Subscribe in a reader
Parents say “packing light” is not the solution to hassle-free air travel
Source: US News.com
It seems parents who travel with their children are lashing out at family travel bloggers and Budget Travel online. According to the website, parents are tired of hearing the useless suggestion to “just pack light” in order to avoid baggage fees or lost luggage.
While I do agree that it is often best to pack light or ship your important items ahead of you, I think we, the family travel experts, should come up with a better, more effective solution for families who travel by air.
Budget Travel | Sean O’Neill
An interesting discussion broke out in the comments on our recent post about whether shipping your bags to your destination is smart.
It began with this comment from G:
“Every time there is a post like this, someone chimes in with the useless comment that I should travel lighter.
Well, I travel with two car seats, a stroller, two children, two adults and we travel internationally and stay for weeks.
We actually come with a few empty bags (to buy the great bargains in the US for my children’s feet, especially) but really—a DSLR, three compact cameras, a netbook, a Macbook, a large business required Dell laptop, two Nintendo DS, a bunch of coloring books, dolls and the Kindle (which has lightened my load) as well as chargers and adapters.
Do these folks have any idea what it’s like to travel as a family?…”
Airline passengers update latest security measures
Happy Monday!
News is slow today. I thought it would be nice to post the latest video about airport security. Have any of you experienced the full-body scanners yet?
I have not, but it’s in my very near future.
Associated Press | USA Today Travel
Kidzsack is a creative way to keep your kids busy during travel
Kidzsack is a great way to keep kids busy on the road and it's the sack that keeps on giving with its washable feature.
As a family who travels, it’s important to have the tools and supplies in place to help make your family travel…more pleasant. Today, I’m excited to share with you a cool product, just for kids on the go. Nicely priced, earth-friendly and reusable are three words to describe this week’s family travel product. And it’s written by yours truly over on my family travel column.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Examiner.com | Malena Jackson
Product Name: Kidzsack
Product Details: Kidzsack is a drawstring back sack for kids ages four and up. Made from recycled fabric in the USA, the sack offers four screen printed designs to choose from. It is the creation of Tina Hill, a mom of four children. She created Kidzsack as a way to keep her kids busy and happy as they trek to and from soccer practice, gymnastics and other events. Its sturdy design is multifunctional and reusable. Kidzsack comes complete with a drawstring back sack and a pack of eight washable, non-toxic markers. The sacks are sold in resorts and hotel gift shops across the U.S. and local boutiques and stores. It retails for $20. Prices may vary at different locations. Visit www.kidzsack.comfor more retail locations. (READ MORE)
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 passengers explain
As expected, airport security has been tightened since the attempted terrorist attack. Interesting, I thought security was already tight at the airport. Makes me wonder just how prepared TSA officials are when it comes to potential threats.
Whether you are on a return flight home or are leaving for the New Year, be prepared for the extra time it will take to get through security. Talk to you kids, if possible, before you head to the airport so that they know what to expect and to be on their best behavior :/.
Passengers on the Northwest flight say the noise sounded like firecrackers. I’m shocked to see the smiles on the faces of the people in this video. It’s almost as if they don’t realize that their plane could have been blown up.
Here’s video from AP…
BREAKING NEWS: Nigerian man tries to ignite powder on a Northwest flight
The White House says that the Northwest Airline Flight 253 from Amsterdam, was an attempted terrorist attack and they are looking into it. Apparantely, the man, 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has ties with al-Qaeda and tried to blow up the plane upon its descent into Detroit on Friday.
Family travelers, you can expect tighter security on your return flight home. When you pack your carry on, be mindful of deeper searches through your bags and be especially careful if you are traveling with powder baby formula. You may want to take it out, in advance, for TSA to inspect.
The FTS team will have more updates on Monday, unless, something breaking happens, we’ll bring it straight to your inbox before then. Subscribe.
Merry Christmas!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The Associated Press
A Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who said he was acting on al-Qaeda’s instructions, tried to blow up the plane Friday as it was landing in Detroit, law enforcement and national security officials said.Passengers subdued the man and may have prevented him from detonating the explosives, the officials said.
“We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,” a White House official said.
Federal officials imposed stricter screening measures after the incident.
Rep. Peter King of New York, the ranking Republican member of the House Homeland Security Committee, identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit. There were 278 passengers aboard the Airbus 330.
There was nothing out of the ordinary until the flight was on final approach to Detroit, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. That is when the pilot declared an emergency and landed without incident shortly thereafter, Cory said in an e-mail message. The plane landed at 11:51 a.m. ET.
One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.
The passenger was being questioned Friday evening. An intelligence source said the Nigerian passenger was being held and treated in a Michigan hospital.
All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.
One law enforcement source said the man claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaeda to detonate the plane over U.S. soil.
The official said an official determination of a terrorist act would have to come from the attorney general.
The official added that additional security measures are being taken without raising the airline threat level.
The official declined to describe what additional measures law enforcement was taking. (READ MORE)
Families urged to ship gifts to prevent baggage theft
Associated Press
Many of you will be heading to the airport this weekend, but before you do, consider shipping your gifts for loved ones via UPS or Fed Ex. Baggage theft is on the rise. In today’s article carousal crooks are thinking up clever ways to swipe those gifts from your checked luggage. This post is not intended to inject fear, it is simply FYI.
The Wall Street Journal | Scott McCartney
As travelers get ready for holiday flights, they might want to skip tucking presents into their checked suitcases this year. That’s because baggage theft is on the rise.
This year, Delta Air Lines Inc. baggage handlers were caught rifling through suitcases in the belly of airplanes in Hartford, Conn., pocketing laptops, cameras, iPods, GPS units, jewelry, watches and earrings, according to Lt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police.
Authorities also broke up a ring of airline thieves in St. Louis who, according to Lambert Airport Police Chief Paul Mason, were targeting soldier’s bags that were shipping off to war. Baggage handlers pulled soldiers’ duffels off a conveyor belt in a tunnel, stashed loot and then picked it up later, taking it home under their coats or in backpacks. Among the stolen items recovered: laptops, electronic game systems, cameras, cigarettes, battery chargers, sunglasses and firearms. (READ MORE)
Tis the season for great family travel gift ideas
Christmas is exactly 10 days away and the Jackson crew is very excited, especially the little ones.
The holiday season is a great time to think of adding to your travel tool kit, especially family travelers. For instance, every year we go camping with five other families, and each year I take the opportunity to add a camping tool to my collection. Why not use the Christmas holiday as a time to buy gear for easier family travel?
In today’s article, you’ll find a rundown of some great products that are especially for family travel and some that are everyday finds, but help make family travel more pleasant.
My ‘must have’ travel item my Juicy bag by Juicy Couture . I use it to carry all of my kids’ snacks and activities in. Its huge mouth makes everything accessible and helps me not leave things behind because we just throw evrything in and keep moving.
Baltimore Sun | Taking the Kids, Eileen Ogintz
Thanks, Mr. Bean.
If not for my pink flowered rubber boots from L.L. Bean (a far cry from the first hunting shoes Leon L. Bean sold in Maine in 1912), I would have had awfully wet feet the week I spent kayaking around Glacier Bay in Alaska last summer.
I’m equally enamored of my quick-dry shorts from Horny Toad (www.hornytoad.com) that I wore every day sailing in Tahiti and my Smart Wool socks that keep my toes toasty while skiing. And then, of course, there is my electronic book (I use a Kindle) so I’m never stuck without a mystery no matter how long my flight is delayed.
You probably have your travel faves too — things that keep your kids amused and you comfortable no matter how stressful your travels with your family. Jamie Pearson, the creator of www.travelsavvymom.com, loves cashmere sweaters for travel “because they are so warm, nice looking, and wrinkle-free.” Guidebook writer Pauline Frommer opts for big fuzzy socks to keep her feet warm on cold planes — “the kind you find at street fairs,” she says. Family Travel Forum’s Kyle McCarthy pines for “a netbook with a good keyboard I can write on without running to a masseuse.”
I just got a down “sweater” from Mountain Hard Wear (www.mountainhardwear.com) that crumples into it’s own stuff sack about the size of a fist — and it’s something I won’t leave home without this winter. (READ MORE)
New Report Finds the Best and Worst Airlines for Luggage
AirTran ranks No. 1 for racking up fewer than two baggage complaints per thousand passengers. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s October 2009 Air Travel Consumer Report (which tracked baggage complaints for domestic airlines between August 2008 and August 2009).
According to the report, passengers lessen their chances of misplaced or lost luggage significantly by the carrier they choose. That’s interesting. This is worth checking out.
Travel + Leisure, Sarah Gold
Though it happened a few years back, Kathy Dragon remembers her worst baggage-handling nightmare like it was yesterday. The owner of a cultural walking tours company, Dragon’s Path, Dragon had flown from Miami to Paris to meet a group that she’d arranged to lead on an eight-day trek through Provence.
Her luggage, however, didn’t make the rendezvous. Consequently, Dragon had to mobilize her tour without maps, a first-aid kit, or any clothes but the ones she’d shown up in. Over the next week, in between increasingly frustrated calls to her airline and its affiliated delivery company, she led her group on all-day walks wearing a pair of borrowed men’s hiking boots that were several sizes too big.
“Of course,” Dragon remembers, “my bags finally showed up on the last day — just in time to bring them on the flight home.” (READ MORE)
Yikes! Hefty Baggage Fees to Accompany Iternational Flights
OMG! There’s no getting around this one. Flying from LA to NY, I could usually just stuff most things in my carry on luggage or ship my Very Important Things (VIT) ahead. Now, airlines are working in a way to add $50. baggage fees to international flights. There’s NO WAY I can get by with JUST taking a carry on to South Africa. I’m going to look into timeshare jets. This might be the route to take, just get your own plane.
Associated Press, Joshua Freed
MINNEAPOLIS — You can leave the U.S., but it’s getting harder to leave behind baggage fees.
Fees to check bags on international flights are creeping in and may be here to stay. In the past three months, all the big U.S. carriers have added $50 fees to check a second bag on flights to Europe. Delta and Continental are charging second-bag fees for flights to Latin America, too.
We’ve flown this route before, with domestic bag fees. United Airlines started with a fee to check a second bag last year, and other carriers followed. The wave of international bag fees got started July 1 when Delta began charging to check a second bag between the U.S. and Europe.
By limiting baggage fees to domestic flights, the U.S. carriers left out a huge chunk of their traffic. More than half of Continental’s traffic this year has been international. At Delta, which started the move toward international bag fees, almost 39 percent of its traffic is international. (READ MORE)
Recent Survey Shows Airlines Lost 32.8 Million Bags in 2008
I would think that with the new baggage fees, one could guarantee their luggage will arrive to its final destination safe and sound. Well, according to a new survey, “Luggage is lost or delayed for a host of reasons, including faulty bar-code readers, inattentive airline employees, theft and illegible luggage tags.”
Parents, it’s the last leg of summer. It’s a good idea to pack your essentials in your carry-on luggage to ensure you have what you need to get you through for a few days, in case your luggage is one of many to go missing.
The Seattle Times
Has an airline lost your checked bag? If it did, you’re not alone. A new survey estimates more than 32.8 million bags were lost worldwide in 2008.
According to statistics compiled by the Swiss-based SITA, an air-transport communications company, nearly 90,000 bags are temporarily lost daily and 1 in 3,000 passengers lose a bag permanently.
The European Union is considering action to address the long-standing frustration of passengers whose bags are lost. EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said it could ask member countries to create special agencies to tackle travelers’ complaints about lost bags that airlines and airports do not answer. “It’s a very serious and very important problem,” said Tajani. (READ MORE)
