Most of us are aware of the new passport rules which have made it harder to obtain a passport. What many people may not be aware of is how these new rules will effect the US government? The new passport hassle has actually generated some good but according to the federal paperwork filed recently, these new travel rules will cost the government an estimated $944-million during three years which is triple of the original amount estimated. Initially the amount figured was $289-million between budget years 2006 and 2008 to handle the boost in demand for passports created by post-9/11 security measures. But calculations done recently showed that, the passport rules are expected to cost $944-million in budget years 2008 to 2010. The new travel rules have not only caught government officials flat-footed with the astounding amount but have also inflicted high costs and personal anguish on consumers. Image Credit Source: Globe And Mail

There is an increasing number of websites that can help travelers to find the best of cheap flight deals available. Momondo and Sidestep.com are the sites that recently joined the many websites that offer automatic, constant searches of booking engines. While you look for the best airfare, there are certain things that that should be kept in mind. The first and the foremost thing which should be made clear is that there is no magic bullet airfare website. Here, I’m discussing about few of the websites. Travelocity’s Canadian affiliate and Mobissimo.com are the sites that can help you if you are looking for a flight between two foreign countries. The sites are very useful but the drawback lies in the fact that these sites don’t include all the discount foreign airlines, such as Ryanair. No doubt, majority of sites charge a booking fee but Kayak and Sidestep.com are two such websites that don’t charge a booking fee. However, neither of the sites includes Southwest, SkyBus, Allegiant, some super-low-cost airlines and many of the international airlines’ lowest discount fares. Kayak, Sidestep and Mobissimo are the sites that don’t have good flexible date searches, so if you’re willing to adjust your travel dates to find the best deal, these sites are not for you. You can search on third-party sites such as Travelocity and then book the fare on the site of the airline. This way you can avoid booking fees and gets bonus frequent flyer miles. Many airlines such as Southwest Airlines, Skybus and Allegiant Airlines release their fares and other relevant information to any site other than their own. Also, Spirit Airlines 1 cent or $1 fares only appear on Spirit’s site. It can be concluded that all the sites have advantages and drawbacks and there is no magic bullet airfare website so, you need to do proper planning and good amount of homework to enjoy budget-friendly trip.

If you are traveling to London, here’s some good news. You won’t have to wait in long lines anymore for a cab to take you to your nearest hotel. The London city airport has launched a service called hotel shuttle service, which will take you to your hotel right away! The hotels taking part in the service are Ramada, Holiday Inn, Ibis, Yatch, Marriott, Hilton and a few others. The guests of these hotels will be entitled to the airport shuttle service which will pick them up and drop them off to and from hotels/airports. The price will be fixed. The fares start from pound 1. The service will be available starting October 8th. These fixed price and fixed departures will run between hotel and airports for every thirty minutes. The hours of operation are: 06:00 to 22:00 BST between Monday and Friday, 06:00 to 13:00 BST on Saturday and 12:30 to 22:00 BST on Sunday. I think this is a pretty cool service. This kind of legitimate service lets passengers avoid the fraudulent and misleading cab drivers who can charge extra just to drop the passenger off at their respective hotels. Hopefully, all major airports throughout the world will run similar service like these.

If you’ve seen the lines outside you passport offices, you’ll realize that yes, the new passport rules are affecting a lot of people. The new security rules have swamped offices and infuriated the would-be travelers. Prior to new security laws about one in five U.S. citizens had passports. This year, the figure is already approaching one in four and is expected to increase in the coming years. The surge in applications led to the massive delay in processing passports. The regular passport applications that generally took six weeks to deliver to the applicant were delayed by as much as 12 weeks or more. To adjust the higher levels of demand and tackle the mountain of paperwork, the State Department is planning to hire 800 new workers (double the current passport staff). Also, changes have been made in wait time for the pricier, faster service. These changes are expected to increase the production of passports in the coming years, which will reduce the wait time for regular passport applications. The demand for passports is expected to increase by next year with new travel rules. The State Department and travelers are already facing so many problems with new travel rules that went into affect this year. I wonder what will happen with the next wave of travel rules. Source: MSNBC

Well-known for in-flight entertainment, Australia’s largest airline Qantas plans to expand its operations in New Zealand and offer new business services, as competition for air travel on domestic routes intensifies. It plans to beef up its domestic service by providing free alcohol and food on domestic flights. There are further plans to re-start a Wellington-to-Christchurch service, add another Boeing 737 to its New Zealand domestic fleet and invest at least $3 million to upgrade its domestic club lounges in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. The airline will also enhance its electronic check-in scheme and introduce radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to allow rapid check in of bags. Business and frequent fliers will be the major beneficiaries as the airline upgrades the domestic flight services by introducing improved lounges, electronic check-in and better in-flight services, more legroom, complimentary newspapers and a free bar service. Image Credit Source: Stuff

Do you think Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has gone too far in security checks at the airports? If yes, then wait I’ve yet another news for you. TSA now plans to expand its use of screening machines that look under passengers’ clothing for hidden weapons. New York’s Kennedy and Los Angeles International airports and Phoenix Sky Harbor will test backscatter X-ray machines that create anatomical images using low-intensity millimeter waves to scan passengers’ bodies. Though the scanning machines can screen bodies of passengers but TSA officials assured that striking balance between privacy and security will maintained and that private concerns will not be violated. The scanning images will use software that will blur images of passenger’s bodies and only weapons will be visible and the machines will not be used for all passengers but will be used voluntarily for passengers who are pulled aside for extra screening beyond a metal detector. Also, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport is using millimeter-wave machine by L-3 Communications and plans to start operation in Phoenix this month. The additional X-ray machines will also be started in coming months. Source: USA Today

Airports across the country will soon get better bag screening equipment to scan carry-on bags at security check-points. In a bid to upgrade security, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to replace the old X-ray machines with new high-powered X-ray machines. The advanced technology X-ray machines aim to counter a major threat to aviation by photographing bags from two angles instead of one and showing the images on side-by-side screens. TSA has already started testing the new machines at three airports in US and the tests at these major airports will determine how many machines TSA will buy but for now the agency plans to buy 500 of the machines for major airports starting this fall. It is anticipated that these advanced technology X-ray machines will make the security check speedier. Source: USA Today

In a big blow to Zimbabwe, the British Airways (BA) has decided to stop its flights from UK to the southern African nation next month due to increasing losses on the route in the wake of Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis under the leadership of current president Robert Mugabe. In a statement, the British Airways has confirmed that its flights between Harare and London would stop on October 28. This has further deepened Zimbabwe’s international isolation. Steve Harrison, British Airways commercial manager for southern Africa expressed, The economic situation in Zimbabwe has contributed to a decline in market demand. The withdrawal of Harare flights is for commercial reasons as it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify our operation. With this assertion, British Airways has joined with other leading airlines such as Qantas, Air France/KLM and TAP Portugal to pullout its flights from the troubled southern African country. Zimbabwe is facing acute shortage of fuel which has led foreign airlines to bring in fuel by road and refuel its planes in neighboring countries. Under Robert Mugabe’s leadership, the economy of Zimbabwe declined from one of the strongest in Africa to one of the weakest. Inflation has increased by 7,000 percent with industrial sector is in a precarious state and agricultural output is steadily falling. Image:

The ritual of making sacrifices in order to please Gods has been followed since ages unknown. With the world getting technical day by day, we think that we have lost faith in superstitions and so, the same rituals are neither followed nor are they please us. In a bizarre and true accident, the officials of an airline run by the Nepal government sacrificed two goats to appeal to Akash Bhairab, the Hindu God of skies. The sacrifice was made after one of the company’s Boeing 757 aircraft faced some technical difficulties. The sacrifice was made in front of the aircraft in accordance with the Hindu traditions at the Katmandu Airport. The airlines, which currently supports two Boeing aircrafts, had to suspend its services. Officials now say that the problem has been resolved not disclosing what the actual problem was. The tradition of animal sacrifice is common in Nepal. After all, who minds those who can’t protest! Source: MSNbc Image credit: Voxakis