Pets Travel ‘Fur-st Class’ With New Airline Program

by Chris Owen on

Pets can travel a number of ways on a variety of airlines. Most accept them as a carry-on, some allow them as a checked bag and others allow pets to be shipped as cargo. Up until now, the process was to get a health certificate for the pet, book the flight, bring the pet and that was about it. Now, a new program has partnered a major airline with a leading veterinary practice to add a pre-flight program that promises to improve the whole experience.

Partnering with 800-hospital strong Banfield Pet Hospital, Alaska Air customers traveling with or shipping their pets in its new “Fur-st Class Care” service, get a free office visit, travel consultation and $10 discount on the health certificate required for all pets traveling in the cabin, as baggage or as air cargo.

“We know pets play an important role in our lives and we share Alaska’s commitment to fostering the human-pet bond by being one of the leading airlines for pet travel,” said Dr. Karen Johnson, vice president and client advocate for Banfield Pet Hospital. “When it comes to pets, there is nothing more important than ensuring their health and safety whether at home or on a trip. We’re proud to partner with such a well-respected organization that has a great track record of pet safety during travel.”After completing the pre-flight program, Alaska Airlines allows passengers to travel with their pets in the cabin as part of its “Fur-st Class Care” service. The airline also offers “PetStreak Animal Express” service for shipping animals via air freight in a safe and caring environment when their owner isn’t traveling with them.

“Alaska is one of few airlines that still welcomes pets onboard – both in the cabin and the cargo hold – and we’re committed to pet care and safety,” said Torque Zubeck, managing director of Alaska Air Cargo. Alaska Airlines employees receive specialized training in safely transporting pets and now exceed government guidelines by implementing new, safer kennel standards for animals traveling in the airplane hold starting in May.

Alaska Airlines should know what they are talking about. The airline, named most pet-friendly by Smarter Traveler, flew nearly 83,000 pets throughout its route system last year.



[Flickr photo by Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI)]

Tsunami powered ghost ship closes in on Canadian shores

by Chris Owen on

When last year’s earthquake and resulting tsunami rocked Japan, the destruction of property and disruption to travel plans were immediate. Minor quakes after the initial tremor did little more damage. But a Japanese squid-fishing boat has been drifting across the Pacific Ocean all year and is now closing in on British Columbia’s north coast.

“It’s been drifting across the Pacific for a year, so it’s pretty beat up,” said marine search coordinator Jeff Olsson of Victoria’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in a Times Colonist article.

The 150-foot tsunami ghost ship was sent out to sea by the weather event and first found drifting right-side-up about 140 nautical miles (260 km) from Cape Saint James on the southern tip of Haida Gwaii, an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia. A Canadian Coast Guard plane on a routine surveillance patrol spotted the ship on March 20, causing them to issue a warning to all vessels that the ship is an obstruction to navigation.

“The ghost ship is probably going to be pretty much worthless – nobody’s going to want to have anything to do with it because of the huge costs that are going to be incurred [towing it to shore],” said Gray, senior captain with the Vessel Assist towing company reports the Times Colonist, adding “All that garbage, it’s going to hit Alaska, it’s going to hit B.C. and it’s going to hit Washington.”

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Flickr photo by elmas156

Summer work travel: Cheap labor or cultural exchange?

by Chris Owen on

The Summer Work Travel (SWT) program is a U.S. Department of State initiative that brings college students from around the world to the United States for seasonal jobs. But far from the cultural exchange advertised, students are finding themselves exploited by workplace safety and health violations.

Late last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered an “extensive and thorough review” of the program. Last month, federal officials issued citations and possible fines of nearly $300,000 against the Hershey Company, an employer involved with the program, reports PennLive. This week, the Center for Immigration Studies will hold a public discussion panel sorting it all out.

The panel will discuss results of the report “Cheap Labor as Cultural Exchange: The $100 Million Work Travel Industry” that says the SWT program has become a cheap labor program in the guise of cultural exchange.Critical of motives behind the program, the Center for Immigration Studies report accuses the program of providing “incentives for employers to bypass American workers by exempting SWT employers from taxes that apply to employment of Americans. Employers also don’t have to worry about providing health insurance, since SWT students are required to buy it for themselves.”

The discussion will be held in Washington D.C. tomorrow, March 13, 2012 at 9 a.m. in the Murrow Room at the National Press Club, 14th and F Streets, NW. Admission is free and open to the public. A transcript and video of the discussion will be available the following week.



[Flickr photo by Ryan.padilla]

Texas authorities urge students to avoid Mexico

by Libby Zay on

As spring break draws near, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has issued a warning that advises college students to stay away from Mexico. The warning cites ongoing drug cartel violence as the main reason to avoid going south of the border, but also mentions criminal activity including homicides, gun battles, kidnappings, carjackings, rapes and more.

Popular resort destinations such as Cancun, Acapulco, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Tijuana are not exempt from the warning, which states these areas “can be havens for drug dealers and petty criminals.” Although the DPS acknowledges that many travel to Mexico without incident and that the Mexican government has made strides battling the cartels, it encourages travelers to carefully research any planned trips and always check the U.S. Department of State website for up-to-date information on security issues in Mexico.

Just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of State issued a new Mexico travel warning that advised against nonessential travel to areas within 16 Mexican states. According to U.S. Department of State numbers, 120 U.S. citizens were murdered in Mexico during 2011, a number that has increased dramatically since the tally was at 35 in 2007. All U.S. citizens living or traveling in Mexico are advised to register with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

Mexico tourism adds environmentalists to list of foes

by Chris Owen on

Mexico gets bad press for a number of reasons causing travelers to use extra caution when visiting south of the border. Attractions, like UNESCO biosphere sites along the Baja California Peninsula, draw travelers but a newly thriving coral reef is under threat from a mega-development planned for the area, adding environmentalists to Mexico tourism’s list of foes.

In Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, the shallow reef was a typical degraded reef 17 years ago that had been damaged by commercial boats dragging their anchors through the coral to get at valuable species that lived there.

“We started noticing there were fewer fish, and we were having to go farther out,” says Judith Castro, a local commercial fisherman. “We just saw the reef as a garden. We didn’t know the importance of it.”

Aided by local residents, the economy was gradually transformed from fishing to ecotourism, and the amount of life on the reef blossomed, increasing by 460 percent.

Now, a new sprawling project would transform the sleepy little village of Cabo Pulmo into a major tourist destination with about 30,000 hotel rooms, golf courses and a marina on a strip of seaside desert about a 90-minute drive northeast of the Los Cabos resorts.Opposing the project, The World Wildlife Fund recently brought schoolchildren bearing the flags of 70 countries to present almost 13,000 signatures from around the world asking President Felipe Calderon to cancel permits for construction at the site.

“It is unique, not only in Mexico, but in the world,” says Omar Vidal, the head of the WWF in Mexico. “It is a nursery for marine species to repopulate many areas of the Gulf of California.”

Mexico is a land rich in natural beauty and wonderful places to visit, making the country still one of the most visited in the world. Of course, this means tourism is an important part of the economy. At a time when cruise lines have canceled stops at Mexican ports and an updated US Department of State Travel Warning does not help matters, a new tourist destination is going to be awfully hard for Mexico’s government to pass up as it weighs its options.





Flickr photo by NOAA’s National Ocean Service