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Talk About Travel; Trip Tips and Deals

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Anne McDonough: We have a full crew with us today: KC Summers, John Deiner, Gary Lee, Carol Sottili, Cindy Loose, Andrea Sachs, Steve Hendrix and your truly, Anne McDonough. I went to the most glorious picnic in Rock Creek Park yesterday, which made me think of the times on the road when nothing beat an outdoor meal...nutella and fresh bread in France, cucumbers and potato chips on the Great Wall, smushed sandwiches at the Grand Canyon. How about you? The poster with the best (and succinct) traveling picnic story wins "A Year in the World" audiotape read by Frances Mayes and a shopping guide to San Francisco.

Joining us this week is Bruce Adams, co-author of yesterday's piece on St. Louis and the Cardinals' new stadium there. He's here to field any baseball travel questions you may have, so send 'em on over!

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Online confusion: Please help -- I'm sure this is my novice-ness coming through, but I'm confused. Online this weekend, I was quoted a rate at a specific airline for round-trip tickets to Europe. The site required an e-signature stating that you agreed to pay the quoted amount by credit card. I signed. This morning I called the service to pay and they said sorry, the flights were "requested" by their system but not immediately available at that rate and that they were working on getting them. I asked when they would know if they could get them and they said they didn't know. I need to make reservations for my trip, but they implied that I would have to pay if they ultimately obtained the tix at that rate. Once the retailer tells me the flights I thought I'd reserved aren't available at a quoted price, how long am I obligated to wait for them to see if they can get them at that price? (I can't imagine I'd be obligated to purchase whatever they offer on whatever airline at whatever price.) I need to make reservations, but can't end up paying for two sets of tickets and don't want to wait until flight prices are beyond reason (well, more beyond reason than they already are). Thanks.

Carol Sottili: I have never heard of this before. Where (what site) did you buy these tickets? I'm sure it's a third-party vendor, not an airline, and I can guess that it's not a major operations, such as Orbitz or Travelocity. I'd call them and get out of the deal now.

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Falls Church, Va.: I recently booked a trip to Dublin far in advance through Expedia, taking a US Air flight (operated by United) to Chicago then Aer Lingus, in January 2007. The price was pretty good: $360 r/t, including tax, and I have made that connection and terminal change before with few troubles. The only strange thing was that I was required to get paper tickets, for an extra $20 in shipping and handling. I haven't used paper tickets in a long time. Are there any advantages or disadvantages with paper tickets in case something goes wrong? If US Air or United go belly-up in the next eight months, am I hosed?

Carol Sottili: I believe Aer Lingus still does paper tickets. I can't see any disadvantage to having paper tickets. They're easier to transfer from airline to airline.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Travel Crew, I'm heading off for three weeks in

Malaysia this July. I am planning on visiting KL, the

Cameron Highlands, Penang, Melaka and Singapore. Do

you have any suggestions for additions/removals to that

list? Any special recommendations or memorable

activities? I'm very flexible on what I do while there,

though I'd like to stick to Penninsular Malaysia this trip.

Thanks!

Anne McDonough: You're in for a great trip. One place I'd not miss in Malaysia is Taman Negara National Park; you could spend several days there. Gary says you're definitely on the right track with Penang and Melaka. In Penang make sure to pay attention to the signs warning of man o'wars; I was with a friend who had quite a run-in with some big ones. There was a reason no one else was swimming that day! Anyone else with Malaysia suggestions?