Greenberg’s travel book out on October 2, 2007

29 September 2007

The Complete Travel Detective Bible, written by Peter Greenberg, 57, travel editor for NBC’s Today show, CNBC and America Online, will be published
on October 2, 2007.

The 640-page consumer guide to virtually every aspect of travel, published by Rodale Books, costs $17.95.

It can be pre-ordered for $12.21 plus shipping at Amazon.com

The book contains some ‘commandments’ from constant traveler Peter Greenberg, who says he typically travels over 400,000 miles a year and has
been compiling information for years in 300 file folders.

The Complete Travel Detective Bible includes information sources, from a list of outfits that run humanitarian “volunteer vacations” to resources for solo travelers to airports that provide free wireless internet connections.

There is also guidance on correct travel terminology. For instance, a “direct” flight is not a synonym for non-stop, as is commonly believed. It means there is a stop, but you stay on the same plane.

The book has travel trivia, too. One example: Why is the abbreviation for Chicago’s O’Hare airport ORD and not something easy to understand, like La Guardia’s LGA? The answer is: ORD comes from the airport’s old name, Orchard Field.

The Complete Travel Detective Bible also packs a lot of insider tips. Some samples:

• Wash your hotel water glass in hot water before using. Housekeepers do as many as 16 rooms a day. As they run out of time, they may not fetch fresh glasses. You never know if your room was first … or 16th!
• If you take a voluntary bump from an overbooked flight for compensation, don’t give up your seat until you get confirmed seating on a later flight. If not, you could be put on standby and be stranded.
• To determine whether your flight will be leaving on time, don’t always trust the departures board. Look for the departure gate number on the arrivals board and see if the incoming plane is delayed.

Here is Peter Greenberg’s favorite tip that even savvy travelers may not know: ‘secret flights’. “These are little-known flights on airlines you would never expect to serve a given destination and often are used to position aircraft. They’re alternatives when you have difficulty finding a flight or a preferred connecting airport. For example, you can fly from Newark to Geneva on Qatar Airways.”

As for chatting up hotel housekeepers, “people never talk to them,” but they are “a lynchpin” to a successful hotel stay, Greenberg says. “They can provide better pillows and more toiletries, and they’re sources of knowledge about a city.”

A good taxi driver, according to Greenberg, is great to know. Eleven years ago, he was running late to the John F Kennedy International Airport, jumped into a cab and gave the driver specific directions. “I’ll take you a better way,” the driver said. “If you’re not at Kennedy in 26 minutes, the ride
is free.”

The Egyptian driver used a route that New Yorker Greenberg didn’t know and delivered him in 22 minutes. Greenberg asked his name. The name was William Megalla. Greenberg used his services from then on and also referred the driver to friends.

When one of Megalla’s cousins got married in Alexandria, Egypt, Greenberg was invited. The wedding took place outside King Farouk’s palace, Greenberg writes. Five hundred celebrating (Egyptians) and a guy from New York having one of the great and unexpected travel experiences.”

In travel, as in life, “it’s been said that you always miss the shots you never take,” Greenberg says. “So take those shots!”