Looking for luxury value

NOTE:     This blog has no ads and I'm not beholden to hotels, cruise lines, tour companies or airlines, and that's why I can offer my readers the truth about all of the above + offer the many ways to enjoy comfort traveling for less

In 2017, for some reason it’s easier to find value for cheap travel in the USA, and even more so in the Euro zone, especially in southern Italy.

As for luxury value, the USA is the worst place to find it.

For example, I just priced a suite at a luxury resort in Cooperstown, New York, the dates I wanted September 20 to 29 weren’t available because the hotel was fully booked.  The per night suite rate $760 with breakfast, was only available for 1 night.  When I priced a suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, the dates I wanted were available at the nightly rate of $1362 with breakfast.

If you are looking for luxury value, the best value now is available in certain areas of Italy, the country that rings the bell for cheap and luxury travel values in 2017.

For instance, I recently stayed in Naples at a 4 star hotel in the old city where I had a balcony with street and ocean view plus free breakfast at $132 per night.

Now I’ve booked a junior suite in Treiste for the dates I wanted at the city’s best 5 star luxury hotel of the Italian hotel chain, Star.I have 2 rooms plus a small kitchen, balcony with ocean view and full breakfast served at the hotels luxury restaurant.  All at varied rates, the highest at $462 for a 9 night total of E2826.25. 

I paid for it on my Visa credit card and I authorized the charge in Euros, the accounting staff decided to charge me in Dollars, although I authorized payment in Euros.  My credit card issuer doesn't charge a conversion fee if I authorize a charge in Euros, and this is a $120.18 overcharge because the hotel took the payment that I didn't authorize in Dollars. 

Here's a tip:  When paying in full in advance, watch out for sleazy accounting practices by a sloppy local hotel accounting staff, and don't let them get away with it.  Always expect to be charged what you are quoted.  Get proof in an e-mail as to how you expect to be charged before you authorize the booking. Most reputable hotels will have an online confirmation form, but check it before you press the "I accept" button.

I realize that I should have booked directly with the Hotel chain's American reservations.  Although I complained directly to the hotel in Treiste, asking the hotel to give me a credit in Euros on my account for the $120.18 I was over charged, I didn't receive a definitive answer.  Next, I called the American 24 hour reservation service of the Italian hotel chain.  After I told the customer service what happened—my complaint was escalated directly to the executive offices, and to my dismay, the hotel chain sent me an e-mail telling me they will have to sort out their accounting practices and get back to me.

My last step: I replied to hotel chain's e-mail informing them that I have decided to "dispute" the overcharge with my credit card issuer.  

    Another tip:  If you use a major credit card like Master Card or Visa you have the right to "dispute" charges, but you should keep proof of your booking confirmation.  As well, you may not need trip cancellation insurance in case you get sick.  With a doctor's note you can make claim directly with Master Card or Visa at the number you can obtain from you credit card issuer—other credit cards offer similar guarantees.  Call your bank to check into it before you book and pay for your trip.  
    My final tip:  Be wary of hotels abroad in that use online booking services to make an extra 3% commission when Americans book in the destination country's currency and expect that currency transaction to be made via the credit card into Dollars.  Your bank may or may not add their conversion fee.  You should calculate these "conversion" fees in your final cost.  Make certain you are booking the "destination" currency before you approve a "paid in full" advance purchase. 

If you don’t mind a long flight, you can get superior economy with Alitalia for the September dates 20-30 for $1226.26.

When I traveled to Naples recently, I was very surprised that this airline’s wide body airbus planes are very comfortable even in economy, with more seat room than in the Boeing plane.  For the Treiste flights when I  picked my seat and menu choice of food,  I counted 15 on the list of menu choices..

Mind travel basics

NOTE:     This blog has no ads and I'm not beholden to hotels, cruise lines, tour companies or airlines, and that's why I can offer my readers the truth about all of the above + offer the many ways to enjoy comfort traveling for less

If you have never visited the place you want to travel to, it helps if you mind travel—the idea of that is to do more than imagine what your destination might be like, you can mind travel by virtual means.

The other day, I used the virtual means of mind travel to make up my mind about the accommodation I plan to book when I visit Geneva, Switzerland.

Although I’m not traveling until next June, I want to book the Aparthotel that I found by looking on the hotel booking Internet sites, operated by Ibis, of the French based Accor Hotel group, and I know that early booking is best for hotel operated apartment studios, because they fill up with canny Europeans who prefer self catering hotels.

Then I decided to mind travel by virtual means, and I used Google maps to find the street where the Ibis Aparthotel was located, and from the picture of that street plus surrounding streets, I knew that I wasn’t going to stay there.   

I still wanted to stay at an Aparthotel, and I checked out the Geneva Tourism site, to determine if they had any Aparthotel listings—on that site I discovered a list of several Geneva Aparthotels, I picked the one I preferred.

This time I entered the name of the Aparthotel I found on the site, and the street I needed to mind travel via the virtual of Google’s map, once again, I wasn’t charmed by the streets around the site. 

I went back to the Internet via the Yahoo search engine, in the slot I typed in the following: Aparthotels in Geneva, Switzerland, and found another website: Geneva Booking service, with several Aparthotels listing, one of them was exactly what I was looking for, from the photos and location, I knew this Aparthotel was perfect, plus the price was in line all the others that were imperfect.

My advice to you is to try the mind travel route via virtual means even if you plan to take a tour—mind travel all the hotels on your tour, then decide whether your vacation plans will live to your expectations.

 

Chasing the cheap

Too many of the traveling public are supporting the 3^rd party booking services without realizing that whether it be hotel, vocational rental, or airline, chances are the “deal” brings a bunch of problems.

If you are a traveler who wants chaos, then using a 3^rd party booking service might be fine, but for those of us who like to have a great vacation at the destination without upsets, these booking services are not for you.

Beware, the 3^rd party booking services to include those selling hotels, vacation rentals only, and the others offering hotel/vocational rentals/air/car, all have no fiduciary legal responsibility to accurately offer a fully truthful travel product, nor are they worried about irate traveler law suits, these are multinational global entities with a profit factor of travel offerings deliberately filled with inaccuracies and omissions.

Having booked my air with Expedia and inbound overnight at a New York City hotel with Booking.com, I can testify to all of the above.

The positive about 3^rd party booking services: use their  information when you want to book directly with either the airline, hotel, vacation rental, or car rental, all the prices and “deals” are right there to look at, as well, the customer reviews about the offerings can give you an insight as to whether this is the travel product you want.

Calling direct enables you to make your own “deal.”

The real positive about my recent travel experience was the southern Italian city of Naples where street construction is going on everywhere—yet this city is a veritable “farm fresh” food lovers paradise at low, low prices, and I’m old enough to remember the way it used to be in the USA before we were taken over by the corporate  profit-factor culture of food products, captive to long shelf life due to inordinate amounts of salt and questionable chemicals, made in perhaps China and other 3^rd world countries where  as well, sanitation and cleanliness is always a problem.

In Naples, supermarkets are repositories of “eat healthy” items that cannot be found in other western European cities of comparable size, and I’ve traveled extensively enough to know, the citizens of Naples have farm to market fresh produce not mass produced and at prices so low it rivals anywhere in similar western Europe cities—I had the pleasure of shopping at Sole 365, where fresh baked products take up a  wall of freshly baked unwrapped bread in plastic container shelves, even salt-free bread, all with exact amounts salt, sugar etc. listed ingredients, the grilled calamari was a succulent treat for lunch at my hotel room, where the small refrigerator kept it cooled to perfection as I made my salad of perfect spinach leaves and tasty tiny tomatoes plus farm fresh zucchini that I sliced in narrow strips.  

The fact is, this large southern Italian city has much more of what northern Italian cities of comparable size lack, in Naples neighborhoods are congenial, places where neighbors are sitting in the squares and straddled on anything that lines the antiquity laden all cobblestone city streets under construction, nearby are the many neighborhood favorite reasonably priced family restaurants where the locals eat—the port of Naples offers a cornucopia of restaurant choices up and down the winding cobblestone streets, wonderful grilled seafood and great beef steaks grilled to perfection, rare, or any way you want it, in my opinion rivaling the much touted Firenze beef.

Another positive:  the very reasonably priced Palazzo Turchini that I discovered by plying the 3^rd party booking sights, and although I paid in advance for a room with full breakfast served upstairs on the hotel terrace both indoors and outdoors, my booking direct with the hotel was sight unseen, yet I  read all the reviews, this was a 4.75 stars, lacking .25 stars, and many of the rooms are facing the courtyard of this restored palace situated right in the heart of the port, but from the reviews I knew it was prudent to ask for a room with a street view for me to experience the flavor and voice of Naples—from my balcony I could see the port with the blue azure water, beyond, the island of Ischia and other islands further in the distance—the staff were on duty 24 hours, wi-fi worked all the time, staff always available to answer questions and give directions.

The traffic is part of the story of this Naples where life is good and everyone works at jobs that support their families, traffic goes on a non-stop basis, the motorcycles and cars make crossing every street a hazard, but soon I was like the natives, using my hand to motion “stop,” however I often took advantage of the pedestrian cross walks where the police in patrol vans see to it for the most part certain pedestrian rules are observed by even the most insolent motorcyclists. 

I took photos with my iPhone SE and hereafter during other travel posts I will feature some that will give more of the flavor of Naples than all of the above.