Canadian court rules obese travelers get 2 seats

Canada’s largest airline is trying to figure out which obese and disabled passengers will be eligible for additional seats at no charge after the country’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the airlines. The Canadian Transportation Agency issued an order last January requiring Air Canada and other domestic airlines to make additional seats free to [...]

Skiing at Mount Bachelor, a West Coast favorite

Deep powder is standard issue at Mount Bachelor, a West coast favorite that averages 400 inches of snow per season, just 20 miles from the outdoors haven of Bend, Oregon. Framed by towering ponderosas and crackling pines, Bend is home to world-class cyclists, triathletes, kayakers and rock climbers. The local population has quadrupled in the [...]

Holiday Travelers’ Survival Guide 2008

The waits for planes, trains, and rental cars will be absurdly long this year. Get ahead of the crowd by taking the following shortcuts. Leave your gifts unwrapped. Airport screeners reserve the right to open any package. Wait until you reach your destination and then wrap your presents. You may bring cakes and pies through [...]

Airport workers program stresses how to de-stress

An irate traveler once raised his hand threateningly at Kaisy Belfon when told a flight was overbooked. Another petulant passenger tossed a piece of luggage at her. Such stressful moments can happen anytime at an airport, but they’re never more likely than when people are trying to get home for the holidays. So Belfon and [...]

How to save money on holiday travel

This holiday season, there’s good news and bad news for travelers. The bad news is that fares are high, capacity is down and last-minute deals are likely to be few and far between. The good news is that if you’re the type to do research and plan ahead, you’re likely to save — or have [...]

AAA predicts decline in holiday travel

Travel over the Thanksgiving holiday will drop for the first time in six years due to the economic slowdown and fewer airline flights, the auto club AAA forecast on Tuesday. The travel club says 41 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home. That’s down from 41.6 million last year. AAA President Robert [...]

Strategies for booking hotels on a budget

When the economy was booming, many hotel companies began building new properties. Some of those are opening now, resulting in a 2.5 percent increase in hotel room supply this year, just as demand is dropping by around 1 percent or more, according to Jan Freitag of Smith Travel Research. “We’re going to see a substantial [...]