Travel Briefs

The Technik Museum Sins­heim (Museums­platz, D-74889, Sinsheim, Germany; phone +49 [0] 7261 9299 0, fax 1391 6, www.museum-sinsheim.de) in Sinsheim exhibits over 300 classic cars, 200 motorcycles, 60 aircraft, 20 locomotives and 40 racing cars, not to mention the first Air France Concorde and a large Formula 1 exhibition.

€18 (near $27) adult. An IMAX theater screens transportation-related films (€10). Open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9-8 Saturday-Sunday. A two-hour tour in English costs €80 ($111); book at least 14 days ahead.

The Transport Museum Dresden (Augustusburg 1, 01067 Dresden, Germany; phone +0351 86440, fax 8644-110, www.verkehrsmuseum-dresden.de [in German]) exhibits locomotives from 1924 to 1993 (such as the Saxon Muldenthal, built in 1861), cars, trams, motorbikes (the first gasoline-powered motorcycle, built in 1885), bicycles, hot-air balloons and airplanes.

It is located at the Johanneum, a Renaissance building (1586) where the Electors of Saxony kept their horses and carriages. Open 10-5 Tuesday-Sunday. €4.50 adult. Guided tour, €40 ($56).

The Flexjet 25 Jet Card (888/240-2108 or visit www.flexjet25.com/2010) provides travel by the hour (in increments of 25, 30 and 35 hours) on a fleet of Bombardier Learjets and Challenge business aircraft. Jet card owners can arrange use of the jets of their choice to locations in the USA, Canada, Central America and the Caribbean.

Purchasers of the Flexjet 25 Jet Card – Gold Edition, starting at $122,900 (limited availability), will also receive a hospitality package to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Feb. 26-March 1, 2010.

For travelers using mobile smartphones (which can access the Internet), Globetrotter SOS, Ltd. (1 High St., Thatcham, Berkshire, RG19 3JG, UK; phone +44 845 003 9943, www.globetrottersos.com) has launched an emergency-response service which uses satellite-tracking technology and is available 24/7 anywhere in the world.

With your cell phone and the service Textamundo, you can get an answer by text to almost any question, 24/7. The service works on 500 cell phone networks in 198 countries, with 20 active agents based in the USA, Ireland, UK, Austria, Australia and Honduras standing by to access the Internet.

Most questions are transport related (a flight’s status or “Need a taxi at Bankgok Hotel”), but you can ask for anything (sports score, weather, etc.). Send the name of a hotel, for example, and be sent its address, phone number and even GPS coordinates.

BoomerangIt (800/226-6648, www.boomerangit.com) offers a global “lost-and-found return service” in which PDAs, cell phones, laptops, luggage and even keys that are tagged may be returned to the rightful owners.

Anyone who finds a tagged item can contact BoomerangIt online or call an 800 number. Boomerangit arranges the return; the finder pays nothing to return the item and receives a reward. 

Elderhostel (Boston, MA; 800/454-5768) has renamed its programs “Exploritas,” though the organization, itself, will retain its original name.

Focusing more on the excitement of lifelong learning and exploration and less on age, their adventures, whose participants are mostly over the age of 50, will include new programs and services designed to appeal to baby boomers.

International offerings will include shorter experiences for those who have limited time availability or budget concerns. These programs can be booked back to back.

United Airlines is offering an introductory annual subscription rate of $249 for its new “Premier Baggage” program, which allows subscribers and up to eight traveling companions (traveling on the same confirmation number) to check up to two bags each at no additional charge on domestic and international United- and United Express-operated flights for a one-year period. (Flights operated by another airline and connecting onto a United or United Express flight are subject to the standard fees of the originating carrier.)

Sally Wendkos Olds, a grandmother of five, talked to others about what they love to do with their grandkids, then printed their narratives — with ideas, how-to directions and helpful websites — in the book “Super Granny — Great Stuff to Do with Your Grandkids” (2009, Sterling Publishing, New York, NY. ISBN 1402757166 — 220 pp., $14.95).

Only a handful of the 75 stories refer to travel. Icons help in choosing an activity based on cost, energy level, creativity and a child’s age, even for those who live far away.

Out of Guatemala City, there’s a popular half-day trip 30 kilometers south to Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano with trails open to the public. After a two-hour steep hike, visitors can get very close to lava flows and roast marshmallows over hot rocks.