Golf Thailand: Take Advantage of the Baht!

Phuket, Thailand. Tropical, lush, high service levels, and unique thatched roof accommodations. Combine this with five star golf at South East Asia’s top course, Blue Canyon. This course most recently hosted our own Tiger Woods at the 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic. The course has hosted this tournament twice in the past 5 years!

A 7-day, package including airfare from Seattle, golf daily and accommodations at the Blue Canyon Country Club is only $1,184 per person. Blue Canyon also boasts a Gary Player Golf Academy.

1 Day Membership Passes for First Class Airport Clubs

Did you know . . .

Only 37% of hotels deliver a fax to a guest’s room within a half-hour of receiving it. When hotels are asked to send a fax, 82% of the time it is sent within 15 minutes.

False Papers to Fool the Bad Guys

An Athens-based international law and investment consulting firm is offering a fully legal "Emergency Passport" for use in times of trouble. Their theory is that although not authentic, these camouflaged documents look like official passports, showing the travelers photograph, vital statistics, entry/exit stamps and even visa’s.

You can select your own country of choice. They include countries no longer in existence, Rhodesia, Zanzibar, Eastern Samoa and Dutch Guiana. For more information see them at www.global-money.com.

United Tests Baggage Segregation

There is a current test being made by United Airlines on their flights to and from Des Moines where travelers who have not paid the highest fare are not allowed paper tickets or allowed more than one carry-on. Those passengers who are segmented as low fares include those tickets purchased in United’s Q and V inventory. The test started in December and is expected to be completed soon.

The Des Moines flights that are affected operate to and from both Denver and Chicago.

Travel Tid-bits and Area Briefs

Credit card companies who participate by giving airline mileage for dollars charged are now deducting users mileage penalties when they receive a payment late.

The IRS has increased the per-mile driving rate for 1998 to 32.5 cents.

Delta Airlines two bag carry on policy is effective April 1, 1998. Their policy is tighter than Northwest’s. The "exceptions" will only be for a purse, food for on-board consumption and devices for the disabled. (At least they include a woman’s purse in the same category as life dependent necessities!)

A new international airline rule that requires passengers to list emergency contact information to them goes into effect later this summer. The ruling stems from the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.

A study revealed that 76% of business travelers said that frequent flyer programs are influential. The good news is that this figure is down 11% over last year.

If you have traveled in Canada and have spent at least $100CAD on rooms or other goods, you may call Revenue Canada for a GST refund. The telephone number is 613 991 3346.

TMI’s web site (www.tmitravel.net) takes you to the Center for Disease Control, the Weather Channel, Citocorp Currency’s plus other well known travel related sites.

All of the major carriers raised there ticket exchange fee to $75.00 per change per person. This equals another 50% percent increase.

The deadline for purchasing "Kids Fly Free to Disneyland" is May 13, 1998.

Since September, 1996 typical airfares are up 38%.

U.S. Passport fees have gone down from $55 to $40 for renewals and from $65 to $60 for first time applicants.

Horizon Air discontinued its service from Boise to the Sun Valley/Hailey airport.

During an international flight, two Turkish pilots put their flight on automatic pilot and had a fistfight. They had been quarreling over data regarding altitude. Both pilots were fired.

www.quickaid.com Was recently voted best airport information on the web. It has parking information, terminal maps and extensive hard to find yellow pages listings for paging. 

Thankyou 20/20

ABC’s 20/20 news magazine program took the wind out of the airlines claim that they could supply pricing consistent with what the traditional travel agency provides. 20/20 gave United Airlines 3 itineraries. United quoted $3,379 total for 3 trips, the agency quoted $937 total for the 3 trips. That is a savings of $2,442!

The program moderator, Hugh Downs wrapped up the segment by noting that "a good travel agent can do better than you can".

In another travel agency challenge the organization ASTA and the consumer newsletter "The Airfare Report, made four calls to get fare quotes. They asked the price for a one-way flight to Houston on a specific day on a specific flight. The airline quoted them $797 and three different travel agencies quoted $217 for the same flight.

TIP

Car rental weekend rates are discounted when picking up your rental after 12:00N on Thursday and having the car returned by 12:00M on Monday. Sample per day rates on a midsize car is $18.99 with National on the weekend, and $38.99 during a regular week.

Significant Mileage Changes

- United has added a Saturday night stay requirement to its 25,000-mile award.

- Delta no longer allows first class upgrades from the lowest priced tickets, otherwise knows as L class.

- American Express takes back each mile earned on its Rewards program for every dollar paid late.

- Most car rental agencies have reduced or dropped their affiliations with airline mileage programs.

AIRPortland - Local Newcomer

AIRPortland, a Portland, Oregon based new carrier has filed for approval to operate scheduled flights from Portland and Seattle nonstop to New York’s, JFK. They plan on operating an Airbus A320. Its board members include former DOT secretary Alan Boyd and undersecretary of commerce for transportation, former Senator Mark Hatfield and Milt Kuolt, founder of Horizon Air. This should assist in opening up for international markets from the Pacific Northwest.

Driving in Mexico: Update

- None of the auto insurance companies US insurance policies cover liability in Mexico.

- If you run into trouble or problems while driving in Mexico, you can get an emergency referral, directions, information and other assistance 24 hours per day by calling 9180090321 within Mexico.

- When renting a car in the Yucatan area of Mexico, make sure the area filling stations actually have fuel.

- If you are not going to purchase collision damage waiver insurance, you should call prior to the rental to ensure that your credit cards insurance also doesn’t exclude Mexico.

Seattle’s Unique Hotels

The newest entrant to Seattle’s hotel scene, the Inn at Harbor Steps has a great location and definitely takes advantage of the trendiest in dining. This new boutique hotel is truly at the top of the steps between the pier area and downtown, is adjacent to Wolfgang Puck’s Cafe and Bombore. Rates range from $150 to $200 per night.

The Alexis Park recently added the John Lennon and Yoko Ono suite, it is complete with Lennon’s art, a wood burning stove, memorabilia and piped in Lennon tunes.

The Bellevue Club is a growing favorite of the health conscious crowd. It offers on-site access to its own health club.

Excerpt from B.T.O.’s Techniques Site

by Adrian Furnham

....for the little people who travel at the back of the bus, the journey can be like a short prison sentence. Hapless passengers are shuttled from one room to another for no apparent reason. Airlines, like prisons. deprive travelers of most of their personal belongings, reduce them to a number (64F), feed them bland fare only when it suits the crew and require undignified waiting for the lavatories. One is physically constrained in many senses, strapped in by a seatbelt and forced to share personal space with strangers.