Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

August 2005 issue

Car rentals and leases

(Second of three parts)

Last month I talked about the upper age limit invoked by car rental suppliers. This month I would like to discuss other automobile rental and lease-related factors.

The following information applies to both rentals and leases.

Driving in Eastern Europe

If you plan to drive from Western to Eastern Europe, ask which countries are off-limits. Restrictions vary with the pickup location of your vehicle. (For leases there are standard restrictions, independent of the pickup site.)

Ordering an automobile in the U.S. usually entails more...

January 2006 issue

Money in Russia

If you are traveling to Russia, here are some things I learned during my trip in October ’04.

Take lots of single dollar bills. You will need them for tips and small items in flea markets and at stalls. But take ONLY new or almost-new dollar bills. The Russians will not accept any money that is torn, crumpled or written on. Since all money is scanned, they prefer new bills. If the bill does not scan properly, it will be given back to you.

The unit of currency in a lot of places is the “unit,” equal to the euro. There is also, of course, the ruble, which on our trip was being...

July 2006 issue

Self-service check-in snag

Airport self-service check-in kiosks look great and sound great; unfortunately, they are of no value to someone like me because they cannot verify my age.

My wife and I are seniors and we get great prices on air tickets by using senior discounts. I normally purchase tickets via a phone reservation, then have an electronic ticket with e-mail confirmation. Since, at the airport, the machines cannot satisfy the airlines that we are being truthful about our age, we’re always stuck to wait it out (usually in line) for a “live body” from the airline to check our I.D.s and verify our ages...

December 2005 issue

To keep valuables

I had the gift of a lifetime in 2002 in that I was able to take a year-long sabbatical and travel around the world. I visited 30 countries in 333 days on the Oneworld airline alliance pass. It was a life-altering journey offering up the best year of my life. I am writing, however, to inform ITN readers of a valuable lesson that I learned the hard way.

While on a stopover in London, I visited the big orange easyInternetCafé across from Victoria Station. I found a quiet corner cubicle and wedged my small day pack beneath my feet up against the wall in the corner. When finished with my...

April 2005 issue

Travails of winter travel

In the article “Rewards of Winter Travel” (Sept. ’04, pg. 46), the author begged to differ with those who shun winter travel. Well, I beg to differ with her.

Yes, one can travel prepared with layering, proper footwear and raingear, but rain, even prepared for, can put a damper on any trip. We had rain eight out of 10 days in Croatia in November ’04.

I agree that the lack of crowds is delightful, but the flip side of the off-season is that many, nay most, hotels and even B&Bs are closed. As the above-mentioned writer was traveling with a group, no doubt with prearranged...

May 2006 issue

Ensuring credit card usage overseas

For several years my wife, Paula, and I have used the same airline-affiliated Visa cards without incident, traveling to Malaysia, Chile, Slovakia, etc. Recently, the airline began transitioning to a MasterCard issued by a different bank than the Visa issuer. During the application process for the new MasterCard, I told a representative of the bank’s credit card operation that we would soon leave for Spain and that we intended to use our new credit cards there. (We each were getting a new credit card.) She stated that this would not be a problem and even offered to overnight the credit...

February 2006 issue

Venice airport-city transfer

Clean, modern and well-equipped, Venice, Italy’s, Marco Polo Airport (www.veniceairport.it) provides a convenient gateway to the city, but the transfer between the airport and your hotel certainly won’t be the highlight of your visit.

Any good, recent guidebook should detail the choices and direct you to the websites of the various service providers. During an October ’05 visit to Venice, my wife and I learned a few lessons that will help you know what to expect and make the right choice.

Before you leave home, determine your hotel’s location. Is it near a vaporetto stop or,...

February 2006 issue

Sentiments of hope

My wife, Mary, and I were in Cairo in January ’05 when we learned that our daughter Julie, back in Arizona, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. We became frequent customers in the Cairo Marriott gift shop, where they sold phone cards. The problem with the phone cards was that they each lasted only three minutes on calls to the States.

When we tried to buy cards with “more minutes,” the young man working there sensed our concern and offered to let us use his cell phone for the same cost as the phone cards — we would be able to talk for about 20 minutes. We took him up on his offer...