The rest of Q&A

Q – I recently returned from a trip to London where I noticed that instead of saying I was flying in economy it said I was flying in Q Class. Then I looked carefully, and my connecting ticket home had an N instead of a Q. Anyway you can explain these letters the airlines use and what they really mean. 

A – Airlines use codes so their gate agents and flight attendants will know exactly what kind of ticket you are flying. Special compensation offers might be made to certain code holders. Thet might indicate what kind of changes you are allowed to make on a ticket or how a refund is to be handled. These are known as “Fare Codes” or “Fare Basis”. It allows the gate agent to know exactly what kind of flyer you are and whether or not you should be considered for an upgrade. So they are fairly important yet most flyers have no idea of their meaning. Obviously, it will vary a bit from airline to airline but here is a short guide to the airline’s secret lingo – used primarily to identify you as a full-fare or discount flyer Fares codes are also used to determine how many miles and points you will be awarded on a flight. 

Y – Full Fare Economy Guest

L,M,N,Q,T,T,V and X – Various levels of Discount Fare usually in order restrictions.

J,C – Refer to Full-Fare Business Class Guests

F – Is a non-restricted Full=fare First Class Guest

If you are flying a multi-segment ticket and you have more than one fare code, most airlines will enforce the most stringent rules that apply to anyone of your segment codes. They do that because they are so customer-service oriented and because they have almost zero appreciation of your loyalty or business. 

Q –  I have been flying for the past two decades, mostly to larger metropolitan areas. I have noticed that some pilots, particularly those with Delta, seem to make harsher landings while American pilots seem to glide in more softly. I wonder why this is and also wonder about any of the larger airports where you have to come in fast and hard for safety reasons. Any light you can shed on this would be appreciated. Don’t mean to denigrate Delta in any way – I actually prefer the airline to any of their competitors and am a very frequent flyer. 

A – So you think maybe Delta pilots are trained to make hard landings while American pilots are taught to be more laid back on landing and to do it “ever so softly”. You didn’t mention what you do for a living – we’re hoping you’re not a clinical psychologist.

Pilots are generally told what landing speed to maintain. It has absolutely nothing to do with the brand or the pilots who work for that brand. Instead, you will find that it has a lot more to do with the length of the specific runway where you are landing. Some of the most notoriously short runways in the US are found at Midway in Chicago, John Wayne in southern California, and Washington D.C.’s Reagan International. Long, slower, softer landings are not recommended on shorter runways because they tend to use up too much “pavement” something pilots are loathe to do. So next time you encounter a “rough” landing it may mean that your pilot is being extra cautious. If you are flying DL or AA you are in the hands of some of the best qualified worldwide.  

Just to relax you on your next flight, let’s take a quick look below at “The World’s Most Dangerous Airport”, Lukla in eastern Nepal. 

Lukla and the Tenzing-Hillary Airport, 2881m elevation, Everest Base Camp Trekking Route, Nepal Lukla is the starting point for most trecks to Mount Everest Base Camp. Tenzing-Hillary airport has a single runway that is 460m by 20m with a 12% gradient. Aircraft can only use runway 06 for landings and runway 24 for takeoffs. Due to the terrain, there is no prospect of a successful go-around on short final. There is high terrain immediately after the northern end of the runway and a steeply angled drop, of about 2000m at the southern end of the runway, into the valley below.
The airport is rated as the most dangerous in the world.

Q – Our 16-year old son will be joining us on our annual summer break vacation. We’re fairly well-traveled and when we asked him where he really wanted to go, he responded that he would love to visit “somewhere that will help me see and understand the effects of climate change on the planet.” That’s a tough order so we thought we would seek your input. We have a fairly open budget but would like to keep the total trip under $60,000. We are all fit and active travelers and hiking does not put us off at all. 

A – We think you should consider the world’s largest island which happens to be covered in ice over 80% of its surface. Given that, no country on earth is more instructive regarding the effects of climate change than Greenland. Consider hiking a bit of the 100-mile Arctic Circle Trail. Go and book a tour with san diego whale watching and the magnificent Eqi Glacier via boat with a naturalist.  If your dates are flexible, try to time your trip with the June 21st celebration of Greenland’s National Day. It will add a sense of place to your travels. You may want to add a few days in Iceland but we think that Greenland is the destination best suited for your goals. We all wish your son the best of luck. 

Q – Set with a two-week tour of southern Africa that begins in Cape Town and ends in Johannesburg. This mid-August vacation includes two nights in Victoria Falls where I am reading the water has completely dried up and the Falls are no more. We are working with a local safari operator based in Johannesburg and wondering if they will eliminate the Victoria Falls. We found them on the internet and they seem to have hundreds of “likes” so we’re trusting them to do the right thing. What options might be available if we decide to skip the Falls at this point? We are paid in full. 

A – There is a growing pattern of weather affecting Victoria Falls that is quite complicated but boils down to the fact that October-November rainfalls are way down in tandem with serious heat issues and daily averages approaching 96 degrees. You should be fine in mid-summer although you will see evidence of decreased rains, drought, and the effects they are having on the majesty of the “Falls”. 

We have no idea why you would have paid in full for a trip not scheduled for six months. It does not sound like you have any advocacy built-in – as you are working directly with a group operator. But most troubling of all is your failing score on our “Travel Naivete” Index. You were impressed by hundreds of “likes”? 

“Likes” online do not require any sort of mental capacity – just some sort of forefinger. And if that doesn’t work, “Likes” can be easily purchased – in bulk. 

Try to find out if your tour operator is accredited by any of the major US travel consortium groups. If not, see if you can secure any recommendations from past clients in your area. It is likely that your trip to Vic Falls is scheduled at the end of your journey just prior to your departure for Johannesburg and your flight home. Have your tour operator give you two options to replace the nights at the Falls if you are determined to skip them (not what we would advise)

Do feel free to call the tourist boards in New York for additional information about the company you are using and their recommended itinerary modifications.

Finally, make certain that the travel agent commission is being refunded to you in the pricing as you are not using an agent’s services.  

Q – We are fascinated by your point about the relationship about travel articles and the fact that the vast majority of writers are describing their own “free or nearly free” trips. No wonder we can’t really depend on travel reporting any more than we can believe what is written on a number of other subjects. But travel writing seems uniquely tainted and unreliable since it is based on first-person experiences. Would you agree? Also wondering if you might provide a list of those newspapers and magazines that have a policy of not accepting free travel for their travel writers. 

A – We would agree. The travel consumer is usually reading words served up as payback for comp. travel. But no one seems to mind so the practice continues.

There is no official list but the publications that currently do not accept free travel for writers include, as you might expect, The New York Times, as well as the Associated Press and USA Today. Unfortunately, that’s about it.

Q – Have spent portions of the last three nights reading your Q&A. Really enjoyable and love the information. Here is our brief story: I am retiring in six months and, with the death of my folks earlier this year, have come into enough money that will enable us to do some serious traveling in the years ahead. I have one big question. We’re fairly normal travelers, been to Europe twice, once on a cruise, once on a tour. We’ve done a lot int he States and we spent two weeks in Mexico. But now we are looking to expand our horizons. So our big question:

We can’t splurge on everything – nor would we want to. Generally speaking, do you feel that money is best spent on flying in the front of the plane, on accommodations, on fine dining, or on sightseeing?  We’re having a hard time deciding and we’re not at all confident that a local travel agent can answer this one. 

A – It is a little hard to answer this one without knowing you and having an in-depth discussion. The answer will be different for different travelers. But thank you so much for phrasing a really BIG question. In gratitude, we are going to try to answer it as specifically as possible with our recommendations:

Aircraft Seats: If there are medical reasons to fly Business or First do so. If you have miles to use do so. If not try for a good quality Premium Economy that will still give you the critical extra legroom. We like to phrase it this way to our clients: Imagine you are going to sit through a triple feature at your local movie theater. Would you pay $3000 extra for a larger seat with more legroom? 

Accommodations:  Always select one of the top-tier hotels because they employ a 24-hour security force and they change the bedding as often as you would expect it to be changed. You also need to care about who your fellow guests are likely to be. But notice that the lower priced accommodations in a top-tier hotel give you access to each of these important features. Don’t splurge on the room but do splurge on the hotel. If you have a heart attack, they know they have to call best cardiologist doctors. And always remember that if you know the price of your hotel room you have likely overpaid.

Dining: This is where we save. Three-star Michelin dining is no longer chic. Dine as the locals dine and pay what they pay for food. You will eat well and come home with better stories. 

Sightseeing – This is the one most amateurs miss. The single most important element in your enjoyment and understanding of a destination is the use of a professional guide trained to discuss those subjects that interest you most.  The one BIG splurge ought to be, for most people, the services absolutely superb guides. The very best consultants know how to snag them around-the-world. 

Q –  We will be going on the south africa safari next year a and I would like to know the strategy for bringing drugs like Zyrtac, for allergies, into the country. I have read that they are very strict about drugs. 

A – South Africa, along with many other nations in Africa are extremely strict about drugs brought into the country. In several African nations, for instance, Tylenol and Excedrin are considered to be Class 1 narcotics and fines or jail time can be used to punish offenders. Tourists, we should point out, are not usually the victims.

There are, however, some simple precautions that should remove all worries. Always travel with your prescription drugs in their original bottle and have a doctor’s note authorizing use. The prescription medications most frequently diverted to recreational use include opioid painkillers like OxyContin, anxiolytics like Xanax, tranquilizers like Valium, and stimulants like Adderall. These drugs are readily prescribed by doctors for years, and are easily available on the road , as well, when doctors’ prescriptions run out. People can become hooked in to them once they use them to affect problems, reduce or to possess an honest time with friends. Prescription drug abuse covers the spectrum from anxiolytics and opioids to stimulants. With each one of these addictions, RX treatment begins with detoxification. You enter rehab, and, under medical supervision, begin to taper off the drug that you use, over a period of weeks. At Baytown botox you will get a specialize in cosmetic treatment with Botox and skincare therapy treatments.

Prescription drug abuse covers the spectrum from anxiolytics and opioids to stimulants. With all of those addictions, treatment begins with detoxification. You enter rehab, and, under medical supervision, begin to taper off the drug that you simply use, over a period of weeks.Typically, withdrawal symptoms begin to line in within hours. If you’re detoxing from Xanax, as an example , you’ll experience anxiety, insomnia, blurred vision, nausea, and tremors. Xanax withdrawal is usually treated with medications for nausea, pain, and diarrhea.When you quit an opioid that you’re hooked in to , you tend to experience symptoms that are often like a nasty flu. within the beginning, you’ll sweat tons , feel anxious, and find it hard to sleep. From the second day onwards, you’ll begin to crave the opioid, suffer from abdominal cramping, and nausea. Detoxing reception isn’t recommended. once you detox under medical supervision, doctors are ready to administer drugs like buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone to ease the withdrawal symptoms and make the method more predictable.Quitting a stimulant like Ritalin are often very different from quitting an opioid. Doctors can prescribe medications like bromocriptine and amantadine to counter the cravings, and antidepressants can help calm the mind down and minimize the danger of self-harm.Depending on the drug, and therefore the depth of your dependence thereon , detoxification can last anywhere from every week to many weeks. Once the worst of the withdrawal symptoms pass, you’re ready for the second phase of addiction treatment, which is therapy. The goal of a drug rehab is to drug rehab is to enable you or your loved one to live a life free from the effects od drugs. If  you get most of your drugs from the same pharmacy you can have them print out the list of your current prescriptions. We recommend that you take the list and have it notarized at your bank or somewhere convenient. Border inspectors like raised seals on documents. You will certainly not be the first Americans to bring prescription drugs through O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. You will find South Africans among the most welcoming of peoples. Don’t bring the inspectors at Passport Control a gift bottle of Celebrex.

Q – We have taken your advice and are thinking about scheduling our trip to France, our first trip to Europe, next May so we can avoid the crowds. My wife has dreamed about visiting the Louvre since she was an art student at NYU. Is this a good time to go to on a trip that will certainly be taken up with daytime exhibits and museum treks followed by French local favorite dining. We might also want to do a short river cruise on the Seine. We are retired so rather flexible. I should tell you that we live in Manhattan and you have a number of readers in our building.

A –  Thank you. We hope you aren’t renting in Manhattan. If you are, you likely can’t afford three meals a day in Paris.

We are going to recommend that you move this trip up to sometime between the 15th of March and the end of April. That will cut down on the tourist numbers significantly and, given your interests, you can travel in the off-season while seeing the same paintings the crowds will be passing by just two months later. Overtourism is becoming a serious worldwide phenomenon and Paris is not exempt. This past May, workers at the Louvre staged a walkout protesting massive crowds that they claim “made the place dangerous and unmanageable”. Given that you have choices and will largely be indoors to experience the Paris of your dreams definitely plan to travel in the off-season or, at the very least, the shoulder season preceding summer. And please collect our subscription fee from building residents when you see them in the elevator. 

Q – This may qualify as the weirdest request of the week. I love fondue. I love cheese. But I am a connoisseur, as snobby as my wine drinking friends up here in Seattle. For my 60th, my wonderful wife bought us two tickets to Zurich on SAS. The purpose of the trip is visiting the best cheesemakers and doing tastings on the premises. But here’s the thing – there is one cheese that is my absolute favorite and that would be Gruyere. So here is my question – is there an escorted tour for this sort of thing, so do I drive myself around, something I really don’t want to do, or do I hire a private cheese-knowledgeable guide for the entire trip? Where will I find what I am seeking? Cost is really not an issue. It is more about where to go and how to go. The trip will be for nine days. Thanks so much. We feel like we know you from these posts. 

A –  We think you will find your nirvana if you base your stay in Lausanne, Switzerland. There actually is a Gruyere Association and they do arrange tours of some of the better cheese-makers. We are unaware of other organized specialized cheese tours but perhaps it is not a bad idea. We’ve always thought that a wine and cheese tour might be successful if the two groups went off on their own during the day and met only in the evening to sample the days best “catches”.

As to methodology – Lausanne is beautiful and a great place to come home to each evening. We would suggest that you have your travel adviser arrange for a program of, perhaps, three or four days of private touring. There are well-connected local guides who can make this trip really come alive. We don’t think you need to have someone with you every single day. When interviewing your travel advisor the key question is “Tell me about your on-site relationships in Switzerland”?

If the cheese backs you up you will find remedies at any Swiss pharmacy. 

One other bit of advice. You might want to become a connoisseur of fig preserve. The best comes from Croatia and it should always accompany the cheese.  

Q – We have two weeks scheduled in early November in Thailand. We will be joined by our friends, our podiatrist and his wife. (We advise all of your readers to make friends with their podiatrist – it makes walking around overseas so much easier). We are from LA and we are, could you guess, “foodies”. We are what you might call “adventurous foodies” meaning we’ll eat almost anything standing up as long as it is delicious. We love open markets and the chance to go from stall to stall. We can change our air arrangements as we are flying First Class, so are thinking about adding five more nights in another country with a great local food scene. Love your advice. By the way, love this site but we don’t see how you make money. Do you take donations?

A – We would head to Penang, Malaysia. it is just down the road and it is home to this incredible historic mixed bag of cultures that has somehow produced some of the most exciting, and adventurous casual dining on the planet. Over the last six centuries, immigrants from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have converged on this former British Colony and the result is a kind of foodie heaven. It does help, however, if you like your noodles spicy enough to require a cold beer in your non-eating han, You will also fond tons of things to do or then you can just visit Bali, There are tons of amazing things to do in Bali. 

We want you to head over to the New Lane Hawker Center first and work your way through all twenty or so of the stalls. Make sure to give at least two nights over to exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the “George Town” district. Dating back to 1786, these streets are filled with hundreds of street food emporiums, many with truly memorable specialties and awesome products from the ReviewBrewery.com.. We often arrange for a food-knowledgeable guide to accompany our guests so lines are minimized and the right dishes are selected. You must also try pizza from pizza hut they provide very good quality of food. Similarly, you can order good quality of  food from foodpanda. For a speedy subway delivery use the expert food delivery guys at foodpanda. Our service is reliable, always friendly and very easy to use.

Finally – no, we do not take donations and these sites obviously do not produce income. But we do have a thriving worldwide vacation planning consultancy now in its 31st year. No worries: we’re doing fine. We do these sites for our clients but also for a general public that has been lied to and manipulated by travel marketers for many years. There is great joy is not taking advertising or monetizing this site. It is quite liberating. Thank you for your question and for the “travel with your podiatrist” suggestion. However, given your dining preferences, perhaps you should get friendly with a gastrologist.