From: henry@ADS.COM (Henry Mensch)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: surprising source of travel information--the us government
Date: 14 Oct 92 20:53:34 GMT
Reply-To: henry@ads.com



pinched from the usual source w/o permission:


There are a number of worthwhile travel leaflets and paperback books
not often found in bookstores, usually because they are government
publications. They provide tightly focused, reliable travel
information -- no pictures and no chat, but plenty of facts.
Electricity. A notable revival is "Electric Current Abroad," which has
been reprinted for the first time since 1984. It has been revised by
the Department of Commerce, and is now for sale by the department and
by the Government Printing Office. It is not just people new to travel
who forget that all electric current is not identical, or who buy a
set of plug converters and figure the problem is dealt with. It is the
wrong voltages and cycles that do the damage.

The 90-page booklet is intended for companies setting up overseas, but
private travelers, particularly to the third world, who want to take
hair dryers, coffee makers or other plug-in devices have long relied
on it. For each country and for specific cities, it specifies the type
and frequency of current (60 cycle, as in the United States, or 50
cycle, which will give you slow readings on your electric clock), the
nominal voltage, which may vary somewhat, the number of wires and, in
a notation valuable to computer users, whether the frequency is stable
enough for an electric clock. It also has drawings of types of plugs
and specifies what types are in use in each country.

"Electric Current Abroad," if ordered from the Department of Commerce
(publication PB-91-193383), National Technical Information Service,
5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Va. 22161, (703) 487-4650, costs
$9.95, plus $3 for one-week delivery. From the Superintendent of
Documents, Washington, D.C., 20402, where the document number is
003-008-00203-0, the cost is $3.

To answer the logical follow-up question, there are companies that
sell appliances and small devices like Water-Piks that are adapted to
other currents, or that use batteries. One such is Appliances
Overseas, 276 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10001, (212) 545-8001.

Air Travel. Concise, basic information on plane travel is being
published by the Department of Transportation as free one-page fact
sheets. The titles are: "Tips on Avoiding Baggage Problems," "Tips for
Defensive Flying," "PublicCharter Flights," "Transporting Live
Animals" and "Frequent Flier Programs." The latter two topics are not
covered at all in the department's more formal 1985 publication, a $1
leaflet called "Fly Rights."

These fact sheets take nothing for granted -- for example, always put
your name and address inside your checked luggage as well as on the
tag outside -- and are probably useful as check lists.

Hoyte B. Decker Jr., assistant director for consumer affairs in the
Transportation Department, a source of this column's sometimes
discouraging data on consumer complaints and flight delays, said that
the fact sheets were written to be understood by people who might not
have taken a plane trip before. Last fall, the department added three
additional sheets.

The sheet on public charters, a topic also omitted from "Fly Rights,"
is valuable for anyone not familiar with charter rules.  For example,
it points out that all arrangements for public charters are subject to
change but a refund may be obtained without penalty in the event of a
"major" change -- if the departure or return city is changed, if the
date is changed by more than 48 hours, if a new hotel is substituted
or if the price rises more than 10 percent. "Baggage Problems"
contains much that seems obvious, but some travelers may not know that
they must lodge a claim for lost or rifled lost bags before they leave
the airport.  "Defensive Flying" offers tips for the anxious or
inexperienced traveler and is printed in large type.

These may be obtained free by writing to the Consumer Affairs Office,
Department of Transportation, I-25, Washington, D.C. 20590.