Ask George: We’re going to be in London this summer and would like to make a side trip to Mykonos. I’m trying to figure out which airlines fly nonstop from London to the island and how much fares would be, but it’s not particularly easy to do. Can you help? Also, is there an official Mykonos tourist site?

Answer: As far as I can make out, British Airways flies this route nonstop from London’s Gatwick Airport only, with fares as low as $130 each way, but many dates are completely sold out for travel in July and August, and only the higher fares are available on days when there are seats. Also a possibility is Astraeus, which I believe offers nonstop charter flights from Gatwick, and charter operator XL Airways, also from Gatwick. As a side note, other airlines flying nonstop from European cities to Mykonos are TUI, Condor, and Transavia, among others. You can find route maps for these and dozens of other airlines on the Airfarewatchdog.com route maps page. Visit the island’s official Mykonos Web site, and you’ll find some reviews of Mykonos here on TravelPost.com.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Do you have a question to ask George? Send us your question, and George may feature it in an upcoming column.

Ask George: My daughter and a friend would like to visit New Zealand for a about a month this summer. Do they need a visa? They are thinking of staying in youth hostels and using public transit to get around the country. Any specific web sites to check out?

Answer: They don’t need a visa unless they stay over three months. Public transportation is inexpensive and easy to navigate, and youth hostels are a great way to save money and meet people. You can find everything you need to know about planning a trip at www.purenz.com, the official tourism site. And just a side note, New Zealand is one of the world’s most beautiful countries, a place I’d gladly revisit if I had the time (I actually prefer it to nearby Australia ). And a tip about airfare: your daughter and her friend should definitely compare fares on Air New Zealand ’s Web site ( www.airnz.com). Air New Zealand doesn’t charge extra if you stay over 30 days, as most airlines do, and they usually have lower fares on their site than you’ll find on Travelocity, Orbitz, etc.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Do you have a question to ask George? Send us your question, and George may feature it in an upcoming column.

Ask George: We are taking an Alaskan cruise on the Celebrity line’s Mercury ship and leaving from Vancouver. We bought the cruise online, and have some questions we thought you could advise us on. We are arriving in Vancouver a few days before the cruise and would like a suggestion about how to get from the airport to the city. How much does a taxi cost or is there an airport bus or public transit? Can you also suggest a good hotel that is near the dock we will be departing from?

Answer: I would take a taxi from the airport rather than the airport bus. A taxi will cost you no more than $35 and takes about 30 minutes. The airport bus costs $13 per person, but takes forever to get to the city and the service is poorly run: it operates every 20 minutes but if the bus is full, which it often is at peak times, you’ll have to wait another 20 minutes, and last time I took it there was no air conditioning. Adding to the misery, to reach some hotels, you need to transfer to yet another, smaller bus once you reach downtown. This is no way to begin the trip of a lifetime. As for your hotel, the Pan Pacific Vancouver is a top choice, especially since you’ll be able to walk from the hotel to where the Mercury docks through a covered passageway. By the way, the Mercury recently underwent a very pleasing renovation, and you’ll find the service, cuisine, and shore excursions on Celebrity to be first rate, so you made a good choice.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Do you have a question to ask George? Send us your question, and George may feature it in an upcoming column.

Ask George: What’s a good tour to get a general overview of London? This is our first visit.

Answer: A good option is to pick up a double-decker bus tour of London from either the Paddington and Victoria train stations with the Big Bus Company, which costs about $40. Buses run every 15 to 30 minutes depending on season and time of day. Your bus tour also includes a river cruise down the Thames or your choice of five walking tours such as the Royal London Walk (at 10 AM) and The Da Vinci Code Walk (at 1 PM). Each tour lasts one and a half to two hours.

Another option is the Original London Sightseeing Tour, which costs about $36. Their Original Tour offers live commentary; the City Sightseeing Tour has prerecorded commentary in seven languages. Buses run every 15 to 20 minutes. You can catch either tour from Victoria Station, or from one of five other starting points. The first bus departs between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM depending on starting point. Both companies’ tours stop at all the major tourist attractions, such as Marble Arch, Madame Tussaud’s, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Harrods and others. You can hop on and off at will.

Or for a special splurge, see London from the back of a spacious London black taxi with Black Taxi Tours. A two-hour “Sights of London” tour costs about $160, but since up to five passengers can be carried, if you’re traveling in a small group this option might actually save you money over a coach tour and you can customize it as you like.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Ask George: Are timeshares a rip off or do are they a good deal if you keep them long enough? We’re trying to decide whether to buy one in Orlando.

Answer: Timeshares can be a good value if you buy them “used” on the so-called secondary market, but not if you buy them directly from a developer. The rule of thumb is that the minute you walk out of the developer’s office your deed loses 50 percent of its value. Timeshares depreciate faster than new cars.

That’s because enticements such as “free” vacations and other marketing expenses, including advertising and hefty sales commissions, can amount to almost half the purchase price of the typical timeshare unit. “The one guy who buys has to pay for everyone else’s freebies,” says Bill Rogers, founder of the Timeshare Users Group . “The real bargains are in re-sales, but most people don’t know they even exist. It’s a matter of education.”

So it’s best to buy a timeshare from someone whose investment has already taken the depreciation hit.

Where do you find timeshare re-sales? One source is Seattle-based timeshare reseller Holiday Group < www.holidaygroup.com> at 800-930-9717, which gets much of its inventory from developers and financial institutions (read: foreclosures). Re-sales can also be found on auction sites such as Bidshares and ebay. Bidshares charges a flat fee if your bid wins; eBay charges the seller, and lets you search by area, type, week, number of bedrooms, and other criteria. You can see what others have paid for re-sales if you sign in as an eBay member and click on “completed listings.”

Re-sales can also be bought directly from owners at a fixed price, either by looking in the classifieds or on the TUG Web site, which also contains helpful reviews of various timeshare resorts around the country, a sales database showing what others have paid for timeshares, and a primer on buying, selling, and renting.

Once you buy a timeshare on the resale market, its real value may not be in vacationing there but in trading it for a stay at someone else’s timeshare by signing up with agencies that help owners swap weeks with each other, such as Resort Condominiums International (800-338-7777).

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Ask George: Do you have a suggestion for a seven to 10 day trip of the Scandinavian countries with my 84-year-old mother this summer? It seems that cruises don’t give you enough time to visit the various cities, and a motor coach tour might be too hectic and scheduled.

Answer: Even 10 days might not be enough to see all of Scandinavia, so it might be better to focus on one or two countries. Assuming that your mother is mobile and agile, I’d suggest seeing the region by rail and ferry on your own, since it’s a civilized and comfortable way to travel and you can hop on and off at will. One option is to purchase Rail Europe’s “Norway in a Nutshell” pass and spend the entire vacation in Norway, where you’ll be see ocean, fjords, mountains and everything in between. The scenery is terrific. This pass allows you to travel by train, ferry and bus between two major Norwegian cities – Oslo and Bergen. The high season pass is valid for travel from May through September, with itineraries ranging from $225 to $368 per person. More information about “Norway in a Nutshell” is available visiting www.raileurope.com or through your travel agent. For more information about Norway, go to www.visitnorway.com. Rail Europe offers other Scandinavian rail passes as well, all of which let you explore the region at your own pace.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Ask George: During my last trip abroad, I thought I’d be smart and avoid the hassles of exchanging money by just using my credit card for the most of my purchases. But when the bill rolled in, all those currency conversion charges really added up. A lot! My family and I are planning a trip to Europe this summer and I don’t want to get a bill like that again. Are there any cards that don’t charge for currency conversions?

Answer: Actually, yes! This is straight from their site: “Capital One does not charge a fee for using your credit card for foreign currency transactions. Foreign purchases will be converted at the foreign exchange rate in effect at the time of posting the charge.” American Express has lower charges than most bank-issued credit cards, although not zero percent. Most other cards charge 3 percent or even more.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Ask George: I don’t own a car, and when I rent one on a trip I decline all the optional insurance because I figure my credit card covers it. Am I making the right move?

A: You might want to ask yourself what would happen if you ran your rental car over a curb and hit a pedestrian and got sued for all you’re worth. Because you don’t own a car, you probably don’t have personal liability insurance. And your credit card won’t provide that. Although your rental car company probably has its own personal liability coverage, in most states it is limited to a very small amount, typically $25,000 to $50,000, not enough to cover a major liability judgment. So depending on your taste for risk and your assets, you might want to consider buying extra liability coverage next time you rent a car. Depending on the issuer and type of card, your credit card might, however, cover most damage to the rental vehicle in the event of a collision with another car.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Ask George: Is it legal to purchase a round-trip ticket and just use it one way?

A: If you mean “illegal” in the sense that you’ll go to jail, no. But doing so is against virtually every US airline’s rules. Known in the industry as “throwaway” ticketing, using this strategy might put your frequent flyer miles at risk (the airline could wipe out your account or kick you out of its program) or, if you’ve bought your ticket from a travel agency they might come after the agent for monetary damages. Luckily, more and more airlines now sell their tickets exclusively as one-ways. Among them are Air Canada, Jet Blue, ATA, Airtran, Alaska, USA3000, and Southwest. And even the larger airlines often sell fares one way on routes where they compete with the “all one way” carriers.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Ask George: I flew to the Caribbean last Christmas and I had a lot of luggage. My airline refused to allow me to check in my third bag even if I would pay for it, so I ended up calling a relative to retrieve the bag at the airport and ship it to my destination by FedEx at great expense. I wasn’t able to get a coherent explanation as to why they banned my third suitcase. Do all airlines impose similar restrictions?

A: Many airlines impose restrictions on checked luggage during the holidays on routes to the Caribbean. Obviously, this is a time when people with family and friends in the region go back home, and many of them are carrying large packages laden with gifts. There simply isn’t room for all the “largesse” and airlines need to draw the line somewhere. You can find a comprehensive list of restrictions on your airline’s Web site under “baggage restrictions” or similar. Airlines are toying with the idea of allowing fewer free bags and restricting their weight. British Airways recently announced a new policy restricting the maximum weight of each checked bag to approximately 50 pounds, with no provision to pay extra if the bag is overweight as has been the case in the past. And Spirit Airlines now charges for checked luggage.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.