Star Travel in the Windy City: Adrian Brijbassi drinks in Chicago

I spotted a poll recently that named Chicago as one of the favourite spots for Torontonians to visit. It's no surprise, of course; great food, great bars, great waterfront, great architecture, and a lot more. With that in mind, trusted Star travel man Adrian Brijbassi files this report on his weekend visit.

CHICAGO — The first Chicago Michelin guide is coming out in November and that's the latest testament to the Windy City's incessant climb up the world's rankings as a fine-dining centre. I just ate at the trendy Purple Pig with Steve Dolinsky, a food reporter for the ABC affiliate in Chicago. Steve also serves as a guest judge on the Iron Chef and is a 12-time James Beard winner for his reporting and knows just about everything going on in the Chicago food scene. Still, in between commenting on the incredible growth in the culinary heights of Chicago cuisine (which you'll read about in upcoming editions of Star Travel), Steve spoke about Toronto and was unabashed of his love for our city's food scene.

He mentioned Susur Lee's restaurants as faves and lamented the lack of Indian restaurants in Chicago like those found on Gerrard Street. He also said he was impressed by Chinatown and its eateries.

But our discussion focused on Chicago and the amazing rise in this city's stature as a hot bed for outstanding chefs.

The Michelin announcement was just made this week and already there's speculation on who will get what stars and how many. The San Francisco Chronicle predicts Alinea, which was recently named the seventh-best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine, to be the only one to get three stars.

Steve loves Alinea, but also fears Michelin will miss a number of outstanding places that are deserving of recognition. They include:

Great Lake Pizza: Recently named by GQ as the best pizza place in the U.S.

Hot Doug’s: A gourmet hot dog joint that the snooty noses at Michelin probably won’t approach.

Café Lula: A casual spot in the artsy neighbourhood of Logan Square that Steve raves about. I hope to check it out.

Sable: At the Hotel Palomar, where I’m staying, and it’s good a killer cocktail list.

The Girl and the Goat: Run by a recent winner of the Top Chef competition, this restaurant just opened last week — after the Michelin voters left — and it is the hottest restaurant in the city after Alinea.

Other things happening in Chicago today centered around Michigan Avenue, where filming of Transformers 3 has forced several blocks to be closed off. If you thought the G20 summit was a mess, you should see what makes Shia LaBoeuf look good has done to this town.

More to come, and, as Adrian said, look for more on Chicago in future editions of the Star.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TRAVEL - A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN...

I guess spending a little time on Facebook can be a good thing, after all. I don't use it much, although it's occasionally fun to check up on old friends. But there's an item today in USA Today that talks about how folks are finding money-saving deals on hotel facebook pages.

I went this morning to the pages for Canadian-based Fairmont and Delta and didn't see any immediately obvious discounts being offered up. But Barbara De Lollis at USA Today reports that "business-travel blogger Gary Leff believes it pays off nicely. Leff just nabbed a terrific deal at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley, Ariz. He found a $99 nightly rate by acting on the individual hotel's Facebook page promo - and if that wasn't cheap enough, the promo also gave him a $25 daily room credit.

Though the $99 promo rate gave him a room in the cheapest category, Leff - an elite-level loyalty member said the hotel gave him a far nicer Oasis Village Suite."

She also points out that the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville gives out 15 per cent discounts to folks who join their Facebook page.

I don't quite get it, but Loews Hotels Facebook page apparently details an offer of 38 per cent (huh?) discounts on wine either by the glass or the bottle, on Wednesday nights. I dunno maybe Wednesday's are traditionally slow for wine sales? Anyway, there clearly are deals out there, which means us old folks can't simply sit back and make fun of kids who spend so much time on Facebook. There clearly are advantages to be gained.

Twitter, of course, gets rightfully derided for the idiotic postings of people who can't decide between cinnamon-raisin and poppyseed bagels at the local deli. But you also can find great deals. Virgin America is quite keen on it, and recently gave away free flights to influential Twitterers who might help them spread their message about being the airline for cool people. Again, not like me.

Air Canada adds New Orleans/Harry Potter in Orlando/Europe's ugly people

Good news for the Louisiana tourism folks: Air Canada today said it will launch daily, non-stop service to new Orleans starting Oct. 30.

They'll only be flying Jazz CRJ's with 75 seats, but they say it still marks the only non-stop, daily service between the Big Easy and the Big Smoke. Flights depart Toronto at 9:50 a.m. and arrive at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (beats the heck out of Lester Pearson in Toronto for names, doncha think?) at noon; just in time for a drink! Flights out of New Orleans depart at 12:35 and get into Toronto at 4:20 p.m., just in time to hasten downtown for dinner on West Queen West. Which means it's good news both for Louisiana and for Toronto, of course.

"New Orleans was recently voted one of the top ten cities to visit in the U.S. and Canada by the well-respected Travel + Leisure magazine and there are also important business connections between New Orleans and Canada," said Ben Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Air Canada.

"There is a special relationship between Canadian travelers and New Orleans, making Canada our number one international market," said Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

This marks the eighth Air Canada daily service expansion to the U.S. this year. Earlier, AC added Orange County (Santa Ana) and San Diego in California, plus Portland (Oregon), Memphis (Tennessee), Cincinnati (Ohio), Portland (Maine) and Syracuse. They've also added service to Athens and Barcelona this year and non-stops to Copenhagen.

WestJet a few days back, I'm reminded, said they'll start four-weekly flights from Toronto to New Orleans, and back, with an introductory fare of $139, so there should be plenty more Canadians heading down for beignets and crayfish.

On a related note, I see that the folks with the Mississippi Tourism Board are launching a major campaign to lure folks to the state, no doubt because of concerns that the oil spill is hurting travel. The television spot, “Wish You Were Here,” is the highlight of an aggressive, multi-platform, tourism campaign running in 15 regional markets, including Atlanta, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Memphis, with a media budget of $4.2 million.

Not sure they realize how important Canada is to their market, as I don't see any mention of the true north in the press release....

MAXIMUM MUGGLES AT HARRY POTTER PARK

Seems like the Harry Potter park at Universal in Orlando is going gangbusters. A story in the Orlando Sentinel says folks have been warned to avoid The Wizarding World of Harry Potter until late afternoon lest they spend too much time in line clogging up the place.

It's a nice boost, as attendance had slid 23 per cent over the previous five years, the paper said.

Park officials are scrambling to find the best way to keep crowds down, sometimes handing out tickets for people to line up later in the day.

OOPS - MY MILAN MISTAKE

I wrote in this space yesterday that I was quite surprised to see Milan named as the third most attractive city in Europe in a poll of tripadvisor users. I didn't see the fine print, so I apologize. The category wasn't most attractive city but city with the most attractive locals, which explains Milan finishing third behind Rome and Barcelona. Milan's a decent place to visit, but it would hardly be classified as one of the top three attractive cities in Europe.

I also had the label wrong for least attractive. I said the least attractive cities were Krakow, Birmingham and Gdansk, but those are actually the results for the least attractive locals. The hallowed buildings of those three cities should be relieved, but the men and women who live there probably feel a little insulted.

I noted Tuesday that the three dirtiest cities were listed as Athens, Istanbul and Rome. I didn't realize that London was named dirtiest city in the 2009 poll, so let's give them a round of applause for a good tidying-up job in the past year. London came third in the "safest city" category this year, finishing behind only Geneva and Zurich.

So, to recap, London was named #1 for worst cuisine (undeserved), #1 for most exciting (seems fair, although I'd pick Barcelona), #1 for best to get around, #3 for safest and #1 for most expensive. Quite the combination.

SOCIAL MEDIA TRAVEL

A recent poll by Travelocity found that more than half of all travelers share vacation information through social media. But nearly 30 per cent have either never thought about precautions or don't take any precautions when posting about their holidays.

"It's only natural to want to share your excitement about an upcoming trip on social media sites," said Travelocity senior editor Genevieve Shaw. "But it's probably safest to wait until you return to share the details of the trip."

Guess all those "Hey, we're packing up the kids and heading to New Brunswick but leaving the key under the mat" messages on Facebook aren't such a great idea.

BUT THERE'S NO SHORTAGE OF MOOSE...OR BEER

Newfoundland (see photo at right of Cape Spear on a picture-perfect day) is doing well this summer in terms of tourism. Maybe too well, as there are reports of a shortage of rental cars.

"Some of the car dealerships are booked for the latter part of July and into the early days of August," Tourism Minister Terry French said Tuesday in an interview with Canadian Press. "We're not totally sold out yet. You may have to shop around. It may take you a little bit of time, but hopefully we can do our best."

I hate it when people speak in those kind of vague terms. "Hopefully we can do our best?" Of course, you'll do your best. "Hopefully, we'll buy some friggin' cars" is more like it, although that's still a misuse of the word "hopefully."

Anyway, it's like the TTC guy that comes on and says they hope to have service restored as soon as possible. No kidding. What would be more meaningful is to say "We hope to have serviced restored in five minutes." Or "We hope to have service restored in a half hour so you don't have to sit next to the guy that last showered when the Liberals were in power in Ottawa."

If you have no idea, just say, "We WILL have serviced restored as soon as possible."

Right?

Bad food in London? Boring Zurich? TripAdvisor Euro ratings miss the mark...

Some reputations are simply impossible to shake. Like the suddenly departed George Steinbrenner as a meddling, troublesome baseball team owner. Or Mel Gibson as a loud-mouth. Oh, wait...

Anyway, I see Trip Advisor - a site I quite like and use regularly to scope out hotels and attractions around the world - has come up with its annual ratings for European cities. And I gotta say the folks that use this service need to get out a little more. Make that a lot more.

 I'll get to the worst cuisine bit in a minute. But one absurd stereotype rears its ugly noggin in the category of most boring, where Birmingham copped the top honour, followed by Zurich and Gdansk, Poland. I've gotten to know Zurich reasonably well over the years and did a story there last summer in which I was blown away by the trendy bars and nightclubs and restaurants. It's an expensive city, but it's not the least bit boring. There are lovely walks and cool, funky shops. I took a photo of the back of a truck in the downtown one day, which you can see. Yes, there are banks and offices and overpriced restaurants in the old town. But it's like many big cities; you get what you put into it.

I was in Zurich during Pride Week, which featured a lot of guys dressed in flamboyant white costumes strutting about town and one guy I saw on the streetcar wearing nothing but bright green panties and a bra. He didn't look so good, to tell you the truth, but it hardly drew a raised eyebrow among the good burghers of Zurich. The West Zurich area is especially lively, with great concerts and trendy bars and really, really good food  served on outdoor patios in summer. Not to mention one of a certain type of dance club frequented by sex-crazed men (and, no, there's really no other type). So drop the Zurich is boring stuff, would ya?

As for the worst cuisine, the 2,963 poll respondents (in fairness, almost 600 were Brits), the finish was London number one, followed by Liverpool and Birmingham. That makes it 1-2-3 for British cities in the worst cuisine category, and that's one podium you don't want to own.

Again, I have to think this results is ridiculous. I've never been to Liverpool (damn!) or Birmingham, but I've spent a decent amount of time in London the past couple years and have been pretty impressed by the food. I wasn't gobsmacked by it, but the cuisine was very, very good in London. In Wales it was excellent. Ditto for Ireland, which I know is not part of England or Great Britain or the UK.

I used to make fun of British Isles/UK food all the time, but I think the joke has lost its lustre and it's time to move on, folks. I mean, EVERYONE KNOWS Prague has the worst food in Europe. (That's a joke; no nasty letters from the Czech tourism board, please).

Here are a few more tripadvisor highlights, with some thoughts tossed in.

Best cuisine: 1. Rome, 2. Paris, 3. Barcelona. I love Barcelona but it's been probably 12 or 15 years. Rome speaks for itself, and Paris, of course, has awesome cuisine. But it can be badly overpriced.

Most expensive: London, Paris, Venice.

Best to get around: London, Paris, Barcelona.

Most exciting: London, Paris, Barcelona. Well, maybe tripadvisor folks hate the food but they love London. So that's a case for the tourism folks to accentuate the positive. Maybe a new motto: "Come to thrilling London. You can make your way around easily! But pack a lunch 'cuz we're seriously overpriced and our restaurants suck." Nah, probably not.

Most attractive: Rome, Barcelona, Milan. Milan??? And Paris not making the cut? I-yay-yay, that's insane.

Least attractive: Krakow, Birmingham, Gdansk. Poor Birmingham: third worst cuisine, second least attractive and top spot in most boring. Those tourism folks have some work to do.

Best value: Lisbon, Prague, Istanbul. My daughter was in Lisbon the other day and said it was insanely, wonderfully cheap, with a great vibe, lots to do and plenty of great stuff for university students. I was in Prague seven years ago and thought it was beautiful and pretty reasonably priced, if not cheap.

Cleanest city: Zurich, Geneva, Stockholm. New motto for Zurich: "We'll put you to sleep, but at least your head won't get dirty when you crash on the sidewalk at 8 p.m. when the lousy bars close."

Istanbul gets rave reviews from travel writers, but tripadvisor folks named it the most dangerous (followed by Barcelona and Rome) and the second dirtiest (sandwiched between Rome in third spot and Athens, which won the not-so-coveted "this city desperately needs a can of Pledge and a very wet mop" award, not to mention more German money for a bailout and an end to public sector strikes).

Toronto Olympic bid for 2020 just got tougher...Less tarmac wait times in U.S.

There's been the odd talk that Toronto's Pan Am Games work for 2015 is part of a desire to once again try for an elusive Olympic bid. The Big Smoke has been toasted twice before in Olympics competition, being humbled by Atlanta for 1996 and by Beijing in the voting for 2008.

It looked a while back as if a 2020 bid for North America would be a good bet, the Summer Games having last been here in Atlanta way back before the age of the Internet. But with the success of the World Cup in South Africa, there's renewed interest in the Olympics making a touchdown in the African continent for the first time ever.

I personally think South Africa should wait and see how the dust settles; maybe save a little money (how's THAT for a thought) and bid for 2024. But International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge today told Around the Rings, a very solid Olympics website, that he thinks South Africa should wade into the 2020 Summer Games battle.

Now, when an IOC president says he'd consider a bid from a certain city that carries a reasonable amount of weight. But when he more or less starts soliciting a bid, that's something else entirely.

"We would be delighted to receive a strong bid coming from Africa in general but from South Africa in particular," Rogge told ATR. "They already made a good bid with Cape Town in 1997 when they came a commendable third behind Athens and Rome. But they have the potential there's no doubt about that."

I don't think Toronto should try for the Olympics at all given the horrendous costs for these things, especially the security. We just had a rather nasty experience with securing a big event, and I sense little appetite to do anything remotely similar anytime soon. But if you ARE someone who wants to see the five-ring circus come to T.O., you might want to start thinking about something way off in 2024 cuz I think the fix already might be in for South Africa for 2020.

A vote on the 2020 Games should be held by the IOC in 2013, which means bid cities need to start organizing soon. It'll be interesting to see if any U.S. cities jump in.

Don't forget the Canadian Olympic Committee and its now Quebec-oriented management team is already kicking the ties for another Winter Olympic bid, possibly in 2022 for Quebec City.

U.S. PASSENGER PROTECTION RULES WORKING...TOO BAD ABOUT CANADA

May was the first full month that new U.S. government rules were in place to protect passengers from being stuck on airport tarmacs for too long. And, wouldn't you know it, flight delays were WAY down.

A new federal law down south says airlines have to let passengers off a plane if it's been stuck for more than three hours, or face a fine of up to $27,500 per passenger. Airlines cried about it, but figures show there were only FIVE such delays in May; the second-lowest monthly total in several years.  There were 268 such delays in June of 2009, said USA Today.

The airlines say good weather helped, but people who pushed for the law aren't buying it.

"This rule is a resounding success," said Kate Hanni of a group called FlyersRights.org.

Isn't it great to see a powerful government taking on the airlines in order to protect its citizens. Isn't that a concept? Well, don't expect it in Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has shown ZERO interest in jumping out of the collective laps of the Canadian airline industry, and I get absolutely NO indication that's about to change.

Too bad there's no opposition leader who could point this out to ordinary Canadians....

 

Mexico tourism push...Travel + Leisure hotel, airline ratings for 2010...

Mexico and Canada - separated at birth?

Well, not quite, but the Mexico tourism folks made an interesting comparison at an event they held Wednesday at the posh Carlu facility at Yonge and College.

Folks for years categorized Canada as Moose, Mountains and Mounties, ignoring the great cities and cultural attractions this country has to offer, said Stephen Austin, executive marketing director for the Mexico Tourism Board. Similarly, Mexico has been much-loved for its sun and beaches (Canadian tourist numbers are up 9 per cent this year), but many folks ignore the rich history and archaeology and the big-city sophistication.

Officials say they have 30,000 listed archaeological sites, as well as dozens of world heritage sites. They also have a world-class cuisine, although we don't hear much about it in a Canadian world dominated by nachos and Taco Bell and maybe the odd fajita.

"We're one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the world but we should be top five or top three," said Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara, who also spoke Wednesday with the Star's Brandie Weikle.

Mexico's ambassador to Canada, Francisco Barrio, delivered a podium-thumping speech with tremendous passion, telling tour organizers and other industry types that if they go to Mexico and have any problem they should let authorities know right away.

"Call the tourism board," he said. "Call the consulate. Call me. Put this ambassador to work!"

Officials want to focus more on big-city shopping (try the Zona Rosa in Mexico City, shown in photo below  left) and glitzy hotels and fancy spas. Alvarez said Mexico is the number one country in the world for spas, with more than Thailand. I don't know what measuring stick they use for these things, but with all the beach (there's that word, sorry) hotels and such I'm sure they're right up there in terms of spas.

I found it fascinating to watch one of the speeches where someone was outlining the various companies Mexico has employed to try to burnish its tourism credentials. Among the p.r.-type firms taking part are Young and Rubicam, JWT, Burson-Marsteller and Hill and Knowlton. That's a helluva lot of public relations/marketing fire power right there, folks and it illustrates the strength of Mexico's desire to move up the tourism ladder.

"We've got challenges," Austin said, referring perhaps to the drug and violence issues that get so much attention north of the border. "We've got big challenges."

But he said the new campaign, which will carry TV and other advertisements with the tagline "Mexico - the place you thought you knew," should help change people's minds.

The ads are lovely and convey lots of urban action as well as beach scenes. As much as Mexico wants to emphasize Mexico City shopping or fancy cuisine in Los Cabos, they also know that Canadians, especially, go there mostly for sun and sand. And the odd margarita.

 

I've only been to Mexico once, and it was for an International Olympic Committee meeting in Mexico City when Vancouver was just beginning its 2010 Winter bid. I stayed at a nice hotel and we had some great meals downtown, as well as a beautiful show at the stunning Palace of Fine Arts (above). It was pretty impressive. We also got out to see the stunning pyramids at Teotihuacan, which is featured in the photo at the top of this page.

HOTEL/AIRLINE RATINGS

It's always fun to see ratings roll in for Travel + Leisure magazine. I spotted their 2010 ratings this morning, and there are some pretty cool findings. But not much Canadian content, which makes me wonder just a little.

Canadian spots did nab the bronze medal in the category of top small hotels in U.S. and Canadian cities, with the stunning Auberge Saint-Antoine in Quebec City placing third. (See photo, below, of the remarkable Panache restaurant at the hotel). Ahead were the

Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, which is reopening in 2011, and the Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia, which I don't know anything about (but I do like Rittenhouse Square).

In the category of top resorts in the U.S. and Canada, I was happy to see the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, B.C., where I stayed last year, reach the number four spot. They were way down at 42 in 2009, so it's nice to see them back near the top where, I think, they belong.

Right behind The Wickaninnish was the Post Hotel and Spa in Lake Louise. The Four Seasons in Whistler was 36th; the only other Canadian entry in the top 50.

I see the Breakers in Palm Beach came 26th in U.S./Canadian resorts. It's another great spot, for sure. And it's interesting to note that 14 of the top 50 are located in California.

But I didn't see a single Canadian hotel in the top 50 for large city hotels, which makes me think there's a bit of a U.S. bias to the report. I could be biased myself, but I'd think that at least one larger hotel in Canada - the new Fairmont Pacific Rim or the Four Seasons in Vancouver, or the Opus or perhaps the hip Le Germain in Toronto - would make the list. The top 50 list had 10 Four Seasons hotels on it, which is at least a a Canadian-based group, but they all were located in the U.S.

On the airline front, magazine readers named Virgin America top Domestic Airline by a hefty margin. Virgin America, of course, just began flying into Toronto a couple weeks ago. After that came JetBlue, Midwest, Southwest, Hawaiian Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and Westjet. Air Canada often gets good marks in these types of polls, but not this time.

Virgin-Air Canada ad wars - I love it...Falling Euro could mean more bargains

They like us. They really like us.

I woke up this morning (it's a habit of mine) and spotted a full-page Virgin America ad at the back of the front section of the Star. In addition to helping my pension, I liked the ad's cheekiness. The Virgin people, to me, are cut from the same marketing cloth as Porter. Which isn't surprising, I suppose, given that  Donald Carty is chairman of Virgin America and also of Porter. I don't know what companies they use for their advertising/marketing work, but the company's respective ads strike a similar tone in my mind.

The Virgin America ad today has a big headline at the top that reads,"YOU DESERVE IT, TORONTO."

Under that: "We've had our eye on you. We've watched you do your thing for a while and we thought, 'These people are sexy. They're savvy. They deserve a better flying experience and better fares."

The ad goes on to talk about the WiFi on board and flights starting at $195, plus Live Television, leather seats, snacks on demand, cool moodlighting, video games and 3,000 MP3's to listen to.

Not bad. Taxes and fees apply, of course. Tickets are one-way originating in Toronto, with basic prices at $195 to L.A. and $205 to San Francisco (even though it's closer). Tickets have to be purchased by July 19 and travel has to take place between July 13 and Nov. 17, and you have to travel on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. That's not so great. If you want to fly on another day of the week, it goes up to $219 for L.A. and $229 for San Francisco.

I went on the Virgin America website and found a ticket departing Toronto for LAX on Thursday, July 15 but it was at 5 p.m.; not a nice time of day to travel if you want to enjoy a full day in L.A. I looked at a return on Wednesday, July 21 but the only flights available were the red-eye, departing at 11:15 p.m., or a flight through San Francisco that departs L.A. at an ungodly 6:30 a.m. (imagine what time you'd have to wake up) and doesn't arrive in Toronto until 4 p.m. Each flight was a basic $193, plus taxes and fees, for a round-trip total of $472.60 U.S. (the ad in today's paper says prices are in Canadian dollars, but the website appears to only use U.S. dollars, which you can convert to Canadian with the touch of a button). That works out to $489.47 Canadian.

There's an ad in today's front section of the Star, as luck would have it, from Air Canada. It shows a guy with perfect stubble and sunglasses in front of a palm tree and talks about how AC rolls out the red carpet over (guys, it should be "more than") 75 times a week, in "movie star comfort."

"Celebrities travel when they want," the ad says. "Now you can too. North America's Best Airline now offers even more weekly nonstops from Toronto to California, including the only daily service to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Ana and San Diego. And every one of these flights provides creature comforts like complimentary on-demand movies at every seat and power outlets within easy reach."

The ad is slightly misleading in that it seems to suggest they have the only daily service to San Francisco and Los Angeles. What they did is lump those two cities in with Santa Ana (Orange County) and San Diego, where they DO have the only daily service. A minor point, perhaps, but worth mentioning.

Anyway, just for fun (hey, this is what I do in the morning), I went to the Air Canada website and checked on flights from Toronto to Los Angeles around the same time as I had for Virgin America. There weren't any flights out to California on the cheaper Tango fares for any of the four departures, so I clicked on Tango Plus for a one-way fare of, gulp, $409 for a flight departing Toronto around 9 a.m. I found a flight back on a Tango fare of $269, departing L.A. at 3:25 p.m. local time and flying directly to Toronto. Better flight times, but a whopping $811 price tag in Canadian dollars; $320 higher than Virgin.

To be fair, I found a flight on Air Canada from Toronto to LA on Wednesday, July 14 for $269 - a day earlier than the Thursday flight I first searched for. Still, when I added up the two flights - both of them in the Tango Plus category - it came to $676.11 Cdn. That's about $190 more than the Virgin America flight, and I was leaving a day earlier. It would mean another day in L.A., which might be good for your vacation but bad for your wallet. But the flight out was at a better time and the return flight times were more attractive. Whether that's worth $190 is a judgment call, but there's no doubt the options I looked at suggested I'd pay more for Air Canada.

Also just for fun, I checked out a flight to San Diego instead of L.A. for the July 15-21 dates and came up with a staggering bill of $940.71 for non-stop flights. I could've booked a flight out to San Diego going through San Francisco and coming back through Denver and saved some money, but the bill still came to $772.78 and there was a note about maybe having to pay baggage fees as one of the flights was a United codeshare.

Then, just to really crank up my morning, I went to check out options on Expedia.ca. They had a 6:30 p.m. flight out of Toronto on American Airlines on July 15, stopping in Dallas and arriving in Los Angeles at 11 p.m. On the way back, there was a Continental flight leaving LA on July 21 at 9:20 a.m. and flying through Houston, arriving in Toronto at 8:34 p.m. The cost of that flight? $473.45. That's only slightly cheaper than Virgin. Flying times might be better, but you have to stop twice, and the airlines you'd take don't have the Virgin reputation for great planes and good service.

One thing I can say for certain: the real air fare wars appear to have died off. We might get better flights, but I don't think we'll see too many cheap fares out of Canada. If you really want to save, you still might want to drop down into the U.S. and look for flights out of Buffalo/Niagara or Detroit.

ON ANOTHER NOTE...CURRENT CURRENCY THOUGHTS

Interesting item in the Star business section today on how a guy considered one of the best foreign-exchange forecasters in the world (Shaun Osborne at TD Securities Inc.) is predicting the euro will fall to $1.13 by the third quarter of this year (against the U.S. dollar) and perhaps will be even with the greenback by 2011. That would have incredible implications for American tourism in Europe. If the Canadian dollar also increased in value that much against the Euro, Canadians, too, would find Europe highly attractive.

It would likely mean fewer European visitors to Canada, however, so it might not be what Tourism folks here in the true north would want to see. Still, it's fascinating to watch.

Star columnist Arthur Frommer was warning the other day about the Chinese yuan appreciating in value and he suggested now is a good time for visiting China as prices might rise. His story can be found here on the Star.com/travel site, but I also provided the link, above.

Prices are quite good in Europe now, but Osborne's theories suggest it might be good to wait.

I think that the Chinese economic slowdown might mean a drop in the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar, so I'm not quite sure how the Euro will do against the loonie. I'll leave that to people far smarter than me, but my advice would be to look for a European trip in the fall, when prices and crowds are down and the weather is still good.

A Blackberry fit for a queen...Honolulu #1...Google turns sights on travel. Hmm...

I got a charge out of the folks at Blackberry giving Queen Elizabeth a new device. Apparently it's a Blackberry Bold, and a sleek-looking white one.

Best of all? Apparently they only made her sign a two-year contract.

Bah-dah-boom.

HONOLULU LULU

USA Today has an item today about a contest that was done to name the top American destination. This being America, they did it like an NCAA basketball bracket, putting cities up against other cities in a winner-take-all format and letting the top cities advance to the next round of voting. The final eight, or elite eight to use the NCAA vernacular, were Washington D.C., the Grand Canyon, Charleston, San Francisco, New York, Santa Fe, Yellowstone National Park and Honolulu.

The Big Apple was ousted by D.C. in the next round of voting, while Honolulu dusted off San Francisco. The final four were D.C., Honolulu, Yellowstone and Charleston. It came down to Honolulu versus Yellowstone in the final, and the Hawaiian capital came in with a smashing, 77-22 per cent voting win. A landslide and a half.

I like Yellowstone a lot. But it's hard to compare geysers, lakes and bears with mai tai's, hula dancers,  sunsets and Waikiki Beach in my book. Yellowstone is better for nature, sure, but lots of folks don't know how close Honolulu is to some incredible natural areas. The north shore has small resorts and big waves, and there's tremendous hiking. The path up Diamond Head to watch the sunrise from the crater rim is one of the great experiences of my life, and it's an easy climb. I love the enthusiasm on the face of the girls I took a picture of just after the sun rose above the Pacific, lighting up Waikiki to the west.

I did the Diamond Head hike a year or so ago, and it was far more rewarding than my fog-filled view from top of Haleakala on Maui with my Dad one fateful morning many years ago. The park ranger at Haleakala, where hundreds of folks gather for what is said to be one of the top sunrises in the world, said it's only fogged in a few times a year. We picked the wrong day, but we did have a nice breakfast at the Pukalani golf course on our way back to our west Maui condo as I recall. Right, Dad?

The Hawaii folks pushed their cause with Honolulu fans on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, said tourism spokesman Nathan Kam.

"As we monitored the online buzz, we felt we might have a bit of an edge over the Yellowstone community since the black bears, elk and bighorns don't seem to very active in social networking."

Good line.

GOOGLE GOES TRAVEL

I gotta admit I find this fascinating...and a little bit scary. But with Google having purchased ITA Software, a hugely influential company most of don't know, all sorts of folks who are smarter than me are trying to figure out what those crazy Californians have in mind.

A story on openjaw.com quoted an unnamed Canadian expert as saying it's "the biggest change in travel distribution since the birth of the Internet," which sounds pretty interesting.

A piece I spotted on travelmole.com said that "travel meta-search engines such as Kayak" are likely to be impacted more than sites such as Expedia or Priceline, where providers don't allow users to book directly.

But the impact will be lessened on sites such as Orbitz, Expedia and Priceline, where providers don’t allow users to book with them directly, analysts say. 

“It seems that meta-search, rather than bookings, would be easiest for Google,” said the Wall Street Journal.

I'd suggest that what Google really has in mind is world domination, but they already have that.

THAT'S A LOT OF MUFFINS

Great story out of Moscow says the Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, paid for 97 breakfasts during a 20-night stay at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Vancouver while he was there for the Winter Olympics. His bill came to $4,500, which is high even for Vancouver.

What was this guy thinking? I mean, if you're trying to pad your expanses why not get a bunch of blank taxi chits like the rest of us (sorry boss, that's a joke). But, no, this guy charges for nearly five breakfasts every day on top of a suite that cost $1,400 a night.

He spent an average of $46 for breakfast! I've seen plenty of hotels that charge $25 for a buffet or $15 for bacon and eggs, but 46 dollar breakfasts five times a day is pretty impressive.

One can only imagine his mini-bar tab.

More from the folks at Porter on flight diversion...Tall ships leave Toronto...

Further to my weekend column on the June 27 flight I had with Porter Airlines, I got a note today from p.r. guy Brad Cicero to say that Porter is looking at reimbursing folks who got stranded in Ottawa the same night I did.

"We are in the process of contacting passengers involved to notify them that they will be reimbursed using the go forward policy," he wrote in an email. "Details are being finalized and there isn't a specific implementation date at this time, but it will be dealt with quickly."

Cicero said that would apply to both the people on my flight to Toronto from Newark as well as folks who got diverted from Toronto on a flight from Montreal.

I tried to find out if folks will get reimbursed if they opted to drive to Toronto, as one fellow did at a cost of $300-plus dollars. Porter doesn't have the details yet, but they seem to "get it" and, as I wrote on the weekend, they've committed to begin a program of reimbursing people who get diverted to other airports and have to spend the night. So that's good progress. Now, we'll have to see how things go.

FAREWELL TO THE TALL SHIPS

Had a chance to check out the Roald Amundsen again on Saturday night at the tall ships festival at Harbourfront. I didn't see where the HMS Bounty was docked so I guess I'll have to try that another time. But there was a nice reception on the Amundsen, along with a decent view of the fireworks at Ontario Place. So thanks for the invite, guys, and we'll see you next year.

There was a sail-past in Toronto harbour on Sunday that I didn't get to. But a contact of mine, Laura Fairweather, sent me one of her shotsm which is quite good and only furthers my desire to spend a couple days on one of these beauties, one of these days. Thanks, Laura!

HAZELTON HOTEL

Got to spend Friday night at the Hazelton Hotel in Toronto. Very nice night for the patio amidst the pretty  people. How I ended up there I'm not quite sure, bah-dah-boom.

The art at the hotel is pretty cool, and the rooms were quite spacious. I had a small balcony overlooking Hazelton Avenue that was quite enjoyable, as were the drinks on the patio at One restaurant after dinner. Shannon, my server, might be the best waitress I've ever met; knowledgeable and helpful as all get out. And I loved the suitcase sculpture in the entry way, which I've included in photo form at right. They're all stacked up from the floor to the ceiling, and it makes for a very cool effect.

I don't care about Yorkville as a destination as I think there are much more interesting neighourhoods in Toronto, including Leslieville and West Queen West. But I enjoyed walking about on Hazelton and on Scollard Street on a quiet Saturday morning, admiring the architecture and the leafy streets. I can only imagine what it must cost to buy a single-family home a block from Hazelton Lanes.

Porter Airlines to change passenger diversion policy after Star complains

That was fast.

I flew Porter Airlines on Sunday and was diverted from the Toronto island airport to Ottawa. I didn't like the way they treated passengers in Ottawa as they failed to have anyone on hand to properly explain their policy. I wrote a column about it for the Saturday Travel section, talking about the lack of communication with passengers in Ottawa Sunday night and also noting that Air Canada and WestJet say they pick up the cost of hotels for passengers who get diverted to other airports. Porter said it provides discount coupons for hotels, but not the whole cost of a room or the transportation to get there, or the cost of a meal while folks wait for their flight.

The column was posted on our website today. I was sitting at my desk at 1 Yonge St. today shortly after noon when I got an email from Porter president and CEO Robert Deluce apologizing for the incident...and promising a very quick change in policy. Rather than rework the note, I'm reprinting it here in its entirety:

Dear Jim: 

Firstly, I would like to apologize for your recent Porter flight experience when your aircraft was diverted to Ottawa due to weather conditions in Toronto.  While weather is not controllable for any airline, your description of how these particular flights were handled is causing us to reevaluate existing policies and how they are interpreted. 

The bottom line from this point forward is if you depart on a Porter aircraft and do not end up at your intended destination, we will take responsibility for all passengers and cover appropriate costs, such as hotel, ground transportation and meal allowances. This applies in all circumstances, including weather. The details are being finalized, but it is a priority to have this in place as soon as possible. 

Your experience does not meet the Porter service standard and we will do our best to ensure it does not happen to anyone, again. I appreciate you bringing this to our attention  and hope that we can welcome you aboard soon. Please contact me if you have any further questions. 

Best regards,

Bob

Robert Deluce
President and Chief Executive Officer
Porter Airlines Inc

Good for you, Bob, if I may be so bold. One sign of a good executive is to recognize a mistake when they've made one, and you've done that. Covering passenger's costs for a diverted flight, even when it's due to weather and not a problem of your own making, is the right thing to do and it's in keeping with Porter's emphasis on service.

I might add I feel kinda good about maybe making a difference, albeit a relatively small one. As Travel Editor I get to go on nice trips and write stories about exotic places, so it's nice to balance that off with a story that should help future fliers save a couple hundred bucks.