International Travel News

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October 2010 issue | Appears on page 13

Tracing the foreign transaction fee

I read with some interest Patricia Russell’s letters concerning credit card foreign transaction fees (May ’10, pg. 14 & July ’10, pg. 11).

Visa imposes a foreign transaction fee (FTF) whenever a charge is run outside of the United States. We are talking about a fee that Visa charges the customer’s bank and which then (almost certainly) is marked up and passed along. The merchant has no role in this fee; i.e., Merchant -> Visa (adds fee) -> Card Issuer/Bank (marks up fee) ->...

October 2010 issue | Appears on page 14

US line’s overseas bank fee

Reading Patricia Russell’s letter about a foreign-transaction fee (May ’10, pg. 14; also see July ’10, pg. 11) triggered my writing about my experience.

My wife, Ofelia, and I booked a 27-day cruise on Oceania’s Insignia from Valparaiso, Chile, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for March 7-April 3, 2010. We booked through Bob’s Cruises (162 - 3105 Dayanee Springs Blvd., Coquitlam, BC, V3E 0C2, Canada; 866/682-2627, www.bobscruises.com).

Although we live in Canada now, we have a USA...

October 2010 issue | Appears on page 16

Vietnam’s forgotten Champa kingdom

The ruined, ancient Hindu temples slowly emerged from the lush, green jungle. It had been a long ride from my hotel outside Hoi An, Vietnam, but as soon as I viewed the temples of My Son, I felt transported back in time to Vietnam’s long-lost kingdom of Champa (AD 192-1832).

My tour, “Cultural Treasures of Vietnam & Cambodia,” with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 800/322-6677), took place Dec. 3-22, 2009. The price, including air from Tampa, Florida, and single...

October 2010 issue | Appears on page 28

Conditions on local trains in Siberia

From the editor — ITN subscribers Darrell Booth and his wife, Debra, of Houston, Texas, got a little more adventure than they bargained for.

The Booths wanted to take a train across Mongolia and Siberia and contacted a US tour company that offered group tours through an operator based in another country.

For the tours, private railway carriages owned by the operator are attached to regular trains. For the dates the couple wanted to travel, however, Aug. 12-Sept. 3, 2009, the...

October 2010 issue | Appears on page 29

Perils of booking day tours in advance

Although I ordinarily travel independently and avoid tours, for a visit to Iguazú Falls with a friend in March ’10 I requested quotes from the travel agencies listed in the Lonely Planet guide.

Carlos Melia of Pride Travel (Paraguay 523 2E, Buenos Aires, Argentina; phone 5218-6556, www.pride-travel.com) offered the best-priced tour, one with the hotel on the Argentine side, which I preferred, rather than on the Brazilian side.

The price was better than those I could obtain...

October 2010 issue | Appears on page 31

Arrangements were fluid

A group of us decided to take the cruise “Brazil and Argentine Discovery,” offered by Holland America Line (HAL), March 11-25, 2010. Starting and ending in Rio de Janeiro, the Veendam would go as far south as Buenos Aires, with stops at several ports in Brazil and Uruguay.

We booked a pre-cruise extension offered by HAL in which we would arrive in Rio on March 7, spend the night, fly to Iguazú Falls for two nights, then go back to Rio for one night before boarding the ship the next...

October 2010 issue | Appears on page 32

Super seniors and Elderhostel

I am writing on behalf of Elderhostel/Road Scholar (Boston, MA; 800/454-5768, www.roadscholar.org) in response to comments made regarding “super-senior” travel. Ms. Barbara Johnson (Jan. ’10, pg. 56) and Sue Hub (July ’10, pg. 42) each shared their opinion that our international programs are not intended for older travelers in their eighties and nineties. This is not the case, as Elderhostel welcomes all older adult lifelong learners on our unique Road Scholar learning adventures around the...

October 2010 issue | Appears on page 32

Japan with Journeys East

My husband, Albert, and I highly recommend touring Japan with Journeys East (Middletown, CA; 800/527-2612, www.journeyseast.com). We’ve taken their in-depth “Farmhouse to Teahouse” tour twice, in October ’04 and ’09, and the second time around it was, if possible, even better.

The places we went, so carefully selected, the way we went — all the logistics handled smoothly on trains, buses and taxis, without a care on our part — and the overall tone of respect and appreciation for the...