Travel&Vacation

(Tribune Media Services) — Got the rain jackets? So what if it rains a lot in Seattle. As long as you’ve got good rain gear, you won’t care, especially when there’s so much to do and see. Where else can you take the kids to see guys throwing raw fish, introduce them to ferries (yes, parents commute to work via ferry) take a turn on a sailboat, learn all about rock music, science fiction and the creatures who inhabit the sea in this part of the world. (The first-rate Seattle Aquarium was renovated just a year ago.) Let’s not forget the chance to view the world from 605 feet above atop theSpace Needle or ride a monorail at Seattle Center. Did I mention the terrific food — and Washington State wines? Plenty of local restaurants are kid-friendly too. (Locals suggest Cutters Bayhouse,
(Read the full post about ‘The Space Needle and sci-fi in Seattle’…)

NEW YORK (AP) — Drivers have long known that slowing down on the highway means getting more miles to the gallon. Now airlines are trying it, too — adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on fuel. Southwest Airlines started flying slower about two months ago, and projects it will save $42 million in fuel this year by extending each flight by one to three minutes. On one Northwest Airlines flight from Paris to Minneapolis earlier this week alone, flying slower saved 162 gallons of fuel, saving the airline $535. It added eight minutes to the flight, extending it to eight hours, 58 minutes. That meant flying at an average speed of 532 mph, down from the usual 542 mph. "It’s not a dramatic change," said Dave Fuller, director of flight operations at JetBlue, which began
(Read the full post about ‘Planes slow down to save fuel’…)

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — Acupuncture is not just for people. It’s also for cities — if the city is Portland. Adam Kuby has stuck a 23-foot needle into the ground down by the Willamette River and hopes to plant more, choosing locations where he figures the city’s "chi," or vital energy, needs some help. Unusual? You bet. Unusual for Portland? Not really. For several years, Portland has been reaping praise from lifestyle magazines, from Men’s Journal to specialty publications, as one of the nation’s more livable cities, listed among the best places to have a baby, grow old, go for a walk, ride a bike, take a jog, breathe clean air, own a dog, take public transportation, start a business (green or otherwise), go out for dinner or not get mugged. The praises don’t stop. Swing a
(Read the full post about ‘Exploring Portland’s far side’…)

(Tribune Media Services) — Bart Everson’s room rate at an Alabama resort includes a big surprise: a $166 "cleaning fee." The fine print in his reservation mentions a fee, but doesn’t say how much he’ll be charged. Should he still have to pay? Q: I’ve been charged a cleaning fee for a recent hotel visit, and something doesn’t seem right. I’m hoping you can help. I recently booked a few nights at the Grand Caribbean in Orange Beach, Alabama, through an affiliate of Orbitz. The room was just $95 per night, which I thought was a bargain. But imagine my surprise when I saw a much larger amount had been debited to my account. Since this happened before our trip took place, I tried to cancel my reservation. But they wouldn’t allow it. I asked about the higher charge and was told
(Read the full post about ‘Troubleshooter: That’s some cleaning bill’…)

(Tribune Media Services) — Bergen’s old Hanseatic Quarter has a crude yet romantic charm. I crouch under creaky timbers, as I wander through the Hanseatic Museum. The oversized cupboards around me once housed humble Norwegians — each miniscule "bedroom" giving them darkness and warmth through the cold, but not very long, Nordic night. Primitive paintings of buxom maidens with come-hither smiles decorated the doors, as if to bring sweet dreams to those rustic 16th-century lives. I pick up a dried codfish — shaped like a baseball bat and just as hard. I can’t resist using it to knock the dirt off my shoes, like a ballplayer with mud on his cleats. Bergen, Norway’s second city, wears her maritime heritage proudly. A scenic, seven-hour train ride west of Oslo, this rugged,
(Read the full post about ‘A bite of Bergen’…)

(Tribune Media Services) — A cottage in the English countryside or a flat in Paris, a deluxe Caribbean villa or a house with a pool in Orlando, San Diego, Canada, Colorado, New York City or San Francisco. Take your pick for summer vacation. Price is no concern. It won’t cost you a penny — Really. There’s just one tiny hitch: While you are splashing in the pool in San Diego, sightseeing in London or hiking in Colorado with your kids (and grandkids), the owners of your temporary vacation manse will be making themselves and their kids at home in your house. Welcome to the fast-growing world of Home Exchange. Families also trade pets, vehicles (saving even more by not paying kennel fees and for rental cars) kids’ toys, grown-up toys like surfboards and even friends. "I’m
(Read the full post about ‘Trade houses for vacation savings’…)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Like almost everything else related to air travel in recent weeks, government proposals unveiled Wednesday rankled airlines and could be bittersweet for an already sour traveling public. Under one new rule, passengers who get bumped off overbooked flights will be eligible to receive twice as much compensation from U.S. airlines. But ticket prices are expected to spike as a result of another rule designed to ease congestion tied to the New York-area’s clogged airports. The latest government action comes on the heels of maintenance-related investigations that unveiled a cozy relationship between carriers and regulators, and led to the grounding of hundreds of planes and the grumbling of thousands of upended passengers. The industry has its own bittersweet scenario to
(Read the full post about ‘Bumped fliers get more cash, but fares may rise’…)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Low-cost carriers — AirTran, Jet Blue and Southwest — took the top three spots in a national survey of airline quality, while the industry overall fared poorly amid rising fuel prices and increasingly fed-up consumers. At the bottom of the list released Monday were Comair, American Eagle and in last place: Atlantic Southeast Airlines. The past year "was the worst year ever for the U.S. airlines," said Brent Bowen, a study co-author and professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Aviation Institute. "Overall operational performance and quality declined once again to the lowest level that it’s ever been." The annual Airline Quality Rating survey found that more bags were lost, more passengers were bumped, more consumers complained and fewer
(Read the full post about ‘AirTran, Jet Blue rank well in airline quality’…)

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Lonely Planet said Monday it stands by the accuracy of its travel guides following claims by an author that he plagiarized and invented sections of the books — and did not visit one of the countries he wrote about. Piers Pickard, Lonely Planet’s guide book publisher, said the company was reviewing the content of the books that author Thomas Kohnstamm had contributed but had so far found nothing inaccurate. He said Lonely Planet’s global reputation was built on the integrity of its books, and that any inaccuracies found would be quickly fixed. Australia’s Herald Sun and Sunday Telegraph newspapers reported Kohnstamm’s claims that he made up parts of the books he wrote, lifted information from other publications and accepted gifts despite Lonely Planet’s
(Read the full post about ‘Lonely Planet rejects fabrication claim’…)