A definitive look at the airlines’ rule 240

by Grant Martin on

Our good friend over at Airfare Watchdog, George Hobica, rolled up his sleeves this past week and dug deep into the muck of rule 240, the near-mythical term dictating how an airline needs to treat you in the case of a cancellation or misconnection. It’s kind of a tricky rule to wrap your head around, so I’ll let George explain it for you here:

“Rule 240 originally stated that in the event of a cancellation or flight misconnection, the airline would have to put you on their next flight out, or, if that wasn’t “acceptable,” on the next flight out of a competing airline if that flight would get you to your destination sooner, all at no additional cost to you. If only first class was available on the other airline, then they had to upgrade you. This only applied in circumstances under the airlines’ control, such as crew failing to show up, or mechanical problems.”

Back in the day each airline had one of these rule 240’s, but since deregulation in the industry many have stricken this rule from their operations. Each carrier, however, now has some derivative, which is where Airfarewatchdog came in and compared the differences.

It’s a handy guide if you ever get marooned by the airlines on the road and need to leverage a trip back. But a word of warning from a frequent traveler if you want to invoke rule 240 or some manifestation thereof: make sure you do your homework, know your airline, its rules and how they can apply them – you need to stay on the offensive if you’re going to get what the carriers have promised you.

Grab a scotch, take a deep breath and start reading the rules per airline over at Airfarewatchdog.com here.

TSA pulls pants off of elderly man during search

by Grant Martin on

It always never fails to amaze us what sort of crazy screening the TSA is doing on everyday passengers. You’ve probably seen the pictures of the security officer frisking the nun at Detroit’s airport and were thinking what we were thinking — what is a nun going to sneak into an airport? But the TSA can’t discriminate against anyone based on their race, color, creed or age, so they have search even the most innocent looking people just like everyone else.

A 71 year old man was recently searched because he had a prosthetic knee, and the TSA officer went so far as to remove the man’s pants in plain sight of the checkpoint to insure that he wasn’t hiding anything. Check out the news coverage of the incident below — we’d be angry too!

10 tips for smarter flying


Belize it or not: Living in harmony with M&Ms (monkeys and mosquitoes)

by Iva Skoch on

You can’t visit Central America and not make at least some effort to see the monkeys. That’s just wrong. Monkeys are way too cute to be missed.

Like Costa Rica, and other countries in this region, Belize is also trying to brand itself as an ecotourism destination.

The Community Baboon Sanctuary, a conservation project in which over 200 private landowners in Belize have voluntarily pledged to conserve their land for the protection of the Black Howler Monkey (called ‘baboon’ in the local Creole dialect) habitat, is well-worth the trip inland. It’s only about an hour drive from Belize City.

But, there is a but.

Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes.
Before I begin talking about how cute the monkeys are, I am going to say this: I had never, ever before, seen so many mosquitoes before visiting the Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS). Anywhere.

The closest I had ever come to this kind of mosquito infestation was in Venice. (Camping outside a city built on a swamp is not a good idea, note to self.)

I was covered in insect-proof gear from head to toe. Still, I had mosquito bites on my face and hands: the only two areas not protected, even though they were sprayed with high-percentage DEET repellent.

The thing is, these mosquitoes are not only tough, but completely DEET-resistant. My watch, on the other hand, wasn’t. DEET killed it (or its surface and band) right away.

What I particularly dislike about mosquitoes is how selective and discriminating they are in the people they attack. Our guide, Shane (see the first picture), was barefoot, wearing shorts and a T-shirt and did not get a single mosquito bite. How is that possible? Are the locals immune?

Clearly, it’s jealousy speaking. I am always the person with the record-breaking number of bites, no matter how much Vitamin B and gin’n’tonic I consume.

What? Gin and tonic doesn’t work, you say? Sure it does. It makes you more at peace with the unfair world of mosquitoes and their poor victims. In extreme conditions such as this, that’s all you can ask for.

I go on about mosquitoes, but don’t let me discourage you from visiting the CBS. But be prepared. Wear long pants (and stuff them into your socks), long-sleeve high-thread shirt and boots. A head-cover of some sort wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Chances are the mosquitoes might not be as bad when you go. We went during the rainy season, which generally means more mosquitoes in the jungle. The guides will give you a mosquito whip-type-thing, made from a certain type of palm tree, that you can use “as a tail” to repel insects (see picture). It works pretty well. At the very least, you’ll get an idea what it’s like to be a horse.

Enough about mosquitoes.

Baboons aka Black Howler Monkeys
CBS is truly a special place. The goal is to sustain the habitat of the Black Howler Monkey, which–hence the name–is the second loudest animal in the world, after the lion. The result has been an innovative project which offers promotes the economic development of the participating communities and provides a unique opportunity for visitors to experience the rainforest and witness baboons in the wild.

The landowners, all 200+ of them, benefit directly from the Sanctuary thanks to ecotourism, aka you. Many more benefit indirectly through the educational programs. The population of the Black Howler Monkey in the Sanctuary has risen to over 2,000 monkeys. And, you’ll get to see them up close, and — if you are lucky like us — feed them a banana.

The Sanctuary was founded by Dr. Robert Horwich, an American primatologist and Fallet Young, a landowner in the village of Bermudian Landing, in 1985 with the initial participation of 12 landowners. In 1998, the Women’s Conservation Group was formed, which currently manages the CBS.

The entrance fee is $7US. It includes a walk with a guide and lots of quality time with the M&Ms.

Beijing forces vehicle traffic to halve, subways choke

by Grant Martin on

The great thing about running a communist state is that you can dream up and enforce any crazy rule you want — and the people can’t do anything about it.

China, scrambling to clean up its image as the Olympics draw closer, has been making changes to the landscape left and right — beautifying Beijing, planting flowers and cleaning up the streets.

This week, in an effort to clean up the chronically bad air conditions, the government decided to cut down on vehicle pollution by forcing half of the population to take public transportation. Odd and even ending license plates are now supposed to alternate days that they’re able to drive in the city — and violators are faced with a stiff fine.

As a result, half of the population that formerly commuted by automobile and motorcycle is now trying to cram into the city’s public transportation system. The resulting load on the subway system was recently so great that authorities had to shut down several lines to prevent the suffocating crowds — passengers were only allowed get off of the trains for a while. Perhaps the volumes are a bit larger than the Chinese had predicted.

What would happen to you if you were suddenly forced to take public transportation to work or class? Could you walk far enough to reach the bus or train stop and make it to your morning appointments? Would you let your government prevent you from driving every other day of the week?

U.S. Senate votes to repeal HIV travel ban

by Aaron Hotfelder on

The US Senate, whose public approval rating has been hovering around the high single digits, has finally done something right.

After fifteen years on the books, a law allowing border officials to refuse entry to HIV-positive visitors to the United States may finally be repealed. The bill, already passed by Congress, will be sent to the president’s desk in the near future. He is expected to sign it.

As we wrote four months ago, the US is one of only a dozen countries– including Saudi Arabia, Libya, and the Sudan– with such a law. Even China decided last year to relax its restrictions on HIV-positive travelers.

The passage of the bill was a bipartisan effort, headed by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR).

Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic, whom we quoted in our previous post calling the ban “anachronistic and stigmatizing,” is understandably elated. Sullivan is an HIV-positive British citizen who lives in America– he was the recipient of a hard-to-obtain entry waiver– and says he wants to become an American citizen, but cannot because of his HIV status. Sullivan writes:

“Barring some unforeseen event, the HIV Travel Ban – a relic of the days when HIV was a source of fear and stigma and terror – is finally over… I’m not exaggerating when I say that it’s one of the happiest days of my whole life. For two and a half decades, I have longed to be a citizen of the country I love and have made my home. I now can. There is no greater feeling.”

So a thumbs up to Congress, for once.