President Obama announces plans for tightening airport security.

Just as the “twelfth man” can help a football team achieve a victorious season, so too can the public help with security. And these days, it’s more and more important that we are watchful as travelers, particularly when we fly.

There is no doubt that FBI agents and others have successfully foiled the attempts of bad guys in cases we’ll probably never learn about. But in the case of the tennis shoe bomber, the underpants bomber, and the hijackers aboard the United flight that landed in a Pennsylvania field on September 11, travelers were the final line of defense.

In each of those cases, passengers swung into action after the plane was aloft. However, it’s much more in our interests to sniff out potential trouble and contain it before take-off. To do so, we can be proactive in these ways:

1. Pay attention early. Lift your head from the newspaper/laptop/text message in the check-in and boarding areas and look around at those who will be getting on the plane with you, particularly if you are traveling to a major U.S. city.

2. Speak up. If someone seems to have erratic or unnatural behavior in the waiting area, quickly and quietly alert the gate agents and ask them to call security. If the agents at your gate are too busy to approach, find an agent at a nearby gate, or ask a newsstand vendor to call security for you.

3. Trust your instincts. If security fails to act on your request, and you’re still uncomfortable about the person who has caught your attention, politely insist on changing flights and tell the gate agent why. Your concern will protect you and also raise the attention level of those in charge.

4. Gather proof. Your phone can grab a helpful, quick image of a suspicious individual or an abandoned package, which you can show to security officials to help them identify and follow-up on the subject of your concern. (No need to get too close, though.)

5. Be sociable and observant. Engage your seat-mate in a friendly little chat as soon as you are seated, before the plane pulls away from the gate. Ask where they’re from, what they’ll be doing in your destination, where they started their journey … the usual traveler questions. If you feel something is abnormal — someone is too jittery, evasive or uncomfortable — then alert the flight attendant, especially if others also seem wary of your seat-mate’s irregularities. Remember, the plane will not leave the gate until all passengers are seated so as a last resort, simply stand up until you are satisfied that flight attendants have solved the problem.

As travelers we can’t become airborne vigilantes, but we must realize that in a complex and fluid situation such as air travel, the authorities simply cannot see everything ….

… even if they do capture the naked images of every passenger with those invasive, full-body scanners.

Peg Prideaux, CTC
010810

When should government employees be able to see naked images of your family?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from television shows such as
Law & Order and CSI, it’s that once something exists on a hard drive, it can never really be erased.

This is the first thought I have whenever the topic of full-body X-ray scan comes up. It’s the new-new thing in airport security, designed to thwart the latest danger to air travelers, which is, among other threats, your 16-year-old daughter.

To protect the traveling public, airport security is going to take pictures of her, naked, to make sure she has no weapons.

She won’t “feel” naked because the camera will look right through her clothes to record her image.

“Don’t worry,” officials say, because after the security team studies the photos, the digital images will be immediately destroyed. That’s because
(a) guys always tell the truth about deleting photographs of naked girls,
(b) no one will try to hack into the hard drive containing all the pictures, and
(c) stolen material never gets posted to the Internet.

Obviously, airport scanner security will have to be stronger than other systems that have leaked social security numbers, bank passwords, and confidential memos from secret Congressional investigations. Because if it’s not, your daughter’s picture will be out there for everyone to see, for the rest of her life.

Look, security is certainly a good thing, but so is common sense. Are X-ray images a benefit to travelers, or are they a public accident waiting to happen? What do you think?

Peg Prideaux, CTC
110409

P.S. If you’d like to see a sample of an airport X-ray image, brace yourself and then click here.

France's high-speed train, Thalys, boards passengers in The Hague, Netherlands.

Those in Europe who are responsible for high-speed rail service are thinking about business travel needs, but leisure travelers can also benefit from ever-improving European rail service.

Why Travel by Rail?
One big advantage of rail is that itʼs a less stressful way to travel, partly because it is more comfortable, and partly because the rail station experience is so much more tolerable than a typical airport. Also, with far fewer weather delays, one can generally count on on-time departures and arrivals. And finally, for journeys of two to four hours, the door-to-door time for passengers is usually shorter via rail than via air.

Existing High-Speed Lines
Many European high-speed routes are already in existence, with more coming as the European Union continues to integrate its infrastructure. Present high-speed routes ‒ weʼre talking about trains that travel at 300 km per hour or faster (thatʼs 185 mph or more) ‒ can add to your travel ease and help you avoid air or roadway congestion.

High-speed train travel already operates between these pairs of cities: London to Paris or Brussels (Eurostar), Paris to Lyon or Marseille, Brussels to Cologne, Madrid to Barcelona, Madrid to Seville or Malaga, Milan to Bologna, Naples to Rome, Rome to Florence, and St. Petersburg to Moscow.

In addition, other cities are connected by routes that are mostly (if not 100 percent) conducted over high-speed rails, such as Hanover to Berlin, Frankfurt to Cologne, and Paris to Geneva.

Future High-Speed Lines
These routes are in process:

• Service between Paris and Amsterdam, beginning mid-December 2009, will save over an hour over present train travel.
• In the UK, plans are afoot to add high-speed rail between London and Glasgow, cutting present travel time roughly in half.
• France, which is a leader in high-speed rail, will add new lines from Paris to Brittany, and Paris to Lyons.
• In Scandinavia, there are plans for a high-speed connection between Helsinki and St. Petersburg.

An EU priority for high speed rail is to expand the number of cross-border routes, in anticipation of which the EU is funding infrastructure development of the numerous tunnels and bridges required to realize this goal.

Bottom line, once youʼve flown transatlantic, rail travel is a fast, comfortable and civilized means of making your way around Europe. And it just keeps getting better.

‒ Peg Prideaux, CTC
091109

Estimated time of departure for Boeing's 787? It's anyone's guess.

Built with advanced carbon fiber construction, the 787 is much lighter than it would have been using traditional materials, resulting in 20 percent fewer emissions and 20 percent greater fuel efficiency, although its speed will remain about the same as a 747.

Inside: Larger luggage bins, bigger windows, and cleaner air.

Outside: Curved wings.

And yet: No telling when you’ll be able to fly in it.

The 787 is touted as holding great promise for the world’s airlines as well as for the global network of parts suppliers and sub-contractors on the ground; but the complexities of innovating with many new partners have overwhelmed Boeing’s original plans and delayed the 787’s delivery, a multi-billion-dollar boo-boo.

So you don’t get to fly in it yet.

Late 2010 … Maybe

Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA), first purchaser of the 787, is still waiting for planes it had planned to put into service two years ago. Boeing’s current estimate for delivery is late 2010, and skeptics call that an estimate to write on the calendar in pencil. And who are these skeptics? Well this week, it includes just about everyone in the investment community.

And why is that? Well, we won’t pretend to have a Wall Street decoder ring, so let’s just say the coffee-shop gossip around Seattle, where the plane gets its final assembly, has included a lot of head-scratching about how the 787 will keep its wings attached to the fuselage. It’s an essential question that leaves plenty for engineers work out while executives have some ’splainin’ to do to Boeing shareholders.

It’s not the kind of problem anyone likes to have this far into the game.

And naturally, it’s a big reason why you don’t get to fly in it yet.

Once Boeing gets the engineering squared away, and the jets are finally ready for scheduled production, and the shareholders have calmed down, then the airlines will have a choice of seating configurations ranging from 210 to 330 seats. As commercial airlines continue to need cash, it doesn’t take rocket scientist to predict how that will turn out.

And you’ll know that for sure, once you get to fly in it.

– Peg Prideaux, CTC
090409

New luggage fees ... is the sky the limit?

American Airlines is the next-to-last major U.S. airline to announce baggage fees for international flights. Coach passengers will soon be charged $100 round-trip for a second suitcase to Europe, India and the Caribbean; but first-class passengers will not pay the fee.

United Airlines is the only remaining big U.S. carrier that doesn’t (yet) charge fees for a second bag to Europe; but industry experts expect they will join the party soon. Why? Simple ‒ because airlines make millions of dollars on luggage fees, and they need the cash.

So, how can you avoid the fee?

Strategy No. 1: Fly by private jet, or fly first class with a commercial airline. This is our favorite option for all the obvious reasons.

Strategy No. 2: Use airline miles to upgrade to first class. Another really good option.

Strategy No. 3: If you can’t fly first class, then book a foreign carrier (they don’t levy the second-bag charge).

Strategy No. 4: Conserving cash? The most thrifty solution is to trade US airline mileage points for coach travel on foreign carriers. Expect to make compromises in your preferred flight dates or schedules to make this happen.

One carrier’s air miles are valid throughout the network of airlines that belong to that airline’s alliance group, listed below. Regional U.S. carriers (too many to list here) that feed into larger airlines often get similar air mile trades. For example, one of our staff uses Alaska Airlines miles to travel on foreign carriers through Alaska’s agreement with American.

The alliance partners are:

STAR ALLIANCE
US Carriers: United Airlines, US Airways
Foreign Carriers: Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, Austrian, BMI, EgyptAir, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, Swiss International Airlines, TAP Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines

Example: Travel round-trip from North America to Europe in economy on Lufthansa for 50,000 miles. The equivalent travel in first class requires 140,000 United Airlines miles.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE
US Carrier: American Airlines
Foreign Carriers: British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév, Qantas, Royal Jordanian

Example: Travel round-trip to Europe in economy off-peak or regular economy for 20,000 or 30,000 miles respectively (transatlantic travel only) on British Airways. First class on BA is 125,000 American Airlines miles.

SKYTEAM ALLIANCE
US Carriers: Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines
Foreign Carriers: Aeroflot, AeroMexico, Air France, KLM, Alitalia, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Korean Air

Example: SkyMiles are awarded in only two categories (coach and premium). To travel in coach with Air France, round-trip from North America, requires 60,000 miles in low season, 90,000 miles in medium season, and 125,000 miles in high season. The same travel in premium class costs 100,000 Delta Air Lines miles in low season, 200,000 miles in medium season, and 350,000 miles in high season.

Caveat: The mileage amounts quoted here are from the airline charts as of today, and are provided principally as a basis of comparison. Your specific itinerary, travel date, or airline combination may have wrinkles that require additional points. Or as the airlines always say, everything is subject to change without notice.

‒ Peg Prideaux, CTC
082709

P.S. Strategy No. 5: Pack really, really light. A terrible option for those who like to shop.

P.P.S. UPDATE 09/11/09: As we predicted, United Airlines has added hefty charges for a second suitcase: $100 round-trip for transatlantic travelers; $60 round-trip for Mexico and the Caribbean. Save $5 each way when you book passage for your second bag on the airline’s website, www.united.com.