| November | December 2005 Volume 79 Issue 6 |
|
Travel Tips & Trends
You book a non-smoking room, but get stuck in a smoking room. You order a four-door rental car, but get a two-door. What happened? Many people think they have secured a guarantee for a particular item when they book a trip, then find out on arrival that the “guarantee” was actually only a request or stated preference. As a general rule, if you want a true guarantee, you'll probably have to pay for it. For example, when booking a car online, the price goes up with the car sizes, so the “two-door or four-door” category is normally less expensive than the “four-door” only category. Many times, the first category will get you a four-door car, but not always. By far the greatest misunderstandings over travel guarantees happen at hotels. At the time of booking, your request for a non-smoking room, a king bed or a room with a view is just that, a request. While it's true most hotels try to give you what you want, they aren't legally required to satisfy your request, unless you turn that request into a guarantee by paying the amount associated with the item you want. An interesting twist on this concept is booking a cruise under a “cabin guarantee.” This allows travelers to book a specific category of cabin, but not a specific cabin. The upside is that they may pay less for their room than those with assigned cabins, and they have a chance of being upgraded to a higher category cabin. The downside is that they may not know their specific cabin until the day of sailing, and it may be anywhere on the ship: perhaps in a less-than-ideal location. When it comes to travel “guarantees,” it's important to know how they work and what they really mean. A good travel professional can help you sort through them—which will guarantee that you'll have fewer surprises on your next trip. Passport revisions and new Colorado facility The Department of State has selected Colorado as the location for its 17th national passport agency. The new office at 3151 S. Vaughn Way , Aurora , processes passport applications from around the Rocky Mountain region. It is open to the public only for travelers needing their passport within 14 days: call 877-487-2778 for an appointment. In additional passport-related news, the July/August EnCompass ran an article about proposed new passport requirements issued by the departments of Homeland Security and State. In September, those departments released revisions to what had been previously announced. Following are the new guidelines (currently in the proposed rulemaking stage): • Dec. 31, 2006—Passport required for all air and sea travel to or from Canada , Mexico , Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda . • Dec. 31, 2007—Passport requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel. The Dec. 31, 2005 proposed deadline (published in the July/August EnCompass) is no longer under consideration. Travel between the United States and U.S. territories will not be affected by these new requirements. For more information visit www.aaa.com and click on Travel, or visit the only official U.S. government website for passport information at www.travel.state.gov/passport, or call 888-874-7793.
Travel for Less on European Trains If you're traveling by train in Europe , railpasses offer great value, but did you know that you can save even more when you go with someone else? Saverpasses can be purchased when two to five people travel together. They'll save you up to 15% off the price of an individual rail pass. You can buy Saverpass versions of the following railpasses: • Benelux Tourrail Pass ( Belgium , Netherlands , Luxembourg ) • Eurailpass (17 countries) • Eurail Selectpass (for three, four, or five countries sharing borders) • France Railpass • France 'n Italy Pass • France 'n Spain Pass • France 'n Switzerland Pass • Iberic Railpass ( Spain and Portugal ) • Switzerland 'n Austria Pass • Swiss Pass (consecutive-day version) • Swiss Flexipass • Trenitalia Pass ( Italy ) For more information, contact your AAA Travel professional or visit www.aaa.com and click on Travel. Cruising the southern Looking for a less-crowded, more exotic Caribbean experience? Consider the Southern Caribbean . Defined by a string of lovely small islands from Antigua south to Trinidad, and the northeastern coast of South America, the region enjoys the Caribbean 's sunniest climate and is usually less crowded than its northern counterpart. San Juan , Puerto Rico is the most popular departure point for Southern Caribbean itineraries, but some ships sail from other islands, such as Barbados . Most cruises from San Juan include stops at Eastern Caribbean islands, such as St. Thomas , before sailing down to the Southern Caribbean . A sampling of ports of call in the lower reaches of the Caribbean Sea include: • Castries , St. Lucia —Recognizable for the twin peaks of the Pitons rising from its shoreline, this island is a scenic wonderland and a sports lover's paradise. • Georgetown , Barbados —Very British Barbados lies at the eastern edge of the Caribbean and has a quiet civility that matches the softly rolling landscape. • Willemstad , Curacao—The primary island of the Netherlands Antilles, Curacao has an unmistakable Dutch heritage, especially in this picturesque city.
Cell phone use linked to increased crashes In late summer, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released new research concluding that drivers using mobile phones are four times more likely to get into injury crashes. Speaking about the research, Lt. Colonel Jim Champagne, chair of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), stated: “The Insurance Institute also indicated that hands-free equipment did not reduce chances of injury to drivers … From GHSA's perspective, educating drivers about how to manage all distractions, including cell phone use, continues to be the most prudent course of action at this time … GHSA urges state legislatures to refrain from enacting hand-held cell phone bans, because such bans send an incorrect message to drivers that as long as they are hands-free, they are safe.” Click to view the full IIHS report. (PDF format) Where are you thinking of going? Each month thousands of AAA members visit the AAA Colorado website, www.aaa.com, to route and map travel, and search for hotel rooms, car rentals and flights. Here are the top five destinations researched in September: Colorado: 1. Denver Outside Colorado: 1. Las Vegas
|
