Saturday, November 10, 2012

Hi from Steve n Patty!
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Friday, December 17, 2010

FALL 2009 CTN IS H ERE!
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Sunday, December 6, 2009

WHO ARE WE?
We are Steve & Pat, the Travelin' Tanenbaums.
We are the authors of The Cheapskate's Guide to Vacations and The Cheaptskate's Guide to Cruises (Citadel-Kensington Press). 

Our CTN newsletter has published continuously since 1999 and is proudly celebrating its 10th Anniversary. Steve is currently a 'Budget & FREE Travel' expert with AllExperts.com. In addition to our books we have written national magazine articles and have made numerous radio & TV appearances. We early retired from our day jobs in 1999 and embarked on a seven year travel odyssey, globe-trotting six months per year. Currently, we average about 2-3 months of exotic travel yearly. Our most recent journey, during the Summer of 2009, found us living for one month each in Barcelona and Paris, two of our favorite cities.

Pure and simple, we enjoy a love of travel and do our best to share travel related comfort, convenience and money saving TIPS with our loyal readership. We always encourage and appreciate reader input. Our travel 'motto' these many years remains: NOTHING BEATS FREE TRAVEL!

ONLINE CTN IS A HUGE SUCCESS
MAKE IT FREE AND THEY WILL COME....
OK, so no surprise that CTN's subscriptions sky rocketed with the advent of our new FREE online CTN. Still, this is the very best way to share our savvy TIPS n' TALES with the traveling public. As we have always said.....nothing beats FREE travel!

HOW TO GET YOUR FUTURE FREE CTN EDITIONS:
It is always best to receive the newsletter on the day it is published. To do this send us your email address and we shall add you to our subscription list. Rest assured, e-mail addresses are kept strictly private. Send your free subscription request to: stevepatctn@yahoo.com
Or you may simply Google our CTN periodically for new issues.
THANKS TO ALL

THE NEW BLOG 'LOOK' - The column on the right is a vertical 'album' of many of our favorite travel photos. Want to view some or all of Steve's 190+ YouTube videos? First, go to YouTube.com. Then, in it's search box type our screen name: worldromer. You will have instant access to our videos.
FONT SIZES: Due to technical glitches there may be occasional mismatched text sizes and fonts. 
Note: Grab of pair of those old red/blue 3D glasses. Some of our videos and personal photos are in very cool to view 3D. ALSO, most photos are clickable for larger size viewing.


MISCHIEVOUS LINKS:  There may be occasional glitches with some LINKS.  If any LINK, when double clicked, indicates the link is broken or otherwise not working try copying and pasting the link to your browsers address line. We have found this to be a solution for the one or two troublesome links.



THIS ISSUES HIGHLIGHTS 

* SOUTHWEST $59 FLY ANYWHERE DEAL
* AN EASY WAY TO FIND CHEAP ENGLISH BOOK SHOPS  IN EUROPE
* PARIS 2009 - BETTER THAN EVER - NEW TALES and TIPS
* GREAT PARIS DAY TOUR FROM THE 'WORST' TOUR COMPANY
* STEVE'S GIZMO COLUMN - Save 45% on Global Cell Phone Rates
* PARIS AIRPORT SHUTTLES - ‘BEST OF THE WORST’
* CITIBANK - AMERICAN AADVANTAGE: GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS
* THE BIG ONE THAT (for most) GOT AWAY

SOUTHWEST $59 FLY ANYWHERE DEAL




This one is short and very sweet. CTN reader Mike came through with another great deal, just $59 for a Southwest RT ticket to any USA destination. Is the deal still ongoing? YES. We made several calls and confirmed it is current at this time. In fact, Steve applied for it on the phone

What to do: Go to the promotion LINK and apply for the Chase Southwest Visa card.



Pay the annual first year $59 fee and then, after your first use of the card, you will receive 16 Southwest flight segments which is equal to a RT ticket anywhere in the U.S. that Southwest flies.

HOW GOOD IS TH IS DEAL?  You could, for example, fly from SF to NY or LA to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for $29.50 each way. The same goes for flights to any Southwest U.S. destinations. Run do not walk to participate in this super dirt-cheap airline ticket promotion.

Here is the LINK to SW’s  route map at:
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/routemap_dyn.html?int=FOOTSITE_WHERE

CONTACTS:
The all important promotion LINK: 




If you wish you may call Southwest at (1-800-435-9792), ask to be connected to their VISA department, describe and have them confirm the 16 free segment bonus and apply on the phone.

CAVEAT: Whenever applying for this type of online deal be sure to print a copy of both the promo page and your application. This could come in very handy should there be any question down the road about the advertised bonus you are expecting to receive.





AN EASY WAY TO FIND CHEAP ENGLISH BOOK SHOPS IN EUROPE



There is one constant many of us experience during during long trips to European destinations. At one time or another we find ourselves thirsting for new English paperbacks. Of course, there are any number of books shops on major shopping streets but almost all sell very pricey European printed English books. One can easily pay $15 to $20 for a paperback that would cost $8 back home. Our solution has been to find off the beaten track small used English book shops. After much research we finally found one such shop, the 'Elephant Book Shop' in Barcelona.

Here is our YouTube video of the lovely Sian at her dad's marvelous 'hole in the wall' Elephant Book Shop. We totally enjoyed shopping for and buying their dirt cheap books. We happily paid $2-$4 per used paperback.





Sadly, the Elephant Book Shop recently closed its doors. However, customers are awaiting word on when and whether it shall re-open in a new location.

Now, for the good news. While researching the current status of the Elephant Book Shop we discovered a gem of a web site called the Book Store Guide. Sonja and Ivan, the creators of this cool, time saving web site say it best:
     Hello! We are Sonja and Ivan and this is our Bookstore Guide - an amateur guide to book shopping throughout Europe. We hope this Guide will help you find the book (stores) you are looking for.

The criteria for the Book Store Guide is that listed stores must sell at least some English books. The Guide offers much more than a mere listing of book shops. Most of the shops have been personally visited by Sonja and/or Ivan or recommended by trusted friends and associates. They Guide offers a generous discussion of each shop with photos and web site LINKS.  How well does it work?

Given our upcoming Summer 2010 seven weeks trip to Italy we targeted Florence. The Guide quickly led us to Paperback-Exchange in Florence a block or two from the Duomo and only seven blocks from our apartment. This is a fine example of the kind of book shops the Guide lists. The Paperback-Exchange describes itself as:

Paperback Exchange sells only English paperbacks and has been part of the tapestry of Florentine life since 1979.  A quiet haven in the center of Florence, the bookstore is just a stone's throw from the Duomo and is a place where you can exchange not only books but ideas, experiences and laughs.Already this site is saving us much time and effort. We applaud Sonja and Ivan for their work and recommend  this site to all CTN readers heading to Europe.

Here are LINKS to the Book Store Guide web site, to the Guide's Paperback-Exchange page and to the Paperback-Exchange web site:


PARIS 2009 - BETTER THAN EVER - NEW TALES N’ TIPS


In June 2009 we headed to Paris for our fourth one month apartment rental. We happily returned to our 2007 2BR, 1,016 sq.ft. apartment for $87/day (up only $10 from ‘07). For the curious here is a video tour of our home away from home Bonne Nouvelle apartment. In the photo our huge apartment, which takes up most of the 5th floor, is circled in black. The building was built in 1760 so it 'witnessed' the entire French revolution! Residents may have seen Franklin or Jefferson walking on the street below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naZWAKfOgmc
 
Without further adieu let us share TIPS n’ tales of our latest taste of Parisian life!


WEATHER TIP:  The Summer of 2007 found us living in Paris from mid April to June 1st and then off to Barcelona for a month. While we savored our month in Paris we did not savor the unseasonable, cold, overcast days and many light showers. The moral: Be forewarned that Spring time in Paris does not necessarily mean warm, sunny, Spring like weather


WEATHER ‘SOLUTION’: As the Summer of 2009 loomed ahead we made an easy decision. We would re-visit both Paris and Barcelona for one month each. This time we would reverse the visits spending our first month in Barcelona, from mid-May to mid-June, and  then head to Paris for a month from mid-June to mid-July.  What about that awful Summer heat that drives Parisians to the south lands? Since the hottest months are July and August we decided to take a chance and toss the dice. We did so and WON! The strategy worked like a charm. May to June weather in Barcelona was perfect Spring and early Summer weather with sunny and warm but never hot days.  Pretty much the same success when we arrived in Paris in mid-June. Overall a perfect two months.


PARIS CANAL WALK: This was new for us and was also way off the beaten path. For those with extra Paris time on their hands a great way to spend 2-3 hours is a walkabout at the St Martin Canal. The only tourists you will see are those on the passing canal tour boats. Head to Metro Louis Blanc and walk one block to the canal. Bear right, walk down to the canal and 'voila' your are practically a Parisian.

Locals flock to the area to watch the canal boats go through the locks, picnic, cavort, read a good book and sunbathe. We brown bagged a great picnic lunch and took it all in. Want more? We walked the canal to the Metro Goncourt and went one stop to Metro Belleville. On exiting the Metro one is immersed into intersecting Chinese, Jewish and Muslim cultures. Their colorful shops and restaurants abound. There is a huge street market on Tuesdays and Fridays. For much more see our Belleville Parc and Belleville articles below the video.

Here is our YouTube Canal walk video:






BELLEVILLE PARC - A COOL NEW DISCOVERY
Our pre-trip research turned up a ‘new’ park to explore, Parc de Belleville. There was also mention of the interesting Belleville neighborhood. The park was delightful. It covers 53,000 square feet, is the highest elevated park in Paris and offers one of the finest panoramic views of the city.  The park is in the 20th arrondissement and a short walk from Metro Couronnes. The park-top view says it all. We next walked six or so blocks along the Blvd de la Villette toward the Metro Belleville the heart of the Belleville neighborhood. This web site has all sorts of detailed information and photos:


BELLEVILLE - OUR AMAZING ‘NEW NEIGHBORHOOD’ SURPRISE
The term ‘melting pot’ reaches ultimate expression in this marvelous neighborhood.  By way of recent history in 1960 Belleville housed many Jewish refugees from North Africa. More recently large numbers of immigrants from the Maghreb, India, South East Asia and the Far East have made their home in Belleville. In his article In one Paris neighborhood, Jews and Muslims live as they did in N. Africa: together Illan Moss says:

 “......in the Belleville neighborhood of Paris a Lubavitch Chasid is helping an elderly Tunisian Jew put on tefillin in the doorway of a kosher butchery. Across the street, bearded Muslim vendors are hawking sweets and pastries to crowds of North African immigrants...Further down the boulevard lined with kosher restaurants, Ouali Boussad, an Algerian Berber, prepares coffee at the Lumiere de Belleville café. “Jews, Arabs and Berbers live in Belleville like they did in North Africa,” Boussad says. “They have the same culture.” Here is the LINK to the IIan Moss article:





Pictured below are a Kosher pastry shop (left) and just across the street a Muslim grocery shop (right).





Is there more? In a word YES. Within eyesight of the Metro Belleville, on rue de Belleville, is one of the city’s two Chinatowns. Scores of colorful Chinese supermarkets and restaurants line rue de Belleville.



Most Muslim shops and most of the 15 or so remaining Jewish restaurants, bakeries and butcher shops (down from about 200 in the 1990's) are found on Blvd. de la Villette between the Belleville and Couronnes Metros. Be sure to walk up Rue Faubourg du Temple for a myriad of colorful mixed shops of  every kind and description. This picturesque street runs to the Place de la Republique.

 

OUR FOOD EMPORIUM DISCOVERY: We admit it, we dropped the ball on this one. What is ‘new’ for us may be old hat for many of you. Over the years we had one top notch 'Best in Paris' favorite retail food emporium, Le Bon Marche Grande Epicerie.



This landmark department store’s food court is brilliant.  It has island upon island offering  every type of exotic food from gourmet sausages to $100lb hand sliced smoked salmon. It also sports a small lunch restaurant. Check out this web site for just about everything you want to know about BON MARCHE:

Our ‘new’ discovery is an equally famous department store, Galeries Lafayette, known for this magnificent dome. And then there is its other worldly GOURMET food court.


The Galeries has a perfect right bank location one block from Metro Opera. Here are some photos of the its extraordinary dome and gourmet offerings. While the two food emporiums resemble one another we now vote Galeries Gourmet food court as number one.  Where Bon Marche is an incredible market many of the Galeries exotic islands include either tables or lunch bars making it gourmet fun to both shop and devour. Also, it seems to offer more of everything. For example, its Chinese ‘island’ has an endless array compared to much slimmer pickings at  Bon Marche.


Galeries Lafayette’s Gourmet food court is found on the top floor of the Galeries. Its specific offerings include a bakery with an amazing assortment of breads and pastries, seafood and meats of every kind and description, hundreds of domestic and imported cheeses, a deli, a huge Chinese/Asian counter, fruit, vegetables, a technicolor spice table, over 1,500 wines, food tastings, ‘sale’ items  and much, much more.




Location and Metro stop:

40, boulevard Haussmann 75009 PARIS 
Metro: Chaussée d'Antin La Fayette

Ready for VIDEOS!  We include below some of our favorite Summer 2009 YouTube videos. Many are imbedded for instant viewing. There are some new views of Paris favorites, new ‘Best of Paris’ street artists, Paris in 3D and new (for us) 2009 surprises. The imbedded videos are followed by LINKS to more of our 2009 Paris YouTube videos.

BEST PARIS STREET MARKET
In 2007 we offered a video stroll through the Alma street market which we voted the number one street market in Paris. Our vote was based on its superior quality offerings and extensive variety including many gourmet items. Enter new technology. With our Lenovo netbook in hand we were able to do basic editing before uploading to YouTube. Hopefully, our new video will bring you even closer to the true ‘walk through’ experience of this great street market.

The market has two formal names,  the Marché Ave du Président Wilson aka the Marché du Pont de l'Alma. It is open every Wednesday and Saturday morning, from 7am to 2:30 pm. If weather is bad the market tends to close an hour or so earlier. The market is so large it sports a metro stop at each end (Metro Lena line 9 and Metro Alma Marceau also line 9).The video pretty much says and shows it all. Enjoy.




RUE MOUFFETARD MARKET - ALIVE WITH MUSIC
One of the oldest and most famous of Parisian street markets is La rue Mouffetard (5th arrondissement). An early morning visit and walk along its ancient cobble stone, winding street is always rewarded with sights, sounds and aromas. On this day we were delighted to run into this entertaining street organ grinder/singer. ENJOY!



HOLD A BIRD....PET A BUNNY....IT IS THE SUNDAY PARIS PET MARKET
The Sunday pet market is a Paris tradition. Its perfect location, in the middle of the River Seine, on Ile de la Cite is perfect for a morning or mid-day visit. It is found just steps away from Metro Cite. Walk very slowly since this is a quite small market. Small birds abound and several are perched on open branches ready to climb onto your hand or fingers. There are usually plenty colorful small and larger birds, bunny rabbits, playful rats and more.



METRO ACCORDION MAN ROCKS - RELAX AND ENJOY!


 


THEY'RE ALIVE.....in 3D at the MONTPARNASSE CEMETERY
Montparnasse cemetery was created out of farmland in 1824. It is the final resting place of many notables of Paris. Due to its large size, history and notable residents it remains a major point of interest for many visitors. The perfect place for our 3D excursion.



ORGAN GRINDER CROONER (WHY WE LOVE PARIS STREET MARKETS)
We LOVE street markets and street artists. The Bastille Market is one of the BEST. What a huge, fun market from gourmet Pates to ancient breads, clothes and flowers this market has it all.....especially when we ran into this marvelous street singer avec hand organ.

Details: Bastille Market, 11th arrondissement, boulevard Richard Lenoir, from rue Amelot to rue St Sabin, Métro Bastille, Thursday, Sunday.



EIFFEL TOWER IN 3D
Our photo3-.com kit is not intended to capture anything as large and tall as the Tour Eiffel. Despite this we gave it a whirl and included some favorite angles/views that many visitors may overlook. You are invited to view the same photos in hi-3D resolution in our mini-cyber 3D album (plus one ultra cool non-Eiffel Tower 3D shot) at: http://imageevent.com/worldromer/eiffeltowerin3d



A STROLL DOWN THE HISTORIC JEWISH QUARTER, RUE DES ROSIERS
While the famous Jo Goldenberg Deli has been closed since 2008 this historic street still offers delectable Kosher goodies and bustles with thousands of daily tourists. The shops, both new and old, offer Kosher delicesies of every kind from Pizza and falafels shops to bakeries, grocers and butcher shops. Want the makings for a ‘deli’ picnic lunch at nearby historic Place Vosges park? The corner Russian Boulangerie also sells many varieties of deli meats such as pastrami and corned (pickled) beef as do several other small shops and the local butcher shop. Here is a mini stroll down Rue Des Rosiers to the accompaniment of a street violinist playing none other than Fiddler on the Roof.




LINKS TO SOME OF OUR 3D HIGH RESOLUTION CYBER ALBUMS

PARIS CATACOMBS: Do you dare view the Paris catacombs in reality 3d? You may be the first living souls to do so. To our knowledge these are the FIRST EVER CATACOMBS PIX IN REALITY 3D.....After all, 600,000 Parisian souls have been waiting to be seen in reality 3D since they arrived in the Catacombs beginning in 1786. That is when these Parisians were removed from the overcrowded cemeteries of Paris and placed in this final, underground resting place. Since it was opened to the public in 1887 brave visitors, like the two of us, have descended the many, many steps into this place of death. Take a deep breath and ENJOY!



GREAT PARIS DAY TOUR FROM THE 'WORST' TOUR COMPANY

First, an overview of this unique 2-castles-for-1 day trip:
Castle Vaux le Vicomte was built by Nicolas Fouquet, the Lord high treasurer of Louis XIV. During the 17th century, it was one of the most modern and elegant masterpieces that no other royal property could compete with. Irritated by such ostentation, the young Sun King condemned Fouquet to life imprisonment.

Fontainebleau:  With 1500 rooms is surrounded by 130 hectares of parks and gardens,


Fontainebleau is a royal and imperial castle that was inhabited consecutively throughout 7 centuries. It was the family house of the monarchy and contains decorations, rich and important collections of furniture, paintings and works of art. No less than Napoleon and Marie Antoinette resided here and one may visit their bedrooms.

When is it OK to book with the ‘worst’ reviewed sightseeing company? Here is Steve’s actual Trip Advisor Review:
On this, our 4th one month visit to Paris we wanted to see a 'new' chateau, in particular, Chateux Vaux le Vicomte. This photo says it all.




The logistics, train + bus/taxi, were not the best especially given the rainy weather. What to do when the ONLY company offering a great, bargain day tour to Vicomte is the worst rated sightseeing company we have read about?

For a reduced price of only 48 Euros each Paris Vision offered a nine hours excursion, sans any guided tours, to BOTH Vaux Vicomte AND nearby Fontainebleau, the latter with all its marvelous state rooms. Audio guides and all admissions were included. To recap: a full nine hour day visiting Vicomte chateau plus a visit to marvelous nearby Fontainebleau all for 48 euros. We could never accomplish this on our own, using trains, taxis and buses, for that price. The fly in the ointment: Paris Vision had 75% horrid user reviews.

Given the very low price (with all admissions and audio guides included), the totally unique itinerary offered by no other company and the fact that 25% of the ratings were actually good to very good we decided to again toss the dice.  We knew that our risks were minimized by the fact that many of the worst reviews involved bad meals and bad guides neither of which applied to this tour. We again crossed our fingers hoped for the best.


There was no need to go to paris Visions office since we were able to conveniently buy the tickets online. On tour day we arrived at their departure office, found a short line, received our tickets and boarded the bus. Out of the box we had a great start. There was a spanking new bus with TV, rest room and fold back seats making for total comfort. Luck found the bus half empty so Patty and I spread over two seats each. Our bus left on time, our driver did his job very well, all arrivals at Vicomte and Fontainebleau were spot on time, all admission tickets and audio guides were included as promised making for a totally lovely, long and memorable day of sightseeing.

I think we did well using the 'worst' Paris tour company for the 'right' tour that also offered the least risks (no guides to muck up the tour and no meals to mess up).
We would recommend THIS PARTICULAR itinerary for all the reasons we mentioned.

2010 UPDATE: It seems that Paris Vision no longer offers this day trip (perhaps it will next Summer). Instead it offers a very similar day trip that uses a semi-private mini van, includes lunch and a short visit to the town of Barbizon for the whopping price of 162 euros each. That is FIVE times the price we paid using a regular deluxe large bus and sans the Barbizon town stop.

GOOD NEWS: It seems a competitor (we could not find any business relationship between the two) Cityrama offers our above itinerary for, if one can believe, a lower price than we paid. Cityrama lists their cheapskate price at only 34 euros. Cityrama also offers the above mentioned 162 euro almost identical day trip. Here are the Cityrama 34 Euro day trip page and their very similar mini-van 162 Euro page. The first 34 euro tour link has been troubesome. If it does not work try copying and pasting it to your web browser's address line.

http://www.pariscityrama.com/visit-surroundings-of-paris/visit-castle-of-vaux-le-vicomte/visit-shuttlebus-paris-vaux-le-vicomte-castle-fontainebleau-castle-paris/112A267.html


It the LINK still does not work go to Paris Cityrama's main page at:
http://www.pariscityrama.com/
In the search window on the right side column TYPE:  shuttlebus vaux le vicomte and then scroll down just a bit and click on the OK box. That should do it.
PARIS AIRPORT SHUTTLES ‘BEST OF THE WORST’

Our past six trips to Paris have found us cursing shuttle buses to high heaven for their misreble failures. Before we say anything further a TIP is in order.

TIP: Regardless of what shuttle service you are using assume the worst.


Be sure to have a back-up plan. On arrival be ready to make one or more ‘where is the shuttle’ phone calls. Know the cost of a taxi and have the number of a competing service that may be available on the spot.  Regarding your departure make a rule i.e. after 15 or 20 minutes if the shuttle does not arrive go to plan B. In 2007 when our shuttle failed to arrive at 7:30am (for our 10am flight home) we did just that. Our plan B had us previously scope out the nearest busy AM taxi stand. In a flash we headed straight for it, sank into our  seats, grouched about the extra expense and sighed with relief knowing we would arrive at the airport on time. We say 'on time' since taxis, unlike the shuttle van,  make an express run to the airport sans any stops.


Why the best of the worst? Because we are recommending our most recent shuttle van company despite the fact we were cursing them upon our arrival at Charles de Gaulle
airport. This may be a French thing....here goes. On one hand, upon our arrival,  the shuttle bus was on time. On the other hand there was no way for us to know this. Paris Blue Shuttle’s web site told us to look for their blue van with BIG YELLOW letters reading BLUVAN.FR. Here is their cute van with large yellow letters as pictured on the top banner of their web site. The problem: no such van came to pick us up.



COMEDY OF ERRORS: We could not see shuttle van because it was driving by the center island, not near the curb where we and all other passengers were standing. Also,  the van had no large yellow letters on it. 

More: We later learned their driver had exited the van and walked close to where we were standing. Unfortunately, he neither carried a sign with our name nor yelled out our name. He was hoping we would rush over to him not realizing we had no idea who he was. He drove around twice, we made several calls and finally we knew to look for 'anyone' who seemed to be approaching us from the center island. The trip into Paris was otherwise ideal with only one stop. On our departure at 7am the Blue Van was spot on time, actually 5 minutes early! Aside from the ‘comedy of errors’ Paris-blue-airport-shuttle was better than all others
.

The PRICE: Round trip for one from Charles de Gaulle-Paris is 48euros ($71). Two or  more save big time. Round trip for two is 60euros ($88).
Here is the home page for BlueVan shuttle:
http://www.paris-blue-airport-shuttle.fr/home_en.php


STEVE’S GIZMO COLUMN
PAY 45% LESS FOR A GLOBAL CELL PHONE?






In 2007 I gave two thumbs up for RangeRoamer’s bargain priced ($130) Bread and Butter global cell phone package. This included a Siemens A70 basic global cell phone and RangeRoamer’s service. The cost for outgoing calls from western Europe to the USA was a very low 69 cents/minute. Both in 2007 and more recently during our Summer 2009 trip to Barcelona and Paris the Siemens A70 phone and RangeRoamer’s service worked as promised. While most cell phone rates are going down I was surprised to learn that RangeRoamer’s 2009 rate had increased 15% from 69 cents to 79 cents/minute. Not Earth shaking by any means but still no one wishes to see higher prices.

Since it is now two years down the road since our first RangeRoamer global cell phone experience this seemed a good time for an update. What else,  I wondered,  has changed in the global cell phone universe? Enter Telestial, Inc. a new player in the global communications game.  Telestial touts their goal of providing “....convenient, cost-effective telecommunications services to ..... recreational travelers......for use in over 140 countries around the world.”  Telestial offers two low end packages (cell phone + non-contract service) that interestingly uses our very same Siemens A70 phone. 


When it comes to foreign cell phone use the per minute cost separates the ‘suits’ (high end business users) from the rest of us. To learn how Telestial stacks up against RangeRoamer  I did a comparison study. I compared Telestial’s Economy Plus Pack to RangeRoamer’s Bread and Butter package ($69 versus $79).  I assumed six 10 minute outgoing calls (one hour) to the U.S. and three 5 minute incoming calls (15 mintues) from the U.S. for each of five countries (U.K., France, Greece, Spain and Italy).  I also factored in the $10 in free calls included in the Telestial package.


THE RESULT was dramatic.  The Rangeroamer total bill was $237 and the Telestial bill was $129.25. Telestial phone usage charges were a whopping 45% less then Range roamer.

While usage rates are a threshold concern I also wanted to learn about user and other reviews for customer service and product support. This was a hard one to nail down. The Telestial web site offers a  page of ‘rave’ reviews from such as Frommers and the NY Times. The latter did not mention either customer or product support.  The Frommer quote on the other hand seemed to do just that noting: .  “Telestial holds your hand every step of the way.…” The problem here, I discovered,  is that Frommer never said this. It was Telestial’s President Ken Grunski who made the “holds your hands” comment that was quoted in the Frommer article.  One strike against Telestial for citing the words of its own President as a “rave review.”
Here, for what it is worth,  is Telestial’s ‘rave’ reviews page:  http://www.telestial.com/ravereviews.php

Also on the negative side of the equation my Googling of user reviews turned up numerous Telestial customer service ‘horror’ stories. To be fair the same was true when I Googled RangeRoamer.



On the plus side, I found the Reseller Ratings web site which lists a lifetime rating of Telestial as 8.2 our of 10  based on 54 reviews. The most recent review is dated last week 11/9/09. This slightly beats the 8.10 lifetime average rating for all their 21,000 listed stores.  I scanned all of these 54 reviews, AS YOU SHOULD, and they seem to support the Reseller Ratings overall high score. Also, the scoring is based on reviews as recent as 11/09. The 8.2 score translates to ‘mostly happy customers.’ In the end you must make your own best call on this issue realizing the jury is still out on this issue.



Caveat: When I pressed the 'show category ratings' link Customer Service rated 6.25 and Return or Replacement a dismal 5.0.  Interestingly, the average of the five categories listed is 6.58 rather than overall 8..52?

Here is the LINK to the Reseller Ratings web page:

PROS: Telestial’s per minute charges for most of western Europe are super low at 29-39 cents compared to RangeRoamer’s 79 cents/minute.  Telestial touts 24/7 Customer Service. Their plan is prepaid so no contracts and no monthly fees. Their Global number is a UK number where RangeRroamer uses an Estonia number (cheaper for family/friends to call a UK versus Estonia number).

CONS: Telestial’s 35 cents connection fee per call. However, the first Celestial minute charge including the 35 cent connection fee is less than RangeRoamer’s 79 cent charge without a connection fee. Mixed bag on customer service and product warranty support as noted above.

BOTTOM LINE: We can and do vouch for the Siemens A70 phone which we field  tested 2007 and used again last Summer. It is a basic, easy to use cell phone with very good voice quality.  Based on my comparison study and the fact that most user reviews for Telestial are positive I am looking forward to using Telestial's 45% lower cost Economy Plus Pack during our upcoming Summer 2010 seven weeks in Italy.

Here is the LINK to Telestial's Economy Plus Pack page:
http://www.telestial.com/promo/econopluspack.php

CITIBANK - AMERICAN AADVANTAGE: GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS





We live in changing times. When it comes to our favorite free miles promotion and free travel award program ill winds are blowing. Here goes with some bad news and our good news ‘spin’ on the bad news.

CITIBANK PROMOTION: One of the best of  the free bonus miles promotions.  The newest wrinkle came our way amidst several great tips offered by CTN reader Mike.

THE BAD NEWS: Citibank no longer waives its first year annual credit card fees. Promotion participants must now pay the following first year annual card fees:
                                  25,000 mile Business cards: $75



25,000 miles personal cards: $85
15,000 miles personal cards: $50


THE GOOD NEWS:  Aside from the above fees the Citibank offer is ongoing. It continues to offer a smorgasbord of six Visa/Amex/Mastercards including two business cards. It still offers 15,000 to 25,000 bonus miles when a card is obtained and when the card is used to make $750 in purchases.

In this instance our motto ‘Nothing beats FREE travel’ gives way to our back-up motto ‘Dirt cheap is next best to FREE.’

Here are two examples of what promotion participants can still do:


Example #1: A Spring vacation flight from Chicago to Athens (Greece), then from Athens to Miami to visit Orlando's theme parks and then home. The cost of the round trip award ticket will be $125 + taxes.



Example #2: A Winter, Summer or Fall vacation from New York to any Hawaiian island for the same $125.

How? The examples use lower miles off-peak travel awards.  They are based on obtaining both a 25,000 mile Business card and a 15,000 mile non-business card. (If one wished to apply for two personal cards the price is just $10 more, $135).

Both these examples easily meet our definition of dirt-cheap airline travel and many of you will agree. Since we never cut off our travel noses to spite our travel faces we shall continue to recommend the Citibank mega-bonus-miles promotion.

Here is the LINK for Citibank’s bonus miles promotion including the new fees requirements:
http://www.citicards.com/cards/wv/showSearchResults.do?family=FAMILY_AADVANTAGE



AMERICAN AADVANTAGE: Did anyone notice the above Examples do not include extra free stopover flights to a second U.S. or European city? More bad news and our good news ‘spin.’
Key to some of these changes is the fact that American AAdvantage now books awards as single segments rather than RT. Example: A prior 25,000 mile RT domestic award is now 12,500 each way.



BAD NEWS/GOOD NEWS: We just learned that American AAdvantage has dropped its free stopover flights for both foreign and domestic awards. Since American now views a RT award as two single segments it views the formerly free extra stopover as just another segment available for purchase. On the other hand American still permits free stopovers at USA gateway cities. So that the above example #1 correctly shows a free stopover at Miami. The same is true for stopovers at these other gateway cities: NYC, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, LA and SF.

MORE NEWS:  Extra Europe flights are now available for purchase. The cost per segment is a fairly reasonable 10,000 miles. This is like a flat 10,000 miles charge to most European cities. When it comes to domestic awards, which are 12,500 for each segment of a RT, one simply pays an extra 12,500 miles for an extra city segment.



BEST STRATEGIES : In this new award world low season rules. American charges a high 60,000 miles high season to Europe but still retains its low season 40,000 mile RT award


to Europe though it is now called 2 x 20,000 mile segments. Our good news SPIN:  Book flights between mid-October to mid-May and pay 40,000 miles per two segment RT flight. Want to fly to two European cities? Pay the extra segment 10,000 miles and your new  total is 50,000 miles including flights to two European cities.  50,000 miles to two European cities is still good news. Want to beat American's high season 60,000 mile (2 x 30,000) award to Europe? Book your outbound flight in low season,  for example on May 10th (low season ends May 16th) and your return flight anytime during the Summer. Sine we now pay by segment the total cost will be 50,000 miles rather than 60,000 miles.


BOTTOM LINE: Make the best of it. Go with the flow. Adjust travel plans as necessary. Above all keep enjoying FREE global and domestic travel.

THE BIG ONE THAT (for most) GOT AWAY 



 This bonus miles tale needs telling.  About a week ago CTN reader Mike, who we applaud for sharing great tips, asked if we knew about an airline give-a-way of 100,000 miles. Before we go further we sadly report that the deal in question expired hours before this issue went to 'press.'  Needless to say, the 100,000 mile promotion was set to be our lead article. From what we can gather this 'best ever' British Airways deal was announced a few weeks ago in November, ran 3-4 weeks as a “Limited Offer’ and quickly terminated.

Note: When I just Googled the words British Airways most bonus miles scores of sites discussing the BA 100,000 miles offer appeared.   

Why report on the expired super deal?  These TIPS may help all of us catch the next short lived mega miles deal.

TIP #1:  Every 3-4 weeks we should all Google our favorite airlines using the above or similar phrase i.e. (favorite airline) most bonus miles. Chances are we will learn of the next BEST new bonus miles offers in time to participate.

TIP #2:  There is no problem when an offer indicates its expiration date. When the next great offer indicates only that it is a LIMITED TIME OFFER we must jump on it ASAP.

When we next run into a great bonus miles offer that has neither an expiration date nor any Limited Offer language we must ASSUME it is a limited offer and apply for it without delay.

For  now, until BA issues its next 100,000 miles deal we hope you will all enjoy your $59 RT USA flights on Southwest! We quickly applied for the $59 ticket deal and urge readers do the same ASAP.

HAPPY & SAFE TRAVELS TO ALL CTN READERS & A VERY MERRY HOLIDAY SEASON!

STEVE & PATTY
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