QUESTION: Many of us find it easier to find flights and make reservations through a computer network like Compuserve than through a travel agent. In doing this we incur charges from the network while saving none of the travel agent's commission. Are there discount agents for travelers who find their own flights?
ANSWER: There are indeed such discount travel agents. Generally they operate by returning to the client their commission on flights, cruises, tour packages or hotels, minus a fee, usually based on the amount spent. Travel agents' commissions for international flights are commonly 8 percent; for domestic air tickets, the commission is 10 percent on the cost before taxes, which comes to less than 8 percent on the total cost, travel agents say. Other commissions, travel agents say, average 10 percent.To use these discount agencies, the client is expected to have done research on flights, cruises and so on, or at least have firm plans, so the agency's time is spent on ticketing rather than counseling. When payment is by credit card, clients are issued a refund check by the agency. In some cases, clients may pay by cash or check for the discounted amount.
For example, Travel Avenue (641 West Lake Street, Chicago 60606; 800-333-3335), formerly McTravel, will charge the full cost of an air ticket to a client's credit card. Then the agency will mail the client a check for the amount of its commission, minus a fee, usually $8 a ticket for domestic flights and $20 for international ones and $20 to $40 a person for tours and cruises. On domestic flights the discount is between 8 percent and 11 percent, the agency says, and on foreign flights, 5 to 20 percent, with most being 8 percent.
Home users of Compuserve and other computer reservation services can use Travel Avenue's computer identity number when reserving, and Travel Avenue will issue a refund. The agency also sells discount coupons for European hotels, and restaurants and other services.
Pennsylvania Travel (19 East Central Avenue, Paoli, Pa. 19301; 800-331-0947 or 215-251-9944) operates similarly. The company returns its commission minus a fee of $35 for bookings less than $700; $50 for $700 to $1,500; $100 for $1,500 to $5,000 and $150 for $5,000 to $10,000.
The average discount is about 7 percent, the company says. The company also offers rates on some cruises that it says are 15 to 30 percent below the retail price.
The $mart Traveller (3111 Southwest 27th Avenue, Miami, Fla. 33133; 800-226-3338 or 305-448-3338) does not give discounts for domestic air tickets, but sells international air tickets, both scheduled and charter, at discounts of 4 to 30 percent. On other arrangements, like cruises and tour packages, the commission is returned, minus a fee, which is $30 for expenditures up to $750; $50 for $751 to $2,000; $100 for $2,000 to $4,000, and so on, all meaning a discount of 7 to 8 percent, the company says. The company also offers deeper discounts on cruises.
Travelbrokers (50 Broad Street, Suite 1014, New York, N.Y. 10004; 800-999-8748 or 212-422-0022) offers discounts of 5 percent to 7 percent, depending on price.
The commission is returned minus a fee that starts at $14.96 for expenditures up to $400 and goes up in small increments to a guaranteed 7 percent of the total for $10,000 and higher.
QUESTION: How does one get in contact with someone on a cruise?
ANSWER: Just about every cruise ship can receive phone calls made via satellite, and each has a phone number. Cruise ships will often give their number to passengers before they leave. Comsat, a company that equips ships for satellite communications, will provide phone numbers for about 200 cruise ships; Comsat's number is 800-612-2728.
You will also need the area code for the ocean in which the ship is sailing - 871 for the Atlantic, Caribbean, Mediterranean and the east and west coast of South America; 872 for the Pacific (other than the west coast of South America), and 873 for the Indian Ocean. So to call a ship, you dial 011, the ocean area code and the number. You will reach a radio officer on the ship, who will either connect you with the passenger or take a message. (Passengers can call you via satellite, too.)
The cost for calling a ship is $10 a minute. If you make an operator-assisted person-to-person call, there is a $30 minimum, but it can take time to locate a passenger.
Another option is to call Comsat's 800 number and dictate a message, which will be telexed to a ship passenger. Comsat says most brief messages should cost the minimum, which is $9.
QUESTION: We would like to hike down North Kaibab trail at the Grand Canyon and hike out to the South Rim. How can we get to the North Rim while leaving our car at the South Rim, avoiding the small aircraft and helicopters that operate in and around the canyon?
ANSWER: From May through October there is a daily 15-passenger van operated between the North and South Rims by Trans Canyon Shuttle (Post Office Box 348, Grand Canyon, Ariz. 86023; 602-638-2820). The van leaves the North Rim daily at 7 a.m., arriving at the Bright Angel Lodge in Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim at 11:30 a.m.
The vehicle leaves the Bright Angel Lodge at 1:30 p.m. and arrives at the North Rim at 6 p.m. The trip, more than 200 miles, actually goes about 10 miles as the crow flies. The cost is $50 one way and $85 round trip.
Incidentally, air service to the North Rim was discontinued three years ago.
QUESTION: I will be touring Spain, Portugal and Morocco during October, from Lisbon to Algarve, Gibraltar, Tangier, Fez, the Costa del Sol and on to Seville and Madrid. What type of climate will I run into?
ANSWER: The range of temperatures should be from Madrid, which has an average daily high temperature of 65 in October and a low of 49, to Seville, with an average high of 78 and a low of 57. The other places you plan to visit, though to the south, are cooled by the Atlantic and have average October highs in the low 70s and lows in the upper 50s or low 60s. Lisbon is the rainiest of the places, with an average of eight rainy days in October (New York has nine).