Category: Good Travel Advice

This is for all of us that live in the US and have BofA/MBNA credit cards.
Go here and choose a museum. If you have a BofA/MBNA credit card, you and a guest get to go in for FREE!
Free culture lah! That’s a deal! “Culture” here tends to be on the expen$ive side, like visiting the New York Museum of Modern Art (US$20!) or even the SF MOMA (US$12!). But in the month of May with the right credit card, it’s FREEE!
So go get cultured next month!

I’m not a big fan of carrying lots of cash when I travel (except in Japan) unless it’s absolutely necessary. Usually I’ll locate my bank’s ATMs at my destination so I can withdraw cash as needed. Sometimes though, I’ll be making a big purchase that requires a credit card (usually air tickets or hotels/hostels). Unfortunately, most US credit card issuers luuurve to double dip, charging “fees” (I mean “profit”) for using your credit card overseas.
Here’s a link to banks in the US and the foreign surcharges they levy. Good to know when you’re going through the junk mail pile full of credit card offers.
UPDATE: Waaah! You can use your Discover Card on mainland China. No surcharge!

As I noted in an earlier entry, the UK Government has, with very short notice, doubled the Air Passenger Duty (APD) also known as a “tax” for passengers who fly to or from the UK. Story here and here.
Although this won’t be a big deal for corporate types who fly there on business or rich folk or gov’t types, here is how it breaks down for the rest of us…
* Economy class flights in Europe, internal UK flights – £10
* Business and first class flights in Europe – £20
* Economy class long-haul flights – £40
* Business and first class long-haul flights – £80
Of particular interest to the back/flash packer crowd are the amounts for economy class tickets. Since back/flash packers normally fly the cheapest fare they can find, these taxes hit them at a greater percentage than it would for a rich corporate government bigshot.
Economy long haul flights to and from the UK will be taxed at £40 (US$78) each way. That means that out of any ticket you buy that ends up in the UK, US$156 of that will be tax. That makes the US$299 r/t deal to London sound a lot less palatable, dun it?
Now, US$156 can buy you a nifty ticket on Ryanair or Easyjet to other parts of Europe. Neat. But wait, you’ll have to pay £20 round trip for that trip. Or US$78 plus the price of your ticket. Dun sound like a bargain anymore does it?
The worst part of this tax is that it’s supposed to go “to the environment”. Nothing more. No further details. Sounds like a slush fund for Labour and a virtual mugging of travelers to me!
But here’s a bright spot. This is greater incentive to visit the City of Light instead. Despite the language barrier, the food’s better and the cigars are cheaper. And for US$129.50 (less than the tax) you can take Eurostar into London if you must go.

If you’re planning to fly to London on a mainline carrier and then hub out to other parts of Europe via low fare carriers, DON’T!!

The “brilliant” minds in the UK have DOUBLED the tax that you have to pay for inbound and outbound flights, unless you’re transiting through on the same ticket. If your final destination is London or anywhere in the UK, you’re gonna get reamed. So forget the UK!  Apparently Amsterdam (?) is the new low fare hub for Europe. Informative article about the new parasitic tax here.

Now what do I mean by “hub out”?  To “hub out” means to fly a mainline airline to a city that’s a low fare airline hub. Using that city as a base, then continue flying elsewhere using low fare airlines. Example: I usually fly Singapore Airlines (best flights I’ve ever had!) to Singapore and then will fly JetStar or AirAsia to other destinations (usually KUL or BKK). It’s a good way to stretch your travel dollar and it’s fun too.

…lest they get any ideas. Come to think of it, UA and AA are ALREADY doing most of these things. No blankies and pillows on AA and no magazines (cuz they get stolen) on UA. Are the toilet restrictions next?
From the unlinkable South China Morning Post, 1 December 2006, Lai See Column:
AIRLINE FLUSH WITH IDEAS ON HOW TO LIGHTEN COSTS BURDEN
All right, enough of this flushing profits down the toilet. Go do it in the bushes! China Southern has calculated that it takes one litre of fuel to flush an airplane (toilet) at 30,000 feet, according to the Xinhua news agency. Which explains that really loud sucking noise airline toilets make. So, in order to save a few yuan, the airline is kindly requesting passengers to use the bathroom before they board. We dare not ask for extra peanuts.
A survey by the company’s logistics department found that filling the water tank only 60 percent will save the airline another 47 million yuan. It failed to mention by how much this step would shorten the bathroom queue.
Another easy weight loss trick is to toss the pillows and blankets, as each kilogram of such creature comforts uses 0.2 kg of fuel per hour. “This means the blankets and pillows on board the aircraft eat up 60 tonnes of fuel every day. If each seat is loaded with three 450-gram magazines, another 60 tonnes will be consumed,” explained Captain Liu Zhiyuan who flies regularly between Hangzhou and Beijing.
The last time we flew on China Southern it was near impossible to get the trolley dolly to hand over a second beer. Perhaps that was two expenses cut with one, er, flush.
And you know what’s truly disturbing? I can see UA and AA doing this! Except for the first class passengers and the flight crew of course…

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike riding the basi (bus in Chinese)? I’ll say “dislike” as opposed to “hate” for now because in many parts of the world, the basi is the primary mode of transport. But i’m in Hong Kong, a first world colony with a third world master with great infrastructure and at least on paper, good transport options even if you were to choose to ride the basi to HKG compared to the swish Airport Express (mostly due to price and time considerations).
First off, basi have a unfortunate tendency to never be on time. Ever. And when you are waiting at the basi stop, waiting for “your basi”, every other basi goes roaring past spewing diesel and dirt onto your freshly showered self. Meanwhile, the basi that is supposed to run “every 15 minutes” is, of course, LATE!!
And that gets me to the topic of basi stops. They’re poorly marked and leaves you exposed to the elements whether it be sun or smog. By contrast, rail transport is clearly marked, the stations themselves being landmarks in their neighborhood. People know where the MTR station is but not necessarily where the A11 stop is. There’s also a cool factor at work. “Meet me at Mong Kok MTR” is definitely better than “meet me at the Delaware and Glouchester basi stop. And don’t forget your hazmat suit and particle mask. And provisions when we are stranded there cuz the basi kanna run on schedule.”
Rail generally runs on schedule here. I’ve never seen or heard of a late MTR train. But i’ve heard of late A11 basi to HKG. In fact, i’m finally on one. Only waited 25 minutes for a basi that was supposed to arrive in 12. So I’m cutting it close yet again. Figures.

Writing from SFO, Gate 73 for my twice delayed flight to LAX…
I have something nice to say about UAL, so you’d better read up! It dun happen very often…
Although UAL deserves its horrible reputation for putting the union before the customers and company, sometimes they get it right.
UA has a service called Easy Update. It will shoot an SMS to your mobile a few hours before your ticketed flight. It will also send you another SMS letting you know when a flight has been delayed and the new departure time.
Because of this, I didn’t have to rush to SFO with two duffle bags, a big, heavy box of books from Amazon, two pet feeders and a couple of nested suitcases with 7 days of clothes for hot environments. The first two items are not mine; I’m just couriering them over for a friend.
Best thing about hot clothes; they take less space!!
So if you’re a UA victim, sign up for Easy Update. It often knows of the delays and rescheduled flights faster than the gate agents do!
Waaaaaaaaah!

Is there EVER a United Airlines flight that:
is NOT packed to the gills? I’m surprised that they don’t sell the seats in the Lavatories…
AND
you can actually use your 500 mile upgrades??
None? I thought so. More from Beantown!

Most people that know me know that I watch Anthony Bourdain’s show, No Reservations religiously. He’s also got a new book out and he’s doing a tour to promote it. Interview here.
There’s something cool about a chef who smokes and drinks too much and eats almost anything presented to him getting a travel show. If u dun have cable, not to worry. It’s on the iTunes Music Store too.
Anyway, he was in Beirut filming an episode of No Reservations when all hell broke loose. When he got back to the US, he did a webchat. It began with: “…cleaning out the minibar…” and continues with praise for the US Marines and disdain for the local Embassy.
Sounds about right…