Two Years Of Seat 2b

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The Banking Blues and London Rediscovered

If I've been at all prescient in the last two years, it was the Run on the Bankers column that posted shortly after Lehman Brothers tanked last September. Exactly in line with the meltdown of the markets, bankers stopped flying, and that has caused the calamitous decline in premium-class airline revenue. It's been especially tough on British Airways, which is disproportionately dependent on premium flying on the NyLon (New York-London) route. And there's no doubt that BA (and London) are still suffering a year on from the disastrous opening weeks of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in March 2008. The good news for those of us who love London? The British capital is cheap again for upscale American visitors, thanks to massive airfare and hotel discounts and the precipitous decline of the value of the British pound.

Counterintuitive Currency
Just before the world's economies shuddered, the U.S. dollar was at an unconscionable, unaffordable low ebb. But for reasons known only to the masters of the universe, the U.S. dollar has gained strength against almost all of the world's currencies as the American economy weakened. If you've got any discretionary income left, this will be a great summer to travel virtually anywhere in the world. The dollar is buying 20 to 50 percent more than last spring and summer. The only exception: Japan, where the dollar continues to languish at or below the 100-yen mark.

A Fee By Any Other Name
Still, it isn't all bread and dollar-denominated chocolates overseas. Banks and other financial institutions continue to raise the fees they charge when you use your ATM or credit card outside of the United States. The latest trick: Currency-exchange fees of 3 percent or more even if you use your own bank's ATM card to make a withdrawal from your own account at an overseas ATM owned and operated by said bank. Even financial institutions that continue to advertise fee-free ATM usage are adopting the currency gambit. One example: Charles Schwab Bank, whose print ads promise in big, bold type that there are "No ATM fees—we rebate all ATM fees from any ATM. Period." But as Schwab's fine print makes clear, "ATM free rebates do not include currency exchange fees or other fees." Some of the few truly fee-free ports in the storm are the credit cards and ATM cards issued by Capital One.

The Fine Print…
Allow me to end this column where I began in April 2007: I still believe the single best investment you can make in your on-the-road comfort and productivity is Priority Pass, the worldwide airport-lounge access program. The fees haven't changed, but the lounge network has grown by 20 percent, to more than 600 clubs in 300 cities.

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