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Travel Expert Stephanie Abrams is currently at the g, a 5 Star hotel in County Galway, Ireland. She is recording interviews to be played on “Travel with Stephanie Abrams” in the coming weeks. Today's broadcast includes more interviews from February 2009's New York Times Travel Show.
Stephanie was joined at the show by Pablo Yunis, the Vice President of Lan Airlines for North America and the Caribbean. Lan Airlines is the outgrowth of what was once Lan Chile Airlines. The company wanted to be considered the premiere airline for Latin America and South America. Even when it was Lan Chile, the company provided flights to many different South American destinations.
Today, Lan Airlines has southbound flights from four North American locations: Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. Lan offers non-stop flights to several major destinations in South America including Santiago, Chile and Lima, Peru as well as cities in Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Argentina. Lan is the only airline to offer non-stop service from Los Angeles to Lima. The company covers more than 50 cities in South America.
The continent of South America is an incredibly diverse destination with deserts in its north and glaciers in the south. An advantage to North American travelers flying south is that jet lag is less severe. The dollar is currently strong in countries like Argentina and air travel is very affordable within the continent. Like Europe, South America has an Airbus system which allows travelers to put a standard currency towards flights throughout South America.
Lan Airlines is always investing in service and offers personalized attention from the moment of check-in. The company consistently receives awards that reflect this such as “Best VIP Lounges” in South America and “Best Business Classes” in South America. All business class flights on the company's Lan's Boeing 767 flights now offer seats that are fully reclinable. Seats in economy class have also been improved. Each seat on the plane has its own LCD screen which offers over 50 movies and 400 CDs programmed into the music channels. All meals are complimentary.
Click here to listen to Stephanie's 2002 interview with then Vice President of Marketing for Lan Chile Airlines.
Click here to listen to Stephanie's 2004 interview with Ken Dwight, a “Travel with Stephanie Abrams” listener on KIKK, Houston, TX. Dwight won 2 roundtrip tickets to Santiago, Chile on Lan Airlines and had a life-changing vacation.
For more information on Lan visit http://www.lan.com/
The New Jersey Shore region is easily accessible from New York City by train, bus or ferry. Seastreak fast passenger ferries offer services from Manhattan to the Bay Shore regions. Visitors often travel to the area to visit New Jersey state parks, light houses or nearby Red Bank, New Jersey.
The borough of Red Bank is a historic district home to classic landmarks such as the Molly Pitcher Inn and Monmouth Park's Race Track, one of the oldest race tracks in the United States. The Jersey Shore is known primarily for its gorgeous beaches. The area also offers fine dining, golf courses, amusement parks such as Six Flags Great Adventure and renowned theaters like the “world famous Stone Pony”. The Stone Pony is best known as the hometown concert venue of Bruce Springsteen.
For more information visit http://www.visitthejerseyshore.com/
Travel Tips:
Traveling with a laptop through security check points at an airport can be difficult. Click here to read Stephanie's blog entry on her Pathfinder Laptop Travel Case.
Guests Include:
Pablo Yunis, VP, North America and Caribbean, Lan Airlines.
www.lan.com
Carlos Roman, Marketing and Corporate Affairs Director, Lan Airlines.
www.lan.com
Noreen Bodmann, Director, Jersey Shore Region Tourism Council.
www.njsouthernshore.com
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People are becoming increasingly selective about their travel destinations and are looking for value for their dollar. South Africa is an incredible destination that truly enriches its visitors and offers an economic advantage. The US dollar has recently strengthened against the South Africa rand offering a 30 percent devaluation of the rand in the exchange rate.
South African Airways are adding new capacity on flights scheduled for May. In addition to this, Delta is continually investing in South Africa. More and more Americans are traveling to South Africa and this is being recognized by suppliers in the travel industry. The Germans were formerly the predominant tourist of the country. This is now becoming true of Americans.
South Africa receives many visitors interested in wildlife experiences. Popular attractions include safari intensive camps, private lodging tours and safari jeep and land tours. A newly recognized strength of the country is its vineyards. There are 24 wine routes in the country and South African wines are winning awards around the world.
Click here to read the January, 2009 New York Times article “South African Wines Step Onto the Stage”.
For more information visit http://www.southafrica.net
The laws regarding passport requirements are changing. As of June 1, 2009 passports or passport cards will be required for all land border ports-of-entry whether flying, driving or sailing abroad. Previously, the documentation required for travel to Canada and islands in the Caribbean were a birth certificate with a raised seal and driver's license. To reach these destinations, travelers don't need to pay for a full passport but can purchase the more affordable passport card. Travelers can buy a passport card for a $25 USD execution fee and $20 card fee rather than pay the $75 USD needed to obtain a passport. The card, like a passport, is good for ten years for adults and five years for children. The card cannot be used for international air travel.
Though passports are technically valid for ten years suppliers in the travel industry do not recognize passports that are within 6 months of expiration. It is important to renew your passport a year in advance as you may not be able to board a flight with a passport that is months within expiring. Click here to see the countdown clock to June 1, 2009 and find out more on obtaining a passport.
For more information visit http://www.travel.state.gov/
The travel website GoNOMAD exhibited in February, 2009 at the New York Times Travel Show for its second year. The Editor of the site Max Hartshorne had previously written for the travel magazine Transitions Abroad. Transitions Abroad no longer exists in print form but is contained now in the GoNOMAD website.
The intent of GoNOMAD.com is to provide “Inspirations and links to plan your trip”. The site covers many exotic venues and has an adventurous staff of writers who take trips not out of obligation but out of wanderlust. Mainstream travel media often focuses on luxurious locales. GoNOMAD feature travel locations throughout the globe and has a new article or item posted daily.
For more information visit http://www.gonomad.com/
Travel Tips:
If you plan to travel in the UK with your pet you will be required to go through a six-month quarantine process for that animal. A way to avoid this is to insert an identifying microchip under the dog's skin at the vet. Stephanie had a microchip inserted in her Springer Spaniel Maggie to insure that Maggie could accompany her on future trips as long as her shots were up to date.
Guests Include:
Sthu Zungu, President, South African Tourism North America
.
www.southafrica.net
Jamiss Sebert, Regional Director, US Department of State, Passport Office.
www.travel.state.gov
Max Hartshorne, Editor, GoNOMAD.
www.gonomad.com
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The President of Distinguished Hotels, Bill Burruss returns to “Travel with Stephanie Abrams” to discuss new additions to the Distinguished Hotels collection. Burruss hand-picks luxurious accommodations he finds around the world to add to the group. The collection currently has eight properties and is “adding three new ones per month”.
Distinguished Hotels has two hotels in London, England and the surrounding area. The Royal Park is located on Westbourne Terrace, a secluded residential area in London on the edge of Hyde Park. It is only three minutes from Paddington Station allowing visitors to be away from everything and still in close proximity to the life of the city. Burruss stresses that “the Royal Park has the best concierge service of any hotel. The staff can arrange for whatever you may want within a moment's notice”.
Just outside of London is the Sir Christopher Wrens Hotel and Spa. It is within walking distance of Windsor Castle as well as to the train line that will take you into the city. The hotel is converted from the family home of famed British architect Sir Christopher Wrens and is situated directly on the Thames River.
Another recent addition to the Distinguished Hotels Collection is Casa Angelina in Italy. Casa Angelina is a boutique hotel situated on the Amalfi Coast in the small town of Praiano. Praiano is west of Positano, Italy. Casa Angelina has 67 guest rooms and a luxurious spa.
For more information visit http://www.distinguishedhotels.com/
Patricia Schultz, Author of “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”, joins “Traveling Feet” at the New York Times Travel Show. Schultz has had a life of travel experience and has made her living in travel journalism. She has written many guide books and worked as a freelance writer for renowned travel author and publisher, Arthur Frommer. In her independent work, Schultz has mainly chosen places that specifically affected her. She admits that she hasn't visited all of the “1,000 Places” she writes about in her books (there is a 2007 edition that focuses just on North America) but knows from extensive research that these places deserve to be on the list. In her words they are places that “you just know” will be incredible.
Schultz states that “the more you travel the more you realize that you haven't even scraped the surface”. She recommends using her books as a kind of guide. There are different ways to navigate through the text. Schultz offers several theme specific indexes with logical groupings of topics and has the sections in each book divided by geographic areas. You may not be able to visit 1,000 places in the world but you can at least narrow your list down to some of the must-see destinations and better inform yourself about parts of the world you had always considered visiting.
For more information visit http://www.1000beforeyoudie.com/
Guests Include:
Bill Burruss, President, Distinguished Hotels.
www.distinguishedhotels.com
Patricia Schultz, “1000 Places to See Before You Die” and “1000 Places to See in the U.S.A.& Canada Before You Die, Workman Publishing.
www.1000BeforeYouDie.com
