Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

June 2008 issue

Airport Q Ratings

Here is the first batch of readers’ Q Ratings of international airports — plus, as you’ll see, a few revisions in the instructions which will make the tallies more useful. The goal is to generate an idea of the comparative wait times at airports.

To recap, with Q Ratings a perfect score is zero, meaning there were no lines to wait in. The next time you pass through an international airport (even one in the U.S.), for each queue/line you have to stand in — for check-in, tax payments, security screening, boarding, Customs — subtract a point. The DQ is for a departure and the AQ, an...

February 2007 issue

Disappointed on QM2

This letter deals with a cruise to Mexico and Hawaii, areas that ITN does not cover, however the ports are not at matter but the ship itself, which makes voyages around the world. — Editor

My wife, Marge, and I took two back-to-back cruises on Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2: Los Angeles-Ensenada-Los Angeles, Feb. 22-25, 2006, and Los Angeles-Honolulu-Lahaina-Kona-Ensenada-Los Angeles, Feb. 25-March 8. The costs for our Category B hull balcony cabin were $2,657 for the three days and $5,071 for the 11 days.

We regret to report that the accountants at parent company Carnival...

August 2007 issue

Travelex came through despite Alitalia’s silence

As my wife, Jeanell, and I were planning a trip to England and Italy in October ’06 connecting with a cruise, we felt we should have medical insurance. I had read in ITN (April ’06, pg. 54 & Aug. ’06, pg. 57) about Travelex Insurance Services (Box 641070, Omaha, NE 68164-7070; 800/228-9792, www.travelex-insurance.com), so I went online and contacted the agent Alan (alan@travelinsurance center.com).

Alan was very helpful and provided a policy through Travelex that covered both medical and baggage insurance at a very reasonable rate. Within a few days we received a policy and...

January 2008 issue

Visits Britain

I am an arthritic, 6'3", 75-year-old who returned from a 3-week trip to Britain on Sept. 19, 2007.

I find it well worth the additional cost to upgrade to British Air’s World Traveler Plus section (coach-plus) — much more seat and legroom. They often offer special rates to their frequent flyers.

British Air also offers online seat and boarding pass choices 24 hours prior to one’s flight. It is a godsend to miss the huge lines at New York’s JFK and Heathrow, as one can just walk up to the separate bag-drop counters.

For the first part of my visit I attended the annual...

September 2008 issue

Aboard Peter Deilmann’s Heidelberg

Together with four couples, my wife, Ana Maria, and I traveled through the rivers and channels of the Netherlands and Belgium, May 10-17, 2008, on a cruise aboard MS Heidelberg booked with Peter Deilmann Cruises, or Deilmann Cruises Europamerica (Alexandria, VA; 800/348 8287, www.deilmann-cruises.com).

The cruise started and ended in Amsterdam. Pre and post cruise we stayed at the Radisson SAS, a good choice since it is located within reasonable distance of the many interesting sights of the city, including museums, shops, the Concertgebouw and a few churches, which were open only...

July 2007 issue

Doesn’t trust room safes

Murray Halbert’s tale of theft from his room safe at Angkor Wat (May ’07, pg. 41) resonated painfully with me, as something eerily similar happened while I was staying in a not-so-wonderful, smallish hotel in Bangkok in December ’06. I have made use of those in-room electronic safes on several occasions, a habit that I am determined to shed from now on.

A hotel room safe is no more secure than the management or any of the personnel is honest. In fact, it is something of a sitting duck — obvious and easy to open quickly, either with an override key or code.

The best course of...

May 2007 issue

Phone rates as posted

I purchased a Mobal Communications phone to use on a trip to the Middle East, March 11-April 17, 2006. We started in Jordan and went on a ship through the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

When I got my bill, I noticed that some of the calls from the middle of the trip, around Egypt and the Mediterranean, cost over $5 a minute — the price we normally complain about when we call from hotel rooms overseas.

One of the calls actually appeared as having been made in Iraq! Mobil’s explanation was that some calls made in the Mediterranean area appear that way on the...

October 2006 issue

Germany’s Christmas markets

No other place in the world celebrates the Christmas holiday season quite like Germany. In a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, Germany’s colorful Christmas markets turn its towns and cities into festive centers of holiday tradition.

During the annual 4-week Advent season leading up to Christmas, numerous towns and cities throughout Germany hold festive and colorful Christmas markets, often referred to as Christkindlesmarkt locally.

These colorful and festive street fairs include numerous booths and stalls set up in the town/city central plaza, often with handsome town...