Original travel deal guru Arthur Frommer has the early word on an upcoming fare special for flights to Italy that's admittedly buzzworthy--though posting it online doesn't exactly keep it secret:
No other newspaper, internet site or blog will get word about this extraordinary bonanza until Wednesday....
On the three days from Wednesday through Friday of this week, September 10 to 12, Eurofly will be selling round-trip flights in September and October between New York and either Rome, Naples, Palermo or Bologna, for the exceptional price of only $399 per person, including fuel surcharge.
Travel writing curmudgeon Arthur Frommer is celebrating his 1,000 blog update today by announcing that he's paring back on posting. Given his description of what it does to him, we can't blame the guy:
Back in May of 2007, I began this daily blog about travel and soon turned into a creature of bloodshot eyes and an exhausted, shuffling walk. Gone were the days when I could turn in around 11 pm and put myself out with a relaxing mystery novel.
Our two "favorite" things about his blog are the epically long titles on posts and the lack of linkage Frommer hands out. But you gotta admire a titan in the industry who cranks out his own stuff. (You are writing these yourself, aren't you, Arthur?)
In honor of his accomplishment, we took a look back at some of his more memorable posts.
On his blog, the Andy Rooney of travel, Arthur Frommer, frequently gripes about the pricey experiences sometimes covered in The New York Times' Sunday travel section. (Recently he was half-mystified, half-offended that the Times would report on The Plaza hotel, where rooms go for $875 a night.) But in his most recent rant--about this mention of a one-day, £345 Orient-Express train trip, Frommer has gone from crotchety complainer to conspiracy theorist:
The New York Times travel section has now plumbed such depths of absurdity that I, for one, have concluded that this senselessness can't be accidental. The decision to sprinkle the pages of a travel section with references to sky-high travel offerings can only have come about from a directive from on high to do so.
It must be part of an effort to attract advertising from the producers of luxury goods ... In writing as they do, I am now convinced that the travel writers and junior travel editors of the New York Times are attempting to execute a policy consciously set down by the Times.
Sounds bad! And it would be--if Frommer's suspicions had any basis in reality.
Original Euro cheapo Arthur Frommer has been flogging a super low fare on Eurofly for the past few weeks. And we have to say, $474 all-in is a damn good price for NYC to Rome in April. But do you really want to go transatlantic with this airline?
Probably not. Most of the reviews we can dig up online are negative, with late flights and diversions being the top complaints:
Our flight from JFK to Naples left at 4 am, nearly 6 hours late. There was no EuroFly staff at the gate to provide updates or explanations for the delay.
Another reviewer had a similar experience:
I've only flown on Eurofly twice, but on the first occasion our flight was delayed four-and-a-half hours...On the second flight, we had an initial delay of 2 hours only to be then taken from Naples by bus to Rome to board a plane back to JFK...I would never want to fly them again.
How much headache is a cheap ticket worth? Not this much.
The ever-frugal Arthur Frommer fills us in on an awesome pre-season deal today: free skiing at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Unlike some other "free" deals, this bargain is refreshingly without a catch. All you've gotta do is rock up to the resort's ticket window between now and December 15 and ask for a pass. It's that easy.
Of course, today's base is only 19 inches, but this being the Rockies, snow is in the forecast. Temps are low enough to keep the white stuff on the ground, too, so conditions should only improve as we inch toward the ides of December. Just FYI, on the 16th a ticket will set you back $39.
The only real problem with this deal is that Crested Butte is hours from anywhere. There is an airport in Gunnison, 30 miles south, but you can be sure you'll be paying steep prices for the flight in. Hey, at least the lift tickets are cheap.
