OTHER NEWS
TSA to Expand Pre-Check Program
The Transportation Security Administration plans to expand its pre-check program for airline passengers, who provide information about themselves in exchange for a faster trip through security lines, the agency chief announced Wednesday. Read more
For the Chosen Fliers, Security Check Is a Breeze
For the first time since 2001, travelers are going through airport security checkpoints with their shoes and jackets on, and without having to remove laptops from cases or adhere to rules like displaying carry-on liquids in containers of 3.4 ounces maximum, all packed in a single quart-size plastic bag. Read more
BOA Merrill Lynch Expanding Chip-and-Pin Cards
Chip technology allows card holders to make payments through chip-card readers that are regularly used in countries outside the U.S. The new cards can continue to be read by traditional magnetic stripe readers where Chip is not available. BofA Merrill will begin issuing the cards in the U.S. in first quarter 2012. Read more
Buyers Unprepared for Olympics?
Business travel buyers and managers have been urged to think now about their companies’ travel plans during the Olympic Games. Read more
BWI Plans $100M Expansion
The project, set to begin next year and to be finished in summer 2013, will allow passengers to move among concourses A, B, and C without having to pass through security a second time. Read more
8 Questions You’d Love To Ask An Airline Gate Agent
We asked airline gate agents to tell us about their jobs—what they love about it, what they hate about it, and whether, in fact, you have a better chance of sitting in first class if you're dressed well. We learned a lot and hope you will too. Read more
How to Make the Most of Airplane Wi-Fi and Never Pay Full Price Again
Getting online while on a long flight can mean the difference between a fun flight and endless boredom. That said, it can be a little pricey and doesn't always work as well as you'd hope. Here's how you can cut costs and improve your experience with hardly any effort at all. Read more
United and Continental Announce New International Routes
The airline will add new daily nonstop flights between Washington/Dulles and Manchester, U.K., Newark and Buenos Aires, and between Washington/Dulles and Dublin. The airline will also add weekly nonstop service between Los Angeles and Durango, Mexico. Read more
Air France Announces New A380 Routes to LAX and Dubai
Air France continues to connect the world with its Airbus A380 with two new destinations: Dubai, with winter service beginning December 5, 2011, and Los Angeles, with flights starting May 28, 2012.Daily flight to Dubai, beginning December 5, 2011. Read more
Thanksgiving Travel Myths Debunked
Local TV news shows trot out a few staple stories every November, as reliably as families trot out Butterballs for basting. Air travel during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is one topic that reliably brings tall tales. Read more
American Airlines New Flagship Check-in at LAX With more to Come in 2012
American's exclusive Flagship Check-in service is available to first class customers traveling on 3-class aircraft, ConciergeKey® members, and Five Star Service™ customers at LAX in Terminal 4. Flagship Check-in will soon be rolling out to other airports across American's network in 2012. Read more
Best and Worst Airlines for Flight Delays
If you gear up for a delay each time you fly, you’re savvy indeed. More than 20 percent of all flights in the U.S. run late year after year. So the savviest travelers leave equipped with fully charged and programmed e-readers, snacks and the patience to weather possible delays. Read more
New Elite Status Benefits on Alaska Airlines
Now AAdvantage® elite status members can enjoy priority check-in and boarding, express security lanes, preferred seating and waived checked baggage fees, when flying on Alaska Airlines. AAdvantage members can earn and redeem AAdvantage miles for travel on Alaska Airlines. For more information, visit www.aa.com/alaskaairlines.
United Enters Bio-fuel Age
Virgin Australia is ramping up its efforts to attract Australia's business travellers with the guarantee of business class services on all flights between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from January next year. Read more
Too Cool Not to Share - Innovative Travel Wear
Could traveling through security really be as easy as taking off your jacket? Clothes designed to help you carry and conceal your gadgets. Read more
Why Train Travel Is the Best Way to Go
It is much less stressful than plane travel (no TSA!) and it gives you time and space to read, sleep, watch movies or get work done. It keeps you off the roads and out of traffic. And depending on the route, it can be cheaper. Read more
Amtrak Gets Savvy With Free Wi-Fi and E-Tickets
Amtrak started a pilot test of its e-ticketing system on the Amtrak Downeaster service that allows passengers to board a train without a traditional paper ticket. Instead, a traveler just has to flash the ticket on their smartphone. The railroad operator says it will roll out e-ticketing to all trains nationwide next year. Read more
Crossing Foreign Borders Can Be a Lesson In Patience
Crossing borders is dangerous and illegal without proper paperwork, but journeying through border crossings or immigration checkpoints legally while on vacation can be no cakewalk either. In the developing world, to travel from one country to the next requires a chunk of time, patience and bit of faith that it all will work out in the end. Read more
8 Most Complicated Countries to Visit
Some tourist visa applications are easy—an Australian visa, for example, can be acquired in a few minutes via the Internet. Others, however, can take weeks, if not months to procure. The following eight countries, including China, India and Brazil, are especially tricky to visit if you're a U.S. citizen. Read more
Choose the Right Card When You Travel
With the recent news that Bank of America had planned to impose a $5 monthly fee for debit card use, and then quickly backed down, Travel Kit wondered how travelers could make informed choices when using ATMs and credit cards. Read more
Use Cellphone Camera To Avoid Travel Headaches
Years ago, "take a picture" would entail your having a camera, taking photos, and having the film processed—all requiring extra effort and time. But these days, when so many wireless phones have cameras, documenting a potential problem is easy. Yes, that phone can sometimes save you real money: When in doubt, take a picture. Read more
Hilton Alexandria Mark Introduces Comfortable Elegance
Adjacent to a 43-acre botanical preserve, the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center provides business and leisure travelers a tranquil oasis amid the exciting hustle and bustle of the Washington, DC area. The hotel, located in the west end of historic Alexandria, Virginia and adjacent to the newly built Department of Defense Mark Center Complex, is just minutes from quaint waterfront galleries and shops in Old Town Alexandria and Washington, DC’s, monuments and attractions. View Flyer
1.8 Billion Reasons Hotels Love Add-on Fees
U.S. hotels will take in an estimated $1.8 billion in add-on fees and surcharges this year. That’s a small (6 percent) increase from last year — due mostly to increases in occupancy, he says — but up a whopping 50 percent from the $1.2 billion they collected in 2000. Read more
Transit Hotels - Sleep During Your Layover
Transit hotels are making long, multi-flight trips tolerable. These short-stay hotels are located within security checks in airports and close to terminals. Passengers can walk off the plane and check into a room to refresh between long flights. No visa is required to stay over in a given country. Read more
World’s Tiniest Hotel Rooms
What do you get in a 18 square foot room? Hotel rooms in wine casks, drain pipes, pods, capsules, and more. Read more
Test Your Geography - See if You Can Land the Plane in the Correct City
Try your hand at being a virtual pilot. See if you can land in your destination city. Read more
Forget Something? Travelers Leave Millions of Belongings Behind
Psychologists say it's commonplace even among the most veteran of travelers. "The combination of too much to keep track of, limited attention for doing so and being in relatively unusual circumstances outside familiar work and home locations promote forgetting about the small stuff being carried along the way." Read more
