"Sorry if I'm slow, Gotta work so I can travel....." mcblacktiger's Profile

I work in a seasonal industry: on one hand it is great because I get about three months of the year off , but on the other hand it sucks because I have very little money to travel with and (if you noticed in my pictures ) my extended traveling is strictly limited to winter time.I find that traveling during the winter is great because it is much cheaper to travel and most places are never crowded, but I also miss out on many things that are done or are only open during the summer.

Almost as a rule, I also will not write anything about a corporate hotel or restraurant chain. If you've seen one, you've seen them all, especially in this time of monkey see monkey do. Unfortunatly, this wipes out most anything that I would write about when traveling in America. I also try not travel to tourist traps, but there's always the exception, especially when family or friends are involved, you know, Vegas, Disneyland etc.....

What I do love is history and old buildings (especially really old abandoned ones),nature, and good regional food, so if my pages seem slighted in a certain way, I hope this explains why.....

*After a long search I recently found an outstanding book(in English) on Estonian manors( if you are into that thing),History, ownership, style, present ownership, etc..... It is "Estonian Manors, A Travelogue" by Ivar Sakk. Publisher: Sakk&Sakk OU +372 509 2372 ***This book is also great because it also has a listing of all of the manors that have overnight accomidations or special event facilities.***

Fred Siwak, PALS project

If you have not seen PALS webpage or heard about him, please go there, it was a great project. For more about Fred Siwak please follow this link that was provided by another VT'er:

www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/07/by_bryan_marqua_1.html

Rest in Peace, Fred !!!

Little Traveler, Vantaa Airport

After a recent trip to Chicago I started thinking about good and bad airports. My feelings about them are strictly about effiency of getting through them, not about visual appeal, age, or which stores are in them. They are also only ones that have a large volume of flights, at least 90 to 100 per day. It's not hard to be effecient if you only handle 30 flights a day. In general I think most airports are good; to me these are just the stand outs. Feel free to drop a suggestion if you like.
I have been through all of these airports a minimum of two times.

WORST

1. (LHR)Heathrow, London England.(In a class by itself of bad)
Why: Not listing flight gates untill half an hour before the flight(they should shoot whoever thought that one up and regardless of what they say, I think it is to force you to sit in the retail shopping areas), P*ss poor organisation and communication, almost as a rule unhelpful and arrogant employees regardless of the buisness or airline, the airport and British Airways seem to be prone to strikes, and for not being in a winter climate it sure has a lot of weather delays. I personally will not fly through Heathrow or on BA regardless of the flight price.

2.(ORD)O'Hare,Chicago Illinois.
Why: Horrible direction signage and what is there is almost worse than useless. Only one international screening area(which is unexecusable in an airport with such a large international flight percentage).

BEST

(HEL)Vantaa, Helsinki Finland.
Great airport, but the recent expansion looks like it may ruin that.(although I have a lot of faith in Finnish and Nordic effeciency in general and hope they can overcome a marginal new design.)

(MSP)Minneapolis/St.Paul,Minneapolis Minnesota.

(DEN)Denver International, Denver Colorado.

(AMS)Schipol, Amsterdam Netherlands.

How'd you forget me ?

I never travel first class and for the sake of this conversation purchasable "perks" are not considered. Regional and contract carriers are also not included. I base this on cost, customer service, and effeciency. In general I think most airline are pretty good; to me these are just the stand outs.Feel free to drop a suggestion if you like.
I have flown on these airlines a minimum of two times.

WORST

1. British Airways(In a class by itself fo bad)
Why: Frequent strikes, four strict class seperations(what century is this?), generally arrogant service by all departments, poor organisation, used to be no early seat reservations outside of Europe, but now have managed to make it even worse and now are first to charge for seat reservations, fly through Heathrow(by far the worst airport I have ever been in).

BEST

Finnair(In a class by itself for good)(airport hub: Helsinki, Finland)
Why:Excellent in all areas and have by far the best customer service that I have ever delt with, regardless of industry. Twice I have had problems not created by Finnair and both times they fixed them well beyond what I felt was expected. One time they even flew a package to my final destination at no charge even though it was not part of the flight itinerary.

AirBaltic (airport hub:Riga, Latvia)
Why: Super cheap and still have reservable seating, but just as good a quality as any of the other major airline, reasonable baggage fees.

Southwest Airlines(don't use hub system)
Why: Cheap prices(by American standards) but good service and reservable seating, many flights, great online reservation website.