EBA has posted LA to Paris Special - Buy 1 Ticket, Bring a Companion for Free!

Been thinking about a Valentines gift? How about this special posted on EuropebyAir's website....Purchase one round-trip ticket from LA to Paris for $628 by 12 January and you can take a companion for free...or any day from now to 14 March....Is it true Romance is in the air?...Ck out this great special....
For more details and information you can call 1-888-321-4737 or go to their website EuropebyAir. com
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The who will and who won't use body scanners

The constant debate of using body scanners is changing day by day....Today France announced it will use body scanners at some of its airports, initially to search passengers flying to the United States. France also said it would tighten security measures at its airports after the failed attempt to blow up a US plane heading for Detroit on Christmas day.

Initially, a scanner will be installed at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris within the next two weeks and another at the city's Orly airport at a later date.

Washington has asked other countries to improve their aviation security technology after the failed attack highlighted US intelligence and security faults.

Canada, the Netherlands and Britain have said they plan to use body scanners. Italy is considering them and Nigeria, the country of origin of the man who tried to blow up the Detroit-bound flight, will install them.

The big issue sure to come is the re-action of privacy issue advocates....Stay tuned....

The debate over privacy concerns likely to impede body scanners in Europe

Britain's government wants to quickly deploy full body scanners at U.K. airports to fight an expanded terrorist threat. Amsterdam's Schipol Airport plan a major expansion for use to screen U.S.-bound flights. In Germany, officials said the scanners would only be considered once privacy concerns are resolved. In France, lawmakers discussed the scanners in 2008, but the idea of deploying them was dropped after privacy concerns were also raised.

The issues range from general rights of adults to fears that children may be exploited. Some say the machines cannot be allowed because they can clearly show a child's genitalia when a boy or girl walks through the airport scanners

Privacy campaigners and children's rights groups say the technology, now being tested at Manchester Airport, violates British and European law by producing sexually explicit images of children.

Ian Dowty, UK legal adviser to Action on Rights for Children, said he believes it would be a criminal offense to operate the scanners or to direct anyone to operate them if they are used to produce images of children under the age of 18.

"If anything produces an indecent image of anyone under 18, that is unlawful and is in fact a criminal offense," he said. "As we've seen on the Internet, these machines clearly show genitalia that in our view must result in an indecent image by any definition."

Others, including a British lawmaker, have said the machine would not have been useful in spotting the explosives intended for use over Detroit. "The machines amount to little more than gimmickry, and the government is going to face a huge legal obstacle," said Simon Davies, director of Privacy International. "It can't identify a substance, it can only identify an abnormality, and the rest of it is human judgment."

At Amsterdam's Schipol Airport the scanners in use there differ from the ones being tested in Britain, and officials say they are being fitted with software that addresses privacy concerns by projecting a stylized human figure onto the computer screen rather than using the actual body image of the person being scanned.

So, the question remains will the privacy issue slow down or deter the use of full body scanners or will airports revert to the profiling system used effectively in Israel……Because it is quite clear privacy concerns and fears that children and adults may be exploited seem likely to slow the plan.

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Unfortunate failure of flyGlobspan

An operation is under way to fly the thousands of people back to the UK left stranded after Flyglobespan, Scotland's biggest airline, collapsed.
About 800 jobs are under threat and unions have expressed anger at the plight of employees.
About 4,500 passengers were stranded by the airline's collapse, mostly in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt.
Finance Secretary John Swinney has said that collapsed Scottish airline was "badly let down" by a company handling its credit bookings. Flyglobespan was owed £34m by E-Clear, the company which processed its credit card payments, £20m of this was for passengers who had already flown.
The finance secretary said it was "beyond dispute" the money should have been in Flyglobespan's bank account.
He added the company would have had "a better chance of survival" if the money had been passed on to Globespan.

Earlier this week, Globespan's chief executive, founder and chief shareholder, Tom Dalrymple, issued a couple of statements saying the airline management continued to be in discussion with a company called Halcyon Investments, about an injection of capital.
Halcyon had been in discussions with flyGlobespan going back at least as far as September, which was around the point when others who were interested in investing in the airline pulled out.

Travel Guard Insurance Unluckiest Traveler Contest

Travel Guard travel insurance company is inviting holidaymakers to share their own worst experiences as it bids to find the world’s “unluckiest traveller”.
Travelers can tell Travel Guard their stories by logging onto www.travelguard.com and uploading a video - or a series of photos - in which the traveller relates his or her travel tale.
“If you have ever experienced a one-of-a-kind travel travail, been the victim of a startling vacation mishap, or simply been an unwilling participant in a downright strange occurrence during your travels, Travel Guard wants to hear your story,”
According to the company, the contest takes a whimsical look at the very real problems travellers face daily, emphasising that preparation is the best remedy for unanticipated travel difficulties.
Consumers who share their travel tales in this special promotion will be automatically entered into a year-long contest. At the end of the year, each of the monthly winners will be posted for a final round of voting to decide the winner of the $10,000 dream vacation. EuropebyAir offers and encourages clients to buy travel insurance..You can get more information on travel insurance and great savings on your next European journey by calling 1-888-321-4737. Phones are answered promptly by a live representative.

Holiday Luggage Fees

Just in time for the holidays, new fees that airlines charge for your luggage have clocked consumers on the head like a giant nutcracker doll falling out of the overhead bin. If you’re not seeing stars yet, try making sense of each airline’s baggage-fees policy. You’ll need a complex decision tree, and perhaps a calculator. Robin Dalmas, Bing Travel sums it all up for you in his Guide to Luggage Fees

To save some bucks on European Travel you may want to ck out sites like EuropebyAir

Continuing its tradition of breaking the mold, Royal Caribbean International is teaming up with USA TODAY to launch the "Reporter at Sea" contest in search of a talented citizen journalist to help cover the unveiling of Oasis of the Seas. Starting today through October 9, 2009, aspiring journalists are invited to enter to win the coveted job of special field correspondent onboard Oasis of the Seas' preview sailing alongside USA TODAY'S own cruise editor, Gene Sloan. Once onboard the ship, the lucky winner will receive behind-the-scenes access to file reports that will appear at USA TODAY's Cruise Log. In addition to the United States, the "Reporter at Sea" contest is searching for journalists in Canada, Germany, Mexico, and the United Kingdom with one winner from each country. Eager reporters-to-be can audition for the assignment of a lifetime by submitting a creative video no longer than 45 seconds at reporteratsea.usatoday.com. The video should showcase his/her best reporting skills and tout why Royal Caribbean should select him/her to serve as a citizen journalist onboard Oasis of the Seas. Videos will be judged based on creativity and quality, as well as the entrant's ability to entertain, effectively bring to life and clearly explain travel or cruising concepts, and articulate why he/she should be chosen to represent their country.

Dine LA Restaurant Week starts October 04. 2009

Culinary, geographical and ethnic diversity will take center stage when dineLA Restaurant Week returns for the first-ever fall run October 4-9, 2009 and October 11-16, 2009. Following the immense success of last winter’s event, foodies of every sort have spoken with their forks and dineLA Restaurant Week is ready to showcase the great chefs and restaurants throughout Los Angeles for a two-week run this fall. Presented by LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau in partnership with American Express, dineLA Restaurant Week presents the diverse and extraordinary talent that exists in Los Angeles. From local neighborhood family-owned eateries to upscale celebrity chef restaurants, dineLA Restaurant Week unites cafes, restaurants and bistros from all corners of the county. This unique gastronomic celebration provides local Angelenos and visitors alike the opportunity to treat themselves to a selection of specially priced three-course menus from a variety of LA’s best establishments.

American Airlines $88 fare sale

American's latest sale offers many popular destinations, including Las Vegas, Miami, New York City, and Orlando. Fares start at $88 round-trip, and travel is valid through late January. Other carriers such as AirTran, Continental, and Spirit, are competing with or actually beating some of American's prices on key routes, so shop around.

Lufthansa buys remaining BMI stock

Lufthansa has agreed to buy the 20 percent of bmi it does not yet own from Scandinavia's SAS, boosting its holding in the British carrier to 100 percent. Germany's flagship carrier had previously said it was in talks to buy the stake and had said it aimed to come to an agreement with SAS by the end of this year. Lufthansa said on Thursday it agreed to pay about GBP19 million pounds (USD$30.6 million) for the stake, plus another GBP19 million to cancel a 1999 shareholder agreement relating to bmi. If Lufthansa decides to sell bmi, as a whole or in parts, it will pay a further unspecified sum to SAS within the next two years, Lufthansa said. It has said it is considering all options for bmi, ranging from keeping the company to a complete sale. Media reports have said that bmi has attracted the interest of 12 potential buyers. British Airways' CEO Willie Walsh confirmed in a newspaper interview this month that he would be interested in bmi if Lufthansa decided to sell the carrier.