Discount for “poor” Americans at Venice bar

by Anna Brones on

The dollar might be low, but if you make your way to Venice you can count on a discount from Harry’s Bar, the renowned Venetian watering hole said to be the birthplace of the Bellini and Carpaccio, and where Ernest Hemingway himself downed martinis. Offering a discount to “poor” Americans who are suffering from the weak dollar is representative of a growing concern across Europe that a decrease in US tourists will have an effect on the tourism industry.

At the entrance of Harry’s Bar you now find a sign that says, “Harry’s Bar of Venice, in an effort to make the American victims of subprime loans happier, has decided to give them a special 20 percent discount on all items of the menu during the short term of their recovery.”

How bad is the current state of the US dollar? When the euro was first introduced in 2002, one US dollar was worth 1.10 euro. Today the same dollar gets about .64 euro, which makes the price of even a simple meal of nutella and a baguette expensive.

“Since the start of January, we noticed a drop in (American) customers of between five and 10 percent and now that we are in April its looks really frightening,” said Arrigo Cipriani, owner of Harry’s Bar. Then again, what better solution to economic frustration than a refreshing Bellini?

Can’t afford Europe? Head to a theme town!

by Catherine Bodry on

With the dollar dropping into a bottomless pit, there will likely be fewer US visitors to Europe in the coming months. But if your hunger for polka and liederhosen can’t be satiated, head to a theme town to get your European fix. When researching this post, I discovered that most themed towns rely on Oktoberfest and architecture to draw tourists there, so if you like beer, brats, and wood you won’t have to travel across the Atlantic to get them. Here are a few European “villages” the States has to offer:

Solvang, CA

This California-wine country town was founded as the center of a Danish academy, and those roots can still be seen not just in the Danish architecture, but in small details like immaculately-kept gardens. The name Solvang means “sunny field,” and the town’s website promotes a “bright happy cheery feeling.” You might recognize the town from its appearances in both The Simpsons and the movie Sideways.

New Glarus, WI

This “Little Swizterland” isn’t quite as authentic as Solvang, though the Chamber of Commerce’s web site boasts that many Swiss tourists visit the town (isn’t that a little like Americans traveling to Switzerland to visit Wal-mart?). Though it was a Swiss settlement, after WWII, a faltering agricultural industry gave way to the tourist sector. Swiss-styled architecture began popping up, and the alpine meadows created a perfect backdrop for a Swiss-themed town. Today, you can partake in Oktoberfest activies or hear polka bands honking their horns.

Helen, GA

Helen is a completely re-created town. You won’t find much European heritage here — in fact, the town is celebrating a meager 35 years as “a mountain community with a touch of Bavaria.” Complete with cobblestone streets and specialty shops selling everything from cuckoo clocks to schnitzel to wooden toys, Helen is a European stereotype at its tackiest. The town holds a two-month celebration of Oktoberfest, complete with a beer hall housing live polka music. You can also visit the Christmas Shoppe year-round (and it just wouldn’t be a European town if something wasn’t spelled “shoppe” or “olde,” would it?)

Leavenworth, WA

I grew up visiting Leavenworth, and to be honest the Bavarian-modeled village actually was my first taste of “Europe.” Granted, it’s a cheesy reconstruction, much like Helen, Georgia, but it was always fun to visit during Oktoberfest. Much as you would expect from a town that decided to model itself after a stereotypical German mountain village, you can hear live polka, eat bratwurst, visit a nutcracker museum, and shop in “quaint” wooden toy shoppes. It’s a nice town to visit during the winter, when ski trails cross town and the mountains are packed with snow.

Celebrate national train day with free companion tickets (on May 10th) from Amtrak

by Grant Martin on

Oh how festive. In honor of the “national train day” that Amtrak has arbitrarily chosen as May 10th, the ailing national rail carrier is offering up free companion tickets for passengers. That’s a Saturday, in case you’re wondering.

You have to book your ticket today, April 4th though, for travel only on May 10th, so if you’re planning on booking a round trip with a return on a different day, you may have to book a separate ticket. But if you’re just heading out for a quick Saturday jaunt to New York City or Chicago, or want to take your mother up the coast real quick for Mother’s Day, this might work well for you.

Use coupon code H768 only on April 4th to cash in on the deal.

Still, it does seem to be a bit difficult to participate in and take advantage of this offer. You would figure that for a seriously ailing industry who can’t seem to manage competing with Chinatown Buses let alone even operate in the black that you would have a more wily or aggressive marketing crew. But hey, what do I know?

Interested in other coupon codes that you might be able to use on the way back or instead? Try out this thread on Flyertalk.

California: Get to Puerto Rico this spring for under 300$

by Grant Martin on

I’ve been putting off sending an alert about this fare for the past few days because it wasn’t really excellent enough — but today it got excellent. Earlier prices from Los Angeles and San Francisco to San Juan, Puerto Rico, were about 275-300$ for dates in April and May, which, even though is a pretty competitive price, isn’t fall-off-your-chair outstanding.

Today however, I’m picking up prices of about 225$ round trip from San Francisco for dates through May. That’s a pretty killer steal for a 3600 mile trip into the Caribbean.

Ever been to Old San Juan? I’m going for the second time next weekend and it’s a ton of fun. A wealth of casinos, restaurants and bars stuff the colonial streets of Old San Juan, where you can wander between hedonistic drinking, quaint shopping and a relaxing afternoon on the beach in just a few steps.

Get bored? Cross the bay to the Bacardi Rum Factory or drive an hour west to the Arecibo Observatory where they shot parts of the Brosnan Bond films.

Use a flexible search on Orbitz or Travelocity to nail down dates but book ASAP if you want to take advantage of these fares — there’s no telling when these are going to get yanked.

And be sure to check out Jaunted’s guides to San Juan for some ideas on where to eat and sleep in the Old City.

Delta flyers: Get double elite miles through June 30

by Grant Martin on

You’re probably tired of me yammering on about elite status and how useful it is and how I wear my collar popped every time I go through airport security. I apologize. But there are a lot of benefits to keeping loyalty in an airline that you just don’t realize until you’ve reached greener pastures.

If you think that you can’t get to the minimum 25,000 mile threshold to reach status and you fly on Delta Airlines though, this could be your lucky break: the Atlanta-based airline just started a promotion giving passengers double Medallion Qualifying Miles for any flights booked before April 30 and flown before June 30. Those are miles that specifically count towards your exalted status.

This means that if you only need to travel 12.5k miles in order to achieve elite status, which is a pretty fantastic deal. Even if you’ve got only a few trips planned before June 30, these miles will give you that extra boost to hopefully get up to 25k by the end of the year.

Clarification before you register though: this is for double Medallion Qualifying Miles, not Skymiles. So you won’t technically earn more miles with which you can fly places, proper. You’ll earn more miles with which you can accrue status. Follow? Think of them as points towards a goal that you can use to fly places. Kind of silly, I know, but all airlines do it. It’s a crafty way to divide earned and status-gaining miles so that you get the least amount of benefit. I can get to that in a later post of you guys want.

Register on Delta’s promo website and make sure you have your frequent flyer number attached to your reservation before you travel — otherwise you’ll have a hard time getting your miles — and double miles — credited retroactively.