Go For It Travel-Vacations, Business needs, Scuba, Snorkeling, ECO tours and Mountaineering

Quick Travel Tips---
---Permitted and Prohibited Items

3-1-1

3 oz liquids, gels and aerosols
1 quart, clear, plastic, zip-top bag
1 bag per passenger placed in a plastic bin for screening

You can take ONE zip-top quart-size plastic bag filled with 3oz containers of liquids and gels, according to the Transportation Security Authority's new regulations.

These travel-size toiletries (three ounces or less) must fit comfortably in the plastic bag. You will have to put the bag in a bin/tray on the conveyor belt so it can be x-rayed by security officials.

You can again take bottles of water or other liquids on the plane that you've purchased after you go through security area.

TSA’s checkpoint protocols now require all passengers to remove outer coats and jackets for X-ray before proceeding through the metal detectors.

That includes suit and sport coats, athletic warm-up jackets and blazers. If a sports coat or blazer is being worn as the innermost garment – not over a blouse or sweater, for example – it does not have to come off.

TSA has also announced that all passengers will be required to take their shoes off so the shoes can be x-rayed along with the carry-on bags.

Passengers will now be allowed to take small doses of liquid medicine through security and on the plane.

The following items are permitted to be carried aboard the aircraft:

Passengers traveling with infants may bring baby formula.

Prescription medicine that matches the passenger’s name.

Essential prescription medicines such as insulin are

If you are in doubt about an item, please leave it at home or place in your checked baggage or the item may be intercepted at the security checkpoint.
TSA continues to allow laptop computers, cell phones and other electronic items. These measures will be constantly evaluated and updated as circumstances warrant. If you’re going on a fully escorted trip with a tour operator, you’ll be picked up at the airport and the guides will help you replace items you were forced to leave behind.
Remove all loose metal items from your pockets and place in a tray (does your belt have metal? You may want to remove that too) Take laptops and video cameras out of their cases and place in a tray.

To minimize the risk of damage or loss, don’t pack fragile or valuable items in checked baggage. Take them with you in carry-on baggage, or ship them to your destination instead.
Put undeveloped film in carry-on baggage because equipment used to screen checked baggage will damage film. Also, high-speed and specialty film should not be put through X-ray machines, so passengers may ask screeners at the checkpoint to physically inspect film.
Do not wear jewelry, or clothing that may set off metal detector alarms.
Get to the airport in plenty of time.
Remember to put identification tags in and on all baggage including laptops.
Everyone, even frequent fliers, should double check the contents of their pockets and bags, particularly carry-on luggage, to ensure no prohibited items were inadvertently packed.
Passengers selected for additional screening have the right to request that it is done in a private location.
Do not overpack bags. If screeners have to open them, closing overstuffed bags can be difficult and may result in that checked bag being delayed until a later flight.
If TSA screeners need to open a locked bag for inspection, they may have to break the lock. There are now products on the market that have uniform locking systems that enable screeners to open and relock a bag. Passengers without such devices may still want to consider leaving bags unlocked.

The FAA has limited passengers flying within the United States (including international flights going to and from the United States) to one carry-on and one personal item, which includes: purses, briefcases, laptops and small backpacks. In addition to one carry-on and one personal item, passengers may bring onboard a coat, umbrella, book or newspaper, small bag of food and devices such as wheelchairs and walkers. Persons traveling with children can also bring on strollers, safety seats and diaper bags. On crowded flights, you may be asked to relinquish some or all of your carry-ons. Some airlines have different rules for various destinations outside the United States, types of aircraft or passenger classes. Contact the airline for current information. Something to consider: some airlines (like Midwest Express) will not allow you to bring on a carry-on if you checked three bags. Remember: if your carry-on has wheels, the wheels are included in its size.

Other news---

Would you pay extra for more legroom on an airplane if you didn't have to shell out for first class?
You just might, if the views of a handful of frequent travelers and industry experts are any indication.
These reactions may indicate other airlines will follow the lead of Northwest Airlines, which this week began selling certain prime coach seats for $15 more per flight.
Under the carrier's new "Coach Choice" test program, a handful of seats on emergency exit rows and a few aisle seats are up for grabs to all customers 24 hours before check-in.
It's too early to tell if other carriers will try something similar. But the latest move comes as more and more airlines already have been testing how they can raise their revenues and cuts costs.
Houston-based Continental Airlines has resisted many of the changes affecting customer service made by other carriers.
Many business travelers will be willing to pay for the extra legroom, noted Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition.
"This requires virtually no investment by Northwest and represents about 5 percent of their inventory," Mitchell said. "For business travelers like me — I am 6-foot-5 — this is going to be very appealing."
Prices may go up The time may be right for selling prime seats in coach. Travel specialist Terry Trippler thinks the idea will be so successful that the price that is charged for those seats will go up. "The emergency exit rows can probably earn them more than $15," Trippler said. "So I expect to see that amount increased."
The $15 charge is per flight, meaning if you want to remain in the seat from departure to your destination and have a connecting flight, the cost would double.
Frequent fliers on Northwest — WorldPerks and SkyTeam Elite members — will get special treatment by getting a shot at the seats 36 hours before the flight, according to Northwest.
The airline also assured its frequent fliers it would continue to offer unlimited complimentary first class upgrades and not cut back on first class seats.
Frequent flier's view
If airlines go this way, high-mileage frequent fliers will see the number of seats they have been offered as perks diminished. That's the expectation of Chris Larus, a lawyer in Minneapolis who is a frequent flier on Northwest.
"Generally if I sign up for a flight and they are available, I will get an aisle or bulkhead or exit row seat as a matter of course," said Larus, a partner with Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski. "I imagine it does make sense for them from a business standpoint, but it certainly makes for a less pleasant travel experience."
Northwest notified Larus about the change earlier this week. He said the Eagan, Minn.-based carrier assured him that some of the seats would remain as perks for frequent fliers.
The change also helps address the complaints from customers who have to pay high prices to fly at the last minute, but who then find passengers who paid far less in some of the best spots in coach .
Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Wednesday that sales of the seats are running slightly ahead of expectations.
In Houston, Northwest and its partners offer 11 round-trip flights between the city and its hubs of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis.
Coach Choice affects 5 percent of Northwest's coach seats, Ebenhoch said.
Mitchell said he recently had to buy a ticket to fly to Costa Rica from Newark, N.J., on Continental but business class was sold out.
Mitchell said he was lucky to get an aisle seat on the emergency exit row for the upcoming trip.
"I would have paid 40 or 50 bucks for it, flying from Newark to Costa Rica," he said.
Trippler says he expects other airlines to introduce similar deals.
"As I see it, some airlines will match what Northwest is doing," Trippler said. "Some will roll out their own formulas, some will keep things as they are."
Approaches differ Continental was mum on the subject of selling such seats, citing antitrust laws against discussing future pricing.
A number of airlines in recent years have experimented with selling food and other items on flights.
The main reason is that the hard-hit industry has lost many billions in just the past few years and is facing rising fuel costs.
But Continental has refused to join the trend of selling meals or soft drinks on flights.
"Our strategy to maintain meal service along with other cabin comforts such as blankets, pillows and movies has worked well for us," Continental spokeswoman Julie King said.
Larus noted that Northwest, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, got rid of pillows recently in a bid to save money.
"It seems airline travel is becoming much more a la carte," the trial lawyer said.
Trippler predicted other charges will be forthcoming later this year from airlines, including a $1 or $2 charge for sodas and juice.
He said he doesn't expect much of a backlash, noting that people pay higher prices for such things at concerts and sporting events.
"Where I think the controversy will be, is when the first airline announces you will be charged for checking bags," Trippler said.
"The seat-assignment deal is pure gravy and so is soda because it is on the plane anyway. If they charge for checked baggage, they will have to charge for carry-on or strictly enforce carry-on limits, and you know they don't do that."

More than 14 months after the Indian Ocean seaquake and tsunami that devastated parts of South and Southeast Asia, countries affected are optimistic that a strong winter season 2005/06 will finally put an end to the crisis that has dragged down arrivals and tourism revenues.
However, an assessment of the post-tsunami recovery by the World Tourism Organiza¬tion (UNWTO), suggests that hotel room and air seat capacity to Thailand’s Andaman coast, Sri Lanka and the Maldives is still lower than before the tragedy. And it concludes that full recovery will not be possible until capacity is fully restored sometime later this year.
The study is part of the Phuket Action Plan for the revival of tourism to the tsunami-affected countries, including Indonesia. The plan was created at the special emergency meeting of the UNWTO Executive Council in Phuket in January 2005. It laid the groundwork for an unprecedented series of nearly 40 tourism recovery projects that included activities such as market research, communications initiatives, safety reviews, planning assistance and the organisation of the TOURCOM Regional Conference in Bali last May.
Recovery of tourist arrivals to affected resort areas has been sluggish, as will be seen by reports on individual destinations over the next four days of the ITB Daily . The most recent official statistics show arrivals to Phuket still down by 50% in August, while October arrivals to the Maldives were down by 23% and foreign guest nights on Sri Lanka’s south coast down by 53% through August. But resorts in all three countries are reporting forward bookings for the remainder of the winter months of between 80-90%. Diminished capacity is still evident in some areas of Thailand’s Andaman Coast like on Phi Phi Island or Khao Lak.
Indonesia presents a different recovery curve. As tourism facilities were not damaged in the tsunami that destroyed Aceh, arrivals in Bali increased from March through September. Terrorist attacks on 1 October drove tourism down once again by an estimated 37% that month. But officials are hopeful that the recovery will be quicker than following the 2002 bombings, due to stepped-up security and improved communica¬tions.
DREAMS RESORTS & SPAS, the operator of all-inclusive luxury resorts in Mexico, said it reopened its Dreams Cancun Resort & Spa after extensive renovations following Hurricane Wilma. A member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Dreams Cancun underwent renovations to its rooms; eight restaurants and bars; spa and fitness center; and kids club, among other facilities. Situated on the portion of Cancun strip known as Punta Cancun, Dreams Cancun markets itself as the only resort on Cancun surrounded on three sides by the Caribbean.

THE LOS CABOS TOURISM BOARD is promoting two new attractions. Cabo Dolphins, a state-of-the-art dolphin center at the Cabo San Lucas Marina that enables tourists to interact and swim with Pacific bottlenose dolphins. The half-hour experience, which includes an educational orientation, costs $165 per person. The program is offered seven days a week. For information or to purchase tickets, call 612-275-2540 or go to the Request Page. If you prefer land-based activities, Baja Outback is offering single- or multi-day tours aboard four-wheel-drive Hummers. Single-day excursions take tourists to towns like Todos Santos and Santiago, while multi-day tours include the "Route of the Jesuit Missions" and the "South Cape with Whale Watching." Hummer tour prices start at $165 per person. For information or to book, call 612-275-2540 or go to the Request Page.

SEA KAYAK ADVENTURES launched an eight-day Baja Desert Whales excursion that promises whale sightings in the protected waterways of Baja California's Magdalena Bay. Guests will paddle kayaks along a 35-mile stretch of lagoons, visit a sea lion colony and spend nights camping in sheltered coves. A trip highlight is two afternoons of whale watching from a motorized skiff for a close encounter with the California gray whale in the deeper waters of Boca de Soledad. Six departures are scheduled from Jan. 29 through March 6 beginning and ending in Loreto. The trips cost $1,295 per person, including two nights in a hotel; airport and land transfers; meals; kayaking and camping equipment; whale watching excursions; and guides. Participation is limited to 13. To book or for information, call call 612-275-2540 or go to the Request Page.