Wikivoyage:Tourist office/Archives/2019/July

Antiques For Sale

Hi I am interested in travelling to India to find antiques ie old flintlock weapons Can you put me in touch with some? Phone Numbers ,Internet etc ? Asked by: 115.189.101.46 04:11, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Hi. My guess is, someone might be able to give you general advice on which cities are known for antique shops, though of course you have to be eagle-eyed to avoid fakes. But do keep in mind that Wikivoyage is a travel guide, not a personal introduction service. Ikan Kekek (talk) 04:38, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Buying antiques in another country is something that can arouse the interest of the customs officials in both your home country and the country you are visiting. There may be restrictions on exporting items made before a certain date. The Indian Customs pages were not informative, but this site looks useful. Will any special cleaning be required before you can import the items into your home country? In the case of weapons you also need to consider whether either county's weapons regulations may apply - will you need a gun licence? AlasdairW (talk) 20:09, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Indonesian Motorcycle Licence

Hi everyone!

So I am travelling to Bali in October and wanted to rent a scooter. Now my question, if anyone can help me, is does Indonesia still do the motorcycle licence that you can get from some of their police stations? I have read some places that say they've stopped and some say that they still do, so I am confused. I am planning on getting an international driving permit in my home country anyway, but I feel it would be better to get a local one if possible as well.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help! Asked by: 197.185.119.211 08:45, 12 July 2019 (UTC)

Free wifi in Germany and Netherlands

Three questions:

Is free wifi now widespread in Germany? I heard that free wifi was scarce there three years ago because of a law that is no longer in effect. Basically, not a lot of places provided free wifi because wifi providers were liable if people used their network to download pirated material. Wondering this because I am trying to decide if I can get by just using WhatsApp on my phone at wifi spots if I need to make phone calls. I'm trying to avoid roaming fees, which are high for my plan. I would rather use WhatsApp instead of purchasing an sim card or a disposable cell phone.

Is free wifi widespread in the Netherlands outside of Amsterdam, say in Rotterdam or Utrecht? What about Switzerland?

Asked by: 184.167.226.152 04:28, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

In Germany it has improved a little but not as widespread as in the US. Some of the larger shopping chains provide free wifi in their stores, for example REWE and REAL. McDonald's also provided free wifi. A few towns now also provide free wiki in the centre but not many. Hotels also still tend to charge for internet access. If you are not already, it is a good idea to get a member club cards from the larger hotel chains such as IHG, Marriott and Accor, this will usually give you free internet on check-in. --Traveler100 (talk) 05:53, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

@Hobbitschuster: What is your experience with German wi-fi? --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 22:19, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

Public WiFi has become more common in the last few years... Hobbitschuster (talk) 22:01, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

Travel credit cards

Asked by: 184.167.226.152 00:56, 21 July 2019 (UTC)

I have two travel credit cards: I have an American express card and a capital one card. They both offer frequent flyer miles. Can I use the miles from both cards to pay for the same flight, provided that the airline is Delta? The capital one card isn't restricted to one airline, but the American Express one is.

Would advise you contact Delta's customer service. They will no which cards and points systems they accept.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 10:38, 21 July 2019 (UTC)

You will need to transfer the Capital One's points to your SkyMiles account if you're booking an award reservation. If the AmEx card is one of the Delta SkyMiles cards, the points from that are automatically transferred to your SkyMiles account, but you will need to request for a transfer for the Capital One. It is not possible to book an award reservation using different point systems; you'll need to use one or the other. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 19:02, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

Planes, Southern Polar Route?

From musings about Flat-Earthers... Are there regular commercial flights between southern Hemisphere cities that pass over an appreciable amount of Antarctica? I found https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/commercial-flights-antarctica/ , but the flights from Eastern Australia to the West Coast of South America seem to miss the continent. I've found some discussion of Buenos Aires to Perth flights, but they don't appear to be in operation. Flights from Africa don't seem likely, as flights from Africa to the South Pacific Islands would not seem economically viable. Asked by: Naraht (talk) 14:22, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

If my memory serves me right, flights between Johannesburg to Sydney are the ones that go furthest south (of course apart from flights that have a point in Antarctica as their destination, and tourist overflights). Norwegian at one point planned a route from BA to Perth, but it looks like they haven't started it yet, and they might never do it. --Ypsilon (talk) 14:44, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Airlines might be reluctant to operate over Antarctica even if it is the shortest route: after the 1979 crash of an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight in Antarctica, it was realized that even if the passengers had survived there was no way to rescue them, and all such flights were suspended. But that was then; airlines and safety authorities might feel differently today, and flights over open ocean carry similar risks anyway. --69.159.11.113 06:12, 26 July 2019 (UTC)