Business Travel Tips

Aircell, a leading provider of inflight internet, announced it has installed Gogo Inflight Internet on its 1,000th aircraft.

The aircraft, a Delta Air Lines DC-9, will fly today from Detroit. Its passengers will be greeted by Gogo brand ambassadors, and treated to complimentary Gogo Internet access on board.

Aircell says in a press release that “Gogo Inflight Internet is now available on more than 3,800 flights daily, up from just 2,100 at this time last year.  Roughly one-third of all mainline domestic aircraft now offer Gogo’s Inflight Internet service”.

Gogo service provides passengers with full Internet access — browsing the Web; accessing online music and games; sending and receiving e-mail; and connecting to virtual private networks while flying — on any Wi-Fi-equipped laptop or personal electronic device.
(source)

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is clearing up what types of razors passengers are allowed to take in their carry-on baggage.

Basically, safety razor — using the removable blade — are not permitted in your carry-on luggage with the blade. The blades must be stored in your checked luggage.

Electric razors are ok to take in carry-on luggage.

Also TSA says the disposable razors are permissible in carry-on luggage — and for the kind where you replace them with cartridges — with the blade and replacement cartridges.

To help travelers get the information they might need to get through the security checkpoint, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) launched the MyTSA mobile web app and iPhone app.

The applications feature tools such like “Airport Status” providing general airport conditions and delays for U.S. airports and “TSA Guide” including information on TSA’s liquids rules, information on IDs, and tips for travelers with children and those with special needs.

A very useful tool is “Can I Bring”, designed to answer the most commonly asked questions to TSA’s Contact Center about items passengers want to bring onto a plane. Just enter the item you want to pack, and the tool will tell you if it’s permitted and which bag you should put it in.
Here are TSA tips on how to better use the tool:
- Just type the item, for example, “baseball bat” – don’t include “my,” “a.”
- Only enter one item at a time.
- Make sure you’ve spelled the item correctly.
- Enter “deodorant” instead of “Old Spice Deodorant.” In most cases, avoid brand names.
- Instead of typing a general item like “food,” be more specific and type “apple,” “sandwich,” or “yogurt.”

The app also enables travelers to see wait time information posted by other travelers, and return the favor by posting their wait time.

To get the iPhone app, you can download MyTSA on iTunes for free, or look for it on the USA.gov Apps gallery. You can find MyTSA on your smart phone at www.tsa.gov/mobile.
(source)

The Department of Transportation has released statistics showing the dramatically increase in flight cancellations.

The flight cancellations for May increased about 30% from the same month last year.
At the same time, the consumer complaints against U.S. airlines rose 23%, with most of it due to canceled flights.

With the recently introduced federal penalties — in effect from April 29 — for airlines that strand passengers on delayed flights for more than three hours, the increased cancellations may be partly the result of airlines trying to avoid the fines, that are as high as $27,500 per passenger.

However, the Department of Transportation has also adopted rules that require airlines that bump passengers to increase the compensation to as much as $1,300 per ticket, depending on how long the passenger must wait for the next flight, up from $800 currently. (source)

A privacy advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., the Electronic Privacy Information Center, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to block the full body scanners at the airports.

The USA Today quotes Marc Rotenberg, president of EPIC says as saying: “the program is unlawful, invasive, and ineffective […] the body scanners are highly invasive and are applied to all air travelers without any particular suspicion.”

However the program’s proponents argue that the TSA limits the number of officers who can see the images and separates the officers looking at images from the passengers being screened. The scanners also use software to blur the faces on the images. (source).