October Insider Travel Tips

I receive so much information daily about worldwide travel industry news, I thought it might be of interest to my readers for me to share some of the items I hear about.

Egypt - Tourists have been urged to exercise caution while traveling in the country. The U.K. Foreign Office advised its citizens not to go there.

El Al to drop Cairo flights.

Violence in the Mideast affects cruise itineraries. Holland America dropped Tunisa, Royal Caribbean dropped Alexandria, along with Queen Elizabeth. 

Travel alerts have been issued for: Armenia, Burandi, Kuwait, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia, and Egypt by the U.S. embassies.

The European Union has decided not to use the naked airport scanners after a three-year trial.

Beijing to offer visa-free policy for foreigners. Reports out of China indicate that the city will soon introduce a 72-hour visa-free entry policy.

JetBlue to offer free Wifi.  Aircraft will be equipped with the service starting early 2013.

The U.S. Department of Transportation fined Pakistan Airlines $150,000 for keeping passengers aboard a plane during an extended ground delay. Passengers must be allowed to leave after four hours on board.

Denver firm designs a new airline seat that slides. Airlines spend a lot of time boarding passengers so every minute can save them some $30 per flight, according to a recent study. The aisle seat slides away from the aisle and ends up on top of the middle seat, expanding the aisle space from 19 inches to 43 inches.  After boarding, when each row is complete, the aisle seat is slid back into its regular position. Loading time will be cut in half. Will passengers be willing to pay a premium fee for these seats, as they now do?

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam consider a single tourist visa.

American Airlines to outsource aircraft maintenance to China. The Transport Workers Union American said more than 1,000 workers will lose their job.

Air Asia offers quiet-zone seating. Rows 7-14 will be a dedicated quiet zone on long-haul flights.

Court-appointed experts say the captain of the Costa Concordia is almost entirely to blame for the disaster in Italy. There was significant fault with both Costa Cruise Line and the crew.

Travel to Cuba is grounded over tighter regulations.

Southwest initiates another fare increase on 400 of its routes, due to fuel increases

Alaska Airlines has launched a mobile booking site for smart phone users which will allow customers to buy tickets from any mobile device.

Maureen Jones is president of All Horizons Travel at 160 Main Street. Members of her staff are experts in business travel, cruises, and all types of leisure.