WITH the heat of the summer on us perhaps it should be expected that sun destination questions are on hold. But other worldwide destinations are hot, hot, hot right now.
QUESTION: One of the most memorable experiences of my life was in attending the Oberammergau passion play in Germany last year.
While not an extremely religious person I was struck by this once-every-10-years performance and it prompted a bit of a return to my spiritual roots.
Are there a lot of organized tours available to other similar events or sites?
ANSWER: From the Shrine of our Lady of Fatima in Portugal to Holy Land tours, the biggest draw of them all, faith-based tourism is big business and growing steadily each year.
There are at least 700 tour operators in North America that focus on this market. Pilgrimages are often organized by churches or church leaders in conjunction with one of these tour companies.
There are even cruises built around faith-based travel. Religious conferences also attract thousands of delegates to their annual events.
Faith-based volunteer projects bring together even greater numbers to complete projects.
When it comes to travel, you will find when you visit any country of any denomination their spiritual and religious treasures are prime attractions for tourists of the faith as well as those outside the faith
The spiritual foundations are often presented tied to a historical perspective of the country, helping to create understanding of the people who live there and the style of lives they choose to lead at present as well as in the past.
There is absolutely no shortage of options for you to examine to expand your interests in this area.
QUESTION: I'm a Canadian in Australia, looking to return home. It doesn't make sense but I found a one-way ticket to be more expensive than a charter return ticket. Is there anything 'wrong' or 'unlawful' about purchasing a return ticket, but only actually using one-half of the ticket for a one-way flight?
ANSWER: A few years ago during the days when scheduled airlines like Air Canada only offered the very lowest fares to customers who stayed over a Saturday night, it became common for savvy corporate clients and their agencies to purchase two return tickets at a lesser price than a full-fare return ticket that did not require the Saturday night stay-over.
The client would throw away the return portion of one ticket and be a no-show at the airport. Then the first flight of the second ticket would be used to come home, again wasting the return portion.
The airlines eventually caught on and created policies where that was prohibited.
Nevertheless, when Canadian Airlines was still around the practice continued. Clients would book one trip on Air Canada and the other on Canadian. Since the airlines didn't share information, travellers were able to continue saving money this way for quite some time.
When the hated Saturday stay-over requirement was finally eliminated, the need to use this method of flight budgeting was no longer necessary.
In your current situation, since you are a Canadian citizen, not returning on the flight you were originally scheduled on should not be a problem.
However, I am surprised that in today's pricing environment you cannot find a one-way ticket that is cheaper than a return purchase. It seems to me that some kind of charter flight could get you to at least one convenient North American gateway.
QUESTION: We are going on a Mediterranean cruise and have an afternoon and morning available for touring in and around Rome. There are private tours/taxis listed on the Internet who claim they will pick you up, arrange a tour, and obtain tickets to places we would be interested in visiting.
This is very appealing. Have you had any experience with any reputable companies of this nature?
ANSWER: I do have experience with one of the firms you can find on the Internet.
Four years ago we hired a company called Driver in Italy for a full-day tour of Rome. There were four of us, and at more than $1,000 at that time it seemed expensive. But, since one of our group was a senior citizen who could not get around easily we decided to pay the price.
It proved to be one of the best investments we made, as in one day we saw what would take most to see in three.
The driver was professional, knowledgeable and spoke perfect English. The 'tour' dropped us off close to all the sights and the driver was back at the appointed time.
During our day with them we went to the catacombs, a hillside view of Rome, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Sistine Chapel, the Coliseum, and much more. To top it off, the owner of the company is formerly from Winnipeg.
It indeed was very expensive but we were extremely happy with what we saw during that day and would do the same again if we were pressed for time.
Forward your travel questions to askjourneys@journeystravel.com. Ron Pradinuk is president of Journeys Travel & Leisure SuperCentre and can be heard Sundays at noon on CJOB. Previous columns and tips can be found on www.journeystravelgear.com or read Ron's travel blog at www.thattravelguy.ca
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