Pats
and Pans - or Real Travel Companies Wizzle Loves and
Hates
The reviews below are based on personal travel experiences and may not represent your own dealings with those companies, the hype provided in their brochures or your brother-in-law's opinion to the contrary. Hopefully the pat or pan is based on some degree of logic, so an explanation of the reason for the rating is provided. Our rating system is
Tour Companies
or Travel Agents
| Company/Link | Rating | Description |
| Perrillo Tours | Wow!!! | Our tour with Perrillo was just as good as presented in their brochures and was a real bargain. We had absolutely wonderful tour guides, meals, wine, entertainment and hotels. Most of the folks on our tour were taking their 5th, 6th or 10th Perrillo Tour......which speaks for itself. Our itinerary was great. Our tour guide was a hoot and very informed .....plus we had local guides for each city. The flight over on coach via Alitalia airlines was just fine. |
Airline, Rail, Cruise Lines and Car Agencies
A note here: I have a lot of patience with unavoidable travel
problems which companies have to deal with. I have NO tolerance whatsoever
for companies who know months in advance about the need for surge capacity
and do nothing, thereby allowing the traveler to suffer. I refuse
to provide a link for lousy companies.
| Company/Link | Rating | Description |
| British Airways | Ho hum to Blech!!!! | Princess Cruises booked us on British Airways for our 1997 Baltic Cruise. In the air BA was acceptable. On the ground.....Blech!!!!!!!!! We started with a 1 1/2 hour line to check in and get our seat assignments in Los Angeles (LAX). Why weren't seats already assigned when we'd booked the cruise 7 months earlier? And how the heck did BA think we were going to get to the cruise except on their airline? The ground crew were totally harried trying to assign seats on our overbooked 747......and in chatting with the gal at the desk (where I stood for a half hour while some families were being accomodated).....this was "normal" and why was I having a problem? I was the LAST person given a seat despite the fact I had to make a cruise connection. Isolated incident? Noooooooooooo!!!!! At the London end, where BA knew darn well it was going to have to process all the folks from our cruise (small ship.....maybe 600 folks and only 2/3rds from the USA )......we waited 2 hours in line!!! Again...BA does not pre-assign seats.......DUH!!! I would have thought they would make an exception for cruise passengers, who are 99% sure of taking their flights.....but maybe BA is still pondering the glories of the Empire and can't bother with passengers. Or ....they are just spoiled by being a national carrier without much competition. Avoid these folks unless you love lines....they think huge lines are normal and haven't figured out the alternatives used by other carriers. |
| Delta Airlines |
Blech!!! (big time) |
Very much a repeat of the BA experience, but after our Norwegian Cruise in 1996. Unfortunately, we were on a much larger ship and almost everyone was taking Delta back to the States. Baggage check in--right at the pier....took an hour's wait in the broiling sun. When we got to the airport, some folks actually had to wait up to 3 hours to check in!!!!! No kidding. The Delta manager in San Juan ought to be sacked........he finally brought on extra ground crew but there were people who almost missed their flights!!! Again.....this is a situation where the airline knows well in advance about who, what and where since the cruise line books the flight. There are no excuses for this sort of fiasco. I have never seen people so angry!!!! We were on one of the later flights, so my wait was a "mere" hour and a half (just to get seat assignments and boarding passes). By the time we got on board, everyone was so furious the flight crew didn't have much of a chance. That didn't stop Delta from NOT providing even ONE free drink. Instead of their current motto, I suggest "We love to fly and watch you suffer". In addition, I have several friends whose baggage was lost by Delta......in one case both on both legs of a round trip. |
| Alitalia Airlines | Tasteful | Flew on a packed 747 to Rome with good meals and no ground irritations. Nice service and pleasant flight crew too. Check in time was an acceptable 30 minutes or less. |
| Cathay Pacific Airlines | Wow!! | Flew the 13 hour flight to Hong Kong aboard a packed 747 but the flight crew and on-board amenities totally overcame the long and sardine like conditions. The food was fabulous!!!!!! I wonder if we can get these folks to fly to London? Check in time was an acceptable 30 minutes or less. |
| American Airlines | Not bad | Most of my business flying has been on American.......it's a very middle of the road major US carrier. There is curb-side check in at LAX and other major airports so check in is a breeze. Food is indifferent and service has been variable. Their web site is very nice. |
Hotels,
B&B's, Camping Sites, etc.
| Company/Link | Rating | Description |
Places to Go or
Avoid and Miscellaneous
| Company/Link | Rating | Description |
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