If you want to stretch your dining dollar while on the road, try lunch.

True, many business dining events are oriented to the evening. But that’s often on the company’s tab anyway.

On a vacation with your partner or family, splurging on lunch can have many benefits. First off: money. Many top restaurants offer lower prices for lunch than for dinner. As I blog from Paris, a quick scan of some top spots shows the spread: Taillevent has a 70 euro lunch compared with 140 or 190 euro dinner menus. At the summer dining room at the Hotel Bristol, there’s a 90 euro lunch menu as opposed to a la carte in the evening. And at Pierre Gagnaire, it’s 90 euro prix fixe lunch vs 225 for dinner.

You might have noticed that this is still dropping over $100+ on lunch–and we haven’t even gotten to the wine yet (but tax and tip are included!). But I chose these high-end restaurants because they illustrate the cost-savings that are available at many restaurants in Paris and beyond.

Having your finest meal of the day at midday also provides the advantage of being to walk off the meal during the afternoon. Viewing art at museums burns calories, you know.

And if you have your little ones in tow, lunch may be your best shot at breaking out of a string of pizza joints. Fellow diners might be more accommodating at lunch. And many outdoor spaces such as terraces might be only available at the noon hour, providing some additional space.

And perhaps the best thing about having a nice lunch while you’re on vacation is that there’s no rule saying you can’t have a nice dinner too.

Tyler Colman, Ph.D. writes about value vino on DrVino.com.

“I could never imagine going to Vinexpo [wine trade show in Bordeaux] without a cell phone,” someone told me. Why? Because I did just that.

It was unintentional, of course. Despite having a quad-band phone, I forgot the charger to my Motorola Razr. So no phone during the show. Perhaps you have felt a similar frustration in your overseas travels.

I got reunited with my charger while in France and installed a SIM chip from Orange, a local cell phone provider. It cost 30 euros for the chip and a few minutes credit. I later reloaded it at one of the ubiquitous tobacco stores (yes, that’s what they’re called) where they give you a code to add prepaid minutes. Calling domestic land lines in France is a low per minute rate. But calling French mobiles and the US sucks down the credits faster than I would a glass of 1982 Petrus.

I thought I was being Mr. Savvy International Traveler by going local. But in the end, I’m not sure it was worth it. Yes, I got a French number that is valid for eight months. But the domestic rates for calling mobile phones is so high in France, I’m not sure it’s any less than calling an American number.

So next time I might just switch on international roaming, which generally ranges from $0.99 to $1.29 a minute from American carriers. Imagine that: what’s the most convenient might also be the most price competitive. If you have further suggestions for ways to maximize your mobile, post them in the comments! And what about the iPhone–is it quad-band?

Tyler Colman, Ph.D. writes about wine in print and online at DrVino.com

Apologies for the delayed notice, but I’m in the process of moving, and posting has been difficult. But every trip means more material!

Next week, things should get closer to normal.

A teaser: Look forward to a report from my first stay at a Hyatt Place (the selectively-renovated, newly-rebranded, and otherwise unrecognizable second life of Amerisuites). Also: stories of how my wife and I ended up playing hotel housekeeper at 4:15 a.m., putting sheets on the bed in a room we had finally checked into. Good times!

In the interim, mega-thanks to guest poster Tyler Colman, a.k.a. Dr. Vino, for his live-from-France posts!

As a peripatetic wine writer I often get asked the question: can you take wine on a plane? In this day and age of the Global War on Toiletries, the short answer is no.

However, the good folks at Reef sandals may be on their way to helping plane travelers in need of a nip. They have a pair of sandals known as “the dram” (aff) that has a 1.5 ounce reservoir in each sole. Three ounces? That sounds like the TSA magic number for liquids to me!

The only catch is that you would have to have feet small enough so that the sandals fit inside the infamous one-quart plastic bag. Oh, and the fluid would have to be less than 140 proof (as the TSA helpfully elaborates, that includes 150 proof rum and 95% grain alcohol).

Tyler Colman checked wine in the hold and has some tips from his experience.

I recently flew on the new all-business class airline, L’Avion, from New York to Paris. Or make that actually from Newark (EWR) to Paris Orly (ORY) since that is their route. The airline sells seats on a reconfigured Boeing 757-200 for often much less what business class seats sell for on the major airlines. And they are filling those seats since the company is ahead of its business plan and may add more flights. Thus Mark asked me to provide my first-hand perspective to you.

Since I had never been to Newark International Airport before (gasp!) I was particularly delighted to receive the email telling me where to check in. I proceeded to the appropriate terminal, door, and counter number only to be greeted with a queue for a LOT flight to Poland. Aha. I must admit to a slight panic when I had a flashback to trying to book my ticket on the phone and only getting voicemail! Was this airline for real, I wondered?

Indeed it is. A few queries later and I found the two check-in desks where I was thrilled to find absolutely nobody in line. Passport read, bag checked and I was on my way. Very easy check in. (Longish line at the TSA, however.)

If you are expecting a lounge, this is where the discount part kicks in. L’Avion has arranged for gate 51 to be partitioned off and serves as a waiting area for their Paris passengers. There you will find the finest bottled water, Budweiser, mixed nuts, and cheddar cubes that good money will buy at Food Emporium. I found it overly full and awkwardly silent so wandered back to the main gate area where boarding started on time and proceeded swiftly.

Once on board, I thought a charming member of their staff would greet me with a glass of Champagne. A wine writer can but dream. No drink offer ever came before take off. Interesting drinks are not expensive, L’Avion: provide them liberally.

We pushed back from the gate and sat on the tarmac without a word from the cockpit. And sat. Finally, the usual patter came on about backups, delays yadda yadda and now we’re ninth in line for take off. Information is free, L’Avion: provide it freely. In this day and age of nine-hour groundstops, inquiring minds of fliers want to know what’s going on.

The seat is good, I’m pleased to report, although it is a “cradle” not a flatbed in case that’s what you’re after. The bag of goodies offered, however, is the exact same bag of goodies I remember getting in coach, way back when coach had amenities. The same plastic eyeshade that sticks to your face. A hard-bristled toothbrush. And a pair of those sock things that go over your socks.

The media was the first to arrive. They distributed some little hand-held monitors that had the entertainment in them. In the spirit of adventure I took one even though my only goal was to sleep on the flight. There’s a basic array of movies and games on the system. Oddly, it plugs in to a power socket in your seat. So not only do you have this hand-held monitor (with a pull-out stand to rest on the tray table if it is not in use with, say, your dinner) but your hip is being gouged by the plug adapter.

I just wanted to eat and go to sleep. But, alas, after our delay of almost an hour on the ground, the food did not appear for another hour and with it more exciting beverages than the bottle of Crystal Geyser that greeted me on my seat. The food was solid. And the wine? I’ll save that–and my final conclusions–for the future posting on my return journey.

Tyler Colman, Ph.D. writes about wine in print and on DrVino.com

After posting about the difficulties in reserving a mixed US Airways-United itinerary on either airline’s website last week, I contacted the two airlines about their codesharing policies, looking for some clarification. I’m pleased to report that US Airways has replied with a detailed response.

I asked Valerie Wunder, Associate Manager of Media Relations, to clarify why United-operated flights that had a US-codeshare weren’t coming up on usairways.com. (I asked similar questions of United Airlines, but have not yet received a reply.) She responded with a great, detailed e-mail, the bulk of which is quoted below the jump.

Four things stand out for me:

1) My observation that codeshared flights were restricted from sale (and not simply sold out) is largely validated, though my suspicions for the cause of the restriction are in dispute. Two reasons for the failure to list all codeshares are cited: “System migration issues” and “minimum connect timetable issues.” The former reason makes some sense, considering the integration of America West with US Airways systems has been incremental and problematic. Why should codeshare sales be any different?

But the minimum connect times? Over an hour’s connect time at CLT shouldn’t be an issue, so either the computers are being overly aggressive in blocking out partner flights with “short” connects, or this is a red herring.

2) United isn’t codesharing on the US Airways flights that are technically still operated by America West. United also isn’t codesharing US Airways Express flights when the plane has a capacity greater than 69 people. In both cases, “commercial reasons” are cited. Hmm…

3) US can’t sell UA nonstops if they operate the same exact nonstop route. ORD-CLT and ORD-DCA might be such routes. But they can sell these flights if they’re part of a connection.

4) More codeshares might be hard to come by, because they’re running out of numbers to use.

The bottom line from the airline’s corporate HQ is that US Airways’ website and reservation center still have a few more kinks to iron out of their system. They admit as much. And they admit that other booking sites may come up with more options (which is somewhat like throwing in the towel…)

Read the complete official explanation after the jump…
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