bigdelta

Big help-will do-thanks.

I have a strong cable and stronger lock and will buy a disc lock with alarm for short term use. I won't be able to bring my bike inside the highrise,so other arrangements will be made.Thx

Thanks for those insights.I will shop around for insurance.Now about securing a bike when parked.......

Do dealers offer full coverage or just what is mandatory? And will I be better off buying from the dealer initally or should I shop for the 1st policy?I too will be buying a bike next spring when I move.

Bought a package of 3 at Costco and was given a 2G card from a friend,so all 3 are for sale for 1400 baht or 500 baht each.I will be in Pattaya until late on 17 June at Pattaya Bay Resort.

Way too many variables today to see stable currencies again.

That old peanut farmer and his brother's Billy Beer!

I was referring to her quote regarding the trade deficit,not it's effect on the baht.She got it backwards. Regardless,I just want to have the dollar vs. (insert any currency here) to stabilize so I can stretch my pension for more enjoyment when I move next spring.

"Increasing imports over the past few months have begun to narrow Thailand's trade deficit and increase downward pressure on the baht, he said". Would not "increasing" imports widen a trade deficit instead of narrow a trade deficit? Is the expert right here or am I not understanding the concept? Or does Thailand have a trade surplus and she is tkinking the opposite?

Excellent link.The programs we get in Mexico are the prior year's episodes-so now I can stay up to date.

That 38 to 31 drop is significant to me-almost 20%. I'll be making a 10 day visit in July or August to help me decide if a 6 month stay is in the cards for a permanent move.49k is what my pension brings each month at the current rate of 32.45,which is up 1 baht from last week.The dollar will recover vs most currencies,albeit slowly.And I'm still 5 yrs from drawing Social Security....

Margarita Island off of Venezuela?

I had service with Verizon until a month ago in the US and had a GSM phone.

I just bought 3 2GB SD cards at Costco for USD 37.50. HP brand. I'll be bringing the extras with me.

TYVM.How things have changed in the last few years.Now if the dollar would just come back....

So I assume living on USD 1525/48k baht in Pattaya will make me a pauper? What can I expect for that amount of dosh?

June 22, 2004 -- With the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, the majesty of the Grand Palace, and the peaceful sublimity of the Phang-Nga Bay, Thailand never fails to amaze. And now four providers are making it affordable to visit this summer and fall. If you have a bunch of unused vacation time coming up, Friendly Planet's 14-day "Amazing Thailand Tour" this October is a great deal at only $899. That's the price when you book by September 30 for their October 10-October 23 tour, where your stops include Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Golden Triangle, Chang Rai and Chang Mai. With this package you get roundtrip air from LA on Air Korea (add $100 for departure from JFK), 12-nights accommodations at Superior First Class hotels, transfers and transportation, daily buffet breakfast daily, a welcome dinner with local entertainment, and a tour director throughout. US departure taxes and visa fees of $140 are not included. For more information or to book your trip, check out www.friendlyplanet.com or by phone at 800/555-5765. Go-Today.com is also offering a sweet, sweet deal for urban dwellers this fall. Their "Bangkok Super Special" is only $579 for travel between September 1 and October 24. That price gets you roundtrip air from Los Angeles, five nights accommodations at the Bangkok City Inn, hotel and airport transfers, daily breakfast, and all hotel taxes and service charges. Additional gateways are available for a supplement and include Phoenix (add $150), Denver and Detroit (add $300). A $60 surcharge per person each way weekend applies for weekend travel. Taxes and fees of $89 not included. To reserve your place, surf over to www.gotoday.com or call 425/487-9632 (phone reservations cost an additional $20). If you can't wait until September to get to Thailand, E.E.I. Travel and Ritz Tours both offer reasonable 6-day/5-night packages to Bangkok. E.E.I.'s "Bangkok Special" for $1,049 gives you roundtrip air from LA to Bangkok, hotel and airport transfers, 5 nights at the Manhattan Hotel, city and temple tours, daily taxes, along with hotel taxes and service charges when you travel between now and August 31. Additional gateways are available for a supplement and include Las Vegas (add $150), Chicago and Austin (add $300). $89 in taxes and fees is not included. Also note that an airport deduction tax of THD 500.00 (about $12) must be paid upon departure at check-in. For additional information or to book head to www.europeexpress.com or phone 800/927-3876 Ritz Tours offers a similar deal with their "Bangkok in a week" package priced at $1,099 through August 15. It includes rountrip on Cathway Pacific Air from LAX or SFO (JFK add $80), 5 nights at the Emerald Hotel, daily buffet breakfast, airport transfers, a welcome Tahi classical dance and dinner show, and a day tour with lunch. Price do es not include International Air Departure Tax of $120 per person. For more details, check out www.ritztours.com or book your trip when you call 800/900-CHINA (2446). As usual, prices on all packages mentioned are per person double occupancy and subject to availability. John

June 18, 2004 -- If you're trying to design a multi-city Asia trip, there are a few ways to keep airfares down. You can use Asia's new low-fare airlines, such as Air Asia and Valuair that we wrote about earlier. Or, you can buy Cathay Pacific's All Asia Pass or the Malaysia Airlines pass, which can bring your multi-city fares (www.tulipstravel.com/travel/airpasses/index.asp) down to $999 plus tax. We discovered a new weapon in the Asian airfare arsenal recently - Priceline Asia. Yes, discounter Priceline sells tickets not just for flights to Asia, but also for flights within Asia. Or, more accurately, their partner Priceline Asia does; it's a joint venture between Priceline and Chinese mega-conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. Priceline Asia sells round-trip tickets from Hong Kong, Singapore, (sometimes) Macau and (soon) Taiwan to anywhere else in the world. Just like with Priceline USA, you can 'name your own price' for your tickets. And just like with Priceline USA, you must buy round trips. Unlike Priceline USA, though, you can demand nonstop flights on most intra-Asian routes. Why bother bidding on Priceline Asia? Let's say you want to visit Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia. A multi-legged flight bought in the US from New York to Hong Kong to Sydney and back to New York can cost up to $2,500. If you use the Cathay Pacific All Asia Pass, you're looking at more like $1,700 after taxes. On the other hand, you can get a simple roundtrip from New York to Hong Kong for around $750. Priceline Asia sells standard Hong Kong-Sydney tickets for $790 without bidding. Let's assume a 30% discount for bidding - that makes the ticket $550. Now you're paying as little as $1,340 for your two-city itinerary. Using a combination of US-purchased roundtrips to Hong Kong or Singapore and Priceline Asia can shave $100-200 off low fares for other two-city itineraries within Asia, too. (Just remember that Priceline Asia probably can't beat Air Asia or Valuair fares. It's worth trying to underbid the low-fare airlines anyway.) There's one catch: you need a mailing address in the Asian city where your roundtrip will start, in case Priceline Asia finds you paper tickets. You can use a hotel, a business acquaintance or a friend as your mailing address. You're allowed to pay for the tickets with a US-based credit card, no problem. You must buy Singapore and Taiwan-based tickets three business days before traveling. You can buy Hong Kong-based tickets two business days before flying. To buy tickets from Hong Kong or Macau, go to www.priceline.com.hk. To buy tickets from Singapore, go to www.priceline.com.sg. To buy tickets from Taiwan when they finish that Web site, go to www.priceline.com.tw. Priceline Asia also sells hotel rooms, but they use the same hotel database as Priceline USA does, so there's no reason not to just use Priceline's US site for Asian hotels. Priceline.com is a great source for hotels in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok; bidders regularly get four and five-star hotels in Hong Kong for $65-80/night. Check out www.biddingfortravel.com to see the recent prices bidders have grabbed.

Three Asian Cities For The Price Of One Destinations: Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong Provider: Cathay Pacific Airways Activities: Air, Lodging, Package Dates: Travel valid September 1 - November 30 Author: Sascha Segan May 6, 2004 -- Folks who can't sit still will appreciate Cathay Pacific's latest "Deal of the Month," sending you to Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok for $799. There's just one catch -- you have to visit all three cities, in that order. The $799 fare is good from New York, LA or San Francisco. You must travel between September 1 and November 30, and you have 30 days to complete your circle and fly home. Cathay already flies nonstop from LA and San Francisco to Hong Kong. Starting July 1, they'll also fly nonstop from New York to Hong Kong, a run of more than 16 hours from gate to gate. For a complex ticket on a top-notch airline, this is a great price. While you can certainly get roundtrips to Hong Kong for less, and the Singapore-Bangkok run is covered by low-cost airline Air Asia, the legs from Hong Kong to Singapore and from Bangkok to Hong Kong are usually extremely expensive. When we priced out this trip as separate tickets, we couldn't find a bookable price lower than $1,300 from the West Coast, or $1,400 from the East Coast. For simple roundtrips to Hong Kong, try your favorite online travel agent. For even more complex itineraries, you'll probably want to look at Cathay Pacific's $999 All Asia Pass (www.cathay-usa.com/offers/aap/subdefault.asp). But if these three bustling metropolises attract you, Cathay's $799 deal is unbeatable. If you're interested, book by May 31 at www.cathay-usa.com/dotmtriple/dotm.asp. Got the Cheap Airfare? Time For A Cheap Hotel! Cathay Pacific has secured some pretty good hotel deals for Hong Kong and Bangkok. Check out their offerings at www.cathay-usa.com/dotmtriple/hotels.asp. In Hong Kong, Cathay has highly discounted rates at four of the Regal hotels, including the Frommer's-rated Regal Kowloon. Rooms at this "middle of the road ... adequate" hotel are a reasonable $81/night during September, but $132/night during October. Rooms at the posher Regal Hongkong are $94 during September and $145 during October. You'll find cheaper rooms at the Regal Oriental and Regal Riverside, which we unfortunately haven't reviewed: they're $56 in September and $81 in October. To get these rates, call 800-222-8888 and ask for rate code CXDOTMMAY. In Bangkok, they'll cut you a deal at the Frommer's-approved Shangri-La, which boasts "boasts acres of polished marble, a jungle of tropical plants and flowers, and two towers with breathtaking views of the river." Nab a room there for $125 single or $145 double by calling 800-942-5050 and mentioning rate code DOTMCX. But we think you can do even better on Priceline. On the Priceline watchdog board BiddingForTravel.com, we've seen bidders nabbing the Bangkok Shangri-La and comparable hotels for $55-$60/night. Rooms at the Regal Kowloon and comparable hotels have run $45-55/night on Priceline from time to time. Priceline bidding can be a bit arcane, but we think the huge amounts of money you save are well worth the work. Hop over to www.biddingfortravel.com for advice on how to get Asian hotels cheaply.

EVA Knows The Cheap Way to Taipei (And Saigon) Destinations: Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Manila, Penang, Fukuoka Provider: EVA Air Activities: Air Dates: Various Author: Sascha Segan April 26, 2004 -- Our column on Delta and Taiwan's China Airlines is still causing a stir, so we thought we'd mix things up a bit with a deal from Taiwan's other international carrier, EVA Air (known to many as Evergreen.) EVA is a privately-run airline that hasn't had a fatal accident since it started flying in 1991. From Taipei, they fly to LA, Seattle, New York and Vancouver in North America, and shuttle passengers on to Bangkok, Fukuoka, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Penang, Seoul, and Singapore in Asia. They codeshare, too; if you're flying "American Airlines" or "Air Canada" to Taiwan, you're flying on EVA Air. That's still misleading, but at least they have a solid safety record. EVA's current best deal is a $698 fare from LA to Saigon, available through April 30 for flights through May 20. But if you're heading to Asia soon, make it a habit to check their home page at www.evaair.com and click on the button marked "Promotions." This month, for instance, they had a $430 special from LA to Taiwan -- and, more importantly, a $630 roundtrip fare in their "deluxe economy" class, known as Evergreen Deluxe. EVA's standard economy gets you 33 inches of leg-room (www.airlinequality.com/Product/seats_global.htm), according to airline research firm Skytrax. That's actually more than celebrated airlines like Singapore and Cathay Pacific. But EVA's aging in-flight entertainment systems will make economy class passengers want to bring a book, and Skytrax reviewers say that service in the economy section isn't terrific. (www.airlinequality.com/Forum/eva.htm) (Take the Skytrax reviewers with a grain of salt -- these guys are hard-core business travelers, used to the comforts of sitting up front.) Their deluxe economy section, on the other hand, has 38 inches of legroom, much better in-flight service, and seat-back video screens with a selection of six movies -- all at a price that, if you buy smart, may be as low as other airlines' coach fares. If you're flying elsewhere in Asia, there are other airlines that have better overall reputations for service, such as Cathay Pacific, Japan Air Lines and Singapore. But EVA is safe and has a very compelling deluxe-economy product. EVA looks like the best way to Taiwan, and a strong contender in a competitive Asian airline market. John "life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ... wow, what a ride!"

Fulfill Your Yen For Asia With These Low Fares Destinations: Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manila, Beijing, Thailand, Shanghai, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar Provider: Multiple Providers Activities: Air Dates: Various; check individual websites for details Author: Sascha Segan November 5, 2003 -- This fall, low fares to Asia seem to have slipped under many people's radar. The sales aren't advertised very much, if they're advertised at all -- but they're out there. In fact, there's fierce competition on most Asian routes keeping prices low, as long as you're willing to fly outside the Christmas holiday season. Recently, we've reported on discount packages to Hong Kong and Beijing and Shanghai, but packagers don't have all the great fares. If you're flying from New York, Korean Air's fares are unbeatable: $529 roundtrip to Hong Kong, $539 to Manila and $569 to Bangkok, all with a stop in Seoul. You even get Delta frequent flier miles for the trip. These fares are only available on flights between Sunday and Thursday; flights on Fridays and Saturdays are $50 more per leg. Book by November 23 for outbound flights in November. For more information, see www.koreanair.com/local/na/eng/pt/psv/ps_subList.jsp?promoid=56. Taiwan's China Airlines has more sale fares than we can list here, but we'll point out $491 from LA to Taipei, $540 from LA to Bangkok, $470 from San Francisco to Hong Kong, and $500 from San Francisco to Taipei. Find the full list of fares from LA, San Francisco and New York to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and even Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar at www.china-airlines.com/en/price/price36.htm. Buy by Nov. 30 for travel during November to get these fares, and be aware that China Airlines doesn't have the world's greatest safety record; we'd pay a little extra to fly on a more reliable airline, like Cathay Pacific or United. Speaking of Cathay Pacific: Their $599 fare from either San Francisco or LA to Bangkok doesn't offer frequent flier miles, but there are still reasons to book that airline's Deal of the Month (www.cathay-usa.com/dotm/dotm.asp). Cathay's service is world-renowned, and you get to stop over as long as you like in Hong Kong, where the shopping and nightlife might will make you forget about Bangkok entirely. (Just kidding.) The best fares to Hong Kong's rival Singapore are from United. You can get these fares at www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,50106,00.html as long as you buy before Nov. 11 for travel through Dec. 11. A three-day advance purchase and six-day minimum stay are required. Sale fares for flights Monday-Thursday are $598 roundtrip from Phoenix, San Francisco and LA; $658 roundtrip from Atlanta, Denver, Miami and New York; and $678 from Boston. For Tokyo, American Airlines has some surprisingly low, unadvertised fares: $459 from Los Angeles, $468 from New York, $547 from Chicago, and $658 from Miami. Similarly low fares are available from a wide range of American's gateway cities. There are, of course, a ton of restrictions on these fares: they're only available for travel Nov. 5-Dec. 10 and Jan. 12-Feb. 6, they're only available on Monday-Thursday flights, you can't use them on codeshare flights, and a Saturday night stay and seven-day advance purchase are required. But hey, these are terrific fares. You can book these on the American Airlines Web site (www.aa.com), but if you choose to ask your travel agent, mention fare code NXAA3D. John

Far Out, Far East: Fair Fares to Asia Destinations: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Hanoi, Manila, Nagoya, Osaka Provider: Multiple Providers Activities: Air, Package Dates: Various and ongoing Author: Sascha Segan September 26, 2003 -- Face it: airfares to Asia may never be as low as they were this summer, when it seemed like Asian airlines were willing to pay you to fly to their favorite destinations. But prices are still pretty swell, with several airlines making it pretty easy to get to Asia for under $600 from the West Coast. Airfare sales right now come from Japan's JAL (www.jal.com), Korea's Korean Air (www.koreanair.com), Taiwan's China Airlines (www.china-airlines.com), and our very own United (www.united.com) and Northwest (www.nwa.com). We'd pay a little more to fly on JAL or United over China Airlines, which doesn't have the world's greatest safety record. Advertised fares we found compelling included: From Los Angeles Hong Kong $490 (United) Taipei $491 (China Airlines) Bangkok $540 (China Airlines); $549 (Korean Air) Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya $543 (JAL) Hanoi $617 (Korean Air) From San Francisco Hong Kong $470 (China Airlines); $480 (United) Taipei $500 (China Airlines) Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya $543 (JAL) Bangkok $549 (Korean Air) Seoul $579 (Korean Air) From Las Vegas Taipei $558 (JAL) Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya $648 (JAL) From New York Hong Kong $590 (United) Bangkok $665 (JAL); $669 (Korean Air) Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya $714 (JAL) From Dallas Bangkok $649 (Korean Air) Hong Kong $658 (United) For the United fares, you have to buy by October 24, travel outbound in October and return by the end of November. A five-day advance purchase is required. For Northwest fares, buy by Oct. 8 for outbound travel through Nov. 30 and return travel through Dec. 23; a seven-day advance purchase is required. For China Airlines fares, buy by October 21 for outbound travel through Nov. 30. For JAL fares, book by Oct. 8 for departures before Nov. 30 and returns by Dec. 23 with a 7-day advance purchase. For Korean Airlines, purchase by Sept. 30 for outbound flights by Nov. 30; Korean Air also requires 1 4-day advance purchase. Head to the relevant airline Web sites or to your favorite travel agent to book these fares. Pleasant Packages and Passes Two other deals -- one a package, the others passes -- can provide you an even better bang for the buck than the airfare deals above. Go-Today's "Hong Kong Super Sale" gives you a flight and five nights' hotel for, in many cases, lower than the price of airfare alone. This package is good for flights between Nov. 16 and Dec. 16 or Dec. 26 through March 17, and starts at $499 from San Francisco or Seattle. Where it gets good, though, is in the $549 price from New York, or the $624 price from places like Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston and Salt Lake City. They'll put you up at the Newton Hotel for that low price. The package is available for purchase through Oct. 28. Book it online at www.gotoday.com/HK_FGAF.ASP (for November and early December departures) or at www.gotoday.com/HK_FGAH.ASP (for 2004 departures.) If you want to cover several cities in Asia, Cathay Pacific's "All Asia Pass" costs $999 from New York, San Francisco or LA, and includes 21 days of travel to 17 cities in Asia. This fare is good through Dec. 3, or from Feb. 1 to May 13, 2004. There are a few hoops to jump through: you need to sign up for Cathay's free frequent flier program first at , and then book the pass offline with a travel agent. In the past, we've recommended Tulips Travel (800/882-3383; www.tulipstravel.com) for booking airpasses, and we've heard good reports about them from readers since. John

Singapore budget carrier, ValuAir Pte Ltd, said it hoped to start flights in the first half of 2004, while Thailand's first low-cost carrier, led by national carrier Thai Airways International Plc (SET:THAI.BK - News), might get off the ground toward the end of this year. John

What a Difference a Hyphen Makes: Untangling the Air(-)Hitch Confusion Author: Sascha Segan August 6, 2003 -- When it comes to AirHitch, a system for getting cheap standby seats on international flights, the hyphen makes all the difference. Because there are two AirHitches. Both claim to be the real thing, and both are dedicated to getting people onto airplanes, but that's about all that have in common. We've gotten many inquiries from travelers confused about the two Airhitches, and each company showed us a slew of emails from perplexed souls. With low airfares available by other means nowadays, the legal death match the companies are undertaking, and the general inconvenience of standby travel, we're uncomfortable recommending either Airhitch to most travelers. But the tale of the two Airhitches, and of the unusual system of air transportation they run, is a story of a unique corner of the travel world. Airhitch (www.airhitch.org) is the original, an all-volunteer organization run by an aging idealist named Robert Segelbaum that promotes a "sociopolitical" system of travel requiring lots of patience and a thick skin. We'll call it AH/S. Air-hitch Air Travel Solutions (www.air-hitch.com) is the newcomer, founded by an Israeli entrepreneur named Jacob Hinenson who says he bought the company name from Segelbaum. Air-hitch is a for-profit business where they say they can often guarantee travelers standby seats 24 hours in advance of flying. We'll call it AH/H. Who's the real Airhitch? That's for a court to decide -- the two companies are locked in a legal battle in federal court over the company name, Web addresses and phone numbers. Each side moved for summary judgement in June, but it may be a few months before the court takes any action, according to David Ferber, Hinenson's lawyer. The Secret History of Airhitch Long ago, back in 1969 when idealism reigned over profit, a young man named Robert Segelbaum got an idea. Airline flights were never full, and airlines lost money for every empty seat they had. Why not fill those empty seats with low-budget travelers willing to jump onto planes at the last minute? So Segelbaum developed a system of standby travel. He called his system Airhitch, and it became popular with students. Airhitching wouldn't get you to a specific location on a specific date, but it could get you from the US to Europe cheaply -- if you were flexible about exactly when and where you were willing to leave from and arrive to. More visionary than businessman, Segelbaum contracted with travel agencies to sell standby vouchers based on his idea. His relationship with the agencies varied. After a spectacular falling out in 1993 that landed in court, some of his former licensees formed Airtech (www.airtech.com), yet another seller of standby travel. Airhitch's current problems began in 2000, when the relationship between Segelbaum and his fourth corporate licensee, Whole Earth Travel, deteriorated sharply. Segelbaum then decided to take the Airhitch name to Jacob Hinenson to explore the possibility of forming a new company together. Meanwhile, Whole Earth still claimed to sell Airhitch vouchers, providing steadily worse customer service until they collapsed into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in late 2001, leaving a lot of Airhitch travelers stranded and confused. By the end of 2001, Hinenson and Segelbaum had fallen out. Segelbaum says he still owns the Airhitch name; Hinenson says Segelbaum sold it to him in late 2000. That's what they're fighting over right now. So, two Airhitches?what's the difference? Which Hitch is Which? Segelbaum's AH/S (www.airhitch.org) is a conceptual system, not a business. Travelers interact with AH/S entirely over the Internet, via a network of volunteers led by Segelbaum himself, who resides in Martinique. Segelbaum has 30 years of experience with Airhitch, and his past ventures have been recommended by Arthur Frommer and others. But his new organization is run differently from previous Airhitch operations. Credit card payments are processed by a Rhode Island travel agency, Sophisticated Traveler (www.sophisticatedtraveler.com), which doles out the money to the airlines involved. According to Segelbaum, that allows AH/S itself to remain a purely "sociopolitical" organization, but to us, there's a disturbing diffusion of accountability in this multi- pronged approach. While they're responsive and seem to be genuinely trying to help, the AH/S staff often came off to us as rude, abrasive and exacting. Consider it a test to see if you have the thick skin necessary to Airhitch in the first place. To fly with the AH/S concept, you sign up on their web site (www.airhitch.org) and give a multi-day time period during which you're willing to fly, as well as the regions you're trying to fly from and to. A flight from "northeast North America" to "Europe" could depart from anywhere between DC and Montreal, landing anywhere from Lisbon to Berlin. When you're ready to depart, you get in touch with the AH/S staff through the Net, and they give you a list of potentially Airhitchable flights with their approximate likelihood of success. It's then up to you to trek to the airports involved and see if there's room on the relevant flights, checking back with the AH/S volunteers via the Internet to get further advice. It may take a couple of days, though Segelbaum claims most people get on board the first flight they choose. Although you pay a $29 fee to participate in the system, you'll only be charged for the flight once you get on board. If you don't fly, you only owe the $29 fee, and Segelbaum says that is often refunded -- but getting that refund appears to be an arbitrary practice based on the AH/S volunteers' pleasure. Hinenson's AH/H (www.air-hitch.com) is a New York business with an office in Manhattan, but the office wasn't staffed when we called, and the company does most of its business through the Net. Hinenson himself spends most of his time in Israel, leaving a general manager, Rafi Rabinovitch, to run the business. While AH/H isn't a bonded travel agency (yet), Rabinovitch says they have formal agreements with 20 airlines to provide standby, space-available travel. Travelers pay AH/H in advance to get access to an online flight list, showing a long list of flights to their destination with their rough percentage chances of getting onboard. We saw one of AH/H's flight lists, and it showed flights from a smaller scheduled carrier and from some large charter airlines. Many AH/H flights can give you confirmed seats 24 hours in advance of the flight; you e-mail AH/H two days before the flight and get back a confirmed seat number without having to go to the airport. For other flights, you've got to go to the airport to inquire, just like with AH/S. "We don't sell anything that we can't board passengers on," Rabinovitch told us. AH/H guarantees refunds for anyone who buys a voucher but doesn't board the plane, but we've seen several complaints from travelers who have had trouble getting refunds. Too Much of a Hitch in Airhitch Right now, we can't recommend using either Airhitch. First of all, international discount airfares have largely caught up with Airhitch prices. AH/S charges $165 plus taxes each way to Europe from the east coast. For a roundtrip flight from LA to Paris, AH/H charges $429-$489 plus taxes. During cheap seasons, we've seen lower fares from Priceline, Hotwire and the airlines themselves. Even during high season, hunting for sales may be more effective than using either Airhitch. Second, the Airhitch process is a genuine pain. While it may appeal to students, the unemployed, and other people with a lot of time on their hands, Segelbaum warns that if you have to be in a specific place at a specific time, Airhitch isn't for you. He calls this "unstructured" travel -- and time for truly unstructured travel is something too few Americans have. Finally, neither Airhitch gives us much faith in their customer service. (Segelbaum claims to have no customer service, because he has no customers. Whatever.) AH/H has a virtual office, a CEO in a foreign country, and nine complaints in the past year filed with the New York City Better Business Bureau. AH/S isn't actually a business and is staffed by a faceless army of abrasive, acronym-obsessed volunteers. My closing thought: if, in spite of all of this, you do decide to Airhitch with either organization, please make sure you're using a credit card where you can refuse charges that you deem improper. John

BANGKOK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Thai cabinet approved on Tuesday a $1.4 billion deal by Thai Airways International PCL (SET:THAI.BK - News) to buy eight new planes from Airbus and seven old Boeings (NYSE:BA - News) from U.S. carrier United Airlines (NYSE:UAL - News). The purchase is part of the national carrier's five-year $3.11 billion investment plan which would increase the airline's fleet to 92 aircraft by September 2007, government officials said. The plan to buy more aircraft so Thai Airways can expand its routes covers three Airbus A340-500s, five Airbus A340-600s and seven Boeing 747-400s from the embattling American carrier. Thai Airways has already ordered two new Boeing 747-400s worth 12.1 billion baht ($289.3 million) for delivery this year, government officials said. Under its five-year plan, the national carrier will add 27 new destinations and 154 new flights. It expects to have 1,090 flights a week in five years, Kanok said. John