Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 56

If You're In the Market for a New Suitcase, You Might Do Especially Well at an Odd Outlet: IKEA

Are you aware that the famous Swedish furniture firm, IKEA, carried luggage? At remarkably low prices? And of good quality?

In a totally unexpected, impromptu stop at a nearby IKEA, I was stunned to find luggage selling at a fraction of the price you normally pay. And what I saw was of a stylish and modern design, form-molded so they retain a modish shape at all times, yet soft-sided so they can pop back from the typical bumps of travel that leave hard-sided luggage dented and scratched. They seem to be sturdily made, if not top quality -- another IKEA hallmark -- but it's the prices that really stand out.
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Compared with rates I later looked up at Travel Smith and Magellan's (offering travel products through mail order catalogues), the IKEA luggage seem 65% less on a $55 wheeled suitcase that can convert into a backpack (and comes with a zip-off daypack) to 85% less on a $5.50 foldable duffle bag that zips into its own pocket (handy to toss into your suitcase in case you acquire more souvenirs that will fit into one bag for the flight home).
 
There's also a more traditional carry-on rolling suitcase that comes with a separate laptop case for just $39.99 (typically, such a bag would run you $120 to $300, and that wouldn't include the matching laptop case), a hanging toiletries bag for $7.99 (these normally start at $25), and a soft, quilt-covered inflatable neck pillow for $3.99 (average cost elsewhere: $20 to $35).
 
Perhaps the most ingenious of the new items is a phenomenal backpack for $23.99 that has a novel feature: there's a zipper around the center that can separate it into two smaller daypacks. Broadly similar backpacks at standard prices start around $80.
 
Here's another way to look at the savings: purchase the IKEA carry-on suitcase/laptop briefcase combo, the backpack, the toiletries bag, the neck pillow, and the duffle and you'd spend $96.47 total. Purchase the same luggage set at another major outlet, and the cost would be, at a bare minimum, $280 -- probably much more.
 
A note on the prices above: IKEA has recently introduced a membership program, and since this program is free to join, I quoted the member prices for each item.
 
For some reason, these discounted member prices are not listed on the IKEA website (notoriously less useful than it could be; it also does not show every item available in stores), so if you double-check my quoted prices there you'll see slightly higher ones ($49.99 for the carry-on suitcase, $29.99 for the backpack, $69.99 for the wheeled bag, etc.). Even those prices are jaw-droppingly low -- but drop into any IKEA store and fill out a membership form, and the savings will be even greater.

Princess Cruises Has Launched a Remarkable Sale, Reducing Prices on Numerous High Quality Ships

The instrument for that sale is apparently Online Vacation Center (tel. 800/329-9002; www.onlinevacationcenter.com ), which has just published a remarkably extensive list of all the extraordinary prices that Princess will be charging for departures in the months of April and May. The following prices, all per person for inside cabins, are typical:
Star Princess, April 13: 10 nights to the Southern Caribbean, round-trip from Ft. Lauderdale, $499Crown Princess, April 23: 7 nights to the Western Caribbean, round-trip from Ft. Lauderdale, $399Sapphire Princess, April 16: 7 nights to the Mexican Riviera, round-trip from Los Angeles, $399Star Princess, April 23: 10 nights to the Eastern Caribbean, round-trip from Ft. Lauderdale, $599Ruby Princess, May 1: 15 nights trans-Atlantic to Spain, one-way Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona, $699Star Princess, May 3: 15 nights trans-Atlantic to Italy, one-way Ft. Lauderdale to Rome, $599Crown Princess, May 7: 15 nights trans-Atlantic to Europe, one-way Ft. Lauderdale to London, $599Caribbean Princess, May 17: 9 nights to Canada and New England, round-trip from New York, $499What emergencies brought about these extraordinary prices I don't know; I do know that these are unique vacation opportunities. To take advantage of them, phone Online Vacation Center at . (Government taxes are additional to the rates cited above).

An English-Speaking Sicilian is Attempting to Revive the Economic Life of a Charming Seaside Village

Born in Sicily, Carmelina Ricciardello moved at the age of 7 to Australia where her father could obtain work. But 28 years later, the homesick Carmelina returned to her seaside village of Sant'Ambrogio, and later decided that the right type of tourism could revive the fortunes of that Sicilian town. (In the 1990s, young people had deserted Sicily in droves to seek a better life in Rome, Bologna and Milan, and the population of the aptly-named Sant'Ambrogio had dropped from 2,300 to just 500 people. Numerous ancient homes stood empty.)

She formed a company called Sicilian Experience ( www.sicilianexperience.com ) which, essentially, rents villas, chalets, townhouses, and apartments in Sant'Ambrogio for periods of as little as a week, and for remarkable prices. In many months, a one-bedroom villa will rent for as little as €350 weekly ($490), and three-bedroom villas have been known to go for €500 Euros ($700) -- that's about $100 a day for a family of six people. Many visitors come here for one-week stays and end up remaining for one to six months.

And that's just for starters. Once in Sant'Ambrogio, foreign guests are invited to visit and observe the local bakery, to meet with the local shepherd, to witness the pressing of olives into olive oil (and, in November, to actually assist in picking the olives), to observe the making of cheese, the harvesting of grapes and the subsequent production of the area's famous Nero d'Avolo red wines, to attend cooking courses, and -- in general -- to integrate themselves into the life of the community. Village residents are constantly taught, at seminars led by Carmelina, how to open their homes, their crafts, their businesses, and their hearts, to the foreign visitor -- and thus become the best kind of tourist attraction.

As for one's meals in Sant'Ambrogio, Carmelina insisted -- in the course of an interview conducted by my daughter, Pauline, for yesterday's edition of The Travel Show (which you can hear at WOR 710's website; the interview begins the second hour of the show) -- that €15 can buy enough food for three days. Nothing is frozen in Sant'Ambrogio; at outdoor markets, everything is ripe and fresh.

The Sicilian Experience -- learning how people live in a typical seaside Sicilian village, enjoying introductions to Sicilians, savoring a type of life that hasn't changed in centuries -- is very much a work-in-progress; Carmelina Ricciardello tells in her website about the many ongoing projects (small museums, cooperative businesses, and the like) that she has envisioned for the future. But in the meantime, a week or more in Sant' Angelo seems a rewarding and unique experience.

And how do you get there? From Palermo, you take the train for less than an hour to Cefalu, and there you'll be picked up by a driver arranged by Carmelina. I, for one, plan to do just that on my own next trip to Sicily.

An American Church in Rome Lists 22 Convents That Might Provide You With Lodgings for May 1

With more than a million visitors expected in Rome for the beatification ceremonies for the late Pope John Paul II on Sunday, May 1 (a week after Easter), it's highly unlikely that any accommodations are still available for that date in Rome. But if you'd care to try your luck, you can contact any of the 22 convents in Rome that accept overnight guests at
[image error] Photo Caption: Inside St. Peter's in Vatican City. Gruezi/Frommers.com Community

extremely low rates. By going to the website of the American church in Rome, Santa Susanna ( www.santasusanna.org ), and looking for Parish Weekly News, then clicking underneath at "Quick Links" and then "Staying in Convents," you'll come to the detailed contact information for those 22 lodgings -- and you can send your reservations request to them in a number of different ways.

Failing to find a room for May 1, you might nevertheless keep in mind this method of staying inexpensively in Rome, for any later trip that you might make.

One Way to Save Up to 60% on International Flights in Business Class

First class and business class fares aren't sacrosanct; when they go unsold, they're discounted by the airlines to fill the seat. And several scattered travel agencies are used as the conduits for such discounts.

A number of travelers, especially older ones, find that they simply can't face a long international flight, especially an overnight one, in economy class. And when they need to take such a long international flight, they pester everyone in reach for the names of outlets where they can obtain upgraded seats at a considerable discount.

I'm reminded of such needs by the constant, if subtle, appearance of a tiny little newspaper ad on behalf of a travel agency called Cook Travel Inc. It's usually sneaked into the bottom of a column of business statistics in the business pages of various newspapers specializing in finance. And it carries the simple headline: "Save 60% First/Business." You're supposed to know what that means.

Cook Travel, Inc. can be found at tel. 866/798-8704 or on the internet at www.cooktravel.net . Though their prices remain high, they are considerably less than what you normally would spend for business or first class seats.

If a European Merchant Offers You the Option of Dynamic Conversion, Don't Accept It

The latest gimmick in an endless battle to overcharge the tourist is something called Dynamic Conversion. It's the "helpful" offer of a European merchant to convert the bill you've incurred in Euros into U.S. Dollars, right there, on the spot. In other words, instead of signing a credit card slip made out in Euros, you agree to let the European merchant perform the conversion, and give you a credit card slip made out in dollars.

The choice is always yours, and you should always turn down the offer. It's far better to let Visa or Mastercard conduct that conversion rather than the local merchant; you will invariably get a better exchange rate. Would you believe that Ryanair is now enjoying a 7% increase in their income from those passengers who let them convert a Euro charge into Dollars?

Gasoline in Europe Tops $9 a Gallon, Casting Gloom Over the Prospects for a Self-Drive Vacation

In thinking about their upcoming trips to Europe, a great many travelers are focused on the fuel surcharges that will now increase the cost of trans-Atlantic air transportation, but fewer are considering the cost of gasoline for self-drive motoring trips.

Because of the substantial taxes that European governments assess on the purchase of gas at filling stations, gas prices in Europe have always been considerably higher than in the United States. But now, with the general increase in the cost of oil, European gasoline prices have reached forbidding levels.

In Britain, gas currently sells for nearly $9 a gallon. (That's no typo, the price is $9 a gallon). The same $9 is charged in The Netherlands. In Belgium, Greece and Portugal, the price is $8 a gallon. In France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany, $7 to $7.50 a gallon. In all these countries, the future trend in gas prices is felt to be up.

These figures should be carefully considered by travelers planning a self-drive motoring trip in Europe. It is obviously wise to rent the smallest car available to you, the kind that are fuel-efficient. Renting a standard-size car will involve a very heavy expenditure for gas in the course of the average trip, a prediction that, unfortunately, can't be avoided. I hate to be the bearer of ill tidings, but it would be irresponsible not to bring that situation to the attention of summer vacationers. Taking the train might be another alternative to be considered.

Enjoy 6 Nights in Budapest and Prague -- with Airfare -- this October for Under $1,000

If you can make your booking by end of the day April 1, you can enjoy this excellent package from Gate 1 Travel (www.gate1travel.com) for only $799 per person (plus up to $290 in government fees and taxes), which brings you:
Flights from New York to Budapest and from Prague to New York (other U.S. cities are available for slightly more)Rail or bus transportation between the two capital cities6 nights of accommodations (3 in Budapest, 3 in Prague)Breakfast dailyPhone tel. 800/682-3333 and cite discount code DLBP200 at the time of booking. Depending on the price of oil in October, you may also be assessed a fuel surcharge.

It's Clear Southwest Plans to Make Newark Into a Major Hub for Flights to a Number of Cities

In a totally unexpected development that was announced yesterday at the time of starting-up service between New York-Newark and Chicago and St. Louis, the big cost-cutting airline, Southwest, revealed that starting June 5, it will also fly between Newark and Baltimore-BWI, Denver, Houston, and Phoenix. Initial one-way fares between Newark and Baltimore-BWI will be $69, dramatically undercutting the cost of shuttle flights between the New York area and Washington, D.C.

The news means that Americans in every region will soon be able to fly to and from virtually every major city within the U.S. on Southwest Airlines. And the prospect for thus enjoying ultra-low transportation costs on domestic trips has thus been greatly enhanced. This past weekend on my Travel Show ( www.wor710.com/arthur-frommer ), I fielded a question from a listener who wished to undertake a complicated, several-stop trip this summer from New York to Albuquerque, Mexico, then to southern California, then from California north to Seattle and back to New York, and I pointed out that such a trip -- hideously expensive using normal carriers -- would now be capable of being made affordably on Southwest. If you'll look at the Southwest route map (at www.southwest.com/html/cs/travel_center/routemap_dyn.html ), and mentally add the new routes from Newark, you'll see that a vast increase in travel options has taken place starting now, and that increase will grow even larger starting June 5.

Heavy Discounts on the Largest Cruiseships on Earth May Mean That The Bloom is Off the Rose

Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas , both capable of carrying as many as 6,000 passengers apiece, are supposed to be the most heavily-populated ships on earth, and their parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises, has charged a premium price for their cabins -- several hundred dollars more than were asked for other Royal Caribbean ships of the same category.

That policy may now have been revised, perhaps reflecting difficulty in filling these two monsters of the sea. Vacations To Go ( www.vacationstogo.com ).com is currently listing six departures in April and May when seven-night sailings booked in inside cabins on the Oasis are being offered for $849 per person, $865, $899, and $915.

For Allure of the Seas, Vacations to Go is listing seven dates when inside cabins are being offered for $849, $879, $949, and $999 -- again much closer to the rates charged by Royal Caribbean ships of a similar category.

And another cruise discounter, Online Vacation Center ( www.onlinevacationcenter.com ) is not only lowering the price to $799 on one April sailing of the Oasis of the Seas, but is also making the following extra offer: that persons booking inside cabins on either ship during April and May will be upgraded by Online Vacation Center, at no extra charge, to a balcony cabin.

So there's something going on at those two maritime megaliths. Is it possible that the public has gotten its fill of sailing with 6,000 other passengers? Is it possible that the interesting features of both ships -- different "neighborhoods," trees growing on decks, Broadway musicals in a partially-open-air theater -- have grown a bit stale, losing their novelty, no longer worth an unusually high price?