TRAVEL LOG

Tickets to cost less for 2004 Summer Games in Athens

Tickets for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens will cost about 30% less than those for the Summer Games in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, according to the travel agency that holds the exclusive ticket concession in the U.S.

Cartan Tours Inc. of Manhattan Beach began selling event tickets and travel packages last week.

Prices range from about $14 to $281 per sports event; $468 to $1,170 for the opening ceremonies; and $140 to $936 for the closing. Popular events such as women’s gymnastics and swimming finals generally cost the most and sell out quickly, said Don Williams, Cartan’s vice president of sales and marketing.

Besides Athens hotels, nearly a dozen cruise ships in Greece’s Piraeus harbor will provide lodging. Six-night packages with round-trip airfare from New York start at $4,900 per person, double occupancy, at hotels (including daily breakfast), and $6,700 aboard Royal Olympia’s Olympia Explorer ship. The ship stays cost more because they include meals and entertainment, Williams said. (Add about $300 per person for airfare from Los Angeles.)

Contact Cartan at (800) 360-2004 for brochures. Ticket applications are also expected to be available online by April 1 at www.cartan.com.

Preparations for the Games, Aug. 13 to 29, 2004, have been plagued by delays in building roads and venues. Last month the International Olympic Committee expressed “serious concerns” about the problems but said it was committed to holding the games in Athens.

Exhibits mark

150th birthday

of Van Gogh

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the artist’s birth with two special exhibitions. “Vincent’s Choice,” through June 15, presents about 200 works that Van Gogh admired. It includes pairings with his own paintings, such as “Self-Portrait as an Artist” (1888) with Rembrandt’s “Self-Portrait” (1669). “Gogh Modern,” June 27 to Oct. 12, presents postwar artists influenced by Van Gogh. Admission fees, about $10 for adults, will be waived on March 30, Van Gogh’s birthday. 011-31-20-570-5252, www.vangoghmuseum.nl.

RV renters get

a break on

gas prices

Spurred by soaring prices, motor-home rental companies are offering rebates on gasoline.

El Monte RV in Santa Fe Springs, which claims to be the second-largest RV rental operation in the U.S., is giving renters a credit based on the difference between $1.35 and the weekly average price per gallon of regular unleaded in the U.S. as reported by AAA, said marketing director Joe Laing. At 8 miles per gallon, for instance, renters would get nearly $62 back if they drove 1,500 miles when the average national gas price was $1.68. (888) 337-2214, www.elmonterv.com.

Laing said he said he expects the company to extend the rebate “until gas prices stabilize.”

Cruise America Inc. in Mesa, Ariz., which says it is the largest RV rental operator in North America, has a similar deal, using $1.45 as its base. (480) 464-7300, www.cruiseamerica.com.

Several more

airlines ease

change penalties

MORE U.S. airlines, following US Airways earlier this month, have loosened change penalties in response to Mideast tensions.

Delta and Continental said they would allow holders of restricted transatlantic tickets purchased up to March 31 to change destination, travel dates or class of service without penalty until May 31; travel must be rescheduled through Dec. 31. American Airlines said it would waive change fees in the event of military action or a domestic code red alert -- the highest of five levels. United said it would waive the fees in the event of war.

Policies vary. For details, contact your airline.

DEAL OF THE WEEK

2-for-1 discount

in Acapulco

Two people can get lodging, three meals a day and alcoholic beverages (well drinks) for $95 per night under a two-for-one deal at the Avalon Excalibur resort on Hornos Beach in Acapulco. The Excalibur is the former Plaza las Glorias Paraiso, which was bought by Mexico-based Avalon Resorts and turned into an all-inclusive resort in January, a spokeswoman said. It has 422 rooms, two pools, two restaurants and access to water sports (at extra cost). You must stay at least three nights, book by April 30 and travel by June 8. The deal is subject to availability.

(800) 261-5014, www.avalonvacations.com.

FREE FOR THE ASKING

Watching

the birdies

in Arizona

A guide to bird-watching in southern Arizona’s Graham County, near the Mexican border, can be downloaded at www.visitgrahamcounty.com or ordered from the chamber of commerce at (888) 837-1841. More than 300 bird species have been recorded in the county, officials say.

-- Compiled by Jane Engle