Travelers' Intercom

In reference to the reader’s letter “Driver’s License Sufficient” (Dec. ’03, pg. 78), regarding International Driving Permits, years ago a friend of mine and her husband were on a trip to Italy when they had an accident in a rental car that was her husband’s fault. The police took his California license and kept it! He didn’t have an international permit, and my friend hadn’t taken her California license, so they couldn’t rent another car. This caused them a huge problem.

If her husband had had an international permit, they could have given that to the police and he still would have...

Now 63 and 70, as my husband and I age we are leaning more and more toward traveling independently. We find that we need the luxury of going at our own pace and according to our own interests. Not having to deal with the temptations of big breakfasts and dinners on tours is also a plus.

With more free time, we go less frequently but stay longer, reducing the stress from air travel. We upgrade to business class more frequently, especially on the outbound portion, so we can feel more rested upon arrival.

Sometimes we include an organized tour in the middle of our time away. We...

I previously reported about the all-business-class discount airline Maxjet, now defunct (Oct. ’06, pg. 32). When I was invited to take a flight by a similar operation, the British Airways venture Open Skies (866/581-3596, www.flyopenskies.com), I couldn’t refuse.

Open Skies started its combination first- and business-class service between New York and Paris in June ’08, later testing a route between New York and Amsterdam, which was shelved in July ’09. It launched a new route, between Washington, DC, and Paris, in May 2010.

On my trip, last June, check-in at New York’s JFK...