Welcome to the November 2009 Issue of Travology Today

Directravel would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Ever wonder where you could post your experiences sleeping in an airport? And then have the opportunity to vote for the best and worst of the year? At www.sleepinginairports.net, you can do just that.

The site, which as been around for 12 years, offers airport reviews and a blog as well as the following humorous, yet useful, “survival kit” to keep handy when you travel, in the event that delays, bad weather or tight budget force you to overnight in an airport:

• A cheap inflatable pool raft (they fold up nicely and make the hard floor a lot more comfortable). Keep in mind that in some airports sleeping on the floor is a no-no.
• Eye shades and ear plugs
• Bottled water and snacks (many dining facilities and shops close down at night, so be sure to bring or buy food before the airport shuts down)
• Books/magazines/diary
• Personal music device with large headphones. Place it under your coat/in your pants....wherever it’s well hidden. There have been cases of people waking up with just their headphones, so be sure you don't make it easy for someone to walk off with it. Headphones that cover your ears will help block out loud announcements.
• An alarm clock or a pen and post-it pad. If you are traveling solo, write a "Wake me at 5:00 AM" note and stick a few on yourself and the seats around you -- it works. People will wake you.
• Ablanket and/or pillow.
• Disinfectant wipes. Cleanliness is a problem in some airports, so these handy wipes will make your "bed" for the night a little less germ covered.
• Tissue/toilet paper. In some third world airport bathrooms, you will be forced to pay a King's ransom for two single ply sheets of toilet paper.
• Tipping money if you forgot to pack aforementioned toilet paper
• Vick's Vapor rub. Place a dab of this under your nose to block out bad terminal odors. It works for people who work in morgues, so it should work in the airport.
• Power strip. Energy supplies are short in some airports. You will make friends for life if you bring a multi-outlet power strip to recharge cell phones, laptops and ipods. Instead of waiting for the other person to finish recharging, whip out the power strip and offer to share the outlet. Now, the challenge will be finding a live outlet that works.
• Your camera to document your stay.
• Entertain yourselves. A Twister mat and spin card are light and take up little room in your carry on. A deck of cards will always come in handy.

While this might seem a bit cumbersome and may require an extra suitcase, in the event you are stuck overnighting in an airport, it may be worth the extra baggage fee. Your choice.

Check out airport user reviews by clicking here.

TSA’s holiday travel tips will help decrease the amount of time passengers spend in line at airport security checkpoints, increase the overall efficiency of airport operations and enhance security by engaging passengers in the shared responsibility of watching out for suspicious activity at airports across the nation.

• Pay attention to your health before traveling
  • The best way to prevent the spread of the flu is to stay home if you’re sick or have flu-like symptoms.
  • The CDC recommends you get both H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines.

• Practice good hygiene while traveling
  • Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing.
  • Wash your hands regularly to help prevent the spread of germs and illness.

• Ensure your government-issued ID and boarding pass are out and ready
  • Getting all travel documents together and ready before you get in line will help security officers quickly verify that you, your identification, and your boarding pass match and are valid.

• Wear easily removable shoes and jackets
  • Wearing footwear that can be easily removed helps speed the process for X-ray screening. Be prepared to remove all shoes, jackets and other outerwear for screening.

• Take out liquids and laptops
  • Remember the 3-1-1 rule for liquids, gels and aerosols at the checkpoint:
    • 3-ounce bottles or less for all liquids, gels and aerosols;
    • 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic zip-top bag; and
    • 1 bag per passenger placed separately in a security bin for X-ray screening.
  • The liquid restriction applies only to carry-on bags. Passengers can pack larger quantities of liquids and gels in checked baggage.
  • Be prepared to remove your laptop from its case and place it in separate bin for X-ray screening.

• Use TSA Family Lanes if you or your family needs extra time or assistance
  • Last year, TSA expanded its popular Family Lanes to every security checkpoint in the United States.
  • Family Lanes allow infrequent travelers, those with small children or passengers who need additional assistance to move through security at their own pace. Officers in these lanes work with passengers to screen medically necessary items like baby formula and insulin.

• Keep an eye out for suspicious activity
  • Transportation security is a shared responsibility. The traveling public plays an important role in keeping holiday travel safe.
  • Travelers should report all suspicious activities or items to airport security personnel.

• Remember TSA’s new Secure Flight program when booking new airline tickets
  • Fulfilling a key 9/11 Commission recommendation, TSA is working with airlines to implement Secure Flight.
  • Secure Flight prescreens passenger name, date of birth and gender against government watch lists for domestic and international flights—making travel safer and easier by keeping known or suspected terrorists from obtaining a boarding pass.
  • In addition, Secure Flight helps prevent the misidentification of passengers who have names similar to individuals on government watch lists.
  • When booking airline tickets, use your name as it appears on the government ID you plan to use when traveling—along with your date of birth and gender. Providing this information will clear 99 percent of travelers to print boarding passes at home.
  • Airlines are phasing in this program; if you are not prompted for this information when booking travel or if there are small variations between your name and your reservation, don’t worry—you will still be able to travel.

For more information on these and other helpful travel tips, please visit www.tsa.gov.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Public Safety Canada Minister Peter Van Loan announced initiatives between the United States and Canada.

Those initiatives build on their shared commitment to tackle common threats like terrorism and organized crime while ensuring the lawful flow of travel and trade across the border.

They reviewed progress on the mutual goals they announced in May—including enhancing information sharing and expanding integrated law enforcement while protecting privacy and economic security.

“Close cooperation and coordination between the United States and Canada is critical to the national and economic security of both nations,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Minister Van Loan and I are committed to working together to combat transnational threats and facilitate lawful travel and trade on both sides of the border.”

“A shared understanding of the threats and risks we face is paramount to our common objective of enhancing U.S.-Canadian security. We are working together to achieve this,” said Minister Van Loan. “We have a joint responsibility to secure the safety of our citizens.”

Secretary Napolitano and Minister Van Loan also made announcements to strengthen both trade and security:

NEXUS and FAST Cards Now Accepted Everywhere: Canada will join the United States in recognizing NEXUS and Free and Secure Trade (FAST) trusted traveler program cards as valid identification documents in all lanes at all land and sea border ports of entry beginning Nov. 25. It was also announced that the programs are expanding with new enrollment centers opening in St. Stephen, New Brunswick – Calais, Maine and Lansdowne, Ontario – Alexandria Bay, N.Y

Immigration Information Sharing: Secretary Napolitano announced that the United States will join a biometric data sharing initiative involving Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and, eventually, New Zealand – an initiative designed to strengthen the integrity of immigration systems and the security of each country while protecting privacy and civil rights. Minister Van Loan, with the Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, welcomed the United States’ participation.

“Previous trials show that biometric information sharing works. For example, when the fingerprints of some asylum claimants in Canada were checked against the U.S. database, more than a third matched and 12 percent of these individuals presented a different identity in the United States,” said Minister Kenney. “The data sharing helps uncover details about refugee claimants such as identity, nationality, criminality, travel and immigration history, all of which can prove relevant to the claim.”

Security Cooperation: Secretary Napolitano and Minister Van Loan also agreed to exchange best practices and broaden collaboration in the areas of critical infrastructure protection and countering violent extremism.

Continuing Cooperation: Minister Van Loan and Secretary Napolitano expect to meet again in approximately six months to continue their strategic work on mutual initiatives to combat security threats and expedite travel and trade.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov or www.publicsafety.gc.ca.

AAA announced the 2010 AAA/CAA Five Diamond Award® winners. Sixteen lodgings have been added for a total of 113 hotels and 52 restaurants that have achieved Five Diamond status, the travel authority’s highest rating for hotels and restaurants.

The overall number of Five Diamond Award winners this year grew to 165 establishments, compared to 162 in 2009. Even in the current economic climate, there continues to be strong competition in the travel industry to achieve the highest rating and provide the most discriminating travelers with luxurious accommodations and upscale dining options. Most notably, the state of New Mexico has gained its first-ever Five Diamond Award winner, Encantado, An Auberge Resort in Santa Fe.

For 2010, no restaurants were added to the list, and seven were removed, six of which closed in the past year. AAA has noticed a decrease in the number of new restaurants opening in the past year.

Lodging expansion and construction plans are often multi-year projects and do not appear to have been as immediately affected by the economic downturn, as indicated by the addition of 16 new Five Diamond lodgings.

New Five Diamond Award Winners:

Florida and Nevada top the list for new winners this year, each with three additional Five Diamond lodgings. In Florida: The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale; The Four Seasons Resort, Palm Beach; and Acqualina Resort and Spa on the Beach in Sunny Isles Beach. In Nevada: The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas in Henderson and both Encore Las Vegas and The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.

Mexico gained three Five Diamond lodgings: The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort in Punta Mita and both Rosewood Mayakoba and the Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya in Playa Del Carmen.

California and New York each gained two new winners. In California: The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast and The Grand Del Mar in San Diego. In New York: The Plaza Hotel and The Pierre New York-A Taj Hotel, both in New York City.

Massachusetts, New Mexico and Texas each gained one additional Five Diamond lodging: Mandarin Oriental, Boston; Encantado, An Auberge Resort in Sante Fe, N.M.; and The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas.

Noteworthy for 2010:

• New Mexico has gained its first ever Five Diamond Award winner: Encantado, An Auberge Resort.
• Florida and Nevada gained more Five Diamond properties than other states, each gaining three lodgings.
• The American Club in Kohler, Wis., celebrates a quarter-century as a AAA Five Diamond Award Winner.
• The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., and Camelback Inn, A JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz., have maintained a Five Diamond Rating for 34 consecutive years – since the hotel Diamond Ratings were first published in the AAA TourBook® guides.
• The Inn at Little Washington Dining Room in Washington, Va., is the only restaurant to maintain Five Diamond status for 22 consecutive years.

Representing the upper echelon of the hospitality industry, AAA Five Diamond Award winners make up just 0.28 percent of the 58,000 Diamond Rated lodgings and restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

For more information, click here.

Starting November 23, Air France will operate daily flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport and New York-JFK using the A380. Paris-Johannesburg service will follow this winter. The A380 can carry 538 passengers in three classes more than 8,000 miles, and the more environmentally friendly aircraft reduces operating costs by 20 percent…American Airlines will begin its new service from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport on April 26, 2010. The first return flight from Beijing to Chicago will launch on April 27, 2010. American is moving the start date up for its new service by a few days from its previously scheduled May 1 launch date.…Continental Airlines announced that it will launch daily nonstop service between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Munich, effective March 27, 2010. …Delta Air Lines awarded $150,000 to two New York-area charities to conclude its first annual Batting Challenge between New York Yankees’ All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter and New York Mets’ All-Star third baseman David Wright. Jeter’s charity – the Turn 2 Foundation – will receive $100,000 while Wright’s – the David Wright Foundation – will receive $50,000… Starting in December, passengers traveling in Economy Class on all intercontinental flights operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines can select more comfortable seats for an additional charge. The new Economy Comfort zone, located at the front of Economy Class, offers more legroom and back supports that recline twice as far as typical Economy seats… With recent approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation, US Airways customers will be able to enjoy expanded travel between the United States and destinations in Central and South America, thanks to a new codeshare agreement between TACA Airlines and US Airways beginning Jan. 12, 2010.

in September '09 increased to 86.2%, up 6.9 points vs. the running 12 month average of 79.3% and up 6.5 points from August’s 79.7%. To view the USDOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Air Travel Consumer Report, click here.

The United States Government has posted recent travel advisories and warnings for Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’lvoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Georgia, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Yemen.