Crew Guide 2006 shares Scandinavian Airlines' insider tips to global happiness

If you'd like to get beyond the tourist traps on your next overseas trip don't leave home without Scandinavian Airlines' ‘guide to global happiness' Crew Guide 2006.

This is the second edition of an extremely popular guidebook SAS launched last year. It picks the well-travelled brains of its crew to present more than 200 pages of travel tips from 40 countries.

Where to find the best bargains in New York, cheap good food in London, high altitude bars in Singapore and Shanghai, or off-the-beaten track hilltop villages in Italy are all covered.

The crew share their knowledge of everything from nightclubs worth queuing for to taxi tours of Soweto and inexpensive teeth whitening in Bangkok.

As frequent visitors they've also uncovered some unusual, yet practical, goodies to bring home - like white flower oil to relieve sinus congestion from China and Detox Foot Patches from Japan that you tape on your feet when going to bed. "When you wake up the patches are filled with an oily liquid. Don't ask!" says steward Johanna Thordenberg.

There are also crew recommendations on experiencing the best of their homelands in Sweden, Denmark and Norway - from beachside hotels and funky bars to hikes and ferry trips into the surrounding mountains or islands.

Plenty of tempting places in Helsinki are covered as well - from two great shopping streets that most visitors miss out on to where to stuff yourself on the world's biggest cinnamon buns.

Crew Guide 2006 is printed in English and can be ordered online at www.sasguides.com and costs € 9.99 (approx $16.50) plus postage and handling.