Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
• Get up, walk around, and stretch
every 60 to 90 minutes to keep
your blood flowing. This helps
avoid deep vein thrombosis, or
“economy-class syndrome,” a rare
and deadly condition that can be
caused by sitting in cramped con-
ditions for too long.
• Drink water before, during, and
after your flight to combat the
lack of humidity in airplane
cabins—which can be drier than
the Sahara. Bring a bottle of water
on board. Avoid alcohol, which
will dehydrate you.
• If you're flying with kids, don't for-
get to carry on toys, books, paci-
fiers, and chewing gum to help
them relieve ear pressure buildup
during ascent and descent. Let
each child pack his or her own
backpack with favorite toys.
12 Packages for the Independent Traveler
Before you start your search for the
lowest airfare, you may want to con-
sider booking your flight as part of a
travel package. Package tours are not
the same thing as escorted tours. Pack-
age tours are simply a way to buy the
airfare, accommodations, and other
elements of your trip (such as car
rentals, airport transfers, and some-
times even activities) at the same time
and often at discounted prices—kind
of like one-stop shopping. Packages
are sold in bulk to tour operators—
who resell them to the public at a cost
that usually undercuts standard rates.
Several big
online travel agen-
cies
—Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz,
Site59, and Lastminute.com—also do
a brisk business in packages. If you're
unsure about the pedigree of a smaller
packager, check with the Better Busi-
ness Bureau in the city where the com-
pany is based, or go online at www.
bbb.org. If a packager won't tell you
where it's based, don't fly with them.
Austravel
(
&
800/633-3404
in the
U.S. and Canada or 0870/055 0239
in the U.K.; www.austravel.net) is an
American company offering inde-
pendent packages Down Under. The
following companies offer both inde-
pendent and escorted tours:
ATS
Tours
(
&
800/423-2880
in the
U.S. and Canada; www.atstours.com);
Collette Vacations
(
&
800/340-
5158
in the U.S., 416/626-1661 in
Canada, or 0189/581 2333 in the
U.K. through Adventures Unlimited,
Inc.; www.collettevacations.com);
Go-
way
(
&
800/387-8850
in the U.S.
and Canada; www.goway.com);
Inta-
Aussie South Pacific Tours
(
&
800/
633-3404,
or 212/693-0677 in the
U.S.; www.inta-oz.com);
Maupin-
tour
(
&
800/255-4266
in the U.S.
and Canada; www.maupintour.com);
Qantas Vacations
(
&
800/348-8139
in the U.S. or 800/268-7525 in
Canada; www.qantasvacations.com);
Sunbeam Tours
(
&
800/955-1818
in the U.S. and Canada; www.sunbeam
tours.com);
Swain Australia Tours
(
&
800/22-SWAIN
in the U.S. and
Canada; www.swainaustralia.com);
Swain Australia's budget-travel divi-
sion,
Downunder Direct
(
&
800/
642-6224
in the U.S. and Canada;
www.downunderdirect.com); and
United Vacations
(
&
800/917-9246
in the U.S. and Canada; www.united
vacations.com). Swain Australia is
operated and largely staffed by
Aussies. Collette Vacations, Inta-
Aussie South Pacific, Sunbeam Tours,
Swain Australia, and Goway have
offices in Australia.
Travel packages are also listed in the
travel section of your local Sunday
newspaper. Or check ads in the
national travel magazines such as
Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Maga-
zine, Travel & Leisure, National Geo-
graphic Traveler,
and
Condé Nast
Traveler.
Package tours can vary by leaps and
bounds. Some offer a better class of
