Air Travel

The Department of Homeland Security has announced the upcoming Secure Flight program, which will require airlines to collect each passenger’s full name, date of birth and gender when taking a reservation request. Prior to the flight, this information will be provided to the Transportation Security Administration to be checked against the terrorist watch list maintained by the US government. The DHS and TSA assert this is being done to reduce the number of misidentification issues.

4 days/3 nights, April 9-12, 2009. Highlights: From Longyearbyen, NORWAY, fly (weather permitting) to Barneo research station, 89 degrees north/helicopter to geographic North Pole. Champagne!/from Spitzbergen island, Norway, guided dogsled or ski-doo tour of tundra, glaciers, outposts. €12,500 (near $18,364) from Longyearbyen. PolarExplorers (Wilmette, IL; 800/732-7328, www.polarexplorers.com).

At press time, Alitalia continued to teeter on the edge of total collapse. The national airline of Italy is in bankruptcy and has been unable to find buyers to keep the airline flying much longer.

Norwegian Cruise Line (866/234-7350, www.ncl.com) now has a hotline for their guests to call if they are aware of a flight delay before arriving at the airport en route to their cruise.

If the guests are already at the airport, they should rebook through the airline, specifying they are meeting a cruise ship, then call the hotline to alert NCL of the changed itinerary. 

The hotline is 800/456-7179 (toll-free) within the U.S. and Canada or 305/468-2029 internationally. The hotline can assist in rebooking hotel packages.

Priority Pass (800/352-2834, www.prioritypass.com), an independent airport lounge access program, provides frequent travelers with access to over 500 airport lounges in more than 275 cities worldwide, regardless of the traveler’s class of travel, the airline flown or existing membership in another frequent-flyer program.

Several membership levels are available, ranging from $99 per year (plus a $27-per-visit fee) to $399 per year (affording unlimited, free access).

El Al has partnered with Mini Israel, a park near Latrun with scale models of over 360 tourist attractions in Israel, to offer airport check-in, security checks and luggage transfer to passengers who wish to visit the park before departing Ben Guryon airport. Visitors can see the park and arrive at the airport up to 55 minutes before takeoff.

AirportParkingReservations.com (Suffield, CT; 800/727-5464) offers a listing of parking lots near 65 U.S. airports. The service allows price comparisons and the ability to reserve a space instantly for a fee equal to the price of the first day of parking plus $5.

All of the parking lots listed offer free shuttle and luggage service to the airport.

Shortening the trip from Moscow’s city center to Sheremetyevo International Airport, new Aeroexpress trains began service June 11. What was at least a 2-hour bus trip now takes 35 minutes.

The trains depart from Savolovsky station downtown and debark at the airport’s Terminal 2; shuttle service is available to Terminals 1 and the new Terminal C.

A train ticket costs RU250 (about $11) or, for first class, RU350 ($15). (Cab fare could cost $35 to $100, depending on the driver.) For the schedule, visit www.sheremetyevo-airport.ru.

In Australia, travelers with an International Student Identity Card, International Youth Travel Card, YHA Membership or Nomads membership may purchase a Backpacker Pass from Rex Airlines (P.O. Box 807, Mascot, NSW 1460, Australia; phone +61 2 6393 5550, www.rex.com.au) that allows unlimited flights on the regional airline for one month (AU$499, or near US$442) or two months (AU$949, or US$841).

The price includes all taxes and charges. The first flight must be confirmed at time of booking, and other flights must be confirmed 48 hours before departure.

Leonardo da Vinci Airport (www.adr.it), at Rome, Italy, opened its new Terminal 5 in May solely to screen passengers of airlines with more stringent security rules. Passengers departing on the airlines American, Continental, Delta, United, US Airways and El Al will go through security checks and baggage and boarding pass check-ins in the new terminal, then take a shuttle bus back to the original main airport boarding gates for their flights.