April 2012 – Page 2 – The Discerning Travelers

We all have our obsessions. Obviously, travel is one of ours, and along with that goes our obsession with personalizing our holidays. Gone are the days of pre-arranged group shore excursions from cruise ships, and gone are the days of European bus tours with 42 other well-intentioned travelers for us (but we did have a wonderful time all those years ago on a whirlwind tour of Europe with a ten-year-old – maybe we’ll tell you about it sometime!).

In our quest for personalization, we’re becoming experts on finding tour operators who specialize in bespoke experiences, and finding those tour companies online – a tricky and anxiety-inducing prospect as you lighten your wallet by a considerable sum before even setting foot in the country to which you are traveling. For what it’s worth, then, we offer you our five tips for finding that perfect (for you), private, personalized dream tour. First, the story of how we discovered these tips.

It all started a few months before when we began our search for a bespoke tour of the countryside outside Paris. That search led us to À Paris Travel and a wonderful woman named Sue Lillie. With considerable trepidation, we had started an online search for tour companies specializing in European travel, and soon found that there were too many to wade through with any degree of certainty about their quality. So we narrowed our search to specialists in visiting France and stumbled on this wonderful company. But we didn’t know that it would be wonderful at that time.

We decided that we’d focus on one of our obsessions – champagne – and more specifically in Patty’s case Veuve Clicquot champagne. This led us to create a tour of the champagne district that would include a visit to the Veuve caves and a champagne tasting or two. Before we were willing to pay the complete upfront amount, however, rather than conducting all of the transactions through email and the web site, we decided that a chat with the proprietor might put our minds at ease. And so it did. After a very pleasant conversation with US-based Lille (late of Montreal as it turned out), we felt quite comfortable paying in advance for the tour (which is required for most of these companies). Then all we had to do was hope that a car and driver showed up on the appointed day at the appointed time.

moet — Moet & Chandon in Epernay, France.

Early one gray morning in Paris we made our way to the front door of our hotel on the Champs Elysees to find Pascale leaning against his car awaiting our arrival. And so we were off.

After a few brief questions about our interests, Pascale was quite sure he know just where to take us. He’d take us to one champagne house, and then make arrangements for the other. First, we’d visit Épernay where we would take a tour and tasting at the venerable Moet & Chandon, and then we’d venture to Reims, the largest city in the Champagne district and home to the Veuve caves. Between the two, Pascale would drop us off at a favorite lunch spot where we’d join the locals for a bite to eat.

patty at veuve — Patty at the champagne-tasting bar at Veuve Clicquot in Reims, France.

With just the three of us on board, we had all the freedom that a group tour just doesn’t offer. The itinerary was ours alone and if we decided to veer off course at any point during the day, we could. It was another of those days that you mark down in your memory as ‘perfect.’ In fact, it was so perfect that we relaxed a bit about the second tour we had booked during that trip (yes, we took a chance and booked two). When tiny Caroline picked us up in her massive Mercedes in Villefranche on the French Riviera two weeks later, we knew that we were in for the time of our lives thanks to À Paris Travel and our willingness to take a risk.

Tip # 1: Be specific about exactly where you want the tour to take you.

We were quite clear that we wanted to visit Champagne, rather than simply saying that we’d like to take a day trip out of Paris which is the thought we had initially.

Tip #2: Decide what kind of experiences you’d like (follow your obsessions for example), and then keep an open mind.

We had other ideas when Pascale picked us up that morning, but other than the visit to Veuve, we were open-minded and let him guide us. These kinds of open-minded approaches have led us to many wonderful experiences over the years. And these guides are truly wonderful resources. Use them!

Tip #3: Do your online research carefully and consider it to be part of the experience.

This is so important. You need to do a lot of research, and you should consider not thinking of it as work; rather you might see it as part of the learning experience that travel ought to be. We actually consider research prior to a trip a part of the trip resulting in a much longer experience than the week or three that are actually away.

bottles from 1906 — Champagne, vintage 1906, in the caves.

Tip #4: Do your due diligence.

For us that means that as often as possible, getting these tour operators on the telephone. Even if it’s as simple as booking a limo drive from a cruise terminal, try to speak to someone in person once you’ve gathered all the information you can from the web. You can learn a lot by that more personal contact. If you have a gut feeling that this isn’t for you, you are very likely right. Sue Lillie put us very much at ease as she told us about how her company had developed and her own passion for French travel.

You can also use online travel forums such as TripAdvisor (we’re contributors to this one), but remember that everyone is different. Read the contributors’ pieces carefully and note the outliers – in other words, is it the only one that had a problem with the tour operator, or the only one that didn’t. In either case, that one might not provide you with as helpful information as you might think. Also, read reviews to see if they are specific, or if they are just subjective assessments (e.g. It was wonderful! Terrible! etc. without concrete descriptions of exactly what made it so wonderful or terrible letting the reader then decide.). In the end, a traveler review on a site such as TripAdvisor is based largely on the contributor’s expectations going in. If we were to review some of the hotels that others find wonderful, we’d find them barely acceptable for a variety of reasons all based on what we’re looking for.

Tip #5: Make your decision, pay your money, and don’t look back.

Don’t second guess yourself. After you make a decision, go with it. File away other interesting information about other tour companies for the future, but don’t keep comparing what one might have offered. You’ve made a decision, and it is very likely that if you did your homework, it will be the right one for you.

If you’ve hit on a truly terrific one, perhaps you’ll do what we did and book again with that tour operator. We’d love to know how people make out with personalized tours. If you have five minutes, come along with us as we follow our obsession with Veuve Clicquot from the caves in France to the Veuve bar aboard the Queen Mary 2.

In February we headed out on our annual pilgrimage somewhere south to avoid a few weeks of nasty Canadian weather. Usually, it’s a simple hop to Toronto and then onward to – well, just about anywhere “down south” as winter-weary Canadians like to say. This year, our four weeks away found us on no less than ten – yes ten—airplane segments on three different airlines. Needless to say, there is going to be a certain amount of comparing going on.

hawaiian-airlines-osaka-300x199 — Soaring over the Napali coast.

We began our trip on our trusty Air Canada to whom we are quite loyal. There is much for a discerning traveler to gain from being loyal. Travel blogger and co-founder of airfare-prediction site FlightCaster Evan Konwiser (who knows more about airline loyalty programs than we ever will) offers five golden rules for air travels that include, among others, never travel anywhere without earning miles of one sort or another and focus on one airline at a time (you can read the rest of the rules at The Golden Rules of Loyalty Programs, and you should!). We agree and have, indeed, gained elite status giving us some of the perks that make comfortable flying less of an oxymoron. However, it doesn’t always work out that you can fly on your favorite – or even on one of its alliance members.

Air Canada belongs to the Star Alliance so when we’re connecting to places where AC doesn’t fly, we usually book a Star Alliance partner (then we can still earn loyalty miles). This year, that meant flying on United Airlines from LA to Honolulu since we were stopping in LA for a few days enroute. Oh dear, when Dorothy realized she wasn’t in Kansas anymore, she was predicting how an Air Canada frequent flyer would feel when faced with what passes for first class (yes, that’s what our ticket said) on this partner airline.

Since we are among the older (one boomer and one beyond) members of the population, we have no issue with older workers. However, when flight attendants look like they should be lounging poolside at a retirement village in Florida, and have to turn sideways to make it up the aisles, we do begin to wonder how efficiently they would be able to move when faced with an emergency. And what’s with all that scowling at passengers? Then we had a great laugh when we saw the movie screen at the front of the cabin with its one movie on offer – we haven’t seen one of those since—well, since the last time we flew on an American-based airline a few years ago on our way to Puerto Rico (where Air Canada inconveniently does not fly). A word of advice to our dear American friends: You really need to take a lesson from your partners north of the 49th parallel and in Europe (see Lufthansa). Air Canada customers may complain as much as the rest of the flying world, but it’s clear to us most of the whiners haven’t traveled on American-based airlines lately.

We did, however, get safely to our destination relatively on time and with our luggage. Who can reasonably ask for more these days? Well, we can now that we’re-experienced Hawaiian Airlines – so our theory about American-based airlines doesn’t really hold up.

Our first experience with Hawaiian was some 10 years ago when we first ventured to Hawaii. On our trip between Honolulu and Maui, we were booked on Hawaiian. Our most vigorous memory of that event was the panic that preceded boarding: there were no assigned seats and the queuing began very early with a mad dash when the flight was called. Our heads were spinning by the time we finally got on board and found remaining seats. Needless to say that when we found ourselves booked on Hawaiian again, we were concerned. We could have saved ourselves needless consternation because Hawaiian Airlines is what we would call a flawless operation from beginning to end – and we took four of their flights in a two-week period.

Hawaiian Airlines uniforms — In 2012 Hawaiian Airlines commissioned textile designer Emma Howard to design the Hawaiian pattern for the new uniforms. They are wonderful.

Where does Hawaiian Airlines find its people? To a person, they were flawlessly personable and helpful. When we arrived at the airport in Honolulu to catch our flight to Kaua’i we were hopelessly confused at the baggage drop-off. And we were not alone. The system did seem a bit foreign, but helpful agents were able to get us in the right line, and now we know how to navigate their system. (Let’s face it, the variations in policies regarding check-in and baggage drop off among airlines throughout the world is mind-boggling. It would be nice if they could get it together. This is a tall order, we fear though, since even the security screening rules differ wildly from one airport to another even in the same country – shoes on, shoes off, cases in a bin, cases not in a bin, sweaters on, sweaters off, aahhh…you understand and we’re digressing).

We were flying first-class on these flights, but since the distances are short and many of the airports small (not the case in Honolulu) we did not expect many amenities. We were surprised to learn that there are indeed first-class lounges in all the airports and more than one in Honolulu. Decorated in Hawaiian motifs, the lounges don’t offer much in the line of food or drink – not necessary in these cases – but they are quiet, air-conditioned oases.

We heard a number of announcements indicating that Hawaiian Airlines was pleased to offer their customers advanced seat selection which suggested to us that the change was fairly recent. Wonderful! Actually, the reason we booked first class was because of our fear of the panic for seats as a result of our initial experience. We needn’t have worried.

Once on board, the flight attendants were happy, helpful and fitted with delightful Hawaiian-inspired uniforms (with prints designed by Hawaiian textile artist Emma Howard) that made us smile. On these short flights, they even managed to get us a drink and a snack – Mai Tai’s were our drink of choice!

The people were wonderful—but perhaps even more impressive was the efficiency of this airline. With a mere 30 minutes turn-around time on each occasion, they managed to get the passengers and their luggage off the planes, the embarking passengers and luggage on and get away on time, all without seeming rushed. The morning we flew back from the Big Island to Honolulu on our way home, there had been a computer glitch earlier in the day that had caused some delays. Our flight arrived in Kona 10 minutes late, and with that planned 30 minute-turn-around we fully expected to be late, a situation that might have resulted in rushed connections. Not to fear, though! They still managed to get luggage and passengers off and on, and take off on time – a turnaround time of 21 minutes!

You might be thinking that we’re talking about a little turbo-prop plane with few passengers aboard, but they fly 717’s on these routes. These full flights had 123 passengers on board and they still managed it. We watched the baggage handlers efficiently moving luggage on and off the planes, and it seems to us that employees from other airlines could learn a thing or two. In all our years of travel we have never experienced such fast arrival of our luggage – and that goes for small airports throughout the Caribbean.

Despite the fact that Hawaiian Airlines is not a member of the Star Alliance and thus we did not accumulate any frequent flyer points for the four flights we took, we enjoyed every minute of it, will do it again (may try one of their trans-Pacific flights next time) and would recommend them to anyone!

* Photo sources: http://mauinow.com/2011/10/10/hawaiian-airlines-adds-fifth-new-airbus/;

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nXFbQ8i7KNE/S8YGptkRNQI/AAAAAAAAACc/UT_kCoH5KjM/s400/Hawaiian