Makes a great gift! | Leisure & Travel
BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2022
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Plan your arrival at destination airports An old-time major league pitcher once said flights. You’ll fight the worst of the day’s trafhe worried about only two types of batters — fic getting to your final destination, and your righthanders and lefthanders. hotel room probably won’t be Similarly, only two kinds of ready. I can’t tell you how many airports present hostile envitimes I’ve passed through Lonronments: origin and destinadon hotel lobbies at about 10 in tion. Origin airports are often the morning where a bunch of the worst, but destination airjetlagged travelers sat around ports present their challenges, the lobby, with their baggage, as well. Here’s how to avoid waiting for a room to open. some of the worst problems. • If you can’t avoid an early 1. Schedule. Even before morning arrival, and you’re eliyou get there, you can ease gible for an airport lounge prodestination airport problems TRAVEL TIPS gram, you might be able to use by scheduling your trip to By Ed Perkins a post-immigration “arrivals minimize hassle. lounge” located at a few big air• In a multi-airport city, try to book the ports. Use a lounge finder like loungebudmost convenient airport — closest to your dy.com to see if you can use one. final destination, the smallest and easiest to 2. Getting to where you’re going. Unnavigate, the one with the best access to less someone is meeting you, solving the downtown, or some combination. “last mile” transport riddle can be a problem • Try to avoid arriving at local rush at any unfamiliar airport. Do it before you hours. It’s especially important to avoid get there, not after you arrive. morning rush hour arrival on overnight • The gold standard for last-mile trans-
port is a taxi or Uber, taking you directly from airport to your hotel, office or house door, with no intermediate schlepping. But cab and ride rates vary tremendously, depending both on distance and local rates. In the U.S., distance is the primary factor, with rates that soar from remote airports. A cab from airport to city center ranges from about $17 in San Diego to $60 at Washington/Dulles. Cab or ride rates are much higher at some remote foreign airports, such as $160 from Tokyo/Narita or London/Gatwick. On the other hand, cabs are inexpensive in China — for example, $25 in Shanghai. Check current rates at taxi fare locators such as Ride Guru (rideguru.com), Taxi Fare Finder (taxifarefnder.com), or World Taximeter (worldtaximeter.com). • Next, check public transit options. The best way to locate them is to look at the airport’s website. Every airport website includes a page or two about local access, usually with links to appropriate
transport services. • Often, the next-best option to a cab is a shared-ride door-to-door shuttle. Unless you’re headed for the first stop, a shuttle takes longer than a cab, but at a fraction of the cost. Airport websites list shuttle operators and usually link to their websites for fare information. • Rail access can often be your best option, especially at the more remote airports. In the U.S., 24 airports feature rail service. But light rail and metros can be very crowded at rush hours, and few provide facilities for baggage. Keep in mind that transport other than cabs/rides is priced per-person: A stiff taxi/ride fare could be a non-starter for a single traveler, but divided by two, three or four, it’s often low enough to tip the scales. Send email to Ed Perkins at eperkins@mind.net or check out his rail travel website at rail-guru.com. © 2021 Ed Perkins. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Dear Editor: I just wanted to express my appreciation for the Beacon and its staff for consistently helpful and easy-to-understand articles about a variety of topics relevant to seniors. I have aging parents, and your articles have helped me understand and start discussions with them on many topics that I knew nothing about beforehand. And those same articles allow me to put plans in place for my own senior years. Thank you so much for your publication and keep up the good work! Kenneth Kennedy Via email Dear Editor: I was happy to learn that people were
recognized for their actions in January (“H & S Bakery rises to the occasion,” March cover story). I do believe, however, that Casey Holihan Noe should be given extra recognition because it was her phone call of compassion that caused the great act of
kindness to happen. Thank you to the Beacon, a most helpful and informative newspaper for me and all my fellow ladies and gentlemen over the age of 50. Nancy Sniadach, Baltimore
Letters to editor From page 2 pianist who once filled our home with music and joy. She has moved on, living her own life, as we hope they do, but has left us with a very quiet home. We miss hearing her play. Listening to you this evening brought back wonderful memories of her musical talent. Thank you for sharing your talents that of fered beautiful dinner music this evening! Glad you are pursuing your goals and inspiring others to do the same. Carol Messerly Via website
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