Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 50

Travelers Seeking Rooms in Occupied Apartments Should Look at iStopOver

One of the hottest of all websites for travelers seeking low-cost accommodations is Airbnb ( www.airbnb.com ), the service that places you, usually, in a spare room of an apartment occupied by its permanent residents. And I've recommended that increasingly-popular site on numerous recent occasions. I'm now adding a short note to point out that a competitor named iStopOver ( www.istopover.com ) has emerged, an stie hat claims to do much the same thing as Airbnbm. It further claims that it is associated in some way with Facebook.com, enabling you to check out the reliability of the renters it lists with former users of their apartments. I'd be grateful to receive comments from readers of this blog who have used iStopOver.

A Travel Sensation: Four Nights and Flights to Japan For Only $780 in June

Here's a travel announcement that belongs in the believe-it-or-not category: It's a trip to Japan that costs only $780 (including all air taxes and fees) that flies you there not simply from the West Coast and Hawaii, as you'd expect, but from New York, Newark, or Chicago as well (and for $780!). And it is based on the frank admission by the Japanese tourist authorities that travel to Japan has "plummeted, due to the post-earthquake issues, by over 60% since March 2011."

In other words, this is a desperation offer designed to shock the American travel industry into once again considering tourism to Japan. Never in history has an air-and-land package to Japan cost as little as $780 per person from the U.S. east coast.

[image error] Photo Caption: Shibuya crossing, Tokyo. Thomas20/Frommers.com Community

Because the package is designed for public relations purposes, only $730 will reach the various airlines and hotels participating in it (they include Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airlines, Continental and United, and Akasaka Excel Hotel Tokyu, Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu, Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu, The Prince Park Tower Tokyo, and the Tokyo Prince Hotel). From every $780 payment, $50 will be transferred to the Consulate-General of Japan in New York for contribution to various charities.

At the hotels, your stay will be for four nights, and include all taxes and fees.

As if to further emphasize the special nature of the offer, the trip can be purchased from only six travel agencies:
IACE Travel at 877/489-4223 or 212/972-3200Nippon Travel Agency America Inc. at 800/682-7872JTB USA at 800/222-5824, 800/305-5824 or 877/798-9808ANA Sales Americas at 800/826-0995Amnet at 212/247-1900Kintetsu International at 800/422-3481Departures are:
From New York: Every Wednesday and Thursday in JuneFrom Newark: On June 2From Los Angeles: Every Wednesday and Thursday in June, and June 7, 14From Chicago: Every Wednesday and Thursday in JuneFrom San Francisco: Every Wednesday and Thursday in JuneFrom Honolulu: Every Wednesday and Thursday in JuneBookings must be made by May 31, and travel -- as you've seen above -- must occur in the month of June.

For those worried about travel to Japan because of the nuclear power plant problems following the earthquake, the Japanese authorities claim that radiation levels in Japan are currently well within the normal range -- not elevated at all. In fact, they claim, the current radiation level in Tokyo is lower than that of Hong Kong, Singapore, the English countryside, and New York City. For example, they go on, current radiation levels in NYC are one and half times those of Tokyo.

(I am supplying those assertions without comment from me; certainly, there has been no mass evacuation by those many Japanese who would be easily able to flee the country).

Quite clearly, the best way to help Japan recover from its recent natural disaster is to support the local economy by bringing in valuable tourism dollars.

An Hour North of West Palm Beach, Florida Is a Largely Unknown Museum Devoted to Navy Seals

Most of us have been innumerable times to Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida, and yet have never been aware of a nearby museum devoted to the history and training of the now-famous Navy Seals detachment used for the most secret and special of all military operations. It's called the National Navy UDT Seal Museum, a part of Ft. Pierce, Florida (3300 North A1A, North Hutchison Island); it's open from 10am to 4pm Tuesday through Saturday, for an admission charge of $8 adults, $4 children; and it's currently experiencing a surge in visits, for obvious reasons.

My daughter Pauline interviewed the museum's curator at the top of the second hour of this Sunday's Travel Show ( www.wor710.com/pages/8379275.php ). The UDT in the museum's title stands for "Underwater Demolition Team," which relates to the original reason for the unit's creation. On D-day in 1944, men of the Naval UDT preceded the landing at Omaha Beach, swimming underwater in an attempt to blow up German obstacles. They suffered 50% casualties. In later years, their missions and name were altered to incorporate other feats of derring-do, which culminated in the recent attack on Osama Bin Laden's villa complex in Pakistan.

Here is an attraction unknown to most Americans, which surely will be of interest to Florida visitors in the future.

Deluxe Hotels in Las Vegas Continue to Stun Us With Their Mid-Week Bargain Room Rates

I felt awfully proud last week at having discovered that suites at the new Vdara Hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas were being offered for as little as $109, $119 and $129 a night -- that's per suite, not per person -- in June, July and August. The all-suites Vdara is, arguably, one of the best hotels in Vegas.

I now feel somewhat chastened by the comment appended to that proud assertion by Donna Cuervo, one of the most perceptive and savvy readers of this Blog. She points out that by using Priceline.com ( www.priceline.com ), she was able to snare a suite at the Vdara, for a midweek (Sunday through Thursday) stay this June for only $70. Because readers may not have seen her comment, I'm calling it out here.

This all goes to emphasize that when hotels fear a great many vacancies for upcoming dates, they turn to Priceline or to its competitor Hotwire ( www.hotwire.com ) to fill those rooms and they do so by offering remarkable discounts. Priceline and Hotwire are the two major opaque search engines that disclose the name of the hotel offering its bargains only when you have committed yourself to accepting a hotel in a particular category after submitting a bid. Who would have dreamed that a hotel of the quality of the Vdara would ever accept a rate of $70 for one of its elegant suites?

Donna Cuervo points out, and I should again emphasize, that rates of that level are found only for mid-week (Sunday through Thursday) stays and almost never for the weekends. No matter how slow business is, most Vegas hotels tend to fill up on the weekends. By carefully scheduling your stay for Sunday through Thursday, you can obtain -- as you've just seen -- unbelievable rates at these shrines to luxury.

If you have any intention of making a visit to Vegas this summer, you should always make a ridiculously low bid on Priceline or Hotwire for the hotel category (like super-luxury) you'd like. Because -- who knows?

Wait Times for U.S. Visas Are So Crazy, You Wouldn't Believe them if they Weren't Published by the State Department

Would you believe that foreigners wishing to vacation in the U.S. must sometimes wait for as long as 128 days for an appointment to be interviewed with respect to their application for a U.S. visa? Mind you, they are not required to wait 128 days for the visa to be issued, but 128 days for an appointment to discuss their application for such a visa.

Before I prove that outlandish figure, let me first discuss why it is important.

Incoming tourism is the largest export industry of the United States. It has the same economic impact as the manufacture of a machine within the U.S. to be sold to a foreign purchaser; it brings money into the United States. It has been estimated by the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) that the difficulty in obtaining visit-U.S. visas by would-be incoming tourists every year robs the U.S. of $860 billion and nearly 1.3 million tourist-associated jobs (in hotels, restaurants, sightseeing buses and attractions, shops).

The U.S. State Department actually publishes a list of the wait times at U.S. embassies and consulates overseas, for an interview to apply for such a visa (in those countries where the requirement of a visa has not been waived). I pulled up several samples a few days ago. You can access the same ("Visa Wait Times Results Page") at http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wait/wait_4638.html
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, the "Typical Wait Time (Calendar Days) for a Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Application" is 128 days. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the "Typical Wait Time (Calendar Days) for a Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Application" is 121 days.In Sao Paulo, Brazil [a city larger than New York], the "Typical Wait Time (Calendar Days) for a Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Application" is 117 days.In Shanghai, China, the similar time is 51 days. In Beijing, China, it is 49 days.And I could cite many more such examples.

In other words, we erect an obstacle of time against foreigners seeking to visit the United States. We impose barriers that none of us would tolerate in making our own plans for international travel.

We also routinely reject the applications for a visa made by perfectly suitable would-be tourists whom we suspect might possibly overstay their time here. I wrote last year about meeting a young woman in Panama City, Panama, who has been utterly unable to obtain a visa to visit her sister who lives in Los Angeles because, as an unmarried single, she is suspected of possibly wanting to become an illegal immigrant. The person in question is a highly-successful businesswoman gainfully and well-employed in Panama City, who has no such intention.

The failure to properly staff our embassies and consulates where visa applicants face absurd waiting times, is a national scandal. It is an example of how the failure of our government to spend money, reduces our national income. You might mention this anomaly when in contact with your representative in Congress.

Ireland is the Least Expensive European Travel Destination Right Now

As we approach the high season for trans-Atlantic travel, it is becoming more and more apparent that Ireland is a top destination this year for European travel. Ireland suffered greatly from the financial crisis of 2008-09, the assets and earnings of the Irish people are badly down, and prices are therefore also down for lodgings, meals and sightseeing.

[image error] Photo Caption: County Kerry. deshokie02/Frommers.com Community

All that can best be seen in the prices charged by leading Irish tour operators for air-and-land packages to Ireland this summer. Though the very lowest warm-weather prices for Ireland are in June and September, and prices spike upward in July and August, even those peak season rates are less than travelers will be paying to go elsewhere in western Europe.

From June 1-15, and again from September 1-30, a payment of $829 (in June) to $839 (in September) for the Emerald Package of Sceptre Tours ( www.sceptretours.com ), that long-established company's most popular travel program, will buy you round-trip mid-week airfare on Aer Lingus between the U.S. and Dublin or Shannon, a night upon arrival in a four-star hotel in Dublin or Shannon, a car (stick shift) with unlimited mileage for a week, and five nights of accommodations with full Irish breakfast daily in your choice of farmhouse B&B's all throughout Ireland. You can extend the number of nights of your stay for only slightly more. Government fees and taxes add about $180 more.

That $829-to-$839 is considerably less than you would pay for airfare alone to London during similar dates. And even though the price goes up to $999 in the latter part of June, to $1,129 in most of July, and to $1,069 in the latter part of August, all those prices are again considerably less than you'd pay for trans-Atlantic airfare alone between the U.S. and England. Yet to Ireland, you receive not simply airfare but also accommodations with breakfast throughout and a car for the week.

It is possible that even these low costs may be further reduced as a result of a government announcement this week that Ireland will soon reduce the VAT tax on travel-related expenditures (hotels, restaurants, museums) from 13.5% down to 9%. It also announced that it will eliminate the air travel tax, thus reducing a great deal of the $180 in air taxes referred to above. These steps indicate the importance that travel has in the judgment of the present government of Ireland, and will surely do much to further reduce the cost of an Irish holiday.

If you haven't yet enjoyed the profound pleasure of a self-drive motoring vacation through Ireland, you might now consider doing so.

Incredible Deal: $1,700 for an 11-Night Lisbon to San Juan Cruise with Round-Trip Air

The various upscale cruiselines -- the elegant ones serving wine with their meals, surrounding you with every servile attention -- are so desperate to fill their Mediterranean cruises that they have taken to including round-trip airfare to Europe in their basic price. But no one, to my mind, has matched the astonishing largesse of Azamara Cruises this autumn for their October 15 departure. That's because the cruise they have to fill includes nine consecutive nights spent simply at sea. It's only a special kind of traveler -- a superb conversationalist -- who will opt for such a relaxing interlude on the ocean. But if you're that kind of person, you'll want to consider the following:

On October 15, the Azamara Journey -- a very upscale ship -- will sail from Lisbon to San Juan for 11 days, including nine consecutive days simply at sea, crossing the South Atlantic on its way to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cruiseline will first fly you to Lisbon from Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Newark, Washington, D.C., JFK, Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami, Minneapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Tampa, or St. Louis, and place you aboard this elegant vessel in an oceanview cabin for eleven nights, including the nine-day crossing of the Atlantic to San Juan spent solely at sea (what a relaxing time!). Upon arriving in San Juan, it will then fly you home, back to the above U.S. cities. For the entire package: round-trip air, transfers to and from the dock on departure and arrival, the 11-night cruise, wine at lunch and dinner, prepaid gratuities, and an oceanview cabin on this elegant vessel, it will charge a total of $1,699 per person. Since the value of the airfare is at least $1,000, you're getting the 11-night cruise for $699 ($64 a day) -- and that, again, is in an oceanview cabin.

The offer is made through Online Vacation Center (tel. 800/329-9002; www.onlinevactioncenter.com ), and I don't think I have ever seen its equal. But take along a thick book to read in the course of the sailing. Tolstoy's War and Peace? James Joyce's Ulysses? The Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences?

Smartphone Booking Apps: When You Save, When You Don't

Most of the major airfare and hotel room search engines are madly scrambling to create apps for smartphones and tablets. The latest to do so is the Danish aggregator of airfares known as Momondo ( www.momondo.com ), which announced a free-of-charge app this past Monday. It's a very simple and intuitive interface, giving you your answers in as few screen-taps as possible while also making available several excellent filtering options -- you can sort results by price, duration of flight, or departure airport, and you can filter results based on the number of stops you're willing to endure, the time of day for departure and/or arrival, and the airlines canvassed. For all the details, go to Momondo's website, where there's a full explanation on the website's main menu page (you can also find details at iTunes). 

But apps aren't always as effective a tool as you would have by simply using your laptop to access the website on the internet. The latest observer to discuss the problems of some apps is travel expert Jason Cochran, who is also a good friend of mine. On a recent, several-day roadtrip through the southern states, Jason used Priceline's app ( www.priceline.com ) very effectively to obtain low-cost hotel rooms for his overnight stays. Approaching a particular stop, he'd whip out his iPhone and score big discounts off the normal prices of the hotels at which he wished to stay.

But on one occasion, he discovered that the Priceline app permitted him to bid a price no lower than $56 for an overnight room. Using that app, he could only scroll down a price chart to a minimum of $56 -- but no further than that. By contrast, by simply accessing the internet on his laptop computer, he could pull up the normal Priceline.com and bid (by clicking on "desktop site") as little as $45 for a room -- which turned out to be a successful offer. That advantage caused him to forego any further use of the Priceline app.

So it's clear that these new, miraculous apps aren't always as effective as the former computer technology. Be forewarned.

You can read more about Jason's problems with the Priceline app in his Twitter feed ( @bastable ) where he recently recorded the events of his southern trip.

Looking for a Hawaii Deal this Summer? Not So Fast

In an area that isn't supposed to experience fluctuations in seasonal demand, would-be vacationers quickly learn that the supposed immunity of Hawaii from seasonal demand is a fiction. Summer is very definitely high season in Hawaii, a time when many hotels are booked to capacity, and hotel rates -- second highest in the nation (second only to New York City) -- are at their very peak. In a recent bit of advice to travelers, the writers of Beat of Hawaii ( www.beatofhawaii.com ) have carefully stated:

Plan your Hawaii vacation during shoulder and low season whenever possible. ...[F]or the rapidly approaching summer season, avoid mid June through early August if you can. Hawaii may even return to sold out dates during that time. The best summer travel dates are mid August and beyond. There will probably also be some airfare price drops for that time frame, although that may not happen for another month or more.

The same savvy commentators have even more advice in their article "Five Tips To Cope With Hawaii Tourism Increase".

Rates for Deluxe Hotels in Las Vegas Are Falling to New Lows this Summer

An amazing price of $109 a night for a luxurious suite at the brand-new, 1,500-unit, 57-story Vdara Hotel in Vegas' City Center development on the Strip, is available only for four nights in July: namely, on July 4-7. But if you'll spring ten dollars more, a big $119 a night for one of those luxurious suites, you can stay at the Vdara for no fewer than 15 nights in July (July 10-14, 17-21, and 24-28) and for an amazing 10 nights in August (August 7, 8, 14-17, and 28-31).

And if you're willing to pay $129 a night for a suite -- that's per suite, remember, not per person -- you can stay at the glorious Vdara for no fewer than eighteen additional nights in June (June 5-9, 12-16, 19-22, and 27-30) -- and for eleven additional nights in August (August 1-4, 7, 9-11, 18, 24, and 25).

For a glimpse at the quality of the Vdara, go to www.mgmresorts.com or to www.vdara.com . There, too, you'll find the booking charts that highlight these remarkable bargains for most of the summer season.