Travelers' Intercom

I highly recommend Triplíce Tour, located in Hotel Del Rey (Rua Tarobá 1020, CEP 85851-220, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil; phone [45] 2105-7500).

On a tour to Brazil in October-November ’09, my friend Mike and I visited Iguaçu Falls for three days and booked a day tour with Triplíce to visit Itaipú dam, the Bird Park and the falls on the Brazilian side for BRL190 (near $104). As it turned out, there were only the two of us on tour.

Our guide, Fernando, who spoke excellent English, is co-owner of the company. Because it was raining, he suggested that we skip the Bird Park and...

I want to alert ITN readers to beware of new foreign-transaction fees that may have been imposed by their credit card companies.

I purchased two round-trip business-class tickets on Aer Lingus on Feb. 22, 2010, for $5,803.16, including taxes and fees. I paid with a Visa card issued from the Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PFCU). The purchase was made from my home in the US and paid in US dollars. Aer Lingus has a US office and US employees. Apparently, however, the snare is that Aer Lingus is not a US company.

When I received my statement from the PFCU, they had added a $116....

Having read of the purchase of a 240-dollar rail ticket from London to Glasgow with Virgin Trains (Sept. ’10, pg. 46), I thought readers would like to know how to purchase tickets at a more reasonable rate.

I travel between London and Glasgow or Edinburgh more than eight times each year. I am in standard class sometimes but in first class frequently and always with a reserved seat. At the end of August 2010, I paid £34 (about $55) for first class on Virgin between London and Glasgow.

Booking way ahead, you will find the cheapest prices in standard class, but when I’ve booked...