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A short write-up of around-the-world ticket options in the New York Times today, while generally good, left out some important options.

- Branch out. The article advises checking with the 3 big airline alliance websites (Star Alliance, OneWorld, and SkyTeam) to see flight options. That’s great, but don’t limit yourself to the alliances alone. Some airlines have side agreements outside their alliance that may be appealing, such as the Emirates/United round-the-world ticket.

- Talk to a travel agent. While many airlines can sell you the ticket, it’s often easier to deal with an agent for this kind of thing. Not every airline customer service rep knows the minutiae of round-the-world ticketing. I’d even suggest you talk to more than one travel agent, to compare pricing, routing, and heck, personality.

- Start in Sri Lanka. If you’re going around the world twice or more, consider buying the second (and third, etc.) ticket someplace like Colombo, Sri Lanka. I’m not kidding. You can buy a business class RTW ticket there for about the same price as a coach RTW ticket in the US or most of Europe, on the same airlines. The article mentions this, but it’s really worth driving home.

tags: travel | RTW | round the world tickets

Reader Pete writes in:

Hi, I’ve got award tickets to Brazil booked on Varig. I used my U.S. Airways miles a while ago, and we’re going to a wedding in Rio. I’ve read that Varig Airlines is cancelling flights and is in danger of shutting down entirely. What happens to my tickets if Varig stops flying? Thanks!

Well, Pete, you may want to change those tickets to other flights, or you are going to be sweating it out. Varig (short for Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense), was Brazil’s largest airline for years, though it’s fallen on hard times lately, and it’s been crushed domestically by competitors TAM and Gol. Recently, flights have been cancelled, planes have been repossessed, and even a last-minute bailout offer by Varig employees fell short — they couldn’t come up with the cash. Another offer is pending, but the airline is very much at risk of going belly-up.

You’d be in good company if you change your tickets. Even the Brazilian national soccer team rebooked their tickets. They’re flying home from the World Cup on Lufthansa.

If I were you, I’d call US Airways and see if you could rebook your tickets. Visit the Star Alliance website first to see what your routing options are, and offer these as suggestions to the phone agent when you call. Since you’re flying to Rio, presumably from the United States, you might ask for a rebooking onto United, a fellow Star Alliance member. If you’re flying from Europe, try for Lufthansa. But, since Varig is still technically flying (and you didn’t indicate when you’d be flying to Rio), any change will probably cost you money; it’s entirely up to the folks at US Airways. If Varig shuts down, you’ll probably be able to make changes for free. Ask for a fee waiver if they intend to charge you for the change.

Alternatively, if rebooking the award isn’t an option, consider cancelling the award tickets (recrediting your account) and buying tickets with real money. You’ll feel safer knowing you’ll actually attend the wedding.

If you must (or want to) risk it and stick with the existing Varig itinerary, you may want to look into travel insurance to cover you in case of flight cancellation. Check with the credit card you used to pay any taxes or fees, too, to see if some automatic coverage is included. Before you pay for any insurance, make sure they cover 1) frequent flyer tickets, and 2) Varig.

Good luck, and keep us posted…

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tags: travel | air travel | Varig | frequent flyer miles

First off, my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Vino for his excellent contributions during my absence the past week. It was nice to leave the laptop at home, knowing the blog was in capable hands. Be sure to check out his site for advice on maximizing your wine buying dollar, and see his blog for regular wine commentary.

The last week was a good one, though I think I need to take a few days off of chocolate and cheese. (I won’t do a trip report unless the masses demand it, but we spent a little over a week in the Netherlands, touring cities and the blooming bulb fields.)

I’m not quite back on Central Daylight Time yet, despite my best efforts. (Though it’s too late now, I checked the British Airways jet lag advisor site to see if I’m on track to overcome jet lag quickly. Not quite. It would have been nearly impossible to follow their “avoid light from 9:00 to 11:30am” suggestion, seeing as I have a job to go to…) Someday I really need to try melatonin or some other drug. It’s all the rage, after all.

Besides sleep, I’m also catching up on what’s happened in the past week, but clearly it was an eventful time for travel related news. Buckle up.

- Northwest reversed the $15 “choice” seating fee for its elites. Good for them!

- United raised the price in miles for *selected* routes and classes, plus added short-term ticketing fees. (boo!) I’ll post more on this soon, for sure, once I adequately digest the changes.

- The Wall Street Journal (via Tim Leffel) reported that 27% of Americans now have a passport, up from 22% last year. Quite a jump! (Leffel’s theory: since Canada and the Caribbean used to NOT require a passport for US citizens, but will soon require one, we’re seeing a surge of new applications for North American travel needs. It’s a theory. Got any other ideas?)

- Following Star Alliance’s addition of Swiss and South African Airways, the SkyTeam alliance added Russia’s Aeroflot to its roster. How does the European Union welcome them? With an anti-trust investigation of the alliance. (slap!) Well, it’s probably unrelated to Aeroflot’s entry, but still.

- Delta isn’t striking. Pilots agreed to a 14% pay cut.

- America West used to serve Pepsi. US Airways served Coke. Then they merged. The winner: Coke. (Serious question: Does Virgin Atlantic serve Virgin Cola?)

- The Maxjet news you know you crave: The discount all-business carrier reported in a press release that they’re actually filling planes — 50 to 70%. More impressive: their customer satisfaction percentages are in the 90s for those surveyed (how large was their survey sample size??…)

- Finally, pieces of defunct Independence Air went up for auction. The flight simulator went for $3750. Chairs went for $5 each. Both will look great in someone’s home, I’m sure. Maybe even this home.

tags: travel | air travel

Washington Post readers agree: If airlines were to redesign planes’ interiors, they should add more legroom.

Few airlines are listening. The general trend is the opposite: American Airlines once advertised “More Room Throughout Coach,” which gave every coach seat an extra two inches. Four years later, the seats were put back in, conforming to the industry norm of 31 to 32 inches.

Europeans seem to have the greatest tolerance for being jammed into the back of the plane. Discount airlines Ryanair and Easyjet pack them in at a ghastly 29 to 30 inches pitch, as do charter airlines FirstChoice, Brittania, and MyTravel. Ouch.

But, of the major US-based carriers, United Airlines splits the difference. Nearly half the economy cabin is “Economy Plus,” which provides 2 to 5 inches of extra legroom, depending on the aircraft. (The bulk of their 757s have the biggest Economy Plus boost — to 36 inches.) It’s not a separate cabin, like “premium economy” on British Airways, SAS, Singapore, or Virgin Atlantic. You won’t get better food, wider seats, or a legrest, just more space between you and the seat in front of you.

I admit, I’m a big fan. There are four ways to get that extra legroom: 1) Attain elite status with United or any other Star Alliance airline (US Airways, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and over a dozen others). Then it’s free, subject to availability. 2) Buy a year-long pass to Economy Plus for $299. 3) Pay for the one-time upgrade at checkin, usually for around $30 domestically or $75 internationally. 4) Buy an expensive (nearly full-fare) economy ticket.

If you don’t get the Economy Plus seat, you’ll be at 31″ with everyone else. But frankly, I think that this is one of United’s greatest competitive advantages over its competitors, both domestically and internationally. They have even added Economy Plus into a large chunk of their regional jets. No other airline in North America has anything approaching this.

So why isn’t the WaPo mentioning that this option exists?