Arrivals/Departures: You don't need a stiff drink to take to the skies

How to...beat a fear of flying

Apparently one person in three has some sort of fear of flying, from the just-a-quick-drink-to-steady-the-nerves jitters to chronic aviophobia. Sufferers who may not feel reassured by Victoria Coren's advice to leave a piece of fish on the living-room floor), or by airline statistics (is flying really 18 times safer than staying at home, as Virgin Atlantic claims?) should note the following:

Aviatours (tel: 0161-6060 260 for information) holds one-day "fly with confidence" courses at airports around the UK. The cost is £189 at Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow and £215 for the Heathrow-based course. There is a two-pronged approach by British Airways pilots and a psychologist, followed by a trial by aviation ­ a 45-minute flight in an Airbus A319.

Virgin Atlantic also runs one-day "flying without fear" courses at Gatwick (tel: 01293 448440), costing £129. Sessions cover relaxation techniques, but there is no flight because research suggested that would put most aviophobics off attending.

Top of aviophobics' reading lists should be Taking the Fear Out of Flying by Maurice Yaffe (£6.99), which busts the most persistent myths: all planes can fly on just one engine and the wings won't fall off because they are a one-piece structure.

But the most recent development is from Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. Dr Curtis Hsia can book you on Exposure Airlines, a virtual reality program that simulates the flight-from-hell, with silent pilots and thunder storms, all intended to boost confidence. "We don't see it as a cure-all," he says "but it is a useful therapeutic tool."

Whatever next

The city that never sleeps is all very well, until you actually want to drop off. However, insomniacs staying at The Benjamin at Lexington Avenue and East 50th Street in New York can dial 1 for the sleep concierge. Eileen McGill should arrive bearing milk and cookies and a menu of 11 pillows (choose from down, buckwheat, water-filled, an anti-snore variety and even "magnetic therapy"). "A good night's sleep is non-negotiable," says the general manager, John Moser.

The Benjamin is not the only hotel to offer a pillow menu longer than some cocktail menus. Guests at the The Apartments at the Hotel Arts Barcelona, are offered heart-shaped pillows, butterfly-shaped pillows, pillows for pregnant women and pillows filled with cherry stones, apparently guaranteeing "sweet dreams".

But how long before human concierges become an anachronism? Seattle's newest hotel, the Elliot Grand Hyatt, has a digital concierge on your in-room computer terminal for those last-minute dinner or theatre reservations. For traditionalists, the concierge desk in the lobby remains, alongside the 24-hour IT help desk.

Souvenir of the week: the cigar

A box of 25 Cohiba Esplendidos (Fidel Castro's favourites) costs about £550 in the UK. In Cuba souvenir-hunters can expect to pay about US$270 ­ a saving of more than £250. There are plenty of legitimate cigar shops in Havana but beware of the hustlers selling boxes from their friend who works in a cigar factory ­ black-market cigars, often home-rolled, can be of very dubious quality.

When buying cigars remember to keep a receipt ­ Cuban customs confiscate 500,000 undocumented cigars each year.

Backpackers have been known to fund another month or two of travel by smuggling Cuban cigars into the US (where they remain banned), and even Mexico ­ not something to be endorsed, however tempting the maths.

They negotiate a bulk-buy discount, say eight boxes of black-market cigars at $12.50 each, then brave the lottery-style customs at Cancun airport and head for Cancun's resorts. Individual cigars can be sold for $10 or boxes for $200 to American tourists.

New or improved

The Faroe Isles are now not so far away thanks to a new Atlantic Airways service from Stansted to Vagar, inaugurated yesterday. The new flights are in time for the Faroes' major festival, St Olav's Day, beginning on 28 July ­ celebrations of the islands' patron saint include processions in national costume, concerts and sports events, all conducted in 24-hour daylight.

However, a trial booking revealed teething troubles. Atlantic's UK ground-handler is supposed to be SAS, but a call to the SAS sales centre (tel: 0845 60 727 727) was a dead-end. A salesperson could not find any mention of Atlantic Airways or the Faroe Isles on its list of airlines and destinations. A spokesperson for Atlantic said that there were similar problems last year but she thought they had been resolved. Clearly not. Assurances were given that the hiccup was with the call-centre and a normal sales service was anticipated this weekend (if not, try e-mailing: booking@atlantic.fo).

With just three hotels and two hostels in Torshavn, accommodation in the capital can run short, especially during busy periods such as St Olav's Day. Torshavn tourist office (tel: 00 298 31 60 55) can help to arrange b&b in private houses, while flight and accommodation packages are available from Atlantic Airways and Arctic Experience (tel: 01737 214244). RB