Air Travel

For children who can sit upright on their own and who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds, CARES is a safety harness that straps around an airplane seat and provides child-sized restraints that attach to the lap belt.

A portable alternative to bringing a car seat onto a plane, the restraint weighs less than a pound and fits in a 6-inch sack. CARES has been certified for use in the U.S. (by the FAA), the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. 

It costs $74.95 plus $5.95 shipping from Kids Fly Safe (800/299-6249, www.kidsflysafe.com).

Copenhagen’s metro now offers a rail link from Copenhagen Airport to the city center. Trains run from the airport every four minutes during rush hour and every six minutes until midnight, with a ticket costing DKK28.50 (near $5.60).

Travelers can use the Copenhagen Card for unlimited travel on public transit. A 24-hour card costs €29 and also provides free entry to 60 museums and attractions.

Contact the Copenhagen tourism office (1, Gammel Kongevej DK-1610, Copenhagen, Denmark; phone +45 7022 2442 or fax 2452, www.visitcopenhagen.com).

In December 2007, Air France began a 6-month test allowing e-mail and text-messaging service to cell phones while in flight (no voice calls yet). Only one Airbus A318 plane is testing the program, and no one will know ahead of time if it will be used on their flight.

The service works only with GSM cell phones. Calls will be billed directly to users by their own providers at “international roaming rates.”

New “No mobile” lights will be installed next to the “No smoking” signs aboard the equipped planes.

China has issued a warning that thieves have been stealing items from overhead compartments during flights throughout the country. The crooks count on travelers not paying attention when someone rises to rummage in the bags.

Police advise passengers to be alert while on board. One suggestion — keep valuables on your person if you plan to nap.

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.)

Travelers on United Airlines now can add a package of amenities formerly available only to elite-level (loyalty) flyers. Premier Travel, which starts at $47 one way, can be booked online at www.united.com or purchased from an airport EasyCheck-in kiosk.

Perks include Economy Plus seating; early boarding; priority security line access (in the 15 US airports that offer this benefit; see website); premier check-in line access; bonus miles equal to 25% of flight miles, and the first two checked bags free.

The website www.skyscanner.net helps travelers find the absolute lowest airfare when travel dates are flexible. On Skyscanner, users do not have to put in a specific travel date but can browse a graph of the lowest prices for entire months, including multiple airports, to find the lowest airfare. The site searches 675,000 routes of more than 600 airlines worldwide.

If you use a mobile phone that can access the Internet, there is a Web application that bundles tools for travelers.

As of May 20, the low-cost Irish airline Ryanair requires that all passengers with new bookings check in online. The airline will phase out the use of airport check-in desks by Oct. 1, 2009.

United Airlines (www.united.com) announced in May that “passengers requiring extra space” now must purchase a second seat.

United’s new policy reads, “For the comfort and well-being of all customers aboard United flights, we have aligned with other major airlines’ seating policies relating to passengers who: • are unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin; • are unable to properly buckle the seatbelt using a single seatbelt extender; and/or • are unable to put the seat’s armrests down when seated.”