Carry-ons

Tidbits for travelers: A travel job & offbeat travel insurance

Carry-ons, Free Stuff, Insurance, , , ,

Laid off or worried about getting laid off?

In addition to JetBlue’s  promise to refund your airfare if you get laid off, here are two other travel-related outfits that want you to rest easy:

In Park City, Utah the Washington School Inn’s “Pink Slip Protection” package promises to refund your deposit if you get laid off. And the folks at SkyRoll are offering to sell new job seekers (i.e. folks recently laid off) a 50% discount on luggage that might be useful for traveling to your next interview.

luggage

And  if you don’t have a job,  then consider applying for this:  The folk at STA, a student and youth travel company, are looking for two summer interns.  This is no “go get coffee” internship:  the lucky interns will get to travel around the world for free.  Along the way, they’ll blog, shoot and edit video and take photos.

Interested or know someone who should apply? The deadline to turn in a video application for the STA internship is  March 8th.

I’m thinking about it…

harriettravels.jpg

Airport baggage scales: are they balanced?

Baggage, Carry-ons, Fees,

It’s natural to wonder (or hope) that the bathroom scale is wrong when you weigh in each morning.

At the airport, it’s a different story entirely. Airlines have been getting strict about charging passengers for overweight bags to the tune of millions of dollars each year.

But last week, the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures did a surprise inspection of the scales used by Southwest Airlines and US Airways at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

According to this article in the Arizona Republic, both airlines got dinged. Southwest “had to shut down three of its 26 scales because they received red tags, the most serious violation, from the inspectors. The problem: The scales did not start at zero.”

Another reason to try to fit everything you need into a carry-on bag…..

Planning a vacation? Start by unpacking.

Baggage, Carry-ons, Guns

Shifting rules and over-zealous staffers can trip up even the most checkpoint-savvy traveler. (Flip-flops on or off? Is mascara a liquid or a gel?)

But it may not be the TSA you have to worry about; watch out for other travelers.

So far in 2008, the TSA has discovered 519 guns – many of them loaded – in carry-on bags at security checkpoints. That figure doesn’t take into account weapons found over the past few weeks. According to the TSA Web site, 29 firearms were found two weeks ago, and 23 were discovered last week.

The most common explanation from travelers? “Oops, I forgot that was in there.”

Find out what else shows up at airport checkpoints and learn about the new rules for “checkpoint friendly” laptop bags in my Well-Mannered Traveler column posted today on MSNBC.com.

(Column illustration by MSNBC.com’s Duane Hoffman)

Starting Saturday: Leave your laptop in your bag at the airport

Baggage, Carry-ons

Beginning this Saturday, August 16th, you can leave your laptop in its travel case at the airport security checkpoint.

That will save you time. But it’s may cost you money.

That’s because you’re probably going to have to buy a new TSA-compliant, “checkpoint friendly” laptop case in order to take advantage of these new rules.

Many travelers probably won’t mind investing another $60 or $150 if it means they’ll save some time and perhaps prevent their $2,000 laptop from falling on the floor or getting lost, lifted or left behind at the checkpoint.

But when you go out shopping, keep this in mind: although the TSA has been working with and providing feedback to manufactures about what type of bags will work with the new system, the agency has not created any sort of official “seal of approval.”

So even though manufacturers are already making and marketing bags they believe meet the TSA’s guidelines, you may still be asked to take your laptop out of its case.

Here, though, is the TSA’s drawing of “checkpoint friendly” designs that might work.

It would be funny if it wasn’t true

Baggage, Carry-ons, Fees

The Tonight Show is on way past my bedtime, so I’m really glad that Terry Maxon at the Airline Biz blog makes a point of posting the jokes and jabs Jay Leno makes about airports and air travel.

All those extra charges and service cutbacks the airlines are announcing are making it way too easy on the Tonight Show writers. From Leno’s monologue last night (June 17, 2008):

“If you’ve been to the airport at all the last couple of weeks, you know the airlines are now charging people to check your bag. One bag, you have to check it now, and they charge you $15 to check a bag, 15 bucks, and 30 bucks if you ever want to see that bag again.”

There’s more….