AA Passengers "Pay" For Rolling Carry On

My husband and I are travelers that fly without checking luggage. We each have a backpack and one carryon that fits the airlines size regulations. We have, literally, traveled all over the world that way.

Now, American Airlines is making travelers like us "pay" for the privilege of carrying on our luggage by giving priority boarding to passengers who have no roll-a-boards. They will be able to board after AA's Group 1 and before passengers in Groups 2, 3 and 4.

http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/american-airlines-favors-passengers-without-rolling-bags-233911704.html

I wonder how this will really affect us. We have an AA affinity credit card and one of the perks is priority boarding. Will we still be in Group 1 when the dust clears? 

And how long will it take before the other airlines follow suit?

Summary: Our Costa Rica Trip

Our custom trip worked out perfectly. We were met at the airport as arranged and given our vouchers for the trip. All hotels expected us and each one met my requirement of first floor room, air conditioning, and close to town. All transfers were either private or shared in a mini-van and we were always picked up on time.

Overall, we had a great time. While we didn't see the quantity of wildlife I had hoped, we certainly saw quality.

In Tortuguero, Jerry got pretty up close and personal with howler monkeys. We both got close to a sloth and watched it come down from its tree ... not something you see very often.

We saw quetzels. We saw scarlet macaws. We got to see all four species of monkeys in Costa Rica. Jerry got lots of hummingbird pictures.

Before we left, I promised Jerry that he would be taking bird pictures right from our hotel grounds. Looking, for instance, at pictures of the toucan he photographed from poolside in Manuel Antonio, he said I kept my promise.

Review: Manuel Antonio National Park

Our final stop on our Costa Rica trip was the Manuel Antonio/Quepos area, along the southern Pacific coast. We had four nights here and this was to be our R & R at the end of our trip ... my beach time. I had visited Manuel Antonio National Park previously and had good memories of it and hoped to spend our last days relaxing at the beach and enjoying the wildlife the park had to offer.

What a disappointment! The entrance to the park has changed since my last visit. Our hotel was within easy walking distance but if you came by public bus, the closest bus stop was now a 15 to 20 minute walk to the park entrance, through streets that took you away from the water. As you walked to the entrance you were approached by guides soliciting clients. (They were very pleasant and didn't keep bothering us after we said "No.") Tours were $20 per person and we figured that -- at least the first time into the park -- we'd wing it. (And that is on top of the $10 per person entrance fee.)

We made the right choice by going without a guide. If we had taken a guide we would have heard the same stories about sloths and howler monkeys. While the guides were able to spot some sloths, they were way up in the trees and hard to see. We didn't hear or see any of the guides pointing out birds except for one hummingbird that was back in the brush. Monkeys were easy to find since they appear to have as much interest in us as we have in them. But generally we were very disappointed by the lack of wildlife.

The main path just past the entrance is a gravel road. Several times we had to make way for vehicles. Unless you go early, the park is crowded. As we left around noon we saw families coming in with beach and picnic items. The park now has changing rooms in the park and drinkable water.

Because the main entrance and exit were moved, the shops, restaurants and street vendors selling everything from typical tourist items to full plates of grilled chicken with vegetables (dinner) and cut pineapple (desert) were gone ... because the traffic was gone. This had been a real neat area and I missed the experience. Even more, I missed the grilled chicken meal I was planning on.

The one thing that didn't disappoint was the beach in the park or the sunset from the public beach.

We spend two mornings in the park ... after our first negative wildlife experience we figured it had to be better the next day. It wasn't. After about two hours sitting on the beach, we returned to our hotel for lunch and spent a good part of the afternoon poolside, where we saw more birds in an hour than we did the entire time in the park.




Our third day we took the bus into Quepos and wandered around. It was Saturday and a fruit and vegetable market was set up near the water. After spending some time there, we returned to our hotel and then went to the public beach where we rented an umbrella and two lounge chairs for $10. Unlike the calm waters in the park, the waters here had big waves and I spent some time "jumping" waves and body surfing. Can't remember the last time I did that. I had fun but sure missed the old  Manuel Antonio National Park.

Airlines Charging More Fees

I have never flown Spirit Airline. Its fares are suppose to be very cheap. As in VERY! They make up for these low fares by adding on a whole bunch of fees such as fees to check your luggage AND fees to carry on your luggage. Now they have done away with their toll free number and "to better assist you" have a phone number where the caller pays. This is suppose to be better for the customer????

Frontier now charges for soft drinks, coffee and water. Frontier also charges a $100 fee for your carry on if you do not buy your ticket on Frontier's web site. But wait! Maybe that ticket is more than $100 cheaper on Orbitz or Travelocity or another online travel site. So maybe it makes sense to buy from a site other than Frontier's and pay the fee. (Yes, I'm confused too).

All of the major U.S. airlines have raised change fees from $150 to $200 per ticket on non-refundable fares, the most common fare purchased by travelers.

And Southwest is changing its "missed flight" policy. Used to be you could just be a no-show and use the value of your ticket for another flight. Now, if you won't be able to make a flight, be sure to call and cancel. Otherwise you'll find yourself paying a fee.

Unfortunately, airlines don't advertise their fees because ... let's face it ... fees don't make great PR. USAirways, for instance, changed its pet policy. Pets are no longer able to fly as cargo and there is an in-cabin fee of $125. Flying with a heavy suitcase on United? If you are flying with a 70 lb bag to and from Mexico or the Caribbean, you'll find yourself paying an extra $800! (This is definitely the case where it is cheaper to buy a second bag and check two 35 lb bags instead).

If you fly Ryanair and arrive at the gate without a boarding pass, the gate agent will print one for you and charge you $108 for the service. Air India raised its overweight charges while lowering the weight for no-fee checked luggage. So that bag you used to fly with for free may now cost you $50.

The moral of this story is check your airline's website before heading to the airport. Actually, check it before you buy your ticket and check it again before you pack your bags. You don't want to be caught off guard by a rule that changed since you last flew.

Review: Don Juan Coffee Tour, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Our second day in Monteverde we decided to make a reservation for a coffee tour. The desk at the hotel took care of it for us and we had a 2:40 pickup for a 3:00 tour. In spite of previous visits to Costa Rica and other coffee producing countries, this was our first coffee tour.

Price was $30 per person and including information on coffee, sugar cane and chocolate. We were picked up right on time and taken to the plantation area.

The tour started with a visit to the nursery where we learned about the raising of coffee plants. Did you know that coffee plants can grow many feet tall but, on plantations, are consistently pruned to a height of about 3 to 4 feet to make it easier for the berries to be picked?

We saw some plants in bloom and some with ripe red berries. We were shown how they were then spread out to be sun-dried before being roasted. Did you know that dark roasted coffee has less caffeine than light roasted?

Our tour included squeezing sugar cane juice out of the stalk and having a chance to taste it. Also ground up cocoa beans and added to hot water for a cocoa drink. After the tour we had a chance to taste several varieties of coffee. It was a very interesting and enjoyable tour.

Wildlife List From Our Costa Rica Trip

Tortuguero

Howler Monkey

Heliconia Butterfly
Montezuma Oropendula
Amazon Kingfisher
Greenback Heron
Great Curazon
Little Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Green Iquana
Three-toed Sloth
Great Kiskadee
Sandpiper
Royal Tern

Three-toed Sloth

Green Kingfisher
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black Cheeked Woodpecker
Slated Tail Trogon
Spider Monkey
Tiger Heron
Northern Jacana
Hermit Hummingbird
Prothonotary Warbler
Rufus Kingfisher
Water Spider
Gray Necked Woodrail

Rio Frio – Cano Negro Reserve

Mangrove Swallow

Amazon Kingfisher
Long-nosed Bat
Wood Stork
Blue Morpho
Boat Billed Heron
Speckled Caiman
Mangrove Swallow
Social Flycatcher
Northern Waterthrush
Orange Chinned Parakeet
Anhinga
Violaceous Trogon
Howler Monkey
Cattle Egret
Crested Caracara
Green Kingfisher
Jesus Christ Lizard
Great Patoo
White Faced Capuchin
Lessor Nighthawk
Northern Jacana
Great Tailed Grackle
Spider Monkey
Smokey Brown Woodpecker
Green Heron
Crocodile
Three Toed Sloth
Clay-colored Robin (national bird)

Monteverde-Curi Cancha Area

Blue Morpho Butterfly

Blue Crown Mot-Mot
Agouti
Purple Throated Mountain Gem Hummingbird
Green Crowned Brilliant Hummingbird
Stripe Tail Hummingbird
Green Violet Ear Hummingbird
Violet Sabrewing Hummingbird
Coppery Headed Emerald Hummingbird
Coati

Resplendent Quetzel

Leaf Katydid
Orange Bellied Trogon
Common Bush Tanager
Three Striped Warbler
Resplendent Quetzal
Glass Wing Butterfly
Heliconius Butterfly
Black Guam
Bananaquit
Elegant Euphonia
Marked Tityra
Three Wattle Bellbird
Black Headed Nightingale Thrush
Worm Eating Warbler
Gray Necked Woodrail
Baltimore Oriole
Blue-gray Tanager

Manual Antonio

Squirrel (Titi) Monkey
Northern Raccoon
Cherrie's Tanager
Scarlet Macaw
Magnificent Frigatebird
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
Speckled-cheeked Tanager

Review: Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and Curi Cancha Wildlife Reserve

We had two full days in the Monteverde region and I had prearranged guided nature tours of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and the Curi Cancha Wildlife Reserve through G Adventures. As is typical of the quality of the guides used by G Adventures, our guide was wonderful. Marcela Morales (506 8391-3806, marcelaguide@yahoo.com) was friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating.

Although we were suppose to have group tours, our tour of Monteverde ended up private and our Curi Cancha tour had only one other gentleman ... so almost private. The tours were wonderful. Marcela gave us a 90 percent certainty that she would be able to find a Resplendent Quetzal for us and she followed through on her promise. Many people travel to Monteverde to see this bird and not all are successful in finding it. Not only did we see several pairs, we also were able to watch a pair work on a nest.

Monteverde and Curi Cancha are very different in spite of their close proximity. Monteverde is a true cloud forest with densely packed trees and foliage, lots of moss and bromeliads, and very dark and damp, with very little sunlight filtering down to the ground.

Curi Cancha is a few hundred feet lower and is more open. Brilliant sunny spaces and trees spaced far apart ... which made it a lot easier for Jerry to get that Quetzel shot (above).

I highly recommend both preserves because of their contrasts. And definitely go with a guide. The guides all carry large scopes and know how and where to look for the wildlife. For instance, the Quetzel pair making a nest will probably remain in that same spot for quite a while. Now knowing where it is, Marcela will be able to take her next tour directly to the location, providing them a great experience. If you go on your own, unless you are lucky and trip over a guide pointing something out, you probably won't spot it.

More than once Marcela showed she was there for us. We used her scope, she answered all of our questions and she waited patiently until Jerry finally decided he had enough pictures ... even to the extent of pointing out other vantage points for what might be a better shot. Quite interesting was the moment when a hiker on his own asked Marcela a question. Jerry and I both noticed that Marcela totally ignored him.

She was ours!

Which Airline?

Many travelers have multiple flight options for getting from here to there. Not only are there departure and arrival time options, but total length of trip, price and choice of airline.

So all things being equal, how do you decide which airline to take? Loyalty programs might make a difference to you. But if they don't check the airline reviews on Skytrax.

Not only will you find reviews of airlines worldwide, but you'll also find information on airports and airline seat guides.

For more airline information, another great site is Seat Guru where it is quick and easy to check out the best to the worst seat on the plane.

Delay In Posting About Costa Rica Trip

I am having trouble uploading pictures to my blog. Based on the Google Blogger forum, I'm not the only one. I am hoping this will be resolved soon and I can continue with our trip.

In the meantime, I am updating my other travel blog, Travel Ideas. Travel Tips. Travel Warnings. , with lots of great new hints and ideas.You can subscribe by entering your email address in the box below Follow By Email on the Travel Ideas. Travel Tips. Travel Warnings. blog site.

 

Review: Hotel Poca a Poco, Monteverde, Costa Rica

I booked our Costa Rica tour using G Adventures' independent tour services. One of my requirements were hotels close to town and, if the hotel did not have an elevator, a first floor room. In that respect, G Adventures came through ... Hotel Poco a Poco met the requirements. G Adventures presented me with a list of hotels for me to review and accept or reject. I accepted this one because of the location. In retrospect, I should have paid closer attention to the reviews on tripadvisor.

Since it was right on the road, we heard the traffic which did stop at dark but resumed early at first light. The hotel had wifi but no terminals for guests to us. If I wanted, I could have rented a laptop for $3 per 1/2 hour or $5 per hour. I guess they expect everyone to travel with their laptop or iPad. We don't.

The room was good sized but no place to really hang clothing. The TV stood on a wide chest high cabinet that had hanging space at one end ... not really high enough for shirts or pants. The bedspread was stained and the bed sheet had a worn spot that I probably could have put my finger through.

Worst of all, the hotel has all of two first floor rooms, both near the restaurant. In the early morning we would hear people heading to breakfast. At night, the restaurant had live music until 9:30 p.m.  (In the middle of the afternoon, when we wanted to rest, there would be teenagers practicing in the restaurant. Twice I had to ask at the front desk to have that stopped and I felt like I was interrupting them ... and they were doing me a BIG favor. I realize this hotel is in an area where they expect people to be out all day so I guess having guests on premises in the afternoon is unexpected and an inconvenience. That goes along with our room not being made up until mid-afternoon.)

On the positive side,  across the street and a little bit up the hill was a "mall" with a supermarket. By crossing through the mall, we came to another street that gave us a relatively easy walk into Santa Elena. (I say 'relatively' because there are only two ways to walk in this area: up or down.) There was also a spectacular view from the deck area leading down to the pool. The pool was shaded and I had it all to myself one afternoon, allowing me to sit back on one of the steps to read.

Onto Monteverde

The trip from La Fortuna to Monteverde is an experience in and of itself. First there is a mini-van ride. Then there is a boat ride. Then there is another mini-van ride.

The first mini-van ride was over paved roads with a fog-shrouded volcano, Arenal, off to our left. As has been typical on the days of our transfers, it was raining on and off.

We were dropped off cliffside, overlooking the boats waiting to take us across the lake. Fortunately we didn't have to carry our own luggage down ... we just had to get ourselves down to the boat.

The ride across was pretty smooth, in spite of the threatening clouds and low fog.

On the other side, the vehicles waiting to transport us to Monteverde were right at shore side.We were suppose to go into bus 2. But bus 2 never showed up. There were 6 of us and, finally, the decision was made to split us up into the three remaining buses. So, after a bit of a delay, we were on our way.

Travelers have an option on how to get from Lake Arenal to Monteverde. You can either take a van, as we were doing, or go by horseback. The time I was in Costa Rica with Lynn we went horseback. Let me tell you that three hours on horseback was an easier ride than our van ride up steep hills, down steep hills, around sharp curves, steep dropoffs on one side or the other .... all on a dirt road until we got close to Santa Elena ... the small town that is the center of commerce for the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve area.

Our Stay in La Fortuna

We had a long travel day to La Fortuna, leaving Tortuguero at 9:15 a.m. and arriving in La Fortuna at 4 pm. It rained most of the drive which was OK. What we want is good weather when we are out bird watching.

I had a choice of hotels for this area. Most of the hotel are along the ring road that goes along the north side of Arenal, with views of the volcano and, if lucky, nighttime displays of lava flow. I made the decision to stay in the town of La Fortuna like I did when I visited Costa Rica with Lynn. It is an old Costa Rican town and thought the experience be more interesting.

Our hotel, San Bosco, was old, with small rooms, and, during the day, noisy. But it was spotless, the A/C worked, it quieted down at night and the beds were comfortable. After arriving we spent some time walking around town, popping into souvenir shops as I had some specific things I was looking for.

Finally we pooped out and simply selected a place for dinner. Turned out to be Mexican but we had a good meal. Prices, though once cheap, are approaching what one could expect to pay in a Mexican restaurant at home.

We tripped over the office of the company we had a reservation with for an excursion to Cano Negro and confirmed our reservation. The young lady had just printed out our receipt and was very pleased to meet us. When she asked where we were from and we told her, she told us that she has a friend in Pittsford ... yes, the place near Rochester. Very small world.

We had an excellent trip to Cano Negro, booked though Jacamar Naturalist Tours. There turned out to be four of us, plus our guide. It was another long day, leaving around 8 am and back at 4. We drove about 1 1/2 hrs to a town near the Nicaraguan border where we boarded a small boat for an excursion on the Rio Frio and into the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge.

Kingfisher

It was an excellent excursion where we saw lots of wildlife, with a guide who was very knowledgeable and who made sure everyone saw the bird or animal we stopped for. Plus we had a boat driver who slowed the boat every time Jerry picked up his camera to take a picture. It was a long, tiring but excellent day.

Review: Manatus Lodge, Tortuguero

I would not hesitate to recommend Manatus Lodge. Our pickups and transfers ran smoothly. All meals are included and the food was excellent, served by helpful and friendly staff. Unlike the rest of the hotels we stayed at in Costa Rica, breakfast here was not a buffet but instead ordered off a menu. A menu was also provided for lunch and dinner.

There are 12 rooms, each their own 'separate' bungalow (although at first it didn't looks that way because they were four in a cluster with a corner attached).

Our room had two four poster canopied beds which were very comfortable. The air conditioning worked well and we were grateful that we had it.

The bathroom had a huge walk in shower and I was really delighted with the bathroom sink bowl ... obviously so delighted that I had to take a picture.

The grounds were lovely, with groundskeepers working hard to keep it neat and clean. We were also very lucky here with the wildlife. The first morning another guest directed us to one of the trees along the water's edge (far left background in this picture) where there was a female sloth with a baby on her chest and, on another branch of the same tree, a huge iguana.

There were beautiful flowers bordering the walking paths. See the roof along one of the walkways at the top of the picture? My husband was up and out early that first morning to try to get pictures of the howler monkeys in the trees that were just at the edge of the property ... and found some scampering along the walkway rooftop!

(Note: I don't want to mislead anyone about the wildlife here. We know we were lucky that first day. The next morning was very quiet, and we saw no monkeys and very few birds before we left. )


Overall the stay was very pleasant. I had originally planned on three nights here but the agent at the tour operator we used (G Adventures)  said two nights were really enough. She was right. We felt like we could stay for days with all the wildlife we saw on the property on our first morning but, as we discovered on the second morning, that doesn't always happen.

Our Time In Tortuguero

Our packet of instructions said 6:35 a.m. pickup for our transfer to Torteguero. Arriving just a few minutes late, we were apparently the last pickup. With six of us in an 18-passenger van, we headed out of the city.

Oncoming car lights can barely be seen.

Our route took us east through Barillo Carillo National Park. This is a beautiful rain forest and, on this particular day, it certainly lived up to its name. We hit rain and fog along with lots of traffic. Up hills and down hills. I'm sure glad I wasn't driving.

About 8:30 we stopped in Guapiles at Rancho Robertos for a buffet breakfast. Then back on the road, for about another hour, to the "port." Along the way we stopped for some nature lessons, including information on bananas and pineapple. Didn't know that Costa Rica was the largest grower of pineapple and the pineapple we had at breakfast every morning was fantastic.

Finally, the "port," a large parking area along the river, with one building that housed a small grocery store, bar and restaurant. Lined up along the shore line were boats going to the various Tortuguero lodges. Our luggage was loaded onto our boat, we were handed off from our land guide to our river guide, and off we went.

The main pier in Tortuguero.

While the main goal now was simply to get us to the lodge, if the guide spotted something special he pointed it out ... such as a male and female Great Currasow, an endangered species not spotted very often. After about a 45-minute ride, we passed the town of Tortuguero just as the skies opened up. But it didn't last long and we made it to our lodge and accommodations without getting drenched.

After a delicious lunch in the open air dining room, we were taken by boat into Tortuguero. I visited this village in 2007 and what a change in those six years. It is larger and with a lot more souvenir shops. It is also busier. Miss Junie's, where I stayed last time, has had a badly needed face lift.

We had a free 1 1/2 hours here and it was plenty of time. We walked over to the Caribbean, which was very rough and where I managed to get my sneakers soaked. (Fortunately we had air conditioned accommodations and they eventually dried.) We had some fun with a young couple we met, Adina and Liviv, who are from Romania. Liviv spoke minimal English and yet he and Jerry managed to get on just fine, with Liviv doing his best to help Jerry in and out of boats and to spot wildlife for Jerry to photograph.

Howler Monkey

We stayed at our lodge for two nights. The stay included two boat excursions into Tortuguero National Park. Unfortunately, those excursions were disappointing. While we did see wildlife, the most exciting wildlife we saw was in the morning at the lodge. Jerry was up early and there were howler monkeys all over the trees ... plus running along the roof over the walkway.

Female Three-Toed Sloth w/ Baby

And both of us got to see a sloth -- with a baby -- come down from her tree for her once-per-week poop time.

Kudos to FRA, Germany's Frankfort Airport

Many, many more airports need to do this. The airport has begun to install departure information boards in Terminals 1 and 2 that show the average walking times to various gates. As the flight is assigned to a gate, the board will display the amount of time it would take an average person to walk to that gate from the sign's location.

Eaight boards are being installed behind the security screen areas and passport check area in Terminal 1 (2 in Pier A and the rest in the non-Schengen part of Pier B). There will be a new board in the Schengen part of Terminal 2.

For travelers with mobility problems, is their gate is in the new C/D pier between terminals 1 and 2, they may take advantage of a free shuttle that runs regularly through the corridor.

The airport has also set up a "fast lane" at security. If your flight is departing in less than 30 minutes (just check the screen at the check point) you may use the fast lane.

Traveler treatment like this would have been most welcome to me and my husband during our recent dash through EWR from our international flight to our domestic flight.