C8 -Sunday News, August 10, 1980

A pot-po

Dear Readers:

This is an open letter to those of you who call me on the telephone. 1 enjoy receiving your calls and many of you have given me hints and questions that have been invaluable in preparing “Travel-Wise”. HOWEVER: It irks the hell out of me when I try to return you calls and find that your line is busy for hours at a time.

Please! If you intend to make a call to everyone in the telephone book, in-

chiding the News office, give the receptionist a time when I may return the call without getting two hours of busy signals!

I received a letter from a reader today including some valuable trave tips which [ll have to summarize to pass on to you. They are the result of her son’s year-long world tour.

TRAVEL ATLAS:

Her son bought a dandy but it doesn’t seem to be available here in Canada. If you want to order it, perhaps a local bookstore will do it for you. The title is MINI POCKET ATLAS printed by John Bartholemew and Son Ltd., Edinburgh. Give it a try if you’re anxious to find a

really good small (4"x5"x3/8") atlas. IAMAT:

Her son joined before he left home (perhaps because

he read about it in “Travel- Wise”? and when he became very ill in Mombassa he received excellent care from both the doctor and the hospital at very reasonable cost.

AMERICAN EXPRESS:

Many offices will not act as your mail depot unless you are carrying their brand of travellers’ cheques. He had great success with using the Canadian Consulate offices everywhere. OVERLAND TRAVEL BETWEEN KHARTOUM AND NAIROBI:

This is a trip that he would vehemently oppose anyone doing. I wonder why?

You'll be interested in the following price comparison charts between Vancouver- London and Vancouver- Frankfurt by three of Canada’s major carriers (CP Air, Wardair, Air Canada). It is a good start for anyone doing comparison shopping for summer and fall travel to Europe. These are published charter class fares and are governed by the usual book and pay ahead regulations.

Dear Barbara:

With all these charter companies such as Redwing and Tripmakers folding, my liusband and I are a little concerned about losing our money if we book with one of the existing companies.

by Barbara McCreadie

We want to go to Las Vegas this fall and the all-inclusive packages are so much cheaper than booking a regular fare and finding our own accommodation. Give us some help, please.

Answer:

Since the government regulations were changed in 1978, money received from travellers as prepayment for tours is insured. In other words, you won't lose it. However, it is disappointing to have your _ holiday scratched at the last minute because some outfit has

WHETHER YOUR DESTINATION be Greece or somewhere close to home there are handreds of little time and money saving tips for the new traveller. Barbara has compfied just a few from her many readers which she presents in her column.

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(C=

taken a nosedive. We have flown with Silverwing to Reno and Las Vegas several timres and had no problems so ] called Wellington Lee, the president of the com- pany for some words of wisdom:

“We are in business and intend to stay. To do that a company has to make a profit. We are.” He invited me to have a chat with his bank manager if I had any doubts.

Wellington also that I speak Orange, Marketing Manager, Passenger Charters, Pacific Western Airlines. I did.

“Silverwing’s financial status is well-known to us. It has to be because it is not to our advantage to do business with any company which may be insecure. There is no problem.

“If I may say so, Silver- wing is particularly well-run. Wellington is so involved with that business that he can probably tell you the name of every passenger on every flight every day.

insisted to David

“We never get complaints about Silverwing's service.”

What more can I say? I guess that your schedule should stay intact if you book there, barring “Acts of God” such hurricanes, strikes (7?) and volcanoes.

By late August CP Air’s tour division will be packing

Lene

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tours to travel agents and since they haven't published their prices as yet, I can't

help you comparison shopping. They'll probably be in the same bracket, maybe a few bucks more. If CP Air goes broke, you'd better stay home for the funeral because the rest of Canada will probably follow suit.

Dear Barbara:

I'm writing you as a last resort. My 18-year-old daughter has just informed me that she is quitting school and going to Europe with her boyfriend for six months. What's worse, her father (we're separated) is giving her the money! Barbara, this boyfriend is a punk. I just know that he'll take her money and lieave_ her stranded in some terrible place. Her father seems to think the guy is OK but how should he know? He's been a punk himself all his life. What can I do?

Answer: If you husband can spare

‘enough money to send the

girl to Europe for six months, he must have some

smarts! I'm no Ann Landers but my guess is that your problem has a wider im-

‘plication than just an 18-

year-old saying “Bye-bye!” Is this kid so dumb that she can't handle some travellers’ cheques? Is Daddy so broke that he couldn't rescue her in an emergency? “Collect” telephone calls from Europe aren't difficult as long as the kid i8 smart enough to dial a phone.

I'm not going to tangle with the “morality” of an 18- year-old spending six months with a boyfriend. J do know that a boy-girl combination can be a lot safer than single girls travelling together from the simple angle that European men can _ be irresistable, as can other travellers.

Lay off, Mom. She'll probably do exactly what she wants anyway but you'd rather have her come home to YOU, wouldn't you?

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