When you’re looking for the best in international travel, you ask the experts — the people who are on the road more days than they can count, for business or leisure travel, all over the world. If that description sounds familiar it’s because we’re talking about you, the readers of Global Traveler.

So we asked the experts — in our annual readers’ survey — and you answered. Boy, did you answer! Between Feb. 1 and Aug. 31, 2006 we received completed surveys from 13,653 readers, sent to us by regular mail, by email, by fax or via our Web site (newgtsite.wpengine.com). That’s almost three times the number of responses we received in 2005. It’s clear you want your opinions heard, and we heard you loud and clear.

Winners of the GT Tested Awards for 2006 are the airlines, hotels, destinations and travel service providers you selected, based on your personal experience and preferences. Only surveys in which more than 50 percent of the answers were completed were counted. Members of the travel industry and employees of Global Traveler did not participate in the survey. These are your awards, and that’s how it should be.

Based on your responses and the current trends in the industry, we added some new categories this year, including “Best Airline in North America,” “Best Airline for Cargo,” “Best Individual Hotel in South America,” “Best Hotel Chain in the Middle East,” “Best Tourism Destination,” “Best Car Rental Program,” and “Best Business City.”

Thank you for casting your votes this year. We continue to be pleased by — and yes, proud of — our readers’ sophistication, experience and global perspective. No one embodies the spirit of the “global traveler” more than you.

TOP FLIGHT
After taking “Best Business Class” honors two years running and consistently moving up in the ranks overall, British Airways earned your vote as “Best Airline in the World.” You were impressed by BA’s new Club World experience, starting with its easy online check-in and the “Fast Bag Drop” that lets you hand off your bags at the airport and proceed immediately to the pleasures of the British Airways lounge. And the Molton Brown spa treatments offered in the lounge aren’t too bad, either!

But wait, there’s more. British Airways’ Club World lie-flat seats set the industry standard for business class when they were introduced in 2000. Now they’re better than ever, with brand-new fully flat seats measuring a full 25 percent wider and stretching to 6 feet 6 inches in a space-age “z” bed formation. Look for them on your next BA business-class flight in the airline’s newly redesigned Club World cabins.

Emirates remains your favorite for first class, and with good reason. Its lie-flat leather seats housed in individual “suites” with their own privacy doors, meals on demand, WiFi and 600 entertainment channels make the in-flight experience so comfortable you might even forget you’re flying. And Emirates’ first-class treatment begins before you arrive at the airport, with the airline’s new “Dine and Fly” service that ensures passengers traveling from New York enjoy a top-flight meal at one of the city’s outstanding restaurants before a chauffeur-driven limo whisks them to JFK.

“We are thrilled to win this award for the second year in a row,” said Emirates’ Senior Vice President – Commercial Operations Nigel L. Page. “Given we have only been flying to the U.S.A. since June 2004, we have been honored that Global Traveler readers recognized our service in such a comparatively short time.”

For “Best Domestic First Class” in the United States you chose American Airlines, last year’s No. 2 in the category. For “Best Premium Economy Class” you chose Singapore Airlines’ Executive Economy class, which also moved up from the second position in last year’s survey. And because to the global traveler transporting goods can be almost as important as transporting passengers, we added the new category of “Best Airline for Cargo,” in which Korean Air took top honors.

When it comes to service in the air, you love those Asiana Airlines flight attendants. The Seoul-based airline earned the award for “Best Onboard Service” for the third straight year. Asiana flight attendants make their work seem effortless, yet the fact is they go through careful selection and extensive training before and during their tenure with the airline. In the initial 13-week program, flight attendant hopefuls are trained in everything from onboard systems and safety to emergency medical procedures to posture and personal grooming. Trainees leave the initial program well versed in airline protocol, but it’s the attitude and intelligence they bring with them to the program that makes them outstanding, said Tae Keun Han, Asiana Airlines’ vice president for cabin service.

“We have always looked for the best qualities of people,” he said, “people who are devoted to providing service. This does not come from the intensive training that they go through, but it comes from their mind and heart within. Our flight attendants are talented. Some have studied music for years; others are skilled magicians or fashion models. Many perform in shows and events on some long-haul flights.”

Indeed, the flight attendants themselves conceive and develop many of the in-flight programs you enjoy on Asiana Airlines. All of which is to say that it might look easy, but Asiana flight attendants put a lot of hard work into providing the airline’s outstanding onboard service.

“It is a great honor to receive this award not only once, but three years in a row,” Han said. “This not only means so much toward the airline itself, but also to the many employees that made it possible.”

Who serves you best on those long flights across the water? You chose THAI as “Best Trans-Pacific” carrier for the third year in a row. The airline whose flight attendants wear notable orchid-hued uniforms to complement its equally notable Royal Orchid service now makes its home at Bangkok’s brand new Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Air France was your choice as “Best Trans-Atlantic” carrier for the second year in a row.

“We are proud to receive Global Traveler’s ‘Best Trans-Atlantic Airline’ award for the second consecutive year,” said Marie-Joseph Malé, general manager and vice president of Air France USA. “This distinction shows that our targeted clients — business and luxury travelers — see the extraordinary efforts we make to continually provide them with innovative products, services and comfort. We continue to find new ways to improve our services and provide these individuals with a unique experience.”

Winners in the regional categories included several of the usual suspects, such as Qantas, named “Best Airline in the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand” for the third straight year, and Mexicana, which earned “Best Airline in Mexico” for the second time. LAN was back on top in Central and South America and Finnair aced out SAS in the Nordic countries, while Lufthansa bested Finnair as “Best Airline to Russia/CIS/Baltic States.”

Air Canada has been working awfully hard over the past few years, tweaking, and sometimes vastly overhauling its service to remind its customers why they love to fly Canada’s flagship carrier. We’re happy to report that the hard work has paid off handsomely. Air Canada was voted “Best Airline in Canada” for the third straight year. This year it also was named “Best Airline in North America,” zooming past a list of U.S. carriers that might now be gazing northward with envy.

Among Air Canada’s recent innovations is a simplified “a la carte” pricing structure that allows passengers to choose only the services they want or need and adjusts fares accordingly. If you want access to the business lounge, you’ll pay a little more. If you don’t check bags or you forgo your Aeroplan frequent flyer miles, you’ll pay a little less. The airline also added dozens of new domestic and international routes and a new fleet of Embraer jets, refurbished its existing fleet and added such conveniences as in-seat power sources and on-demand audio and video programming in all classes of service.

Malév Hungarian Airlines just keeps getting better, moving up steadily to take top honors as “Best Airline in Eastern Europe.” Throughout 2006, Malév has been giving passengers even more to appreciate, adding new routes within the region — notably to Bulgaria and Romania — beefing up its Duna Club frequent flyer benefits and initiating new codeshare agreements as it prepares to join the OneWorld alliance in early 2007.

South African Airways, your pick for “Best Airline in Africa” three years running, joined Star Alliance in 2006. The airline’s new working relationship with the 16 other Star Alliance carriers, including Air Canada, Lufthansa and United, has helped launch new programs to bring even more travelers to Africa, including “Visit Southern Africa” tour packages and the Star Alliance African Airpass.

In the Middle East, where air carriers perpetually try to outdo each other with outstanding (sometimes over-the-top) service, Qatar Airways came out on top of the voting this year. Emirates, last year’s No. 1, and Etihad Airways, last year’s No. 3, were second and third respectively. If you haven’t flown Qatar Airways yet, you’ll have new opportunity come summer, when the airline initiates daily service between New York (JFK) and Doha (DOH).

GROUND CONTROL

Ever since security regulations have required you to arrive at the airport hours before your flight, you’ve been spending almost as much time in the airport lounge as you have in the air. That’s given you plenty of opportunity to decide what you like; and you like Continental Airlines’ Presidents Club, which entered the list at No. 1 this year.

“We want our customers to have the best possible experience while in our clubrooms,” said Janice Foster-Pietro, Continental Airlines’ manager of airport product marketing. “We constantly monitor the condition of the facilities and the quality of our food and beverage products; both are highly important to our customers.”

Among the changes at the Presidents Club this year are significantly expanded lounges at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and a new wine program, introduced in Houston (HOU), that features premium selections. Look for it to roll out in other Presidents Club facilities this year.

“It is truly an honor to receive this prestigious award. It builds on the strength of our brand and is a testament to the fine customer service provided by the global Presidents Club team,” Foster-Pietro said.

You’re also spending lots of time in airports and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) remains your favorite in North America. Could it be because the airport continues to fine-tune and upgrade its facilities, adding such conveniences as cell phone parking lots and touch-screen “virtual concierge” information stations in the past year? Or perhaps it’s simply because no matter where you fly in North America, all routes seem to lead to or through Chicago O’Hare. It’s now officially listed as the “second busiest” airport in the United States; its top position usurped by Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) in 1998. But O’Hare won’t go down quietly, and the two continue to duke it out. In the first six months of 2006, O’Hare saw 4,000 more takeoffs and landings than Atlanta, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Overall, you selected Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN) “Best in the World.” Was it the shopping? (You can be honest; everyone raves about it.) This also might have something to do with the fact that both Korean airlines, Asiana and Korean Air, as well as United, have added more routes from the United States to Incheon this year.

For racking up frequent flyer miles, you like United’s Mileage Plus. It topped the list as “Best Frequent Flyer Program” for the third consecutive year.

For “Best Airline Alliance” SkyTeam received your vote for the second year in a row. In 2006, SkyTeam added Aeroflot as a partner and took the first steps toward adding China Southern in 2007. SkyTeam also includes Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, Continental Airlines, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air and Northwest Airlines.

REST EASY

Are you loyal to your favorite hotels? You certainly are. In 2004 and 2005 you told us that Park Hyatt was tops, and you reminded us of that fact this year when, once again, you picked Park Hyatt as “Best International Hotel Chain.” And 2006 gave you more opportunities to enjoy your selection with the opening of Park Hyatt hotels in Washington, D.C. and Buenos Aires, bringing the group’s total to 25. Look for new Park Hyatt locations in Istanbul and Beijing in 2007.

Domestically, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts ranked as your favorite hotel chain, leaping up the rankings from eighth in 2004 to third in 2005 to the top spot in 2006. InterContinental openings in the United States in 2006 include Kansas City, Baltimore and most recently Boston.

You’re also partial to InterContinental’s Priority Club Rewards program, which took the “Best Hotel Rewards Program” category for the second consecutive year. “It’s an honor for us to receive such recognition from the readers of a publication as well respected as Global Traveler,” said Steve Sickel, InterContinental Hotels Group senior vice president, multibrand and relationship marketing. “But most importantly, it’s the recognition of your readers — the world’s frequent travelers — that matters most to us as a measure of true success.”

Sickel added, “The award shows that our effort to put our members at the center of everything we do is working and that we’re building unrivaled loyalty with our most frequent guests. For instance, Priority Club Rewards was the first hotel loyalty program to offer non-hotel rewards. Members have the option of redeeming their points for airline miles on more than 40 partner airlines, for auto rentals, for gift certificates at leading retailers like Target and Best Buy and for hundreds of brand-name products available in our rewards catalog. Most recently, we introduced the “Any Hotel, Anywhere” reward, where members can redeem points for stays at virtually any hotel, anywhere in the world, even at competitors’ hotels.”

As “Best Individual Hotel in the United States,” you selected the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles for the second year running. It’s beautiful, exclusive and historic, and service is first rate. We’re also betting you just love dropping that prestigious address.

Your favorite hotel chain in Canada is Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, at the top of the list for the second year. So, it’s no wonder that you chose a Fairmont property, the Fairmont Banff Springs, as your favorite individual hotel in Canada.

In Europe, your favorite chain is Conrad Hotels, Hilton’s luxury arm, with locations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and Turkey. But if you had to single out one hotel for an overnight stay it would be the elegant Hotel Kamp in Helsinki, your choice for “Best Individual Hotel in Europe.”

In Asia, you’re loyal to Grand Hyatt, choosing it as “Best Asian Hotel Chain” for the second year. Small wonder, since there’s a Grand Hyatt in just about every Asian business city, from Bangkok to Tokyo. Yet your choice for “Best Individual Hotel in Asia” is the Hotel Lotte in Seoul, which entered the list at No. 1 this year, proving that Global Traveler readers know how to find hidden gems in the cities they visit regularly.

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts remains your favorite in Latin America. The group has taken the award for “Best Latin-American Hotel Chain” three years in a row thanks to its broad representation of 17 locations in seven countries. Because we know that business is taking more of our readers to South America, this year we added a category for “Best Individual Hotel in South America” and the stylish Ritz-Carlton Santiago took that honor.

Also new this year is the award for “Best Hotel Chain in the Middle East.” This one’s tough because there are so many extraordinary hotel groups to choose from in the region, but when the votes were tallied, Jumeirah International came out on top. This luxury hotel group has so much to offer, including plenty of “what will they think of next?” amenities such as H2O The Male Spa at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai. The U.A.E.-based hotel group recently has begun showing the rest of the world how things are done in the hotel business, adding to its management portfolio the Jumeirah Essex House in New York and the Jumeirah Carlton Tower and Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in London.

BEST OF THE REST

The Global Traveler GT Tested awards have always focused on the service providers in the travel industry, until we realized that we’ve been overlooking a key component of any trip: the destination itself. So, this year we added two new award categories: “World’s Best Business City” and “World’s Best Tourism Destination” because we believe they deserve recognition.

Then we asked: Where in the world do you like to go for business? Where would you jet off to for pleasure? You had the whole world to choose from, but the majority of respondents had their sights set on Asia.

Four of the top five tourism destinations were in Asia, with Malaysia heading the list. What a nice way to kick off 2007, marking Malaysia’s 50th anniversary of independence. Few destinations offer the natural beauty, the outstanding facilities and the phenomenal value for the money that Malaysia does. Perhaps you visited the first time on a business trip to Kuala Lumpur, but you went back for fun and relaxation.

When we said “business,” you said “Hong Kong,” although in the category of “World’s Best Business City” the top five were spread across the globe. They included London, New York, Singapore and Rome as the cities you most enjoy visiting for business.

It’s also been too long since we gave rental car companies their due. So in 2006, for the first time, we asked you to vote for the “Best Car Rental Program.” You picked Hertz Prestige Collection, no doubt because you enjoy tooling around in a nice set of wheels, like a Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln Navigator or a Hummer. (Or maybe you appreciate the complimentary NeverLost In-Car navigation system in all Prestige Class rentals.) To top the list Hertz edged out — Hertz. The company’s #1 Club Gold program loyalty program took second place in the category.

When you’re making purchases on the road, you’re most likely to whip out your American Express card to earn Membership Rewards, your choice for “Best Credit Card Rewards Program” for the third straight year. Taking second place in the category for the second straight year is the Delta SkyMiles American Express card, with the Continental Airlines World MasterCard continuing its steady climb in the rankings to reach No. 3 in 2006.

And finally, taking top honors in “Best Luggage Brand,” is Travelpro, repeating its No. 1 performance for the second consecutive year. Selecting the luggage used most often by pilots and flight attendants is kind of like buying Air Jordans after seeing the basketball legend slam-dunk a few times. If it works for the pros, it’s bound to work for you.

WINE LIST

The results of the Global Traveler annual Wines on the Wing competition were published in our July 2006 issue. Here’s a recap.

Thirty-one airlines submitted a total of 150 wines for consideration by a panel of 35 professional wine judges, headed by Global Traveler’s own esteemed wine columnist Eunice Fried.

The overall winner of the 2006 Wines on the Wing award was Air Canada. The judges considered its Drappier Carte d’Or Brut, non-vintage champagne best in its class. Air Canada’s Benton Lake Pinot Noir Reserve 1999 (from Oregon) and its Treana Red 2002, Paso Robles (from California) also earned high marks. Its white wine list includes the French Viognier and a home-grown Chardonnay from British Columbia.

Kudos also go to United Airlines and Emirates, which placed second and third overall, respectively.

Taking the best red wine category was Iberia, which topped the group with Viña Arnãiz Reserva from Ribera del Duero, Spain. Rounding out the top three in the red wine category were Air New Zealand’s Peregrine Pinot Noir 2004 from Central Otago, New Zealand, and United Airlines’ Taurus Roble Tempranillo 2000 from Toro, Spain.

In the white wine category, SN Brussels Airline led the pack with its Domaine William Févre Chablis 2004 from France. Taking second and third place respectively were United’s Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett 2004 from Germany and Delta’s Fabre Montmayou Torrontes 2005 from Argentina.

Cheers to all of our winners!