks of research and numerous interviews with both airline passengers and airline executives, Meyerowitz has dramatically shown that U.S. airfares are now fluctuating to a previously unheard of extent. A passenger may have paid $179 for a round-trip ticket between New York and Ft. Lauderdale, but someone sitting alongside has paid $360 for the very same ticket. And another passenger a row back in the plane has paid $340 for the same itinerary and same flight. Airline computers are now causing airfares to vary from minute to minute and day to day, and the amount of the variance is enormous.

So how you can you make sure to be the lucky purchaser of one of the lower airfares? According to Meyerowitz, the best time to buy air tickets for a domestic flight is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, when airline sales tend to be most frequent. His research has also shown that the best days to fly (in terms of getting the lowest domestic fares) are weekdays and not weekends. And finally, the ticket must be purchased not too far ahead and not too late, but in a happy-medium of advance purchase, around four to six weeks in advance. As we all know, and as the A.P. research showed, tickets purchased at the last minute are usually sky-high in price.

Airfares of the legacy carriers -- American Airlines, United, Delta, U.S. Air -- vary to a much greater extent than airfares on the budget carriers (Southwest, AirTran, Frontier).

If you'd like to hear Scott's advice on the subject, you can play a podcast of the interview, recorded from the opening of the second hour of yesterday's two-hour broadcast, at the link above.