U.S. Congress Contemplates Requiring Foreign Travelers to Pre-register

by Iva Skoch on

This idea is sure to kill off a lot of tourism to the U.S., and put a thumb in the eye of businesspeople. According to the NY Times yesterday, the U.S. Congress is considering a request by the Department of Homeland Security to require people in 27 countries to pre-register their travel plans 48 hours before departure to the U.S.

The 27 targeted countries are mostly Western European, and they’re mostly countries whose citizens can already travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa.

This also flies in the face of efforts by new EU countries (such as the Czech Republic) to have visa requirements lifted, so that their citizens can visit the U.S. more easily.

Travel to the U.S. has plunged over 17% since 2000, in part because of foreigners’ perceptions that they aren’t welcome in the U.S., costing 200,000 jobs and $16 Billion in lost tourism, according to the U.S. travel industry.

Of course, U.S. officials think it’s not a problem because they’re proposing an on-line registration. But, it begs the question: what if one person on the plane forgets to pre-register? Does the plane get turned around? Or just routed to Guantanamo?

Finding the Best Place to Park at the Airport

by Neil Woodburn on

Finding the cheapest place to park at the airport is far more difficult than finding a cheap flight.

Most airport websites list nearby parking lots, but rarely list all of them. Nor do they usually include the price. So, how do you find the cheapest and closest one?

Try checking out AirportParkingReservations.com. This website lets you plug in a date range and then search for available parking spaces and lots at a variety of airports in America. You can then sort the results by price or parking type (self, valet, covered). The site also includes a handy map to see exactly where the lots are, as well as a write-up detailing the type of transportation the lot provides to the airport.

For those of you worried about pulling up to a parking lot only to find that it is full, AirportParkingReservations, as evident by their name, also lets people reserve a spot in advance — for a $5 service fee, of course.

Kingfisher to Jet Airways: We Changed You!!

by Justin Glow on

This is cool.

Kingfisher, a lovely Indian beer and airline, took note of a competing airline’s billboard and responded to it with their own. “We’ve changed,” the Jet Airways billboard says. Kingfisher responds with a billboard of their own reading, “We made them change!!” And a guy in a green shirt on another billboard looks away as if nothing happened. [via]

Travel Deals for the 50 and Over Crowd are Dwindling

by Jamie Rhein on

Isn’t one of the benefits of getting older cheap deals? I bought a book for a friend of mine called Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can’t Get Unless You’re over 50 and browsed through it thinking of all the neat discounts heading my way.

According to consumer travel writer Ed Perkins, I should think again and not count on a bargain when I’m AARP age (50). As he points out in “Senior Discounts Going by the Wayside,” the cheap deals for older travelers came about because older travelers happened to have the time, but not the money. Since the travel industry is more about making money than giving an older person a great time just for the heck of it, now that more people who are younger are traveling, the pressure is off to fill up spots. This doesn’t mean there aren’t any good deals to be found, but the 50 and older crowd isn’t going to be able to count on a discount due to age alone. They’ll have to scramble for cheap seats and accommodations just like everyone else.

For the travel bargain shopper, Perkins suggests heading to Priceline and Hotwire and bundle air and hotel reservations together. But, here’s a bonus to getting older. If you’re retired, when the last-minute deal shows up, you’ll probably be in a better position to hop on a plane or take that cruise since you won’t have to put in for vacation time.

U.S. News & World Report Summer Travel Issue

by Iva Skoch on

Be sure to pick up the latest (June 18) issue of U.S. News & World Report magazine. It’s their featured article that we’re drawing attention to: “Air Travel Summer Survival Guide.”

It lists worst airports, simple travel tips and the like. Check out their comprehensive list of the best and worst airports here, in which they rank airports on the basis of percentage of flights delayed as well as “average load factor” (how full the flights are).

Their findings were unsurprising to the seasoned traveler: avoid the big airports and try using regional airports instead. The best? Oakland. The worst? Detroit.

Another important tip that, while obvious, can’t be over-repeated: be prepared for big delays as planes fill up and more folks hit the airports for the vacation season.