Whether we are Democrats or Republicans, most of us agree that Congress is not serving us well.  I wrote to my senators to complain.  I received a plain vanilla impersonal response from Ben Cardin, the junior senator representing Maryland.

This is how I responded:

Dear Mr. Cardin,

Thank you for your reply.  But you should tell the person who put it together that it is totally inadequate and completely disconnected from the letter I wrote.  If you believe that you can serve your constituents with this "one size fits all" approach, you are mistaken.

The main point of my letter was that I do not believe that legislators who do not legislate should be paid.  You were paid during the shutdown.  That is a problem.

Second, Congress wields weapons of economic destruction and inflicts suffering on the country by using these weapons against the American people.  I want you to work on taking those weapons away so that a shutdown cannot happen again.

Third, I want Congress to be held accountable for the damage they do to the American people.  The cost of the shutdown ($24 billion) is totally unacceptable.  Who is going to pay for it?  The taxpayer?

Finally, I always vote Democratic.  I voted for you.  I do understand that the root cause of this fiasco was the intransigence of the right wing of the Republican party, and a person like Ted Cruz is about the most vile piece of vermin who ever walked on this planet.  The difference between you and me is that you applied for a job in which you need to deal with these dreadful people.  I didn't because I am unable to do so.  With my vote, I hired you to deal with him and his kind.  The fact that the shutdown happened demonstrates that you were not effective in limiting the damage that these people inflict.  Simply stated, you are not doing what I hired you to do -- and I want to see improved performance.

I wonder if this letter will trigger a personal or just another generic response.

Yours,

Louis Biggie

Megabus vs. National Express: Portsmouth to Oxford

I am now also going to continue the topic of surprisingly pleasant and delightfully cheap bus travel, this time from a UK perspective. I experienced my first Megabus journey on Friday afternoon, whilst travelling up to visit friends in Oxford from my home town, Portsmouth. On previous occasions, I have always used National Express funfare tickets, which only cost £6 from Portsmouth to Oxford. These 'funfares' are only available for a certain time coach journey each day, and on this occasion I couldn't make the 07 35 funfare journey time. The regular National Express fare is closer to £20, and so I sought an alternative, more economical option. My Megabus ticket, at £7 plus a 50p booking fee, seemed, for a brief moment of madness, to be unacceptably over-priced compared with my usual £6 National Express deal, but I soon came to my senses and bought a ticket for the 15 10 bus. I am glad I did.

I arrived at The Hard, Portsmouth at 15 00, and was greeted by the unmistakable, albeit mildly garish, bright yellow and blue Megabus. I presented the driver with the grubby and crumpled piece of paper I had quickly scribbled my reservation number on, and irrationally panicked for a second that I should have printed off the whole reservation summary email they had sent me, instead of merely taking note of the number, despite the fact that they informed me in the email that that would be sufficient. The driver didn't bat an eyelid, however, at my messy piece of note paper, and merely scanned his list of reservation numbers, ticked me off, and allowed me on. The interior was perfectly modern and acceptable and seemed no worse than that of National Express coaches.

The greatest disadvantage of taking Megabus rather than National Express to Oxford was probably being dropped off at Water Eaton Park and Ride as opposed to the central Gloucester Green bus station. I didn't have to wait long (10 minutes) or pay much (£1.70) for a local bus into the centre of Oxford though, so it was only a minor inconvenience.

On my return journey on Sunday, I took the £6 National Express funfare from Oxford bus station at 17 55. Once back on my old faithful National Express, I took appreciative note of a few familiar, and minor but pleasing, details- they had tucked a plastic bag for rubbish into the basket on the back of the seat in front of me, the toilet was much cleaner (Megabus' had been pretty much unusable), and the journey time was half an hour less.

All in all, National Express' small but clear benefits mean that I will definitely continue to use their funfares over Megabus when I can make the specific times. When the times aren't possible, I will most certainly use Megabus rather than pay the full National Express fare though- I am quite happy to cope with the small inconveniences for a saving of £13 per single. 

There are other Megabus trip reports on the new site:  http://www.louisandlouisa.com

Megabus -- Baltimore to New York

Megabus

I never thought I would be talking about buses on this blog, but life has changed!

I have lived in the Baltimore/Washington area for almost thirty years, and a delightful treat has always been going to New York.  So what are the options?  Amtrak!  Amtrak can be very expensive.  By international standards, the trains are slow, terribly expensive, and customer service is hardly friendly.  Going by car has its problems too.  Tolls cost a lot of money these days.  You have to consider the wear and tear on the car.   Once my car was broken into in New York, and everything and had to drive home with a broken window.  And, if you park at a New York hotel, you can easily pay as much as $50 a night.

A few years ago, we started considering the idea of taking buses to New York.  One trip worked out well, and another was a disaster.  Click here for an account of those trips.

More recently, a company called Megabus has begun to operate services.  They stop in Washington and at White Marsh area, and we have taken them several times.  I really find them to be excellent, and, in the future, this will be how I'll go to New York.

They are extremely cheap.  Fares are never more than about $23 each way, and, if you book in advance, can be as low as $1 -- plus a 50 cent booking fee.  In my experience, they run on time. They are comfortable, safe, and fast without being dangerous.  What more could you want?

Well, you get a little bit more!  They come with power outlets and Wi-Fi.  So, you can use your laptop while traveling.  Cool!

Our trips to New York last weekend were flawless.  We were booked on the bus that leaves at 8:25 in the morning.  (We arrived at White Marsh in very good time, and they let us go on the 7:55 bus.)  We got to New York by about 11:30.  On the way back (Sunday), we left at 4:00 pm and we were at White Marsh at about 7:15.

The Baltimore stop is in White Marsh (near Ikea).  There is ample parking, but you should print out a parking pass that comes with your ticket.  All tickets are electronic.  All you need is the code sent to you by Megabus when you book.

Click here for help on accessing the parking pass.

This is a strongly enthusiastic recommendation.  I paid my own way and do not have any connections, sponsorship, or freebies from Megabus.

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com

Relais de Venise (L'Entrecote) New York

Le Relais De Venise

www.relaisdevenise.com

590 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10154-3301
(212) 758-3989
Get directions
About two years ago, a friend of mine took me to the Paris branch of this restaurant, and I loved it.  Many businesses seem to create a good business by standardizing, simplifying, and perfecting.  This seems to have worked for Southwest airlines, which flies only domestically in the United States using Boeing 737s, and for McDonald's.

Relais de Venise seems to have the same idea.  There is no menu for an appetizer or a main course.  The appetizer is a salad in a very nice dressing with walnuts.  The main course is a steak that is sliced, served in their "secret" sauce (cream, tarragon, and Dijon mustard).  So the choice is bleu, rare, medium or well-done.  (Ask for medium-rare, and they will repeat the options: bleu, rare, medium or well-done).

I chose bleu, and my wife chose medium.  Both were cooked exactly as ordered.  They arrived promptly with a generous portion of frites (french fries).  As we were finishing the dish, the server offered us more.  (The set menu of the salad and the steak frites costs $24.)  Certainly not inferior meat, but don't let me raise expectations too high.  This was a French steak frites.

For dessert, there was a selection.  We chose to share a cheese, which came with a glass of port for about $9.50.  A nice variety of cheese, including Brie, Camembert, a blue cheese, and a Comte.

We had a house wine -- a Merlot-dominated Bordeaux.  $11.50 for the half bottle.  Nothing exceptional but perfectly acceptable.

I thought it was a very nice lunch, and I'll certainly return to this restaurant.  But I did wonder how much it would suit an American clientele.  We started our meal at about noon, and the place was practically empty.  I also noticed that many of the customers were Europeans.  But within about half an hour the place filled up.  So perhaps it will appeal to New Yorkers after all.

This restaurant does not take reservations.

This is an enthusiastic recommendation.  I paid my own way and do not have any connections, sponsorship, or freebies from Le Relais de Venise.

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com 

Waldorf Astoria Hotel, January 29th to January 31, 2010

We had a wonderful room with plenty of space to sit, read, relax and talk!

The bed was simply superb!

A first rate hotel with rough spots! (Room 2727)

 The Waldorf=Astoria
301 Park Avenue
New York, New York U.S.A.10022
212-355-3000
212-872-7272 fax
Waldorf_Astoria@hilton.com 

There is something very special about staying at Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York. This hotel has so much history behind it, and the list of famous guests is amazing. The present hotel is now managed by the Hilton and is considered the flagship of its luxury brand, the Waldorf=Astoria collection.

The building is lovely and well kept although there were a few signs of shabbiness in the room suggesting a renovation may be needed.

My verdict on the hotel is that it has many of the attributes of a first-rate luxury hotel, but some of the staff seem to have missed the training.  Sometimes they will give you the idea that no request is too much trouble, that they are willing to stretch to accommodate you if your plans are a little different from normal, and that your stay should be remembered as a special occasion. Others seem not to care at all. With this uneven service, I would rather stay at a Ritz Carlton instead where the service is unfailing.

Our reservation was handled quite nicely, and we were welcomed very courteously although we were told that check-in time was 3:00, and we had arrived at about noon. I still find it curious that a hotel of this size cannot stretch a point for a Gold member in the Hilton HHonors plan!

It also is a little disappointing that although we had a "standby" certificate for a Towers room, which gives you access to an Executive Lounge and a separate exclusive entrance. They said that there were rooms available in the Towers, but we would have to pay an extra $100 a night. What do these certificates mean? What time do you have to arrive on a freezing cold weekend to make sure you get the standby? Anyway, we were given an outstanding room as you can see in the pictures but not the one on the eStandby certificate.

This is the second time I have had an eStandby upgrade from a hotel in the Hilton group, and it is the second time that it has done nothing for me.  As this link suggests, the eStandby upgrades are intended to increase revenue rather than build customer loyalty.  This will be a discussion in a futrue article.

HHonors members with Gold status also supposed to get breakfast, and we were given coupons to use the Starbucks, which is on the premises. So, in the morning, we went down to Starbucks.  Well, Starbucks is Starbucks, and there was none of the attention or welcome that one would expect in a first class hotel.  The coupon offered us a pastry, a juice, and a drink (coffee, etc.). The surly server announced that he was out of pastries but I could have one of the (inferior) croissants if I wanted. I asked for a porcelain (as opposed to a paper cup), and was told that it would be possible only if I bought one of the cups he had for sale. Hardly the gracious living experience one would expect from staying at a hotel of this caliber!

We had to go back to the desk for a second coupon for our second night. When I talked about how disappointed I was with our Starbucks experience, a delightful person gave us coupons for Oscar's, one of the cafes in the hotel that has a breakfast buffet. She acted in the way you expect in the best hotels.

Another rough edge happened when we came back to the hotel at about six in the evening on the second night. We were planning to see a show and had a couple of hours to rest before leaving the hotel. The room was in exactly the same state as we had left it in the morning. I phoned housekeeping, and there was no apology or anything. Rather, the person handling the call positioned my call as a routine request to have the room serviced. The person responsible for doing this appeared promptly and she serviced the room beautifully but this left us with nowhere to go while she was working except the crowded and bustling main lobby. We asked an employee if we could use the Executive Lounge while we waited for our room to be fixed and he pointed at some chairs and said we could sit there. Then he pulled out a handkerchief and noisily blew his nose!

Breakfast at Oscar's was second rate, and I would have been seriously disappointed if I had paid the regular price of $38 for it. Again, there was nothing wrong with it,but I expect a hotel of this caliber to enhance the breakfast with a few treats that are commonly found in the best hotels (smoked salmon, mozzarella and tomatoes, beautiful displays of fruit, a variety of special cheeses, for example.)  The service was excellent, though.

We had a drink at Sir Harry's.  Sir Harry's is the bar at Waldorf=Astoria. As one might expect, it has a good range of sparkiling wines at Champagnes at high prices. It also offers a "house" sparkling wine, a Cava from Freixenet at $15 a glass. It offers draft Budweiser or Stella Artois at $9 a glass.

We stayed recently another hotel in the Hilton group, the Conrad in Singapore.  Everything about that stay was impeccable, and I'll write about it in another posting. But it made me wonder.  What would an Asian visitor have thought if he/she was used to the kind of service offered by hotels like the Conrad in Singapore?

I would be very interested to hear from readers.  Did your experience at the Waldorf=Astoria meet your expectations?  Or did it have some surprising disappointments?

This is not a recommendation.  I paid my own way using Hilton points and do not have any connections, sponsorship, or freebies from the Hilton Hotels except for those associated with my HHonors account.

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com 

Demel -- New York

New York is a wonderful place to spend a weekend , but last weekend (January 29-31, 2010) was bitterly cold! We found a wonderful place to get out of the freezing temperatures (and away from the crowds) to enjoy a delicious hot chocolate at an authentic Austrian shop.

Demel, a company founded in 1786, has a New York location in the retail complex below the Plaza Hotel.

We had the hot chocolate with whipped cream, and it was quite simply the best hot chocolate I have ever had for about $4.50. It was beautifully presented with a lovely glass of water to go with it. They also seemed to have all sorts of delicious Austrian cakes and pastries as well as an assortment of open sandwiches.

Definitely worth another visit. A lovely setting, great product, friendly service.

Demel New York

The Plaza Retail Collection
One West 58th Street

Fax +1/212/572-0989
newyork@demel.at

OPENING HOURS:
Monday - Saturday from 11.00 am - 7.00 pm
Sunday from 12.00 pm - 6.00 pm

This is a strongly enthusiastic recommendation.  I paid my own way and do not have any connections, sponsorship, or freebies from Demel.

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com 

Cafe de Paris, Columbia, MD (Revisited)

Cafe de Paris
8088 Center Park Drive
Columbia
MD 410 997 3904

www.cafedepariscolumbia.com

Today I visited this restaurant for a quick bite for lunch. They now offer crepes in a little cafe atmosphere. They serve the crepes with a fresh salad, and they are delicious. I had a Shellfish Crepe, and my daughter had mozzarella, tomato, and pesto. Both were served promptly. They were freshly cooked and delicious.

The total bill for the two crepes, a soda water, and tax was under $18. This is a good new addition to Columbia's options at lunch.

For a (rather old) description of my last full dinner at this restaurant, click here.

This is a recommendation.  I paid my own way and do not have any connections, sponsorship, or freebies from Cafe de Paris.

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com 

MAXjet -- The Washington Route (IAD)

Well, I never got to try it!

Almost two years ago, I posted a comment about MAXjet, the airline that was trying to compete on the London to Washington route flying business class-only Boeing 767s. I wondered whether the story would end in "ignominious defeat."

Business class fares on this route have always been really expensive, and I welcomed the idea of a new competitor -- particularly since they offered fares as low as $750! I also liked the idea that you could transfer on to an EasyJet flight since they flew to Stansted rather than Heathrow.

Unfortunately, MAXjet has given up on Washington. But it is hardly ignominious defeat as the airline seems to be thriving on the New York (JFK), Las Vegas (LAS), and Los Angeles (LAX) routes!

So we are left with United, Virgin, and British for our non-stop options. (They all fly into Heathrow.) So how much does it cost? According to Kayak, the site that searches for the cheapest fares, leaving on February 12 and returning one week later), you would pay $3390 on United, $4060 on British, and $4050 on Virgin Atlantic. A lot of money!

The United option is certainly the best deal particularly as they now offer lie-flat seats in Business Class with 15-inch monitors! For a description of United's new and improved Business Class, follow this link. But you should book with caution as these upgrades will not be complete for some time!

Quite often the best (but less reliable) way of getting into Business Class is to buy an Economy ticket and upgrade. I have frequently been offered a $500 upgrade -- sometimes less -- even when I have been holding a really cheap cattle class ticket.

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com 

Hampton Inn -- Bloomsburg

Hampton Inn
255 Paper Mill Road

Bloomsburg

Pennsylvania

USA 17815

Tel: +1-570-380-1020

Fax: +1-570-380-1035

I have traveled frequently with my old friend and business partner, Dr. A. It seems as if he has a principle that he applies whenever he stays at a hotel: If he doesn't like it, he complains a lot. If he likes it, he complains a little. There is a rumor that hotel owners across the world have him on a watch-out list! I remember him once warning a hotel manager that he was about to instruct the head of travel of the North American division (of our then twenty-eight person) company to blacklist the entire hotel chain and expressly forbid all our (two) sales representatives from staying there!

His usual complaint used to be a lament for the basics. "Just give me a decent bed, a clean room, and an adequate bathroom, and I'll be happy," was his usual cry as we would leave a hotel. Added to his list of basics was a morning banana without which he would growl for the rest of the day.

I used to find this refrain somewhat unconvincing coming from a man whose agonies tend to be making up his mind between the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton. I often used to wonder how the basics would really sit with this Lexus-driving, Perignon-drinking, foie-gras eating consumer of luxury goods and services while listening to his plea for "just the basics" typically made while sitting in Seat 2A on a British Airways transatlantic flight.

Anyway, we spent the better part of this week at a Hampton Inn in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania, and Hampton Inn really is a chain that just gets the basics right with few loftier ambitions or pretensions. And while I had some minor complaints (shower not warm enough, no signs of recognition for a Hilton Diamond member, a room with two queen beds when I really wanted a king, a rather noisy window-situated heating system), Dr. A was ecstatically happy. "Perhaps the tables have turned, and now you are the complainer," he commented as he cheerfully munched his way through his second banana.

To summarize, the Hampton Inn in Bloomsburg is an excellent basic hotel with a few minor flaws. An adequate breakfast is provided by an extremely friendly English server in the morning on, alas, disposable plates.

But for only $114 a night, you can hardly complain! In general, I really do like this chain, and I appreciate being able to get Hilton points when I stay there.

This is an enthusiastic recommendation.  My employer reimbursed me for my expenses. I do not have any connections, sponsorship, or freebies from Hampton Inn or Hilton Hotels except for those associated with my HHonors account.

Holiday Inn, Athens, Greece

The top floor of the Holiday Inn in Athens

Holiday Inn

50 MICHALACOPOULOU ST

Athens

Telephone 30-210-7278000

Hotel Fax: 30-210-7278600

I never used to stay at Holiday Inns. They seemed a little "basic" for expense account travel and a little expensive for personal travel. But I have changed my opinion somewhat, and they fill a very useful niche for people traveling with families in Europe. Most of the big chains don't allow you to put four people in a room, and that is how we have made many of our trips affordable. Holiday Inn is the exception to the rule, and that was why we chose to spend the first couple of nights at the Holiday Inn in Athens.

The rooms were comfortable, and the price was right -- about 140 Euros (including tax) for a room for four. It is really easy to get to this hotel from the airport -- just take the metro. The people at the front desk were really friendly. The rooftop pool looked lovely, but it closed early in the evening so we were not able to use it.

The only little shock was the price of a club soda in the bar, which was about 6 Euros! But these prices are typical of Athens, which is now an expensive city!

Greece

This picture is just an apartment block, but it is the site of where of the British Embassy school, where I went in about 1959.

My relationship with Greece has three chapters. The first was when I was very small. We moved to Greece when I was two and stayed there until I was six. Of course, those memories are more about early childhood and don't have a lot to do with Greece. Like all early memories, you can never be sure whether you remember the story or you remember the actual event.

But I remember my mother complaining to my father that he ran over her toes in our driveway, and I believed it. I remember thinking that didn't seem to harm her all that much and I was tempted many times to stick my toes under the wheels of cars to see what it was like. Fortunately, I never did! I remember not wanting to go to Rafina because once the see was rough and I thought that must be why it is called Rafina. I remember my friend, Andrew. His father came back from a business trip by plane and promptly went to bed with the flu, and I assumed that the flu was the consequence of flying. I remember my brother misbehaving at school, and the nuns but him in a cupboard with frosted glass. He wailed and waved his arms behind the frosted glass, and I wanted to rescue him, but I couldn't! That chapter ended in 1960.

The next time I was in Greeece was in 1981. I hitch-hiked from England to Brindisi, and got on a ferry from Brindisi to Patras. After sleeping on the deck for the night, I awoke to find the boat had stopped in the bay at Ithaca. I had never seen anything quite so beautiful in my life. I just had to get off, and I spent a few days there. Then, on to Athens! Athens seemed hot, dusty, unfriendly, and after a couple of days, I went to Lesbos, where I spent two glorious weeks in Molivos or Mithymna as it is more formally known. I was impoversished at the time, but Greece seemed to be such good value, and I was determined to return.

In July of 2007, I went to Greece with the family, and it was the best holiday we have ever had. But Greece had changed. Athens was a modern city with a wonderful metro system. The only disappointment was that the country did seem to be a little spoiled by the millions of tourists (like us!) who have discovered Greece. On my trip in 1981, I often found a bottle of Retsina placed on my table in the bars -- by a friendly local, who wanted to welcome a scruffy tourist. This time it really did seem as if the hospitality industry was determined to make you part with just a few more Euros! The prices seemed to be extraordinarily high, but, if you go to one of the most beautiful countries in the world, what do you expect?

We decided to visit Athens and only two islands. First, we went to Santorini, where we spent about a week. Then we went to Paros. The views in Santorini are absolutely extraordinary, but if I were to do it all over again, I think I would not spend as much as a week there. Santorini is just too overrun with tourists for my taste. Paros was perfect -- developed enough to provide a wide choice of restaurants, but not quite as crowded as Santorini!

No more amenity kits -- Singapore Airlines -- Business Class

One of the nice little comforts of business class travel is the amenity kit. Waiting on your seat in a sealed bag, this little gift provides you with toothpaste, eyeshades, lip balm, and other little in-flight necessities.

I use these bags to carry around my electronic toys. I suppose that if I were a true road-warrior on long-distance flights every week, I would quickly tire of these novelties, but I fly rarely enough that I still get a kick out of them. (Actually my dirty little secret is that I have a sad habit of collecting them, and I have even been known to buy these things on e-bay.)

Funnily enough, Singapore Airlines, the airline that seems to lead the way in making customers happy, seems to have abandoned the practice of handing out these little bags. Although, according to their website, they provide a "range of branded toiletries such as eau de cologne, aftershave, and moisturising lotion" in the lavatories, the individual bag handed to you at your seat seems to be a thing of the past.

I would have thought these days, with liquids being a cause for suspicion, these little goodie bags would be even more important to the traveler seeking comfort in the air!

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com 

Cafe de Paris, Columbia, MD

Cafe de Paris
8088 Center Park Drive
Columbia, MD

410 997 3904

www.cafedepariscolumbia.com


This restaurant used to be in a rather dreary shopping mall in Laurel, and I have always liked it. Last night I went mostly because I had heard that the chef, Marc Dixon, at one of my favorite restaurants, The Iron Bridge, had moved here.

Three of us had dinner. Two of us started with the excellent foie gras that was accompanied by a superb salad. Tony declared that his starter, the smoked salmon, was good but not excellent.

For our main courses, Clayton and I had the lamb chops, which I like very much although they were a little over done for my taste, and we were never asked how we would like them. Tony had a "special" of grouper, which he liked very much.

The desserts were outstanding, particularly the tarte tatin and the profiteroles.

As for wine, we had the Menage a Trois from Folie a Deux. This wine is an interesting blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Saugignon, and Merlot.

The bill was about $71 each, including tax, two bottles of the Menage a Trois ($26), and coffee, but not the tip.

An excellent meal that was well served!

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com 

Charles Bove — Vin Mousseux de Qualite

This post was posted on my other site: www.louisandlouisa.com on December 31, 2006.

Charles Bove — Vin Mousseux de Qualite

This is a Chenin Blanc-based sparkling wine from the Loire Valley. Although described as Brut, it is just a little bit sweeter than you would expect. It is refreshing, fruity, and delicious. Best of all, it is only about $10.00 a bottle — about a third of what you would pay for Champagne.

We will be using our Charles Bove to ring in the New Year. A Happy New Year to all!

I bought it at the Iron Bridge Wine Company. For their address, click here.

Paris or London; Orbitz or Hilton or YTB?

Paris or London; Orbitz or Hilton or YTB?

I put this posting on my new site: www.louisandlouisa.com


I am always shocked by how much it costs to be in London these days. With the dollar worth just a little more than fifty cents, everything seems to be so expensive. Even beer does not seem to be the bargain it was just a few years ago.

I was recently planning a trip, and wanted to stay the last night near an airport so I went to Orbitz (www.orbitz.com) to check out the price of the airport Hilton in Paris and the price of the airport Hilton in London. The result was not exactly surprising — London was much more expensive than Paris. The Hilton at Heathrow was $363 a night, and the one at the airport in Paris was $202. (I was booking for the night of 3rd March, 2007)

But the surprising thing about this exercise was when I decided to compare the rates offered by Orbitz with the rates at the Hilton site (www.hilton.com). The Paris airport Hilton was only $130, and the London Hilton was $372.

While Orbitz seemed much higher than using the Hilton site, I did find the same rate at YTB. For the sake of full disclosure, the person who runs this business is a good friend of mine, a person that I have known for a number of years and would recommend very highly.
It really pays to shop around!

One other tip — look carefully at the rates. Hilton quotes the prices in pounds and euros. Getting that wrong could turn out to be an expensive mistake!

Finally, if you are staying at a Hilton, make sure you get points and miles. You don’t get many miles if you are staying just a night, but it can be a clever way of breathing new life into miles on an airline you don’t use anymore. (Miles expire after a certain period if there is no activity in the account.)

Singapore Airlines -- SQ 25 from New York to Frankfurt

Also posted on my new blog site -- www.louisandlouisa.com

Singapore Airlines runs several flights from the New York area to Singapore. There is a non-stop, SQ 21, which goes out of Newark on an Airbus (340-500), and also service from JFK on a Boeing 747-400, with a stop in Frankfurt. (Interestingly, both SQ21 and SQ22 run eastbound so the traveler on this route will go round the world without really stopping!)

All airline adventurers should at some stage of their lives experience the joys of flying one of the better Asian airlines (Cathay, Thai, Singapore, etc.). SQ 25 provides an opportunity for you to experience Singapore Airlines even if you are planning to spend your miles on a European trip.
Here is an example. I once wanted to travel from Washington to London using miles in my Mileage Plus account. The obvious way to travel would have been on any of United’s three non-stop flights from Dulles to Heathrow. As someone whose goal is to travel on as many airlines as possible, I decided to use United’s service from Dulles (IAD) to New York (JFK). I took SQ25 from JFK to Frankfurt (FRA), and then used Lufthansa to get from FRA to London (LHR). The price of this route in miles was the same as if I had taken the non-stop routing.

Next summer, I am going to use SQ25 again for a family trip to Athens. Using United miles my route will be Washington - New York - Frankfurt - Athens - Frankfurt - London - Washington. The last leg will be on United, but I could not avoid that if I wanted to spend a few nights in London on the return trip.

Mileage Plus seats are limited on SQ25 so the traveler really needs to make plans in advance. With careful planning, this is a good way of experiencing what is arguably the best airline in the world.

Using Delta Miles

The days of free travel are numbered. It is becoming more and more dificult to get miles; airlines want more miles for flights; and some airlines (USAirways and Delta, in particular) are changing the rules about how long miles can lie dormant before they expire.

With this in mind, I decided to use up my Delta miles on a trip to London. Booking using Delta airlines, it seemed as if I would have to take a very circuitous route to get to London. (From Washington, one route involved going from BWI to Atlanta to Cincinnati to London’s Gatwick airport, which is inconvenient for me.)

But there is an alternative. In the end I got a much better route — Washington to Paris to London for exactly the same number of miles on Air France. Plus that puts me into Heathrow. And, Air France still serves free drinks in Economy.

When you are using your miles, consider using an alternative carrier. Delta belongs to Skyteam, and you can use the Skyteam site (www.skyteam.com) to figure out what your options are. Delta alternatives include Alitalia and Korean. With United miles, you can fly on Swiss, Lufthansa, Singapore, Thai, and SAS!

Is it really cheaper or am I just splitting fares?

I am continuing to post here, but my main site is now: www.louisandlouisa.com. Come and visit!

Picture this scenario. You live in the Washington area, and next summer you would like to spend a few days in London, and then you would like to fly on to Greece. The plan looks like this. You will leave Washington on July 14, 2007. Then you will travel to Athens on July 21. You would like to stay there until August 5. There is a late flight out of Athens on August 5, and you can take the onward leg back to Washington on August 6.

Using the BA site and selecting the lowest possible and most restricted fare, This journey will set you back $2,294, and that includes $341.81 in taxes. Quite a lot!

Now there is nothing you can do about these dreadful taxes, but there are a few tricks you can do to play with the fare. Try this. Still using the BA site, book the Washington to London flight as one trip picking the very same flight, and the trip to London will cost $985.71, including taxes of $288.71. Then buy another ticket and book exactly the same flights to and from Athens. The total fare for the Athens trip will be GBP (British Pounds) 168.20 or $328.64 in US dollars. So the total for your trip will turn out to be $1,314.35 — a total savings of 979.65!

And if you worry that British Airways will use their computers to track you down and hate you for ever, you could always use another airline for the London to Washington leg. There are all sorts of airlines offering low cost trips out of London to many European airports.

For example, using EasyJet (www.easyjet.com), the trip to Greece from London’s Gatwick airport would cost GBP 150.52, and that includes a travel insurance policy as well as taxes.

Good luck searching for cheap flights. And remember that two tickets are often cheaper than one!

Redeeming miles on British Airways Executive Club

A slightly more detailed version of this post is posted on my new site:

http://www.louisandlouisa.com.

Another work in progress on the new site is that you will be able to filter postings. For example, you can see only the airline-related postings.

This posting is probably useful only to British Airways Executive Club members who live in the United States.

Back in the “good old days,” it was pretty easy to rack up miles on British Airways.
First, they had household accounts, which allowed people living at the same address to pool their miles into a single account. As a result, even people who hardly ever traveled could collectively earn a free ticket.

Secondly, it was pretty cheap to buy tickets with miles. For example, 40,000 miles would buy a ticket from anywhere in the United States to anywhere in Europe. I once went from Washington (IAD) to Istanbul forjust 40,000 miles. I also once had a fabulous trip in First for 120,000 miles. My route was Washinton to London; London to Dubai; Dubai to Tehran; Tehran to Dubai; Dubai to London; London to Manchester; Manchester to London; London to Washington.

Third you could accumulate miles really fast using a Diners Club card. For every dollar you spent, you earned a mile. And every summer, British Airways used to have a two-for-one offer.
These happy days are over. British Airways now gives you only 25% of miles flown if you use a discount ticket. The number of miles required has risen massively. And the Diners Club offer in the summer gives you only 1.5 miles to the dollar. We are going to book some tickets to southern Europe sometime this summer (probably Athens), but each ticket is going to cost 65,000 miles.

It almost looks as if British Airways wants to hide free tickets on its web site. They advertise deals that allow you to pay part cash and part miles, and these are easy to find. They also seem to hid the chart that tells you how many miles you are going to need.

So here is the link for members (with a number/userID and PIN/password) wanting to get free tickets for their miles.

New Website!!! www.louisandlouisa.com

Well as you may know, I have been really busy with other stuff. But one thing that I have accomplished is to establish www.louisandlouisa.com, and that is where I will be blogging in the future.

I have teamed with my niece, Louisa.  The idea is to try and provide travel, food, and wine information from two entirely difference perspectives.