BABYL OPTIONS: -*- rmail -*- Version: 5 Labels: Note: This is the header of an rmail file. Note: If you are seeing it in rmail, Note: it means the file has no messages in it.  1,, Mail-from: From owner-skatefans-l@UDel.Edu Tue Apr 22 06:41:26 1997 Received: from eli.CS.YALE.EDU by nebula.systemsz.cs.yale.edu (8.7.1/res.host.cf-4.0) with ESMTP id CAA02204; Tue, 22 Apr 1997 02:41:24 -0400 (EDT) sender owner-skatefans-l@UDel.Edu for <'sjl@nebula.systemsz.cs.yale.edu> Received: from copland.udel.edu by eli.CS.YALE.EDU (8.7.1/res.host.cf-4.0) with ESMTP id CAA27592; Tue, 22 Apr 1997 02:41:16 -0400 (EDT) sender owner-skatefans-l@UDel.Edu for Received: (from majordom@localhost) by copland.udel.edu (8.8.5/8.7.3) id TAA27720 for skatefans-l-outgoing; Mon, 21 Apr 1997 19:35:59 -0400 (EDT) X-Authentication-Warning: copland.udel.edu: majordom set sender to owner-skatefans-l using -f Received: from cyberus.ca (root@mail.cyberus.ca [207.216.2.5]) by copland.udel.edu (8.8.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id TAA27698 for ; Mon, 21 Apr 1997 19:35:58 -0400 (EDT) Received: from cyberus.cyberus.ca (max-port335.cyberus.ca [207.81.162.35]) by cyberus.ca (8.8.5/Cyberus Online Inc) with SMTP id TAA24575 for ; Mon, 21 Apr 1997 19:32:47 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 21 Apr 1997 19:32:47 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <199704212332.TAA24575@cyberus.ca> X-Sender: burwellm@cyberus.ca (Unverified) X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Version 1.4.4 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: skatefans-l@UDel.Edu From: burwellm@cyberus.ca (M. Burwell) Subject: Re: Travel Agent: Colonial Travel Sender: owner-skatefans-l@UDel.Edu Precedence: bulk *** EOOH *** Date: Mon, 21 Apr 1997 19:32:47 -0400 (EDT) X-Sender: burwellm@cyberus.ca (Unverified) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: skatefans-l@UDel.Edu From: burwellm@cyberus.ca (M. Burwell) Subject: Re: Travel Agent: Colonial Travel Sender: owner-skatefans-l@UDel.Edu >I have information for skating tour packages from Colonial Travel in >Farmington, CT. It looks good...tickets for all events & exhibitions in >lower "gold" level, hotel accommodations near arena, etc. > >Wondering if anyone has any experience with groups like this? Has anyone >used them (or another service) before? How are their prices, services, etc.? > Do you recommend using a tour or doing it on your own? > >Marie >JMHoffman@aol.com This may be of interest to others so I'll post to the whole list. I travel with a tour group (Kingston Travel World) out of Kingston, Ontario and I'm very pleased with them. Friends went to World's this year with Colonial Travel and they were equally pleased. Their seats were comparable to ours and they were also staying in Montreux. Their hotel was further down the lake and had a slightly better view of Mont Blanc than we did. Fran Buhman was with Skate Tours. Their seats were right in front of ours and they stayed in Lausanne, I think. All three tour groups are fairly small and, speaking for my own group and what I observed of the other two, very friendly. Uni-World tours out of Toronto offers three levels of accomodation at different prices, but appears to be much, much larger and more impersonal. I get somewhat the same impression of Bryant Travel. My conclusions. Tour groups are a great way to go to a major competition. The travel agent has all the hassels with TicketMaster or whoever else is selling tickets. They do the scouting for hotels and best airline deals. Kingston Travel always arranges a bus to pick us up at the end of the day and take us back to our hotel. That alone is worth the price of admission. Kingston Travel breaks the payment into several installments so you don't have to shell out the full price all at once. They often offer an optional extension after the competition. This year it was to the south of France. Other people have had disastrous experiences. I guess there are good tour groups and not so good tour groups. If your are interested, ask the tour organizers exactly what is included, how much it will cost, how many people do they expect in the group. Don't be afraid to ask for references from people who have gone with them in the recent past. Ask people on the 'Net about their experiences. If you decide to go with this option, have a great time. Marg