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Does anyone know what time it is?

Daylight savings time ended in some countries today.  European countries (except our bankrupt friends in Iceland) end daylight savings time the last Sunday in October. Depending on where in Europe you are, that means the switch is happening now.   Mexico and African countries observing daylight savings time also change now.

The United States and Canada change a week later.

U.S. readers:  take note of future time changes:

Sunday, November 2, 2008 - Daylight Savings Time ends in most of United States.

Sunday March 8, 2009 - Daylight Savings Time resumes in most of United States.

The official time clocks fall back or spring forward is 2:00 a.m., but that likely only matters to you if you’re working an overnight shift or sitting at a bar.   And, of course, if you use the ever-parternalistic Microsoft Windows, you’ll awaken on Sunday to a cheery message telling you that the difficult task of setting your system clock was taken care of by the company as you slumbered.

Posted under Travel

As airlines try wringing every last nickel from passengers, word comes out now that JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU) will begin charging for blankets and pillows.

The airline that prided itself on comfy seats, television for each passenger and a glib, flippant employee style of service announced that the move would allow passengers to take home a blanket and pillow set plus receive a $5 coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond, an online retailer our reviewer panned for being “amateurish” with shipping costs starting at $5.95 and a limited selection.

Oops.

We don’t have the answers on how airlines can stay solvent given current economic pressures, but we’re willing to bet that if passengers are turning up their nose at a $7 sandwich that a $7 pillow is not an effective way to cut costs.  Doing away with the blankets seems a sound idea.  Maybe JetBlue, which flies relatively short legs — all under 6 hours — can ignore settling consumers in for a long nap.

Posted under Travel

Passports for visiting Canada and Mexico, fees for checking luggage, fees for peanuts! What else will the travel industry and government throw at us? Your best defense against a stressful travel experience is preparation and patience. There are new government time-saving tips for summer travel for recent changes to ID requirements, baggage restrictions and security checkpoint procedures.

The good folks at the FCIC, you know them as sending out information from ‘Pueblo, Colorado’ have put together a wonderful resource that address all these issues. You can read Summer Travel Tips
at their site and even send the information to a friend.

The federal government takes much well deserved criticism for inefficiency. This agency, however, consistently gets the job done.

Posted under Travel

As a peak travel time begins again, some consumers may have forgotten about the “311″ rule regarding liquids in carry-on luggage in an airport.  Infrequent travelers may especially need a reminder about the rules.    Time has traveled fast — this year’s college freshman class was in elementary school when the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. changed US air travel rules  Those rules  were changed again after a man was arrested while attempting to ignite an explosive concealed in his shoes.

The 311 rule is illustrated below.  If you plan to travel by air this summer, you need to know and follow this rule.  If you do not, you will be stopped at security and you will lose your items there.  Everything in a liquid or gel form counts, even when sealed.

The rule says that you may have 1 quart-sized zippered bag.  That bag can include up to 3 ounces per bottle of as many liquids as fit.    3 ounces, 1 bag, 1 person.  That’s it.  And just like personal computers, that bag has to be removed from your carry-on luggage and placed on the conveyor belt to be X-rayed.

A can of soda or bottle of water won’t be allowed.  Even a to-go cup from a restaurant inside the airport won’t be allowed.  Worse, expensive cosmetics or a perhaps a bottle of wine intended as a gift won’t be allowed through either.  And the TSA employee who stops you from entering the secure area can’t do anything more than sweep those bottles of liquids into the nearest trash can.

Remember this rule applies to carry-on luggage only, but also remember that it is not optional or subject to negotiation.   You’ll be stopped, and you will lose your belongings.  Just remember 311, remember the bag and take the bag out of  your luggage.

Security lines are already reported to be long this summer as airlines attempt to reduce flights to cope with rising fuel costs.  We observed multiple consumers in Chicago and Washington this week not only lose items to the 311 Rule, but also undergo close examination of their identification.  Along with that zippered, clear bag, don’t forget your drivers license, passport or other id.

You won’t be leaving home without them.

Posted under Travel

One year after testing whole body imaging at New York’s Staten Island Ferry and weeks after a pilot program in the busy Phoenix airport, the US Transportation Security Administration is ready to start getting a closer look at consumers traveling.

For consumers who have been “patted down” or “frisked” while traveling, the new machine may seem like an alternative to an undignified position some travelers undergo because of their undergarments, medical devices or similarly benign issues. We wholeheartedly endorse national security and understand the need for stringent measures, but more than one consumer has shared with us that being frisked in the middle of a crowded public facility is unpleasant at best and often embarrassing.

Hand-held metal detectors are often used in such cases, but a nervous twitch can cause the machine to come in contact with a traveler’s ’s body. And while many consumers seem resigned to shuck off their shoes and travel through the airport in stockinged or (heaven help us) bare feet, removing jackets, belts and other clothing is often time-consuming at best.

“I like belts with big buckles,” one consumer recently told me. “I can’t wear them to the airport though because I have to take off my coat, my shoes, my belt and put my computer in a tray. I used to be able to just undo the buckle and show them the back, but now I have to take it off, and it’s not worth the hassle.”

Whole body imaging is supposed to replace the need for a pat-down although other measures will still be in force. Many travel and privacy advocates say a whole body image invades a consumer’s privacy, but federal officials counter with a statistic that 90% of travelers subjected to the process in Phoenix preferred it to a “pat down” or similar measures.

The TSA also says that they will not maintain or store records of any captured images, but that doesn’t address the point that the consumer is, well, exposed, for a time to strangers.

The image on the left is representative of what the TSA says its officers will see. With paperless bordering passes and other biometrics processes quickly being tested throughout the nation, we want to believe that this image isn’t stored, but we also wanted to believe that doctors wouldn’t read a celebrity’s medical file and IRS employees wouldn’t snoop through the taxes of the rich and famous.

Without more explanation of what safeguards are in place to protect a consumer’s privacy, whole body imaging is a promising idea we can’t yet support. Once we learn that images will never be associated with personally identifyig information and that no mechanism exists to save the image, we would be more willing to endorse and embrace this idea.

There clearly isn’t enough time for that public reassurance, however, because the government has announced that travelers moving through Los Angeles’ LAX or New York’s JFK airports will soon be subjected to whole body imaging or being frisked if they set off a detector.

Apparently willing to base taxpayer dollars and consumer acceptance on a limited one airport test, the TSA has also reportedly ordered 30 more machines for use in other airports this year.

Posted under Travel

Tiny Skybus Airlines, based in Ohio, ceased operations today, making the company the third U.S airline to stop flying this week.

ATA and Aloha, both companies that had struggled for years, stopped flying earlier this week. Vacationers with early summer travel plans by air will undoubtedly face more crowded planes as existing airlines fight growing economic issues by cutting flights.

In an announcement posted on the company’s website, Skybus said that the company “…struggled to overcome the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment. These two issues proved to be insurmountable for a new carrier.”

Several airlines, notably US Airways and JetBlue, were reportedly offering standby or low cost alternatives for travelers who were stranded at their destination. This is a relatively common occurrence when airlines, even iconic names like PanAm and Eastern, have failed over the years. While consumers can never rely on such gestures, most carriers make the effort to help others.

Posted under Travel

The nation’s largest airlines recorded a rate of on-time flights this past March that was higher than in February but down from the rate posted in March 2006, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The 20 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 73.3 percent in March, down from March 2006’s 76.1 but an improvement over February 2007’s 67.3 percent.

Special jeers for U.S. Airways. According to the government agency, the airline had by far the lowest on-time rate at 55.5% (JetBlue was next with 63% — that’s a huge difference). Even more astonishing was the performance of several US Airways flight. The survey found that one flight between Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport to New York — a flight with direct competition from Delta’s “shuttle” was late 100% of the time. That’s right, every single flight. Here are the worst five flights and the top 3 overall performing airlines:

Most Frequently Delayed Flights

1. US Airways flight 2188 from Washington Reagan to New York LaGuardia – late 100%  of the time
2. ExpressJet Airlines flight 2575 from Newark, NJ to Pittsburgh – late 96.15 percent of the time
3. Comair flight 5274 from Boston to New York JFK – late 96.00 percent of the time
4. US Airways flight 836 from Boston to Philadelphia – late 95.00 percent of the time
5. US Airways flight 834 Charlotte, NC to Buffalo, NY – late 92.86 percent of the time

Highest On-Time Arrival Rates

1. Hawaiian Airlines – 93.9 percent
2. Aloha Airlines – 93.2 percent
3. Frontier Airlines – 84.8 percent

Posted under Travel

Air travelers heading into and out of fast-growing St. George, Utah soon will be able to fly by scheduled jet aircraft now that the federal government is investing $17.2 million to help pay for a new airport for the community, Marion C. Blakey, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), announced today.

The new FAA grant is the largest single federal grant for an airport in Utah. The city will use the initial grant money to buy 277 acres of land for the new airport site, which is approximately five miles from downtown St. George. About 1,300 acres are needed for the airport, and the city plans to acquire the additional land over the next two years.

The new airport will include a new 9,300-foot runway large enough to allow scheduled commercial jet airlines and business jets to fly into St. George for the first time. The airport will be a state-of-the-art facility, which will handle twice as many passengers as the existing airport. The new runway will have the latest in lighting systems and navigation technology.

Scheduled to open in 2011, the new airport will use an approach procedure designed to keep aircraft as high as possible and to the west of Zion National Park in order to lessen the noise impact on the park.

The airport was necessary because St. George was the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan area from 2000 to 2005 and the community now totals more than 160,000 residents. “This community is growing so fast that it deserves the kind of service many other places have enjoyed for decades,” Blakey said.

Posted under Travel

Air travelers have a new option for securing their children on commercial flights now that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved a new type of child safety device, the AmSafe Aviation CARES.

CARES uses an additional belt and shoulder harness that goes around the seat back and attaches to the passenger lap belt to provide restraint for the upper part of the body. It is designed for children weighing between 22 and 44 pounds. The device provides a smaller and lighter alternative to using forward-facing child safety seats. CARES is not approved for use in motor vehicles.

Posted under Travel

With the Labor Day weekend approaching, many people will be flying the friendly skies. But before you head off to the airport, please be aware that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has changed security screening
procedures at all U.S. airports, banning liquids and gels at security checkpoints and aboard flights.

You will not be permitted to bring any liquids or gels past the screening checkpoint or on board, with a few exceptions. In addition, the TSA is now requiring that all passengers are to remove their shoes so they may be X-rayed with their carry-on bags. This is no longer optional, as it has been for years.

Find out the latest security procedures at:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/new-procedures.shtm

Get the full list of permitted and prohibited items at:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

Posted under Travel