Rome - basic facts about Rome

A vast number of Americans saw "La Dolce Vita" and have ached to get here ever since. They won't be disappointed. The excitement of Rome has an almost physical impact as you step from the train. You immediately know this is a Capital-a pulsating center of creation and activity, whose ideas and tastes are felt round the world.

But keep in mind two very basic facts about Rome. First, this is not a city which can be covered in two or three days of touring. Rome is too large, too varied, too abundant wiht sights. If you're to realize anything from your stay, you must schedule several more days to it than you devoted to other comparable European towns. Second, this is not an easy city in which to keep costs down-although it doesn't approach Paris in respect. Nevertheless, you can be clipped unmercifully if you wander by mistake into the wrong hotel or restaurant.

Picture: Roma: Il Colosseo

Charter flights - cheapest method of getting to Europe

Flight Plan Marked on a Globe Photographic Print
, Panoramic Images
Buy at AllPosters.com


CHARTER FLIGHTS

Actually, of course, the cheapest method of getting to Europe is via a "charter flight." Those words refer to a practice whereby a club or organization "rents" a plane and crew from one of the major airlines, and then splits the cost of the rental among the eighty-or-so members of the organization making the trip. Since even a 130-passenger jet and crew can be rented to fly to Europe.

The airlines "rent" (charter) their planes on this low-cost basis in order to make use of equipment and crews that would otherwise lie idle. The business of flying a million Americans to Europe each year is, after all, inherently a wasteful one. In early summer when most tourists make the trip, planes may fly to Europe filled to capacity-but return half-empty. In August or September, they may fly over half-empty, but return fully packed. The airlines came to realize that if they could schedule rentals of planes for the slack periods of the travel season, on dates of the airlines'-not passengers' -choosing, they could realize substantial savings. Moreover, they saw that by renting eighty seats at one clip to an organization or club, they could avoid the heavy administrative and bookkeeping expense involved in selling tickets one-at-a-time. The combined savings would permit a drastic reduction of round-trip fares, and still insure a profit.

At the same time, the airlines feared (and I am explaining their attitude, not justifying it) that the indiscriminate rental of idle planes might jeopardize their normal rate structure on the scheduled flights. Therefore, a compromise was worked out. Low-cost rentals would be permitted, but only on a moderate, carefully-controlled basis designed to check their too-widespread use. The only groups permitted to charter planes would be those which had not been formed for the purpose of travel. Thus, if you were to organize a "Let's Go to Europe Club," or if a travel agent sought to rent a plane and sell tickets for it to the public, both you and he would not be permitted to charter a plane. But if, by chance, you already happened to be a member of an established, non-travel club or organization, and that group wanted to charter a plane, then you could fly to Europe.

The precise rule, as it is set forth in I.A.T.A. regulations, provides that a person may charter a plane only "on behalf of members of a group which has principal purposes, aims and objectives other than travel, and sufficient affinity existing prior to the application for charter transportation to distinguish it and set it apart from the general public." The club may not publicize the flight widely; it can solicit passengers only through "personal letters, circulars and telephone calls . . . [or through] group publications intended solely for members of the group." Moreover, "each member of the party to be transported [must be] a member of the group at the time of application for the charter and [have] been such a member for at least six months prior to the date on which charter operations are to be commenced." However, the immediate family of a member (spouse and dependent children) may also go on the charter flight.

Despite these restrictions, an enormous number of organizations in the United States-from pigeon fanciers to chamber music societies-have enthusiastically seized upon the charter flight idea.

They need only persuade forty members and their wives, husbands or families to vacation in Europe and to leave and return at the same time. Depending on the time of year and the availability of aircraft, the round-trip fare to the less remote European cities will cost anywhere. And traveling via charter does not imply any requirement of "togetherness" upon arrival in Europe. The group can split up immediately on landing.

They need only rendezvous together in the city of departure on the date of the return trip, which can be either three, four, or five weeks later.

if you'd like to organize a charter flight among members of your club, merely write to the Traffic Department of any of the overseas airlines for specific information, or contact a travel agent.

They aren't permitted to organize their own charters, but they'll be tickled silly to handle your organization's request, because they can reap a large commission on a planeload of passengers.

American Traveler Gateway to Europe

Antique Map, Geographica, c.1630 Art Print
Hondius, Henricus
Buy at AllPosters.com


With the money question under control, you'll now want to plan the schedule of your trip and your travel itinerary. The scheduling part is easy. By far the great majority of trans-Atlantic flights leave in the evening, arrive in Europe the next morning, after you've had a night's sleep.

As for your itinerary, most trips to Europe are planned around a key "gateway"-a major city at which you'll either arrive, or from which you'll later depart on the return trip. It used to be that travel counselors advised choosing London, as the gateway, on the theory that the lack of a language barrier would ease you into European life by gradual degrees. But that ancient advice has little relevance to the travel conditions of modern-day Europe-particularly in such countries as Holland, where English is virtually a second language.

Far more important than the number of persons who speak English is how they speak it-whether they do so with sincerity and warmth, thus enabling you to begin your trip in a pleasant and enjoyable manner. On that score, the Dutch rank high as one of the warmest, most outgoing people in Europe.

In choosing a gateway, it's obviously far better to rely on practical considerations, not cliches. You'll want, first, to begin your trip in a city that is conveniently located for a tour of the continent. For that purpose, I usually choose Amsterdam, which stands at the very entrance to the heartland of Europe-with Paris, Brussels and London just an hour away by plane, Frankfurt and Copenhagen less than an hour and a half away, Rome just two hours and ten minutes distant.

There are, in addition, several budget considerations that usually point to Amsterdam as your most advantageous gateway. For one thing, the auto rental rates in Holland are generally acknowledged to be the lowest in Europe. If, therefore, you've planned a trip by car through Europe, you can achieve substantial savings by picking up the car in Amsterdam. You can, in addition, purchase a European car, tax-free, at the famous "Ship-Side Showroom" located on the very grounds of Amsterdam International Airport.

This unique auto agency will complete the arrangements for you in less than an hour after you've stepped off the plane-the purchase itself, issuance of all necessary papers, delivery of the car.

Finally, in choosing a departure point for your return trip to the U.S. or Canada, Amsterdam is probably once again your best bet.

For, by common acknowledgment, its airport possesses the largest and cheapest Tax-Free Shopping Center on the continent. That means that just prior to flight time, you can stock up on a vast array of low-priced perfume, liquor, cameras, watches, jewelry and the like, and carry them not across the continent, but simply into the planet

Destinations: Mexico, Caribbean, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Nevada

MLT INC.

5130 Highway 101 Minnetonka, MN 55345

Destinations: Mexico, Caribbean, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Nevada

Northwest World Vacations
Destinations: Asia, Canada, Europe, Caribbean, Mexico, select US destinations, ski destinations

MTI Vacations - Trase Miller Vacations

2211 Butterfield Road Downers Grove, IL 60515

Destinations: United States, as well as many international destinations

Amtrak Vacations

Destinations: United States

Pacific Bestour, Inc.

Bestour Building 228 Rivervale Road Rivervale, NJ 07675

Destinations: China, Asia, Indochina

Pacific Delight Tours, Inc.

132 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016

Destinations: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia

Pleasant Holidays

2404 Townsgate Road Westlake Village, CA 91361

Destinations: Hawaii, Mexico

Preferred Holidays

1203 S.w. 41 st Ct.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315

Destinations: Western Europe, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Rockies, select US destinations

Rail Europe

500 Mamaroneck Avenue Harrison, NY 10528

Destinations: All European countries

Runaway Tours, Inc.

120 Montgomery Street, #800 San Francisco, CA 94104

Destinations: Hawaii, Mexico

Speeial Expeditions

720 Fifth Avenue, 6th Floor New York, NY 10019

Destinations: United States, Europe, Scandinavia, Galapagos Islands, Baltic States, Egypt, British and Irish Isles, Canada, South America, Central America, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Mexico

Sunny Land Tours, Inc.

166 Main Street Hackensack, NJ 07601

Destinations: Belize, Brazil, Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Galapagos Islands, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Peru, Poland, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela

Tauck Tours, Inc.

276 Post Road West Westport, CT 06880

Destinations: United States, Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Europe, China, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific

TNT Vacations

2 Charlesgate West Boston, MA 02215

Destinations: Las Vegas, Caribbean, Mexico, Bahamas, Bermuda

Trafalgar Tours

11 East 26th Street New York, NY 10010

Destinations: Europe, United States, Canada

Travcoa

2530 S.E. Bristol Street Newport Beach, CA 92660

Destinations: The Orient, China, India, South Pacific, Eastern and Western Europe, South America, Central America and Mexico, Egypt and the Holy Land, Turkey and Greece

Travel Bound, Inc.

599 Broadway New York, NY 10012

Destinations: Great Britain, Ireland, Eastern and Western Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East, North Africa, Scandinavia and Russia

YMT Vacations
Your Man Tours, Inc.

8831 Aviation Boulevard Inglewood, CA 90301

Destinations: Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, New England, West Coast, Panama Canal, Florida, Caribbean