Notes at Sunrise

Open Skies

Air France is the first carrier to take advantage of the new Open Skies agreement between the European Union and the United States by flying non-stop between Los Angeles and London, and I expect that other carriers will follow. Whether this will bring air fares down is questionable since jet fuel costs are steadily rising; however, Open Skies may help keep fares level.

In the other direction things are moving, too since Richard Branson's announcement that V Australia will offer fares about $250 lower than the competition between California and Australia beginning this December.

Call our ever alert Paula Singleton as she keeps a keen eye on these developments.

Dollar Woes = Travel Woes? #4

If the Alps are what you crave, consider Slovenia. This sweet spot once was part of the Austrian Empire and it retains much of that bygone country's charm, history and majestic mountains, but its current price level isn't as hostile yet to average Americans as other Alpine countries. Read all about it in this Fodor Newsletter.

Dollar Woes = Travel Woes? #3

Another idea for low cost travel in Europe is to walk! This mode of transportation isn't only friendly to the environment but it also gets you to be close and personal with Europe, its lands and people. Walking, hiking, and rambling facilities are very well developed in the form of well marked trails, maps, and guide books.

Here are a few examples of well-known itineraries:

• Le Tour du Mont Blanc is one of Europe's most popular mountain walks. Over the course of 100 miles of serious ups and downs (30,000 ft. all told), the hiker circumnavigates the highest mountain in the Alps traversing areas of France, Switzerland and Italy. Accommodations and restaurants are plentiful along the way, i.e. there's no need of shlepping heavy gear--a daypack suffices. Consult this online guide for more detailed information.
• A jaunt in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson really calls for an ass, but modern hikers may want to carry their day-packs as they follow the route set out in Travels with a donkey through the Cevennes. to get a feel for France as it used to be over a hundred years ago, take this walk from Le Puy en Velay to St. Jean du Gard.
• The Cotswold Way is the latest National Trail. The route is about 100 miles long  and runs along the length of the escarpment leaving  Chipping Campden in the north and passing through some of the most picturesque villages and historical sites in the Cotswolds  to reach the city of Bath. Walkers may use a luggage service that moves their bag(s) from one overnight stop to the next for a mere £7 per day.
• Explore the Black Forest far from the tourist crowd and take the Westweg (West Way) from Pforzheim to Basel. 12 days to breathe the air of the pine forest, to admire stately farms, and to enjoy the hospitality of small inns along the way.

Dollar Woes = Travel Woes? #2

The cost of European rail travel, delightful and environmentally correct, is soaring, even with one of the many railpasses available. However, Europe's discount airlines are burgeoning by offering incredible deals. It's may be worth planning an expansive itinerary around the cities served by these cheap flyers. Here are some examples*:

• Easyjet Summer Sale from London and Manchester to many sunny destinations
• Ryanair's ridiculously low prices for flights from and within the UK between now and March.
• AirBerlin's current specials.
• The Russian outfit Transaero uses mostly Boeing aircrafts (sic) to connect Russian and Central Asian destinations with western Europe.
• This site lists most if not all low cost airlines currently operating in Europe.

*These offers are limited to certain time and booking periods. Online reservations are usually the only means of booking; therefore, please observe extra charges, cancellation fees, airport locations, and the like.

Dollar Woes = Travel Woes? #1

As the greenback's swoon is moving toward and beyond these grumpy mood inducing levels

• $1.00 for 1 Swiss Franc
• $1.50 for 1 Euro
• $2.00 for 1 Pound Sterling

travel to the Old World is becoming a luxury item designed for the regulars at Saks and Tiffany's. Over the next few weeks I'll have suggestions for the folks planning a European vacation while shopping at Target.

A packaged vacation may provide good protection from our currency woes. A travel package doesn't necessarily mean being crammed into a bus with sixty like-minded budget travelers and 'bags out by six a.m. as there are many products for independent travelers. Call Paula at 949.837.0620 and discuss your European travel dreams with her. I bet she'll find an affordable solution for you.

Skyboxes Redefined

Say good-bye to your skybox at the stadium and settle down in your skybox in the sky. The A 380 delivered a few days ago to Singapore Airlines will have 12 suites measuring 4 by 7 feet. There's almost complete privacy provided by walls that pull up all around your space which has all the video and computer equipment you'd ever need. The kicker of the arrangement is a special mattress, 78 by 27 by 4 (yes, that is 4" thick) that spreads over the seat to make for a complete bed, and couples can book two suites and have side by side mattresses that would be a full 54" wide, i.e. almost queen-size! Who would ever want to watch football in a skybox when you can have this kind of sweet arrangement? Singapore has developed a special code for this super first class, instead of a P (for premier) skybox travelers are classified R (for royal?). And the whole deal sets up back an approximate 25% premium over first class, about $8770 per person round trip Sydney - Singapore. What are you waiting for?

Sunset for Paper Airline Tickets

Paper airline tickets will be phased out by next summer. Airlines say that paper tickets cost too much--about $14 vs. an electronic ticket at $1--and, which they don't say--with electronic ticketing, the passenger does most of the work. For a flight down memory lane, i.e. with a paper ticket, you need to use a foreign carrier and/or budget carrier such as Ryan Air. By contrast, American Airlines has converted almost entirely to paperless tickets already. Travelers need to remember that there's ever more paperwork when Homeland security is involved, and less and less when dealing with airlines.

Alaska 2008

Now is the time to begin planning your trip north for 2008. The most popular cruises and destinations sell out fasts as space for both people and ships is limited. Look at what Holland America Line is offering from as little as $799.

Hawaii Deal

PLEASANT HOLIDAYS added two new Hot Deals components to its Hawaii marketing campaign for summer and fall, offered exclusively through travel agents. The first Hot Deal option -- a $100 discount per booking -- is valid for trips of four nights or longer, with travel before Sept. 19. The second option -- a free five-day car rental -- is valid on vacations of five nights or more on Maui, Kauai or Hawaii's Big Island and is good for travel from Sept. 20 through Dec. 31; during the same time period, visitors to Oahu and Lanai receive a $150 activity credit with a minimum four-night stay. Call (949) 837.0620.

TGV Expansion

Just as it seems that the dreams for a high speed train between Los Angeles and San Francisco are fading, France's newest TGV line went into full operation.

As of June 10, the TGV network expands from Paris to Strasbourg and from there to the German cities of Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart as well as the Swiss destinations of Basel and Zurich.  Travel-time from the Swiss border to Paris has been reduced to 3 1/2 hours, and Easyjet has cancelled most of its Basel - Paris flights as a consequence of these new trains.

The video below shows a speed record reached on this new track at 574 km/h; however, the regularly scheduled trains will run  at 320 km/h.