Using Public Records, TSA Questions Fliers Without IDs
Death to Airfare Comparison Shopping?
Survey Shows Travel Abroad Remains Strong
Romans to Reinstate Chariot Racing
Will Fuel Hedges Keep Southwest Top Airline?
USING PUBLIC RECORDS, TSA QUESTIONS FLIERS WITHOUT IDS - Wired
If you fly without identification, be prepared to know your former addresses, wedding anniversary and your children’s addresses. Any type of information that can be found in public records may be questioned when you pass through a security checkpoint sans ID. The TSA’s new rules will require travelers who want to fly without an ID to provide TSA officials with answers to a series of questions. These answers must cross reference with a database of public records, in part compiled by Lexus Nexis, but the database is notoriously inaccurate. After this new protocol was introduced, a flare-up occurred when a passenger was asked if he was registered as a Democrat or a Republican—TSA spokesman Christopher White called this folly “day one mistake.”
Link: Wired
DEATH TO AIRFARE COMPARISON SHOPPING? – Upgrade: Travel Better
Beginning August 1, travelers who compare airfare prices on Kayak.com no longer will see American Airlines on the site because the carrier is pulling its fares off the airfare aggregator. Does this mean we will see the end of airfare comparison shopping? AA is “considering doing the same with Orbitz. If it does so, other airlines such as Continental and Northwest may follow suit,” said an anonymous CEO of a competing travel site. Airfare comparison for consumers will become harder, but experts speculate that airlines will reverse this decision, if they do end up pulling their airfares. It isn’t the first time AA has played this game. The airline once pulled its first-class fares from Expedia, only to replace them three weeks later.
Link: Upgrade: Travel Better
SURVEY SHOWS TRAVEL ABROAD REMAINS STRONG – Associated Press
Although the plummeting U.S. dollar has made international travel super pricy, a survey conducted by Visa Inc. proves that Americans still venture beyond the borders. Two out of three respondents in the survey said they were willing or more willing to travel abroad than they were in the prior year. “While travel close to home remains strong, what’s interesting are travel destinations like Western Europe and the Caribbean are still popular,” said Visa spokesman Paul Wilke. The most popular destination turned out to be Canada, then Mexico. Other top destinations include Great Britain, Italy, France, the Bahamas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2008’s first quarter, U.S. Visa cardholders spent $3.4 billion visiting the top 25 international tourist destinations, compared with more than $15 billion that was spent in all of 2007.
Link: Associated Press
ROMANS TO REINSTATE CHARIOT RACING - Spiegel Online
Several cities worldwide hold chariot racing events in locations like Bulgaria, Germany, France and even Brazil … but why not Rome? It’s where chariot racing was invented, after all. Vexed at this obvious discrepancy, Franco Calo plans to reclaim chariot racing and even establish its own event. “Rome is the only large Italian city without a unique historical manifestation, such as Siena’s Palio horse races or Venice’s Regata Storica,” he said. Numerous chariot racing events currently held worldwide are historically inaccurate, from chariots being pulled by ponies to faux Roman soldiers “wearing disordered plumes,” he said. Not stopping with the racing, Calo wants Roman squares recreate themselves to resemble ancient Rome.
Link: Spiegel Online
WILL FUEL HEDGES KEEP SOUTHWEST TOP AIRLINE? – USA Today
Since 1991, Southwest Airlines has reported 68 consecutive quarterly profits, and yesterday it reported that it expected its 69th. Though other airlines struggle to stay in the game, Southwest is coping with the financial crisis well—and it’s not the first time. Southwest has remained the stellar oil price hedger in the airline industry worldwide. Combining simple and complex investment strategies, Southwest locks in prices months or even years in advance for large amounts of jet fuel. The carrier has saved $3.5 billion over what it would have spent, had it paid the industry’s average jet fuel price. Although it no longer rakes in double-digit rates like it used to for decades, it still is the nation’s largest domestic carrier and the only large airline still growing.
Link: USA Today
Want to see other recent Travel News Roundups? Click here.
Or, check out more travel news you can use in our main Travel News section.
Looking for even more in-depth news coverage of the week’s top stories? Visit our Travel News Analysis Category.
