The rest of Q&A

Q – Well we are going to finally do a real trip and head off to India in 2012. We know that you have advocated travel to India and we’re going to do it. We’ve started our searches and it seems as though there are two primary questions to ask right away? Should we do Northern India, Southern India, or a combination of the two. We would stay about twelve days. Secondly, when should we go. we assume some months are better than others. My wife and I are in our mid-fifties, reasonably well traveled, and, except for Diabetes (Check out blood sugar ultra, diabetes experts) ,I’m in good shape, although my diabetes has been improving thanks to the diets I’ve been following in askhealthnews online. Thanks for the opportunity to pose these questions in such an uncluttered atmosphere. Learn about how to treat blood sugar on Blood Sugar Ultra.

A – Our pleasure. Do Northern India on your first trip. You don’t have the time to do both justice and seeing the palaces and the forts is not to be missed. The sights, sounds, and colors will amaze you. We want you to do the trip between October and February, but if you plan on seeing Varanasi, and you must, it is best to avoid the second half of December and the month of January as there can be substantial fog in the area. The absolute best two months are October and February. The southern part of India is lush, green, much more laid back with a wonderful rural feel. You will also be able to get away from the severe overcrowding you will experience in the north.So do the north first and go south for exotic beach locations. India is full of travel destinations so get some help deciding what locations to cover with luxury India holidays.  There are ample online resources to dig deep and learn about travel destinations in India and make a choice as to what would be best location for your holiday in India.

Q – We read your “Cruise Line Sophistication Index” with a great deal of interest. But we’re less afraid of being at sea with sophisticates then we are locked up for a week or two with “snobs.” Any chance you would help out any number of traveltruth readers who feel like we do by listing those lines most apt to attract passengers with a need to show off  their jewelry and their wealth. I know which of the lines are the top-rated but I have no idea how comfortable we would be with the on-board crowd.

A – Our first impression is that you probably should not be thinking about going on a top-rate line if you are worried that some of your fellow guests may be affluent in the extreme. Clearly some will fit that category. We would not attempt to create a snob index because that would portray some very nice, kind, and generous guests in an unfairly negative manner. So let’s compromise a bit. Let us offer you our estimate of the net worth index, pointing out those lines with the most affluent guests:

# 5 – Regent Seven Seas

# 4 – Seabourn

# 3 – Crystal

# 2 – Silverseas

# 1 – Residensea

Q – We have a rather specific question. We can fly to Barcelona from Philadelphia or JFK in New York. We’ve found three airfares similarly-priced, with decent availability, US Air, Lufthansa, and American. We’ll probably end up flying coach. Which of these airlines has the best seating and the best food?

A – In your scenario, we would look at the aircraft and choose between Lufthansa or American. If at all possible, fly the 777 on American and have your agent select two seats on the  side. Check with Seat Guru to make certain there is nothing wrong with your seat location. Lufthansa is the best of the three airlines in terms of overall passenger satisfaction and  you likely will be flying an Airbus 340 or a 747.  US Air is the lowqest ranking of the three.  We would advise you to go to ITAsoftware.com to review the actual time of your trip with connections.Mostly all airline have the healthy water facility,You can also visit website reviewing water descalers at aircraft.

You should either order a special dinner from your airline such as  “Seafood” , Kosher, or “Vegetarian”. There is no extra charge and you will be eating far better food than the regular fare. But when it comes to international coach, we always advise that you wait until you have passed the final security checkpoint and then put together a nice picnic dinner from the best available food outlets to bring on board. Technically, you can bring food from a restaurant or home through a security checkpoint. Just do drinks and, possibly, dessert aboard an aircraft and never drink the water unless you know for certain that it came out of a bottle or it has water softener reviews approvement. To make for a lovely dinner hour, we suggest a paper tanlecloth and a nice plastic flower folded in your carry-on. Other travelers will be filled with envy at your intelligent preparation.

Q – What an odd site – you people have obviously never been to business school. You could be making a lot of money if you featured advertising and, quite frankly, ads  wouldn’t bother me a bit. Anyway, I come to you with a question no one seems willing to address. It’s simple – my wife and I love great service. If good people are taking care of us, we’re happy and in a great mood. We’re about to go on our first cruise, probably somewhere in Europe during July or August. Which Cruise Line has the best overall service?

A – It would bother us. We do not believe you can review travel products honestly while accepting payment from them for advertising. This is something we learned while earning our MBA.

The best current overall service levels among the five-star ships will be found on Crystal Cruises.

Q – We were just reading about American Airlines going bankrupt and it sent shivers down my spine. My husband and I  been saving Advantage Miles for years and we’re planning on using the 250,000 miles we’ve accumulated for several trips we have planned in the next 24 months. We’re in our seventies and not very familiar with how these things work. Our travel agent says we should just “stay calm” but the news doesn’t sound too good. We have good credit scores so we will take your advice about getting those certain American Express or Visa cards. But what if we were planning on using miles to fly American next June. Couldn’t they just change the rules and make it harder to get seats using the miles? Or, they could end the program all together.What should we do, this is really getting us frustrated. Any advice would really be appreciated..

A – Your travel agent’s advice to remain calm is sound. But there are some steps you ought to take to protect yourself while remaining in a state of calm.  You can use some of your miles to cash in for an open ticket coupon that will have a one year validity. You might also consider using your miles for one or two domestic vacations on American. We do think, as regards flights to Europe, that American will be making it harder to cash in mileage for upgrades and free flights given the anticipated decline in availability. There will be route reductions and some routes may be served with smaller aircraft. Unprofitable routes will be eliminated. This all adds up, in our opinion, to a reduction of between 15-20% in available overseas mileage seats on American flights in 2012. But that is nothing more than an educated guess. No one knows what will come out of this bankruptcy. The vast majority of aviation analysts take the view that this is really what American needed to do to remain competitive going into the future. And don’t rule out a potential merger. So, get rid of 50% of your American miles, enroll in one of the mileage credit cards we’ve recommended that allow you to transfer miles from your account to several major airline, join at least one other airline mileage club program, and request your mileage seats 11 months to the day prior to your scheduled flight. Do all of those things and you will be fine and, by the way, so will American. Watch American’s web site, AA.com for some significant new offers we expect to be available on January 2nd.

Q – My girlfriend and I are off to Cancun in three weeks. We’ve never been to Mexico and I was really looking forward to trying the tacos made on the street. I was wondering if street food or food from food trucks, if they have such a thing, is safe in Cancun or other parts of Mexico?

A – Safe in an interesting word. Will you die from street food or the delights served in the shacks along the beach? Probably not. Will you get really sick? There is a high probability. It has a great deal to do with your bodies tolerance of certain microbes in the food. If you have not been there, you have not built up an immunity. Locals will not get ill. We’re betting you will. Travel sophisticates and those who need to remain in the good graces of the Mexican Tourism Board will claim that Motezuma’s Revenge is an out-of-date stereotype. To a certain degree it is since health and hygiene standards have improved dramatically in tourist areas of Mexico. But it still occurs often enough that first-time travelers are entitled to some cautionary advice.

Q – My wife and I watched Peter Greenberg on The Early Show this morning and we heard several things that were rather new to us. He said that you should never stay above the eighth floor in a high-rise hotel, that you should only ask for rooms that have a booster of some sort, and that it is never a good idea to book a hotel with anyone but the Manager of the hotel. I know he has written several books but I was wondering what you thought of this advice and if  it makes sense for travelers like us who go abroad on vacation twice a year? I guess we’re also asking if Peter Greenberg is someone we ought to be listening to regarding travel advice?

A – Peter has been at this for a long time and he recently joined CBS after serving as the Travel Editor for the Today Show on NBC. He does have a sense of the dramatic but, look, when you are on live TV they expect you to be dramatic. Peter has strong consumer travel credentials and we think his advice is always well-intentioned, if a tad overblown. The issues of water pressure boosters and the safest floors in a high-rise hotel are subjects we have covered previously on traveltruth.

Rooms do not have boosters, but entire floors do at high-rise hotels. Peter is correct in recommending that guests request a floor that has a “water booster system”. These boosters are used every three or four floors. The water pressure from your shower on a floor with the booster system will definitely get you significantly more water pressure. That is rather important to some folks. We have heard Peter reference the fire safety issue concerning rooms above the eighth floor. He is absolutely correct in suggesting that most fire departments do not have the capability of rescuing guests from their rooms above this height. But the installation of fire suppression system or alert system by https://www.ph-el.dk can alert you for moving in safe zone. High rise hotel managers cringe when he raises the subject but we give him a great deal of credit for doing so. Ideally, we recommend that our clients seek the fifth through the eighth floor to avoid street noises and banquet rooms. But, of course, every hotel is different. Finally, if Peter suggested that you make your hotel reservations through the Hotel Manager we would, respectfully, disagree. You never want to book a hotel online, because you will be assigned the worst room. If you use a hotel’s own 800 number you will likely be outsourced or handled by reservations staff that lacks the authority to throw in upgrades or amenities that actually mean something. The best way to book a hotel is to do it through a travel agent who gives the hotel a lot of business and who has a personal relationship with management. If your agent belongs to one of the better consortium groups such as Virtuoso, Signature, or Ensemble, it is possible that guaranteed amenities and upgrade programs are already in place. But don;t expect your travel agent to have any clout with Holiday Inn. Clout only really works at the upper end of the hotel scale.  If you choose to pay the hotel the built-in travel agent commission but you prefer to book directly, try dealing with tthe Rooms Manager or the Director of Reservations. Peter’s books including “The Travel Detective” are filled with advice that is tough to find elsewhere. His style requires the reader to be rather confrontational but, then again, Peter lives in New York.  Yes, you ought to be listening to Peter’s advice. He’s forgotten more than most travel commentators know.

Q –  We are headed to Italy this summer and have every aspect of our trip planned with the exception of four nights along the Amalfi Coast. From reading the information on traveltruth and speaking with friends who have been there, it sounds as though we need to be in Positano. But the hotels that everyone recommends, Le Siranuse and San Pietro are coming in at about $800 per night and up in June. We were thinking more like half of that. We like nice things and we also like nice values. Is Positano right for us (first-time in Italy) and is there any hotel you might recommend that borders on wonderfulness at a much more favorable price?

A – We think that Poistano, though packed with day-trippers during June through October, is still the right place to stay. Its hillside charms and stunning harbor views more than make up for any inconveniences. The place you should try first is Buca di Bacco. It is family-owned, has a great restaurant, it is just a few moments from the beach and it offers prices for many of its 53 rooms that begin under $400 per night. But do remember that Italy has 18% VAT plus some local taxes and food is expensive. A very close second is the Hotel Poseidon with 48 rooms and a staff that seems to enjoy serving guests. The pool setting and the views couldn’t be better and you are, again, looking at rates that oiught to come in under $500 USD.

We should add that many visitors to Italy this coming summer will be surprised at prices that approach $1,000 USD per night at most of the five-star properties along the Amalfi Coast, in Venice, Florence, and in Rome. It is a matter of the weak dollar, a very high level of VAT taxes, and demand far exceeding availability.

Q – We just had to comment on your recent posting about TripAdvisor. Whilst we understand your leanings toward the upwardly mobile user, many of us just don’t fancy freu-freu accommodations when we travel. And there are millions of us out there who would never take an escorted tour, a cruise, or even think about having a private guide to lead us by the hand. A clean room,  a  loo, and a safe location – those are the things we need in a hotel. So please tell us why you are so arrogant when it comes to those of us, millions of us, who rely on TripAdvisor? I wonder what your reasoning is and why I should turn to the  hotel inspection reports you describe? Do you really think I would ever spend more than 150 Pounds on a hotel room for the night? Your site is clever and well done but it is clearly written for Americans. You might consider that the Internet is global? I don’t expect this to be printed but trust you will find a way to respond?

A – Your question is fair and well stated so we are pleased to answer. You are correct. For your needs, it sounds as though Internet searches, including the steaming piles of user feedback, will serve you well. The hotels you are using would not, we believe, even be included in the ratings service we referenced. You are also correct, our site is oriented toward the American, and Canadian, traveler. As you are aware, large numbers of TripAdvisor opinions are written by users worldwide. They do not, therefore, reflect accurately the cultural hotel preferences of the average American traveler. As a result, many of the “top-rated” accommodations do not include the  best properties in a location. TripAdvisor has taken some recent steps to clean up its act but the fact is that “Buzz Marketingt” is real. That is a new form of advertising that uses internet feedback to get good things said about your product while denigrating the products of your competitors. Many marketing departments maintain numerous fake e-mail addresses that they use to respond to popular sites. So what you see on the Internet is often tainted information placed there by savvy marketers who know that they have to camouflage product endorsements int the form of reader feedback or reviews. In order to accurately rate a hotel, one must have a very solid background in the industry and be able to place the property in the context of others in the same area.

Again, the only generally accurate reviews of hotels worldwide, are those that appear in the ABC Reports. They are the industry standard. They specify which floors and room types are best along with notations on a great many areas of service. They also address the expectations of the guest, informing the travel professional as to exactly what kind of client might find the property most appropriate. And, they travel incognito. The hotels never know they are being professionally reviewed.  There are many sources from which you can glean information. Certainly there are some wonderful blogs and the leading consumer magazines in the States. Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure offer tremendously helpful recommendations and updated reviews. But, for the person doing careful planning, it is, in our view, always best to have the actual official hotel inspection reports in your hand before making a hotel decision.

Q – I’ve noticed that traveltruth.com and other professional sites seem to take a dim view of TripAdvisor. I like to book my own hotels for business and pleasure but I know their reviews are often way off the mark. Does your staff use TA and, if so, how do you get the most out of it? I’m really curious as I just don’t know of any alternatives. How, for instance, would I really be able to learn the truth about the three best properties on St. Lucia without TripAdvisor? Love this site but wish you’d have more about hotels and less about cruises and airlines.

A – You are correct, TripAdvisor is immensely popular. It has 50 million visitors per month on its sites in 30 countries. That is the epitome of travel clout. TripAdvisor comments can lead to hotel closings or sudden bursts of new business. The company is now operational  in China at www.daodao.com  Expedia is spinning off TripAdvisor and it will shortly become a publicly-traded compamny. Expedia.com also owns Hotels.com, and Hotwirfe.com. It is a huge media corporation with 18 seperate travel brands virtually allof which are internet-based.

To answer you directly, we are not aware of any serious travel professional or journalist who takes the opinions, reviews, hatchet jobs or blatant self-promotion on TripAdvisor seriously. We would never pass on information gathered from that source to clients or to traveltruth visitors. That is not to say that you can’t dig up valuable information on the site.  The company claims that there are currently 50 million “reviews and opinions” that can be accessed. But exactly who is writing them? Clearly, hotel executives are upset enough with some of the inaccuracies to begin posting in defense of their properties.

One of the best ways to use the  feedback  on TripAdvisor is to look for comments by the General Managers of the hotels mentioned. We are seeing this more and more and this presents an opportunity originally identified by Wendy Perrin in Conde Nast Traveler. She recommends you look over a posting from the GM at the property you plan to book. You now have the General Manager’s  e-mail address, often their private e-mail address. Send them a note and explain how much you enjoyed their post. Ask them to assist with your reservation. You might even want to ask if an upgrade will be possible. They may well be concerned enough about your next posting on TravelAdvisor to really look after you.

Which brings us to your most important question. How do you really get honest information about the hotels you are considering. Where on the web can you go? The answer is, up to this point, nowhere. Every hotel site we’ve seen accepts advertising from hotels and avoids hard-hitting specifics. The only place you will really know about the relative quality of a hotel, anywhere in the world, is to use a travel consultant who has access to the ABC Reports, a subscription to regularly updated reviews of every major worldwide hotel. The ABC Reports are written by professional hotel inspectors for the use of travel agents. There is no advertising and the evaluations are specific and professional. They are very specific and are the only truly reliable reviews we’ve seen. Hotels do not know they are being inspected and the company does not accept advertising. You need to work with a travel agent who will supply you with these reports before you make a hotel decision. Agents normally do not charge for this service.   

Finally, if you want to explore tripadvisor in a bit more detail, you may want to visit this, no-holds barred attack on their alleged practices. http://tripadvisorwarning.wordpress.com/