Category Archives: Travel

Culture, maui, Travel

Orchid Show at the Maui County Fair

This year’s Maui County Fair, to be held October 2 to October 5, 2008, promises an all new orchid show put on by the Maui Orchid Society. If the idea of change frightens some, the Fair also promises to offer most of its other popular attractions, including the local favorite, deep fried twinkies.

With travel to the islands slumping, now is a good time to start planning a getaway to the Maui that includes a trip to its unique County Fair. Room rates and interisland fares are starting to dip and availability is good, making a trip to Maui more affordable than its been in a while.

For example, a room at the no-frills Maui Beach Hotel, which is walking distance to fair grounds, offers a nightly rate during the fair of $117 for a standard room. The Hawaii Superferry offers interisland transport for $59 each way from Honolulu.

For more details about the new orchid show at this year’s fair, see my article in the current issue of Hana Hou!.

Lifestyle, Random, Travel

Compare Airline Checked Baggage Fees

Nearly all of the major airlines have followed United’s lead and implemented fees for checked baggage. Here is a helpful table comparing the various baggage fees from kayak.com. The table also includes fee information for meals, pets, unaccompanied minor service, and what it costs for extra legroom.

Among all the airlines, the most common fee structure for checked baggage is one free checked bag, $25 for a second checked bag, and $50 for a third checked bag. But the fees vary: American charges $15 for the first bag; Delta charges $50 for a second bag; and British Airways doesn’t charge at all.

If you think you can avoid checked baggage fees by carrying on your luggage, think again. On all international flights that use London’s Heathrow Airport, for example, carry-on luggage is strictly limited to one bag that weighs less than 20 pounds. Domestic carriers are increasingly enforcing their own carry-on rules in order to force customers to check baggage (and thus pay their fees).

Besides shipping your luggage ahead or traveling with just your toothbrush, becoming a frequent flier with at least the first tier of status is the only good way at this point to beat the fees. On nearly every airline, the fees for checked baggage are waived for frequent fliers (see previous post on how to “Avoid United’s $25 for a Second Checked Bag”).

Culture, Holidays, Lifestyle, Random, Travel

One Day in St. Andrews, Scotland

In addition to being the birthplace of golf and the sport’s equivalent of Mecca, St. Andrews, Scotland, is an entirely charming town that begs to be photographed.

My first stop was St. Andrews Links, where both the lawns of the Old and New courses pop in vibrant green against the wind-swept beach, called the West Sands.

A very short stroll from the Links, the beach was my next stop. The West Sands are familiar from the film “Chariots of Fire”. With summer twilight lasting for hours, this two-plus mile long beach captured my imagination.

Looking back toward town from the beach, the rows of charming Victorian, neo-gothic and Norman houses built of ancient stone beckon.

As I toured around the delightful neighborhoods in St. Andrews, I met a group of men wearing traditional kilts. They had just come from a Scottish country dancing festival and were heading to a nearby pub for a well-earned pint.