New York to London flights
Hello travelers,
I'm back after a long nap (actually a combination of jury duty, teaching my Europe for the Savvy Traveler class, and attending the Seattle Travel Show).
Was fascinated by the news about Silverjet, a British airline that launched last week, offering luxury air travel for business people from New York to London (actually they fly out of Newark into Luton). One-way introductory fare is $899. Their posh spoil you rotten service, which includes flat beds, cushy comfort and loads of frills, isn't for the budget-minded, but happily there's another option--a new service--for London-bound travelers:
Discount flights New York to London
Travel Weekly reports that Zoom Airlines, home-based in Canada, has applied for permission to fly 767s from New York's JFK to London's Gatwick Airport (LGW) starting this summer.
Zoom operates several routes from Canada to the U.K. and France already and evidentially sees a potential in a JFK-London service. They will most likely add a London-San Francisco route later. Yippee!
Airfare on Zoom's Canada-UK route starts as low as $194 (99 pounds) each way.
Buon giorno ~ Bonjour
LATEST NEWSLETTER SCOOPS:
The Ile-de-France tourism committee is offering a Paris hand signals guide; visit http://cestsoparis.com for details…Fodors Wire dug into their archives and came up with some goodies: Paris on a Budget, the latest on London “Yotels” (capsule hotels) and, as always shares “dirt-cheap” deals on hotels and airfares to Europe.
Not to be outdone, Frommer’s focuses on Cycling & Hiking Adventures in Italy.
If
cycling is your thing don’t forget my friends
at
Bike Riders,
(based in Boston) who produce the most gorgeous
tour brochure (it’s actually a book) in the
universe. They offer fabulous tours of
Europe.
Their “Paradis
en Provence,”
page 36, photo story is so beautiful it’s
suitable for framing. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.
Wish I knew how to ride a bike…
Visit
Viator
for
London, Paris and Zurich
bargains.
CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO
Food
and Wine
editor-in-chief, Dana Cowin gives high marks
to
San Francisco’s A16
restaurant (2355 Chestnut St., (415) 771-2216 for its
“perfect pizzas and pastas with great Southern
Italian wines.”
Good
news for foodies! January is
“Dine
About Town”
month in
San Francisco
when 100+ eateries will offer
Visa
cardholders great deals on three-course meals: $21.95
for lunch, $31.95 for dinner.
Longing for some sunshine?
PALM SPRINGS
is fabulous for a
winter getaway.
Travel
and Leisure
is offering a special promotion for
MONTEREY.
That’s it for now, folks. I’m “on
deadline” for my humor column and am STILL
working on my book.
Ciao baby!
DAY
TRIPS
Viator just
announced some wonderful day trips and sightseeing
tours:
Sample tours (prices in US dollars):
Walking Tour of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
Museums, Sistine Chapel $30.17,
Buckingham Palace and
Afternoon Tea at The
Selfridge Hotel in
London $55,
Hop On, Hop Off tour of Paris $36.
There are many more, including themed tours
(shopping, food and wine, castles, walking and
biking).
FAREWELL FIRENZE
Check out Fodor’s Travel Wire
newsletter
for their
Most Overrated (and
Underrated)
Destinations
2006 list.
Florence,
Italy made the
overrated list twice (but it's still a must for first
time visitors—just go in the spring or late
fall.) Couldn’t agree more with their
assessment of
Pompeii, though.
It’s an inferno in summer.
EUROPE
WINTER SALE
Now
through March 31
American Airlines
is
offering some great airfares to
Europe. Los
Angeles to
Paris, for
example, is only $518 RT. Naturally there are dozens
of provisos, so good luck.
Alki Tours, based
in Seattle, is offering a 15-day tour in May
of
England,
Scotland, Ireland and Wales for $3000 per
person (double occupancy). Price includes RT airfare
from Seattle. There’s also an 11-day
Italy tour for
$2700.
BELLA,
BELLA
Critics
of
Russell Crowe’s new
film
A Good Year give it
one-star and are saying Mr. Crowe needs to stick to
dramas, however the
Provencal scenery is
fabulous. The
Illusionist is another
film that got less than sterling reviews,
however
Prague has never
looked more gorgeous.
VINDICATION!
What did I
tell ya? The Nov. 24 issue of
LIFE (the
rotogravure insert) suggests to prevent
DVT (deep vein
thrombosis) a potential, life-threatening condition,
move about the cabin every hour on long flights to
keep the blood flowing. Stretch your legs, even while
seated, and drink lots of water. To that sage advice
I will add: wear compression socks--they're a real
lifesaver!
And, this from the latest issue of
Budget Travel: Hotel
managers loathe it when guests make reservations
through a third party (Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline,
etc.) because the hotel winds up making little if any
profit.
Guests who reserve directly with the hotel
receive “far better service.”
I
experienced this on recent domestic
trips.
**EUROPE FOR THE SAVVY TRAVELER GUIDE**
75-pages
* Paperback * Vintage illustrations
A hilarious guide geared to women travelers
Wisdom, tips and tidbits
$8.50 USD
Email
Madcap Mary
for details.
