I happen to think this is a pretty cool idea.

There are all different types of travelers, and they all go through security at different rates. There’s the woman who somehow simultaneously empties her pockets, removes her shoes, and places her laptop in a separate bin.

Then there’s the bumbling but kind-looking man who can’t seem to figure out that he’s still wearing sunglasses, two watches, and has a chain linking his wallet to his pants (actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this guy).

The TSA is experimented with segmenting lines based on how “experienced” a traveler thinks they are at getting through security. From BTOnline:

TSA last month introduced the lanes at Salt Lake City International Airport and Denver International Airport, with three separate checkpoint options for families and people requiring special assistance, casual travelers and expert travelers. Screening levels and procedures are identical across all lane types. Passengers are not required to go into a specific lane, TSA spokesperson Carrie Harmon said.

Cool!

The New York Times wrote yesterday about the air shuttles that have traditionally run on the hour (or half hour, depending on the airline) from New York to Boston and Washington.

The two carries that run the air shuttles, US Airways and Delta, have both decided to start offering certain perks to justify the high ticket price and to bring customers back from the trains that travelers have recently defected to:

US Airways now offers a first-class compartment, a change partly born of necessity, since the airline wanted the flexibility to move aircraft between the shuttle and its mainline operation. On the day of departure the airline allows fliers to upgrade from coach for $50.

US Airways also allows fliers to reserve seats in advance, while Delta has an open-seating policy in its cabins. Both offer free wine, beer, coffee and snacks, more generous legroom and dispense free newspapers and magazines in their boarding lounges.

Any which way you slice it, the travel industry has been hurting in various places ever since 2001. Business travel has traditionally remained strong, which may explain why they’re betting that high prices and perks is a better choice than cutting options and ticket costs.

OK, this is genius: StashCard.

I’ve had three laptops, and I don’t think I’ve used the PC Card slot in any one of them (you can get USB adapters for things like the Verizon mobile internet card).

This little cartridge lets you load up a PC slot with SD cards and cash, safely out of sight.

I know, I know: why would you stick your valuables inside of your bigger, more obvious valuable? Two reasons:

1. You’re going to feel like James Bond
2. It won’t get pick-pocketed

Just don’t do it while you’re going through the security checkpoint. It might start some searches you’d rather avoid.

My friend Tris Hussey noted a service called Parking Hunter earlier this month on MapleLeaf 2.0.

In concept, it’s a pretty cool idea. If you’re traveling to a busy city and you’re going to need parking space in areas that are normally pretty expensive, you can use Parking Hunter to rent parking space from local people who’ve got it (driveways, etc.)

Apparently the price varies from free to “what the market will bear.” So a quick google search might be in order, just to make sure you aren’t getting ripped off, but my guess is that it’ll turn out to be cheaper and more convenient than hunting for parking garages in many cases.

Katherine Boehret at the Wall Street Journal writes today about two online travel services that can save you headaches: TripIt and Groopvine.

From what I can tell, the big helper here is TripIt, and the killer feature is being able to e-mail your scrambled-up confirmation itineraries to them for de-scrambling:

I started using TripIt by forwarding an Expedia email reservation to plans@tripit.com. Less than a minute later, I received an email from TripIt that included a link to my itinerary of flights, local weather forecasts for the duration of my vacation and maps related to where I was going.

Their system apparently works pretty well with the confirmation emails from most of the major booking sites - so Expedia is a go, etc.

It also lets you retrieve information via e-mail by sending in commands like “Get Flight Tomorrow,” which apparently works on blackberries (or, for that matter, any phone with e-mail).

According to the New York Times, Southwest and JetBlue, traditionally vacation-friendly discount airlines (although I fly Southwest a lot, anyways) are trying to edge into the larger and more money-making business travel markets by introducing new perks.

Remember when Southwest added their business select boarding option? That was just the first step.

Southwest is also planning to offer discounts to certain corporate travel buyers, a stance that is a reversal from their earlier positioning, and along with JetBlue, offer Wi-Fi connectivity in-flight.

Regardless of whether or not the ticket prices drop for business travelers, or whether or not there are “business class” seats available at all, I think any airline with in-flight Wi-Fi is going to see a significant boost in business travelers.

Last week British Airways sent the word out that they are planning to open a new section at Heathrow airport on March 27th called Terminal 5 (click link for promo site).

Unfortunately, the site copy and the e-mail focus more on how many passengers they can funnel through than on the productivity environment. I shot a few quick questions over to BA, and this is what I got:

—————————————-

A lot of the copy on the terminal5 web site focuses on relaxing, security, and checking in for your flights. What kind of business productivity options are available in the terminal? Will there be free wi-fi in selected spots? Throughout the whole terminal?

There are dedicated work and entertainment zones in the lounges with computers,printers and outlets. Terminal 5 has six areas with internet kiosks. There is also high-speed wireless internet throughout the terminal for purchase, but is complimentary in all of the lounges.

What about stations where people can charge their electronics? Will there be outlets for European and US gadgets, or just the UK plugs?

At this time, there are no plug sockets for customers in the general BAA retail/seating areas for health and safety reasons relating to the need for all appliances to be PAT certified in the UK (Portable Appliance Testing).

I’m also curious about the “Flight Connections Centre” - most of the time I think it’s handy to be able to look up your next flight’s gate right when you exit the plane, rather than having to converge on some particular listings area. Most airports now have the arrivals/departures monitors scattered around near various gates so travelers don’t have to do too much accidental back-tracking. Is this something that terminal5 plans to do without?

Up to 90 per cent of British Airways transfers will take place through Terminal 5. The transfer channels will be highlighted with purple signs making it easy for customers to connect from one flight to another. An underground track transit system has been installed throughout Terminal 5 to transfer customers between the buildings. All passengers connecting through Heathrow Terminal 5 will be directed to the Flight Connections Center located at the center of the terminal building, just a short walk from the gate. In most instances you’ll simply have your boarding pass scanned, before proceeding through security and into our spacious departure lounge ready to board your next flight.

—————————————-

I’ve griped about it before: I’m sorry to hear that Wi-Fi isn’t free and pervasive, but I think it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing that happen. In the meantime, stick to the lounges I guess.

And if you’re curious about the BA highlights, this is according to the e-mail I got:

Key highlights:

* With 96 self-service kiosks and 140 customer service desks, customers will experience little to no queues. Passengers will be through security in less than 10 minutes.
* The layover experience will be far superior with 112 retail stores and restaurants– the largest retail offering of any UK airport– among other amenities.
* The terminal will be capable of handling 30 million customers a year and will have one of the most advanced baggage systems in the world, capable of handling at 12,000 bags per hour at up to 30km per hour. This is possible through the unique system which recognizes where the bags are against the clock, allowing late running bags, in particular transfer bags to be delivered right to the aircraft side by the baggage system. No other major airport has such a system.
* The largest airport lounge complex in the world is made up of six lounges to accommodate 2,500 passengers. They will be available for British Airways’ premium customers and will feature a host of luxurious facilities including a gold leaf bar, private cabanas and Elemis travel spas.

I have often wondered exactly how crushed things end up in the hold where my checked baggage goes.

I’ve done the usual bubble-wrap, packing paper, and soft clothes tricks in order to keep things alive during my trips, but they always take up a bunch of extra space and require a bunch of extra effort.

Which is why these micro cases look so intriguing. Look at what the promo copy on the site has to say:

The Pelican Micro Case Series™ is perfect for your cell phones, PDA’s, pagers and other personal gadgets and items. The new Micro Case Series are crushproof (withstands up to a 5,000 lb. Truck), watertight and have an automatic purge valve. Cases come standard with an impact absorbing inner liner.

I’m not sure that I’ll be checking my cell phone or PDA (OK, I have an iPhone now so they’re the same thing) anytime soon, but for a second camera, mouse, flash drive reader, or any other type of breakable electronics, It’d be nice to know that they’d have to find a truck weighing more than 5,000lb in order to crush it.

The New York Times reported on the 19th that US Airways has decided to stop crediting the industry-standard minimum 500 frequent flier miles for its Dividend Miles program:

The change affects passengers who fly short-haul trips of less than 500 miles, including those who use the US Air shuttle between New York and Boston and Washington. Under the previous policy, passengers were awarded a minimum credit of 500 miles a flight, which is standard practice in major airlines’ frequent-flier programs.

In other words, if you’re shuttling on short business flights and racking up 500 miles a piece, you’re no longer going to be able to do that with US Airways.

The airline has also decided to charge a $25 “quick-ticketing fee” for anyone who uses miles to purchase a ticket within 14 days of their departure.

So if you’re planning to use your miles for a flight, make sure you’re planning far enough ahead.

I know I’ve pointed to one of Kevin Kelly’s “cool tools,” before, but this one also deserves a link. It’s a Balikbayan Box Cover, which is essentially a giant, zippered canvas bag designed to wrap around a 20″ x 20″ x 20″ box:

Why do you care for traveling? Kevin shares:

The beauty of the box cover is that after TSA officials inspect and reseal your box, they can zip up the top flap on the bag closed and your box is further protected from re-opening. The bag also helps guard your box (and its contents) from rough airline baggage handling.

If you’re packing food (or just packing in a box, I guess), it could turn out to be pretty handy. The Balikbayan Gear site has a few more tips on how to effectively pack your box:

1. Pack the heavy items on the bottom first. This includes your canned goods, books, or other flat paper products that can serve as a strong base for the rest of your cargo.

2. Wrap the breakables with your clothes or any other soft material that can take the impact off those perfume bottles.

3. Stuff all empty containers with other items. If you are taking a bowl home, make sure you put something inside it to save precious space.

There’s tons more, but you should go read ‘em over there.

Apparently the two airlines have decided to fit their new B777’s with 10 seats across each row instead of the 9 seats that have existed in the past.

Where does the room for extra seats come from? Business Traveller Magazine tells us:

This new configuration for the B777 is controversial, because although the B747 and the Airbus A380 also feature ten-across seating, they have wider cabins. A B777 has a width of 5.86 metres, whereas the B747 is 6.10 metres wide. On that basis, the A380’s cabin is positively luxurious, with a width of 6.58 metres.

What it means is that passengers occupying a ten-across layout on the B777 will find they have less elbowroom and narrower aisles. Indeed it means that it will be almost impossible for two people to pass each other when moving along the aisle.

Apparently neither airline has yet decided whether or not to retrofit their existing B777’s. I hope that they do not.

Business Travel Online reported Friday that BA and Virgin owe US and UK travelers for artificially high fuel surcharges. Apparently the two airlines decided to get together and raise the “fuel surcharge” for their tickets between August 11th, 2004 and March 23, 2006.

According to the article:

The firm said 8 million U.S. and U.K. customers are entitled to cash settlements. Through the settlement announced today, British Airways and Virgin are making available a total of $59 million for U.S. passengers and £73.5 million for U.K. passengers who were subject to fuel surcharges paid during the timeframe.

The details on how you get cash back are a bit muddy given that a lot of business travelers pay for tickets a lot of different ways (though a central office, personal reimbursement, etc).

The firm handling the case, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, said they would launch a web site to help people figure out the details. It’s not live yet, but when it is, it should be here.

[ Update: It turns out they decided to put the site here instead. ]

I don’t think I’ve ever actually tuned in to the pilot chatter channel on any of my flights. In fact, it’s been years since I plugged my headphones into the seats instead of my iPod or my laptop. Between the two of them I’ve got music I like better and movies I actually want to see.

But there are plenty of people who enjoy tuning in to the pilot/control tower chatter through the channels built in to the seats. According to the Wall Street Journal, it turns out you sometimes get some useful information out of it:

Listening to air-traffic control communications while flying across the country on United Airlines, Hugh Coppen heard the flight’s captain receive a warning of turbulence ahead. A seasoned traveler, Mr. Coppen acted quickly before the captain alerted passengers. “I knew to run to the bathroom, because you may not be able to go for the next hour,” he said.

I’m not sure it’s worth it to me, given that I don’t care too much myself about pilot chatter, to listen the whole flight just to make sure I use the bathroom at the opportune moment.

But if you’re not otherwise using your ears, it might be a useful way to keep tabs on your bathroom breaks.

I discovered this list of tips for reducing the amount of luggage you need to carry with you because they linked to me. So with a little reciprocal linkage, I’ll point you to their list:

* Bring One Pair Of Tennis Shoes - …and keep them on your feet. Shoes are one of the biggest bag space hogs and heavy at that. Wear a single multi-purpose pair that will be easy on your feet - preferably in black to help you blend in.
o If you must bring an extra pair (or heavens two), tie them by the laces to your carry on.
* Buy A Sturdy Multi-Pocketed Backpack - Very obvious, but don’t just bring your old Jansport from school with you. One large pocket isn’t very efficient since you’ll be packing both small and large items. Also, school bags tend to have thin material and tear easily.
o I recommend the Wenger Swiss line of travel bags.

And so on. If you’re like me: male, and incapable of packing luggage efficiently, the list may well be worth a read through.

I rock and roll with a 15″ MacBook Pro, which means a couple of things. It means I have a full-size keyboard wherever I go. It means I have a nice giant screen, and a big, powerful CPU for on-the-fly video editing or whatever else I need.

It also means that I have trouble opening my laptop all the way on plane flights when people lean their chairs back.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who opts to travel with a full-size laptop, and we all know that in a lot of airplanes, that click-shooop of the seatback in front of you sliding backwards is the kiss of doom for your in-flight laptop time.

Apparently this is called Airline Laptop Syndrome by some (ganked my hilarious image from this link).

Suddenly, you’ve got less than half the space you had before, and if you want any chance of seeing your screen at all, you’ll have to balance your computer in an odd upright-V position and hope you don’t fly through any turbulence.

So if I’m getting settled in on a flight where I plan to need my laptop, I’ll sometimes jam my knees into the bottom of the seatback in front of me just after takeoff.

Most people never ask the person behind them if it’s OK to lean backwards (which I find interesting) — they just go ahead and do it. But if you’ve got your knees nestled firmly up against the chair, that seatback is not going to flop backwards like they expect it to.

Usually they’ll try once or twice, and then give up. Voilá! Productivity space.

Apparently last week I missed the fact that United decided to add a $25 fee on the second checked bag for travelers with non-refundable advance purchase tickets (most people).

Personally, I tend to travel with one checked bag, and I know a lot of business travelers will shove bags into the overhead bins for the sake of expediency and not losing their luggage.

But be warned: if you’re packing some serious equipment and you need two check bags, United may not be your best answer.

There’s a piece in the NYT Travel section today about the difficulties many business travelers face when trying to make connecting flights:

The noon flight was overbooked, and the agent asked for volunteers who would accept a $400 travel voucher to be bumped to a later flight in the afternoon. Assuming he would be delayed only about an hour, Mr. Marasco volunteered.

But the later flight was canceled, and the afternoon stretched into evening, taking on elements of an old TV game show as agents and passengers haggled over potential prizes and penalties. A night flight had a seat open, but would arrive in Atlanta with only about 15 minutes to catch the last connection to Jacksonville.

One of the tips I posted last week for avoiding long travel delays and lost luggage was: only fly nonstop.

I realize that it’s not always an option to avoid flights with stopovers or connections, but it’s also sometimes a good idea to look at driving options.

If you’re flying in to Burbank on a connection, but you could fly into John Wayne direct and get a cab or rent a car, you’re only an hour’s drive away from Burbank (OK, assuming it’s not rush hour). In the end, that’s probably faster than missing a connecting flight…

According to Wi-Fi Networking News, AT&T has apparently co-opted T-mobile’s deal with Starbucks to provide Wi-Fi access to coffee addicts.

This is a huge step up in the world of Wi-Fi for AT&T, who have previously been off the map as far as I’m concerned. I don’t typically do a whole lot of travel productivity at McDonalds.

In fact, I’ve always camped out at Tully’s when I need wi-fi; it’s free there.

He also adds:

T-Mobile HotSpot subscribers will still be able to access Starbucks locations. Starbucks posted a separate press release stating that T-Mobile will be a roaming partner onto the AT&T network through a side deal; no additional cost is involved. There’s some leverage here, because T-Mobile does have about 2,000 other locations, including some premium airports like San Francisco. Existing roaming/aggregation deals among Boingo, AT&T, and T-Mobile were partly predicated on the airport market, where millions of subscribers to each network pass through each year.

Which I cant quite decipher. It sounds like there’s some possibility that AT&T customers get to use T-Mobile hotspots at airports, and T-Mobile customers get to use AT&T hotspots at Starbucks?

Check out the post for more details.

According to the New York Times today, BA is planning to add a new, twice-daily business class route between London City Airport and either Kennedy or Newark.

The catch? London City Airport has a weight limit taking off. Which means on the way back to the States there’going to be a 40-minute stopover in Ireland to fuel up for the long haul. Not so nice.

The article has some interesting analysis of the placement and pricing of the new flight:

Two other things struck me as remarkable about the plan by British Airways, which already flies eight times a day between Kennedy and London Heathrow and three times a day between Newark and Heathrow.

One is the location: London City Airport. London City, which does not now have trans-Atlantic service, is six miles from the financial district and three miles from Canary Wharf, both home to rapidly growing international businesses.

Two is the audacity of the initial pricing. In recent years, three start-up all-business-class carriers — Eos and Silverjet (along with MaxJet, which is now defunct) — began offering New York-to-London business-class fares that were considerably lower than the major carriers. According to Mr. Harford, the new British Airways business-class service will charge the same as its existing business-class service, known as Club World, between New York and Heathrow.

In other words: this is where BA thinks there’s going to be international business growth, and BA thinks the demand for business class flights to London City is going to be inelastic. Given the recent trend towards low-cost, high-frequency airline flights, they could be betting the wrong way.

But crossing the Atlantic in style? That still has to be worth some dough.

According to the Wall Street Journal today, we’re now flying the friendly skies with the smallest number of fully certified air traffic controllers in years (…so we also use not certified air traffic controllers? apparently so).

The shortage is largely being attributed to the mass-retirement of air traffic controllers who were hired after the strike in 1981, and is also cited as a possible cause for delayed flights:

The FAA acknowledges that shortages in the control tower can cause delays, but that it happens infrequently. To stabilize the situation, the agency is hiring hundreds of trainees and offering bonuses of as much as $24,000 to retain wavering controllers. But the pace of departures is leaving fewer experienced eyes to watch over the skies.

The FAA, however, may actually be understating the issue:

Yet entry logs on FAA operations provided by the controllers’ union show the impact of short-staffed facilities on arrival times.

A Dec. 27 entry reads, “JFK GDP IN EFFECT DUE TO STAFFING,” indicating a ground-delay program was initiated because of a controller shortage. A Jan. 2 entry showing increased separation distances required between planes in Southern California bore this explanation: “OTHER: STAFFING.”

An interesting read, and if you’re flight is delayed for no apparent reason whatsoever, you might now have a good guess as to why.

photo ganked from severed dreams’ photostream on FlickR.