Letters to the Travel Editor

It's Business Class time

Dear Sir,

I read with interest Brian Burton's comments regarding his decision to travel Business Class on a special holiday starting in Copenhagen.

I have on various occasions debated whether the considerable expense of Business Class is really worth it, if firstly, you have a few days to spare in your itinerary, and secondly if you are actually spending your own money!

Brian might like to consider several alternatives for making the journey less stressful on both body and wallet.

Think about breaking the journey half way, maybe in Singapore or Hong Kong.

A couple of nights at a decent hotel - and many international airports (now including Auckland) have on-site hotels, where you can relax, have a shower, eat real food and sleep in a real bed and maybe do a quick tour round the stay-over city.

Singapore I seem to recall does an amazingly cheap stay-over hotel deal.

This can be a real refresher and make the second 12 hours manageable. I think that Cathay at least, have a daytime flight out of New Zealand which means you can read your book, watch your movie, eat all the food, etc, and still have a nice night in a hotel before facing the second leg.

Still cheaper, especially for a couple, than two Business Class tickets straight through.

The second suggestion which can work, is to book a couple of extra nights at your city of destination, to again just relax and recharge your batteries. Either way there could be enough cash left in the nest egg for another holiday sometime - you may catch the travel bug, you never know!

Evelyn Ross, Northcross
Dear Sir,

I agree with Brian Burton about travelling First Class is you are able to afford it and wish to do so.

In July I am travelling to America with my daughter and we will be travelling premium economy. I will be 80 and last year I had a back operation and I wish to be comfortable.

Both my husband and myself worked very hard and saved our money and some people seem so jealous when we spend it on ourselves.

I have never asked for handouts, so to your correspondent and his bitter remarks, I don't know why it bothers him so much, as long as he is happy where he is sitting, leave others alone to travel in the comfort they wish to.

Pam Salvador

Celebrity celebration

Dear Sir

We would like to thank the New Zealand Herald and Celebrity Cruises for providing us the opportunity to go to the lunch last Sunday.

We had a brilliant afternoon, the lunch was simply superb and we can't thank you enough.

The day was very well organised by Jonathan Killick and led by the Celebrity team.

The Travel insert in the Herald today [February 16] was your best yet, keep up the good work and we hope it wins a few more awards when the newspaper awards come around.

Cheers,

Graham and Bev Fleetwood
The Travel Editor responds: Thanks for your kind words, Graham and Bev - I'm glad you enjoyed the lunch. And cheers to the team at Celebrity Cruises who hosted lunch for 12 lucky Herald Travel readers and their partners aboard the Celebrity Solstice.

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