Travel Horizons: travel advisor

Showing posts with label travel advisor. Show all posts

6.07.2021

travel advisors save you time and money

The trip was un fait accompli. The client had already booked her family's tickets, round-trip flights to Rome. She emailed a description of the itinerary she wanted to plan, the hotels where they wanted to stay, and the tours they wanted to take. But the email began with a logistical detail she wanted help with.

We arrive FCO 7/7 at 10:35am. We would like to go straight to Venice (train-shortest time and first class)

Before I go any further, have you noticed the big "OOPS" in this request?

Providing a second pair of eyes to look over an itinerary is an invaluable service. The client had messed up big time by booking round trip flights to Rome. She planned to begin her family vacation by taking the train to Venice. Assume the best case scenario... their flight arrives on time and they make it through immigration and customs in an hour. They hop on an 11:40 a.m. train, change to another train in Rome, and arrive in Venice at 4:40 p.m. Best case scenario is 5 hours on a train after 8 hours on a jet, the first day of their vacation essentially wasted.

Now consider the worst case scenario. They've bought the least expensive (non-flexible) train tickets because that's our instinct when we purchase things on the internet. Their flight arrives late, or Italian immigration is not especially efficient, or their bags don't appear on the carousel, or they have trouble finding the train station ... and they miss their train to Venice. If this happens, they're screwed. The hundreds of dollars they've spent on First Class train tickets have gone down the drain.

Any good travel advisor obsesses over logistics. If you want to book your own air, that's absolutely fine with me. But do you know the difference between round-trip and open-jaw itineraries? Do you know how to search for "Multi-City" instead of "Round Trip" flights? If you don't, do yourself a favor and call your travel advisor before you buy your tickets.

And the coup de grâce? A savvy travel advisor could likely have saved hundreds or thousands of dollars on her Delta tickets by booking bulk fares through Delta Vacations.

But everyone loves a happy ending, and this story has one. I advised her to call Delta and change their outbound flight from Rome to Venice. She was able to make the switch, for exactly the same fare ... so instead of searching in the fog of jet lag for the train station in the Rome Airport, someone from A&K will meet them at baggage claim in Venice, porter their luggage, and escort them straight to the private water taxi that will be waiting for them.

4.23.2021

furniture shopping in Charlotte, North Carolina

Hickory Furniture Mart

We are spending the weekend at The Ballantyne Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. A member of the Luxury Collection, guests can receive STARS amenities by booking through a travel advisor affiliated with a STARS agency. This gets you daily breakfast for two and a $100 resort credit, all for the same "regular" rate you can book online. We have been upgraded into a lovely Executive Suite on the top floor with a prime view of the 18 hole golf course, soon to be transformed into a vast public park with a lake and recreational offerings for guests and local residents as well.

North Carolina is renown for its furniture industry, and we stopped at Hickory Furniture Mart on our drive to Charlotte. Four floors of furniture showrooms under one roof, they promise "North Carolina pricing with incredible discounts of 65-80% off most standard retail pricing" ... and in fact we got great pricing. We shopped at Amish Oak and Cherry (the store pictured at the bottom left of the photo above) and were impressed with the quality and pricing of their furniture. We bought some pieces that were priced at about 50% of retail with an additional 15% discount. Most everything they sell is hand crafted for you, constructed with your choice of wood (cherry, maple, oak, walnut, etc.), finished with the stain and varnish of your choice, and customized with the drawer pulls you choose.

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5.07.2020

jigsaw puzzle fun whilst sheltering in place

It seems everyone in the travel industry is working overtime, thinking of ways to stay engaged with guests and travel advisors. Here's one of the best ideas I've come across ...

... an entertaining jigsaw puzzle for you to solve. The web-based puzzle is quite well done and very intuitive. Just click this link — puzzle # 1 — and enjoy a few minutes while you solve the puzzle and imagine places you might go once we can travel again.

Bonus points if you can guess the city in the background of the puzzle (and the hotel from which you can enjoy this scene). After you finish this puzzle, here are two additional puzzles for your entertainment and travel dreams:

puzzle # 2

puzzle # 3

copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

5.06.2020

do's and don'ts of French dining

One silver lining of sheltering in place has been the opportunity to participate in Zoom meetings organized by many of my travel partners. Intended to familiarize travel advisors with their offerings, I have especially enjoyed the weekly "tours" given by one of my favorite guides, Antoinette Azzurro. She is the owner of the Parisian tour company Paris Personalized. With her small team of highly knowledgeable guides, you'll see places you never knew existed, enjoy access to experiences unknown to the general public, and glean insights that will transform your time in Paris into something truly formidable!

Today's tour centered on French cuisine. While we in the US depend on the FDA to regulate food standards, the French maintain hundreds of unique food associations. Each association has the mission of maintaining the high standards and traditions of one particular food product. For instance, each variety of cheese and each type of bread has its own association. When you shop for meat at the boucherie, the farm where it was raised and the date (and animal's age) when butchered will be posted.

In the course of Antoinette's gourmet tours, you'll see and taste why the quality of French food is so high ... and learn some of the intricacies of dining etiquette. She shared some of the do's and don'ts of French dining etiquette which I reproduce here to pique your interest...

Don’t start eating before the person who has cooked the meal sits down.

Don’t start drinking before everyone has a full glass in front of them (and before someone has had the chance to make a toast).

Don’t keep your hands under the table.

Don’t serve yourself, if you are a man, before offering the food to the woman sitting next to you.

Don’t pour your own wine if you are a woman and there are men at the table. When only two women are dining, the younger pours for the older woman (or the waiter does it).

Don’t spread pâté or cheese on a big piece of bread as if making a sandwich. Instead, spread the pâté or cheese on a small bit of bread torn from the larger piece.

Don’t touch the food, in particular cheese, with your fingers. The only foods eaten with fingers are asparagus and orelet birds (pictured above).

Don’t put your elbows on the table and rest your face in your hands.

Don’t ask ou sont les toilettes? (where is the restroom) while at the table.

Do rest your knife and fork on the plate between bites. Don't rest them on both the plate and table.

Do know how to peel a peach, orange, or a shrimp with your fork and knife.

Bon appétit. Hopefully we can all get back to Paris sooner rather than later. I can't wait!

4.23.2020

when an airline changes your flight... scrutinize it!

which flight would YOU choose to fly from Denver, CO to Oakland, CA

Has your airline cancelled your flight and sent you a new itinerary? We received two notices over the past several days concerning my wife's flights this July between Oakland and Denver. Southwest eliminated the non-stop flights on her original itinerary. (Airlines are frequently doing this now due to decreased demand.) When a ticketed flight is cancelled, the airline's computer system goes into action and selects new flights for you. Unfortunately, Southwest's computer system will always suggest an itinerary that suits the airline's interests (choosing legs with less demand) rather than the itinerary that makes the most sense for the passenger (non-stop flights).

Always take a careful look at the new flights being offered. Southwest had rescheduled her on an outbound flight that stopped in Orange County (Southern California) enroute to Denver. Their choice of a return flight stopped in Spokane (eastern Washington State) before flying onto Oakland. Some quick research revealed that non-stop flights were readily available in the same time frame.

The graphic at the top of this article shows two return flights from Denver to Oakland. The 12:50 p.m. flight (onto which Southwest's reservations computer had moved her) has a duration of more than five hours from departure in Denver to arrival in Oakland. The 1:40 p.m. flight — leaving 50 minutes later — requires just 2 1/2 hours gate-to-gate and gets her home far earlier.

The solution is fortunately very simple. Call the airline! A phone call to the Southwest reservations number (with six minutes on hold) secured the desired flights. But be sure to make the call. If you don't, you'll be stuck with the undesirable new itinerary.

Bottom line: scrutinize the flights that an airline rebooks for you. You are entitled to ask for the flights you really want and (here's a pro-tip) ... an involuntarily rescheduled itinerary can sometimes score you a refund if you decide the airline's offer is unsatisfactory.

3.17.2020

great American road trips | chapter 3

Social distancing is a strategy to avoid contracting Covid-19. The advice is given to maintain a distance of six feet apart from other persons in order to avoid contagion. This, along with washing one's hands frequently, is the recommended practice to minimize one's chance of being infected with the coronavirus.

So if you want to avoid close quarters in airplane cabins, city streets, and crowded hotels, why not take a road trip? This is the third in a series of articles highlighting some absolutely exquisite places where you'll encounter no crowds.

Twin Farms is a resort in the state of Vermont. Its 20 guest accommodations are spread over 300 wooded acres. The photo at the top of this article is the view from Aviary, the cottage where we spend our first night. The floor-to-ceiling windows brought in the beautiful outdoors. You can read about our stay here and learn about the incredible gourmet food included with your stay in this article.

Virtuoso guests receive even more — a locally-made pottery jar filled with house-made honey valued at $150 and, if you're quite fortunate, an upgrade to Aviary (pictured at the top of this article). Get in touch for the full story.

12.16.2019

dreaming of warm, sunny weather?

It's that time of the year again. Days are growing shorter. The sun is low in the sky. And it's COLD, currently 35º in New York, 29º in Chicago, and 26º in Minneapolis. I'm very much looking forward to my trip next week to Fort Lauderdale, Florida — where it's 81º right now — to visit my sister over Christmas!

If you're anything like me, COLD weather makes you long for warm, sunny places like Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean. While it's late in the game to make plans for the week between Christmas and New Years ... limited space is available. Contact Team@OurismanTravel.com, and we'll work with our tropical specialists to find someplace warm and wonderful for you and your loved ones.

Let's start thinking about January, February, and March! The best time to make those plans is now. You'll have the best selection of rooms, suites, and villas at the best luxury resorts ... and prices will only go up from here as rooms sell out. Pro tip: book through a Virtuoso travel advisor. Sure, you can find availability on the internet, but for the same price, your Virtuoso travel advisor can get you complimentary daily breakfasts for two, a $100 resort credit, and hopefully an upgrade to a room with an even better view of the ocean.

Or try out the Virtuoso booking tool for beach vacation with exclusive amenities in the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Mexico.

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

1.22.2019

postcard from London | Hidden London

The simplest things often offer life's most exclusive experiences. I never knew there was a "secret" tube station in London, but one in fact exists. Charing Cross is one of London's busiest subway stops, multiple lines converging at this one point near Trafalgar Square.

Not available to the general public, connected travel advisors can arrange private tours for their clients through the London Transport Museum. Our guide unlocked doors and gates visible in plain sight, affording us entry to the hidden platforms, escalators, and tunnels of Charing Cross.

You've likely seen Hidden London many times, as it has been a setting in a number of major movies. In one of the most interesting moments in the tour, we viewed a short film showing scenes in which the secret station served as a set. Most famously, Roger Craig — playing James Bond in the film Skyfall — slid down a station escalator while in hot pursuit of an antagonist. Take a look at this film clip from Skyfall for glimpses of other sights from our tour of Hidden London.

The photograph atop this article was short through a ventilation grill. We were in a hidden ventilation shaft above an active subway platform, peering down at the station. As this train came through the station, I photographed it from above ... capturing as well the "Mind the Gap" warning by its doors.

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit our website.

1.01.2019

5 reasons to use a travel advisor to book air

Note: I am not an air agent. I specialize in luxury hotel bookings. Want the best luxury hotel in Paris or London given your preferences, I can help with that decision. And I'll get you value-added hotel amenities for no extra cost — like complimentary daily breakfast for two, $100 hotel credits, and sometimes upgrades even at the time of booking. For air bookings, I turn to my colleagues at Brownell Travel's Air Desk or Virtuoso Air.

Here are five reasons to use an experienced air advisor, especially for complicated international itineraries. Inexperienced consumers, armed only with the internet, often make expensive mistakes, all in the attempt to save money.

1. Connections that make sense. Is that connection long enough (or is it too long)? Should you avoid connecting at that particular airport? Is there a non-stop flight you should consider instead? An experienced travel advisor will sweat questions like these so you don’t have to.

While that 50 minute connection at CDG might be legal, your dash through the immigration and the airport will be stressful and tiring ... with a high chance you'll miss your connection.
Will you have to switch terminals? Passengers who switch terminals at LHR have to wait in long queues just to catch the shuttle bus between terminals.
Beware of itineraries that make you change airports. Some options that come up on the British Airways website require taking a 35 mile bus ride from Heathrow to Gatwick (good luck during rush hour!). Always look for an alternative, even if it costs more.

2. Be protected in case you misconnect. I've read many stories about unknowing travelers who've done something like the following: After searching the internet to find the absolute lowest price, they bought one ticket on British Airways to London, then bought a separate ticket on AirFrance to connect to Paris. They are unaware of how much can go wrong. Always book your connecting flights on the same airline (or their partner airline) and ensure they're on the same ticket. It's then the airline's problem if you misconnect. If your connecting flights are ticketed separately, you'll be out of luck:

If you miss your connection, your non-refundable ticket is void, and you’ll have to buy a new ticket at the full, non-discounted, last-minute fare.
Good luck if you intend to check your baggage to the final destination. You'll be in for an unpleasant surprise if the two airlines do not have inter-airline baggage agreements. You'll need to go through immigration, retrieve your checked baggage, check in again at the front of the airport, then re-enter immigration and security all over again. If you miss your connecting flight, you'll have to buy a full-fare ticket.

An experienced air agent will protect you from mistakes like this.

3. Flight monitoring. What happens when there's a schedule mishap? if your flight across the Atlantic is delayed, and it appears you'll miss your connecting flight, there's nothing you can do from the middle of the ocean. But an experienced air agent can monitor your flights and solve the problem before you even know something's wrong.

4. Time, money, and comfort. You will pay a service fee when using an air agent, but it can still save you time and money. Here are some possible ways you can benefit:

Hate paying for seat assignments on BA? A savvy air agent can do this with no fee.
Sometimes booking a code-share saves on taxes and fees.
Is there a better itinerary that google flights doesn't know?
Sometimes it pays to put all legs of a multi-segment itinerary on one ticket. Sometimes it pays to split the flights up among several tickets.
Do you want a flight with a true lie-flat business class seat?

An expert air agent can advise about all these issues.

5. Intelligent, coordinated travel planning. Your flights and itinerary should coordinate to provide you the most convenient connections available. An expert travel advisor, working on your behalf throughout the entire planning process, can ensure your trip flows as smoothly as possible.

Note, I'm talking here about expert air agents. Just because someone works at a travel agency doesn’t mean they know what they're doing. I read a post yesterday on fodors.com. This traveler wanted to spend a week in Paris, then visit Spain or Portugal. But, she wrote the forum asking for advice, “our travel agency wants us to return home from Paris.” She apparently wandered into a travel agency and sat down at the desk of someone who didn't know what they were doing.

Here are some questions you should ask when choosing a travel advisor:

Are you a member of the Virtuoso network? Using a Virtuoso travel advisor is the only way you can enjoy exclusive Virtuoso amenities at over 1300 luxury hotels and resorts around the world.
Are you experienced with booking international air or — if not — do you have access to international air experts at your agency?

11.07.2018

an email heard round the world

the 20,296 mile route traveled by this email chain

The internet is an amazing resource when working with clients and vendors to make hotel arrangements.

True story that happened last night and this morning— One of our clients (he lives in Berlin, Germany) was planning a three-day trip to Singapore with his wife. He wanted to stay in a suite at the Andaz, but high occupancy levels the first night of his stay complicated matters. We had to book a Deluxe guestroom the first night, and he would move into the suite on his second and third nights.

I made the reservations, then immediately emailed my World of Hyatt rep in Singapore. It was, of course, the middle of the night — Singapore time — when I sent that email. But when morning came and she read my email, things were resolved very quickly!

11:55 a.m., Singapore time — My sales rep at Andaz Singapore responded. Though a full Suite was not available for all three nights, there was one Studio Suite available that she could assign to my clients. It wasn't the room he asked for, but would that be OK? Only thing: she needed a quick reply, as there was only one remaining Studio Suite.

8:57 p.m., California time (two minutes later) — While watching the election returns, I immediately forwarded the email to my client in Germany, asking him to "reply to all."

6:48 a.m., central European time (51 minutes later) — After waking up and looking at his email, my client replied to all, confirming the revision.

12:52 p.m., Singapore time (4 minutes later) — My sales rep confirmed the Studio Suite for three nights.

The magic of Virtuoso, married to the instantaneous communication of the internet, makes it so easy to provide great service. It does not matter where in the world any of us might be. A hotelier in Singapore, a travel advisor in California, and a client in Germany can communicate with the click of a mouse. Time zones even cooperated here! A hotel in Asia was able to offer a solution just before I went to sleep. A client in Europe was able to reply just after he woke up. And everything could be resolved, while I was asleep!

copyright (c) 2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

9.12.2018

one of life's guilty pleasures ...

Leafing through travel catalogues is one of life's guilty pleasures. Pictured above is the cover of the new 2019 Backroads catalog. Backroads is one of my favorite travel companies — featuring active vacations that involve strolling, walking, hiking, biking, or multi-sport trips (depending on your own preferred activity level). There are lots of great travel catalogues out there — from companies like Tauck, Abercrombie & Kent, Butterfield & Robinson, Lakani, Globus ... and so many others. We work with them all!

Here are several good ways to use travel catalogues...

(1) Use your travel advisor to book one of the trips. If you come across a trip that excites you, that jumps off the page, your first call should be to your travel advisor. We can book the trip for you (for exactly the same price), but we'll do even more. We know you. We understand your travel preferences. We can help you choose among different trips that might appeal. And we can make sure everything about your vacation is coordinated — your pre- and post-trip plans, even your air if you need help with that.

By the way, if you want to call the tour company first and get a certain date "on hold," that's fine. Then immediately call or write us to take over that booking.

(2) Get ideas for your bucket list. When looking through any travel catalog, you'll see LOTS of trip you'd like to take. When I perused the Backroads catalog this morning, I was inspired looking at the pictures, marveling at the scenery, reading the descriptions of all the fun things I could do in those places. Reading travel catalogs are a great way to develop your personal bucket list.

Then make an actual list and share it with us! We'll keep it in your file (so you won't lose it!).

(3) Personalize one of the itineraries. Maybe one of the trips really appeals to you — but there are changes you'd like to make. Perhaps you'd prefer to travel on your own; the idea of traveling with a group of 12, or 18, or 38 doesn't interest you. Look at any itinerary as a starting point, the first draft of what will ultimately become your own bespoke itinerary.

When you're ready to plan that bespoke, once-in-a-lifetime trip, just get in touch.

copyright (c) 2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

3.31.2018

New Zealand | don't know where to begin?

Sally Forth comic strip, March 31, 2018

Sally Forth is one of a handful of comic strips that I read regularly. In today's episode, Sally asks her family, "What is the one thing you'd like us to do together as a family?" After a moment's pause, Hillary answers, "New Zealand." Ted is immediately turned on by the idea of visiting the beautiful place where the three Hobbit movies (An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies) were filmed. Sally responds with two practical concerns, the cost of air and where to begin.

"I don't know where to begin" is not infrequently the first hurdle encountered when contemplating our bucket list. Start with Google? 46 million websites come up when searching New Zealand, 3.6 million responses for New Zealand travel, 2.68 million options for New Zealand tours, and 1.79 million answers for New Zealand tourism.

How can anyone evaluate so many options? My answer to the Forth family ... find a travel advisor with experience planning travel to New Zealand, who has relationships with multiple destination management companies there. Instead of starting with millions of choices, I'll begin planning your trip with a half dozen vendors curated in terms of their expertise and reliability. Once I know your budget and the kinds of experiences you want to have, I'll know exactly where to begin.

A knowledgable travel advisor will save you time and money. New Zealand has some of the most gorgeous lodges in the world, and you can benefit from Virtuoso amenities that will provide added value during your stay. Even if your budget is more modest, our on-the-ground partners will know the best moderately priced options for your stay — as well as providing assistance if needed with looking for "bulk" air.

New Zealand is one of the two most gorgeous places I've ever been, Norway being the other. To whet your appetite, here are some articles I wrote about my April/May 2009 trip with Swain Destinations.

Kauri Cliffs | New Zealand golf and beach luxury
what to do in Queenstown, New Zealand
Napier, New Zealand | the Art Deco city
morning mist at Huka Lodge
black sand beach near Auckland
New Zealand | incredible scenic beauty
Virginia Fischer | New Zealand luxury lodges
more New Zealand Luxury Lodges

3.20.2018

Dorado Beach to reopen October 1st

Dorado Beach, a Ritz Carlton Reserve, closed in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, has announced that it will reopen on October 1, 2018. This is good news, although the overall repair and restoration efforts on Puerto Rico have been depressingly slow, especially in rural parts of the island.

Tourism is one of the best ways to support the Puerto Rico's recovering economy, so I bring this to my readers' attention. Dorado Beach is one of the very top beach resorts I have ever visited. It boasts a great beach and large, luxurious rooms that can comfortably accommodate your family beach vacation.

If you're looking for a place to vacation this Festive Season (December 23 through December 31), Dorado Beach has availability. There's just an 8-night minimum for stays arriving on December 24 or later. December 23 arrivals have a 9-night minimum. By booking with us, or through any Virtuoso travel advisor, you'll receive added the following added-value amenities worth hundreds of dollars over your Christmas or New Years vacation.

Daily full breakfast for up to two in-room guests in Mi Casa
$150 resort credit toward incidental expenses
Upgrade on arrival if available
Early check-in and late check-out if available
Complimentary Wi-Fi

3.03.2018

a concert of traditional music, just for two

There are real advantages to using a travel advisor when you visit exotic destinations like Vietnam. We know the top experts most anyplace on earth, and our contacts provide access to exclusive and special experiences you'd never otherwise know about.

Like the private concert we enjoyed yesterday afternoon... when we were welcomed into the home of Ngo Truc Mai (pictured above) and Dinh Linh, two accomplished musicians who own and play a collection of traditional Vietnamese musical instruments. Mrs. Mai and one of her students treated us to a private concert, and it was a really cool experience ... not one of those performances that went on and on (which, frankly, had been my fear). The concert was just the perfect length and the repertoire both interesting and varied. After enjoying the performance, we got the chance to try our own hands at playing these instruments. Claire actually got a monochord zither to sound like it's supposed to, and I enjoyed playing a duet with Mrs. Mai on her stone lithophone, earning me a high-five. Sorry, Trip Advisor, but this experience is nowhere to be found in your top things to do in Ho Chi Minh City.

I've been spoiled by expert private guides who have treated me to so many extraordinary travel experiences over the years. The best guides will save precious time (we skipped the 45 minute public line to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum). They'll help you make the most of your limited time at each attraction. You'll get efficiently from place to place, won't waste time looking for the ticket booth, and will focus on absolute must-see sights before moving along to the next stop on your adventure. (Less is more ... and it's an art to know what to skip.)

And the best perk? Great guides enable stress-free travel! Their job: handle the logistics, make dinner suggestions and reservations, and attend to all the details. You won't have to figure out when to leave for the airport; it's wonderful to be told when your driver will arrive and to be escorted through check-in all the way to the security line. Your job: simply to sit back, relax, and enjoy your vacation. Your travel advisor's job: to match you with the right travel partner for the trip of your dreams.

copyright (c) 2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

2.08.2018

do you need a visa?

Here's the ironic truth. Travel advisors do a fabulous job planning their clients' travels, but we often take shortcuts when working on our own trips! So you can imagine my combination of worry and chagrin when, late Tuesday night, I received an email from A&K Myanmar confirming that I had obtained a visa for my upcoming trip to Myanmar.

Visa? Myanmar? Why, no, this was the first time I had even thought about it. I evidently had overlooked the attachment previously sent me by A&K. With just 15 days before my departure, the whole question of Myanmar visas seemed more significant than whatever I was watching on Netflix at the moment. I booted the computer, did a google search, surfed to the online e-visa portal for The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and quickly took care of the necessary bureaucratic procedures. It was easy enough; you had to enter basic information from your passport, upload a passport-type photo, and pay your $50 per person.

Do you need a visa? A US Passport is all you need to enter many but not all countries. Here's a handy webpage where you can do the necessary research. It certainly pays to do the research well in advance of your trip.

I like happy endings... Even though Myanmar promised a response to my application within 3-5 business days, I woke up the next morning with two approval letters already in my inbox. But this is just one way in which using a travel advisor is to your advantage. In this case, A&K Myanmar was my travel advisor, taking care of my travels and allowing me to benefit from their world of experience.

10.28.2017

think outside the nutshell

Norway in a nutshell® is a registered trademark for an itinerary that's marketed as an easy, fuss-free way to see the highlights of Norway.

The trip has several components, with potential touring components at each stop. You can "do" the entire journey in one long day (13 1/2 hours) ... or spend a day or more at each stop to explore in depth.

During my recent trip to Norway, I experienced two legs of Norway in a nutshell®. We had spent Saturday night in the charming Fjordstove Hotel, a traditional white-framed Norwegian home by the side of a fjord in the small village of Fjærland. The hotel does not pretend to be a luxury accommodation, but this is precisely the kind of place you should hope to stay when visiting Norway. Warm and hospitable, we got to meet the owner and his family, drink his home-brewed ale, and enjoy a wonderful dinner. Rooms were small and simple, but the views were to die for.

We left the hotel at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning to catch a ferry, arriving in Flåm in time to do some shopping at Mall of Norway before boarding our 9:30 a.m. cruise. The two hour cruise took us through UNESCO listed fjords, and the scenery was beautiful. Had it been winter or spring, with snow glistening off the mountains, it would have been stunning, but it being October, we did encounter a few passing rain showers during our cruise.

The boat was mostly empty — lots of empty seats inside the cabin and very few passengers out on the deck. The cruise was a pleasant and enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours... but, as my colleague Landa pointed out, a fully booked sailing, with every inside seat taken and lots of people crowding the decks, would have felt very crowded and tourist-trappy.

Following the cruise, we experienced the next leg of Norway in a nutshell®. Our driver picked us up in Gudvangen and drove the twisty, hairpin-turning mountain road through Stalheimskleiva. We stopped in the interesting town of Voss for lunch.

Should you do the Norway in a nutshell® tour? My advice:

(1) Don't buy a packaged tour. It will feel like what it is, a rubber-stamped, mass-produced consumer product.

(2) Don't do it in one day. Norway is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Travel slow and savor the experience.

(3) Think outside the nutshell. Work with an experienced travel advisor to help create your own bespoke tour of Norway. Norway is full of charming villages, snow-capped mountains, and gorgeous fjords to fill your days ... and warm and hospitable places to spend your nights.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

10.26.2017

early London check-in after an overnight flight?

Flying a red-eye to London? Most flights from the US and Canada depart in the late afternoon or early evening and fly through the night. This is a great way to fly across the pond, especially if you're in a lie-flat sleeper seat and can fall asleep during your flight.

But when you arrive London early the next morning, you'll want to shower and change your clothes. Unfortunately, there being no arrivals lounges past immigration, you'll arrive at your hotel in the early-to-mid-morning needing to shower, shave or apply makeup, and put on some fresh clothes for the day.

What if your room isn't ready? While all Virtuoso hotels in London offer an early check-in if available, you can't count on this. Hotels can't control when in-house guests will vacate their rooms, and a full house means no early check-in possibilities.

The Dorchester Hotel has a new program for North American guests that will make your arrival much more pleasant. New GM Robert Whitfield recently told me about the offer: the Dorchester will guarantee you a room when you arrive! Two notes: (1) you or your travel advisor must provide your arrival information in advance, so the hotel can plan for your arrival. (2) While your specific room might not be available the moment you step enter the lobby, the Dorchester will give you access to a guest room of your own to use until your room is ready. You'll be able to shower, change, and go out for your morning's activities refreshed and feeling human again. (You can even take a nap, but I don't recommend this as it will totally screw up your sleep cycle!)

Diamond Club amenities offer you the best possible value at The Dorchester. All of our guests enjoy:

guaranteed room upgrade (up to the Junior Suite category)
full breakfast in any venue (including in-room dining) — virtually anything off the menu except alcohol and caviar, tax and gratuity included in the amenity
one-time 100£ hotel credit that you can take off your room rate
daily 100£ hotel credit for bookings of full Suites
premium internet for unlimited devices

Another Virtuoso possibility in London currently offering guaranteed flexible check-in times is The Corinthia.

10.21.2017

booking online | what could possibly go wrong?

A traveler recently shared his experience of an all-inclusive tour to Dublin, London, and Paris booked through an online website. The story is a valuable, cautionary tale in this age of internet shopping. The price looked good, so they bought the trip.

How did it work out? These travelers were extremely dissatisfied. They were sent to a Dublin hotel 45 minutes outside of town. Their Paris hotel was 30 minutes from the center of the city in a sketchy neighborhood. Discrepancies between the printed itinerary and the actual vouchers caused them to miss their train on the Eurostar.

Just because a tour company claims expertise doesn't mean anything. I took a look at their website. Attractive and well-designed, their prices looked good, including round-trip economy air, airport transfers, accommodations, buffet breakfasts, and guided sightseeing. Sample itineraries were available to peruse, and the company specifically mentions its "handpicked hotels." Expertly Designed. Affordably Priced. Discover your dream vacation today, they say, so I put that claim to the test. I pulled up a random "expertly designed" itinerary from their website — Central Europe Vacation.

Accommodations in hotels listed, or similar

1 night in Frankfurt at the Leonardo Royal Frankfurt or Mercure at Friedrichsdorf
2 nights in Berlin at the Abba Hotel or NH Alexanderplatz Hotel or Holiday Inn Express City Centre
2 nights in Warsaw at the Golden Tulip Warsaw Centre Hotel or Ibis Old Town
2 nights in Kraków at the Hampton by Hilton
2 nights in Budapest at the Novotel Centrum Hotel or Leonardo
1 night in Vienna at the Hotel Kavalier Wien
2 nights in Prague at the Clarion Congress Hotel or NH Praha Hotel
1 night in Munich at the Achat Premium South
1 night in Frankfurt at the Leonardo Royal Frankfurt or Mercure at Friedrichsdorf

Some quick observations...

9 cities in 14 days means you'll doing a lot of packing and unpacking. You'll spend a lot of time between cities in a motor coach. Where is the time to explore, savor, and enjoy each destination on your own? Two nights in a city means just one full day to experience that destination. One night in a city means you get there in the afternoon and leave the next morning, a total waste. My advice: when planning an itinerary, less is more.

Handpicked hotels? Some google-mapping reveals the "handpicked hotel" in Vienna to be adjacent to the train station, five miles outside the Ring (where everything of interest is found). The "handpicked hotel" in Prague is five miles from the Charles Bridge. No chance to walk and explore. My advice: the top three things to consider when selecting a hotel are location, location, and location. If you're in Berlin, you'll want to be able to walk to the Brandenburg Gate (pictured above)

And what about quality control? Plenty of travelers choose inexpensive tours on the internet, but you're not just buying a tour. You're buying the services of a tour company, trusting them to put together your dream vacation and make sure all the pieces fit. My advice: ask who vouches for that company. If considering an individual travel advisor, is he or she a member of a respected hosting agency? If considering a tour company, is it a member of ASTA, USTOA, and a respected consortium such as Virtuoso?

You can book a great trip online, if that's your choice, but planning travel is an art ... and stuff can and does go wrong.

8.10.2017

want a personal travel shopper?

I'll be attending Virtuoso Travel Week at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Shopping for travel can be very confusing. While Google is where many people begin to plan their next vacation, most people quickly become overwhelmed. Google the word "travel," and you'll get 1.19 billion results!

So consider us your personal shopper for travel. We can cut through millions of possibilities and help you plan the trip of your dreams. Whether you want an African safari or a bespoke trip that lets you experience the real China, a driving trip through the south of France or a relaxing vacation in Bora Bora, we can help ... because we've been there!

We will save you time, money, and frustration. If a beach vacation at Four Seasons Hualalai or Four Seasons Maui is capturing your fancy, we'll save you hundreds of dollars — with complimentary daily breakfasts and a hotel credit good toward a lunch or dinner. We can provide similar amenities at over 1200 luxury hotels and resorts around the world. It won't cost you a penny extra to book luxury hotels through us, and you typically pay at check-out, exactly the same as if you booked online.

Along with thousands of other Virtuoso travel advisors — and three other members of Team Ourisman, I'll be at Virtuoso Travel Week next week. It's not a vacation — it's work. I'll literally be shopping for you, listening for what's new and exciting and building relationships with our travel partners who help make your vacation special.

Is travel on your mind? Just click on our website and send us your travel request. While our response may take a bit longer than usual, as we'll be in meetings and networking from 6:30 a.m. until well past [normal] bedtime), we'll get back to you as soon as possible to help you Discover More in your travels.

7.24.2017

how to save hundreds of dollars on foreign travel

always choose the local currency — image from blog.wandr.me

Here are three tips to save big money on your next trip out of the country.

1. No-Forex. Make sure your credit card does not charge foreign exchange fees. Did you know that most credit cards tack on an extra 3% whenever you use your card outside the country? Fortunately, the solution is simple: get a No Forex credit card. While many no-forex cards come with annual fees (which may be worthwhile if you're collecting points, etc.), others are absolutely free — including some cards from Bank of America and Capital One.

2. Beware DCC (dynamic currency conversion). When paying your bill at a restaurant, hotel, or store, the credit card machine will often display a screen giving you the option to pay either in US dollars or the local currency. Always choose the local currency. Why? because Visa, MasterCharge, or Amex will always offer a much better exchange rate. If you choose to be charged in US dollars, you'll get a lousy conversion rate, paying as much as 5% more. And you'd still be subject to forex fees (unless you have a no-forex credit card) as the charge was made outside the US.

3. Virtuoso. Breakfast in a luxury hotel can cost you 35-50€ per person. Every day. You can save hundreds of dollars per hotel stay simply by booking through a Virtuoso travel advisor such as Ourisman Travel. It won't cost you a dime more, and you get:

daily complimentary breakfast for two
a unique amenity for each hotel (often a food & beverage credit) valued at $100 per stay
free internet access
an upgraded room if available at check-in

In fact, I know many hotels where you can take the hotel credit right off your bill and the upgrade is guaranteed at booking.

These three tips will save you hundreds of dollars on a typical trip out of the country.

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