THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603010066
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TRAVEL-WISE
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
LENGTH: Long : 144 lines
THE CONCORDE, the world's only supersonic passenger jet, is coming to Norfolk International Airport on June 1. Maybe.
It's coming if 100 people sign up for a posh 11-day package that includes a flight aboard British Airways' unique needle-nosed, delta-winged aircraft to London, a five-night stay in the British capital and a five-day Atlantic crossing aboard the newly refurbished Queen Elizabeth 2.
The package is one put together by Montclair Travel of St. Louis. Stuart Hartzell, president of Montclair, admits the trip is an impulse item for the well-heeled, which he concedes is a ``very, very narrow market.''
Prices for the trip range from $5,995 to $13,500 per person, depending on which of three hotels the traveler chooses for the London stay and, more important, the choice of cabin on the QE2. The Cunard flagship accounts for about half the cost of the package.
It is the only ship offering three classes of service (they are euphemistically called ``cabin categories''): passengers dine in different venues, depending on which class they book, and partitions still restrict passengers in lower categories from entering certain areas of the ship. All passengers, however, share the same shipboard entertainment and public areas.
A regular one-way ticket from New York to London aboard the Concorde costs about $4,200, so the package looks to be a good value for the price tag.
If fewer than 100 (Concorde's capacity) sign on for a Norfolk departure, those who do will be shuttled by regularly scheduled service to New York where they will join up with the Concorde at JFK airport.
If the Concorde does depart Norfolk, it will fly subsonic to JFK, where it will refuel before departing for London on a supersonic flight.
It will leave Norfolk at 8 a.m. local June 1 and arrive at London Heathrow at approximately 9 p.m. local. The QE2 is scheduled to return to New York at 8 a.m. local June 11. Return airfare to Norfolk is included in the package.
Those aboard could be part of a record-setting flight. British Airways' Concorde rewrote its own record again in February with the fastest crossing of the Atlantic. Aided by tailwinds up to 175 miles an hour, the BA Concorde traveled the 3,750 miles between New York and London (liftoff to touchdown) in two hours, 52 minutes and 59 secords.
That's an average speed of more than 1,300 miles an hour.
Hartzell has been putting such packages together for second-tier cities since 1989 - or those that have the facilities capable of handling the heavy aircraft and are willing to put up with its noise. At subsonic speeds the Concorde is not much louder than an F-15 fighter.
He's sold out trips from Springfield, Ill. (the first venture in '89), St. Louis and Tucson. He says a Fort Myers, Fla., departure looks promising later this year. In 1993 he tried a flight out of Richmond. Only 65 signed on; they were shuttled to New York.
Hartzell has been tracking his travelers. He says the average age is 67, the oldest a 92-year-old woman from Des Moines last year. The majority are retired small-business owners. They are, in his words, people who ``have decided that their money will outlive them.''
This package, he says, ``is one of the few times that you're selling the transportation rather than the destination. These people have been to London before.''
Two options will be offered travelers during the London stay: a one-day trip to Paris on the EuroStar train through the new Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) and an excursion to the city of Bath aboard the famous Venice Simplon-Orient Express.
For detailed information and a complete brochure, contact your local travel agent or the Concorde Desk, Montclair Travel, (800) 433-3500. EPISCOPAL OUTINGS
The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Norfolk is sponsoring a series of regional trips this spring that include a theater party to Washington's Ford Theater next Sunday, a weekend in the Pennsylvania Amish Country (March 20-22), a visit to the National Arboretum and lunch and tour at the Washington Times newspaper (April 25) and a Washington embassies tour (May 11). Prices vary. Info: (804) 588-4883. YOUR MONEY'S WORTH
Get a Virginia Is for Lovers travel guide, free, by calling (800) 932-5827.
Also free, a Vacation Guide to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Call (800) 446-6262.
Also free, the spring issue of Student Travels magazine, a must if you're planning budget travel through Europe this summer. Feature stories on hostels, hotels and other cheap sleeps. It's published by the Council on International Education Exchange. Do not leave the nest without this. Call (800) 358-5971.
Barge and bike through Holland April 10-20 with Outdoor Vacations for Women Over 40, $2,600/per person. Meet in Amsterdam, spend two days visiting museums, then seven nights on barge. During the day, bike 15-25 miles or stay on barge as it traverses the country through locks and canals. Inquiry deadline: Thursday. Info: (508) 448-3331.
Travelers can save $20-40 a night off normal rates at 70 hotels in the Washington, D.C., area by calling Capitol Reservations, (800) 847-4832. There is no charge for the service.
Days Inn and Suites in Orlando, Fla., offers room for four at $39 per night. Two-and-a-half miles from Disney World, grounds include four pools, restaurants (kids under 12 eat free with adults), laundry rooms, picnic areas, game rooms, playgrounds, etc. Upon check-in, get discount bonus coupon book, free adult admission tickets to Watermania and Splendid China theme parks. Info: (800) 375-4683. MUSTER AT JAMESTOWN
More than 300 re-enactors, representing soldiers from ancient times to the present, will muster at Jamestown Settlement March 16-17 for the 13th annual Military Through the Ages weekend. Events are scheduled from 9 to 5 each day.
Visitors can tour about 30 re-created camps and talk with the men and women who portray soldiers and their families as well as modern-day soldiers and veterans. Much equipment will be on display.
The USS Sequoia, once the presidential yacht and now owned by Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., will be docked at the edge of the James River.
There often is much confusion about what's what at Jamestown. Here's what:
Jamestown Settlement, administered by the state, features a museum and re-creations of the original fort, a Powhatan Indian village and replicas of the three ships that brought the first English settlers to Virginia. Historic interpreters in authentic costumes provide a living history lesson. Guided tours are available. There are a gift shop and lunchroom. Admission is $9 for adults and $4.25 for children. Info: (804) 229-1607.
Jamestown Island, site of the 1607 settlement, is a part of Colonial National Historical Park and is jointly administered by the National Park Service and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. It features a museum, ongoing archaeological digs, the Glass House (where 17th century glass-blowing exhibits are given by costumed craftspeople), statues of Pocahontas and John Smith, and a drive around the island. There is a gift shop, but no food services. Admission is $8 per car. Info: (804) 898-3400, Ext. 58.
Both are located at the western end of the Colonial Parkway. BERMUDA BREAK
Delta Airlines' Bermuda TranquiliTEA package offers savings to warm your wallet. Book a package by March 31 for travel through April 30, and your price will reflect a fourth night free, a one-category room upgrade and a $50 beverage credit.
Participating hotels include Grotto Bay Beach Hotel & Tennis Club; Belmont Hotel, Golf & Country Club; Marriott's Castle Harbor Resort; and Elbow Beach Hotel. Prices begin at $569 per person, double, including round-trip airfare, four nights' accommodations, discount coupons, taxes, service charges, surcharges, transfers and U.S. departure tax. Info: a local travel agent or (800) 872-7786.
ILLUSTRATION: FILE PHOTO
An Atlantic crossing aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 is part of a
package that also includes a flight on the supersonic Concorde jet.
by CNB