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.