More Airport Security Lapses

Maybe I'm just dense, but I can't figure out why we all have to go through such TSA-mandated security procedures at airports when government investigators managed to pass through screening at 19 unnamed airports with bomb-making components, according to a CNN report, which noted that "Investigators with bomb-making components in their luggage and on their person were able to pass through security checkpoints at 19 U.S. airports without detection, according to the Government Accountability Office."

According to CNN, GAO officials are expected to testify tomorrow before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "The investigators reported that most of the time security officers followed Transportation Security Administration policies and procedures, but investigators were able to take advantage of 'weaknesses in TSA procedures and other vulnerabilities,'" according to the CNN report continued, without detailing those weaknesses -- of course, in the name of security.

So there we hapless travelers are -- at various times forced to surrender such dangerous objects as nail clippers and lip gloss, put most toiletries in our checked bags, put small quantities in a one-quart zip-lock plastic bag (no smaller or larger than one quart), remove our belts, empty our pockets, take laptops from bags and shuffle, shoeless, through metal detectors. For what? The procedures have taken much of the joy out of traveling -- and it doesn't appear that travelers are any the safer for it.

Thanksgiving weekend is coming up. Tens of millions of passengers will be enduring the TSA game at airports all over the country. I'm glad I'm roasting a turkey here!

Antarctic Adventures Aboard 'Berserk'

I was invited to be a guest blogger by my friend Rosemary Carstens who maintains an elegant quarterly E-publication and an equally elegant blog, both called Feast. She covers travel, art, food and books, which are passions we have in common. I wrote a review of Berserk, a wild tale of three mismatched shipmates (boatmates?) who crossed the world's roughest ocean in a dinky 27-foot sailboat. It's a great read -- and both incarnations of Feast provide great reads too.

Sometime in the future, I might post my review on this blog too, but meanwhile, use the link to visit Rosemary's sites.

I'm Writing About Ski Resorts for frommers.com

This season, I am writing ski resort profiles (called Slope Specs) and Rocky Mountain regional and global resort news for frommers.com. Now that the ski season is in our sights. It is finally cooling off in Colorado, it has reportedly been snowing in the Alps and New England ski areas are blowing snow like mad (and Bretton Woods, NH, is actually open). Despite the unseasonable warmth, the Denver Ski Show drew crowds this weekend, as savvy skiers and riders came to the Denver Convention Center to get good deals on lodging, lift tickets, packages, equipment and clothing. From Thursday through Sunday, it is the turn of New Englanders who can both get stoked and score deals at the upcoming Boston Ski Show. But back to frommers.com. You can see my first three resort profiles online: Killington, Keystone and Alpe d'Huez. While you're there, check up my ski news reports and other valuable travel information on the site.

Dollar Continues to Plunge

In today's currency trading, US$1.00 netted CDN$.96, .6815 Euro, 1.222 Swiss francs and .4580 British pounds. Great for Canadians and Europeans coming to the US but a real budget buster for Americans traveling elsewhere. If you are traveling abroad in the next few months and believe that the dollar's freefall has not ended, you might want to exchange some dollars into your destination's currency now.

Frequent Flyer Programs Compared

My most recent post on this blog, a mere two days ago, concerned frequent flyer programs in general -- and resources for using miles. Frequent flyer programs must be a hot topic these days. Denver Post reporter Kelly Yamagouchi's lead business section story today titled "Miles Puzzle Grows Knotty" with specific emphasis on how Southwest Airlines' increase in Denver service puts another wrinkle in the frequent flyer scene. Most useful is a chart comparing redemption rules, mileage expiration and blackout dates for Frontier's Early Returns, Southwest's Rapid Rewards and United's Mileage Plus. If you fly often and have stacked-up miles, it's worth clipping and saving the chart. If you look at it online, you'll have to click on it in order to enlarge it.

Help with Frequent Flyer Programs

In Boulder, CO, where I live, one of the growth industries is life coaching. If you engage a life coach, you pay him or her help you analyze your life, set goals and, theoretically, achieve them. I'm quite happy with my life, thank you -- except when I am trying to use some of my accumulated frequent flyer miles. Thanks to Michelle Singletary, a syndicated Washington Post personal finance columnist and broadcast reporter on such financial matters, I now have some resources -- coaches, if you will -- to help with next time I want to use some of my frequent flyer miles. She shared them with her readers, and I'm sharing them with you.

Randy Petersen and Tim Winship have devoted years and built reputations from untangling frequent flyer programs. You might think of them as life coaches for air travelers. Colorado-based Petersen publishes InsideFlyer magazine and maintains http://www.webflyer.com/ and http://www.flyertalk.com/. Winship was a contributing editor to Frequent Flyer magazine, which was published by OAG but has been folded in favor of on-line OAG Executive Travel. He also contributes a column to http://www.smartertravel.com/, and according to Singletary, publishes http://www.frequentflyer.com/.

The two teamed up to write Mileage Pro: The Insider's Guide to Frequent Flyer Programs, published by OAG Worldwide. It is $19.95 at bookstores; $23.90 directly from OAG with standard delivery and $27.90 with expedited delivery, and is also the November selection for the Post's Color of Money Book Club. The Travel Insider's review stated, "It seems for many of us, the more we know (about frequent flier programs) the more we realize we don't know." There I am -- waiting to be coached on to manage my miles better." The Travel Insider does take the authors and/or publisher to task for not including an index, but I guess you cant have everything. I'll suspend comment until I've actually seen it.

BTW, because a friend asked me, I arbitrarily selected "flyer" over "flier" for the spelling I'm using in this blog. Why? Because I wanted to. Now, if air travel frustrates you, go check out those other websites and buy the book.

"1000 Places to See...." Author on Tour

Patricia Schultz, a television producer for The Travel Channel and author of 1000 Places to See Before You Die, is coming to the Boulder Bookstore on November 28 to promote her new book, 1000 Places to See in the USA & Canada Before You Die. Not coincidentally, she produces a television show bearing the same title as her first, phenomenally successful book, which has topped the prestigious New York Times bestseller list. She will speak and sign in Boulder at 7:30 p.m. The bookstore is at 1107 Pearl Street; 303-447-2074. Before she arrives in Boulder, the following stops are scheduled for her November book tour (call the venues or check local media for times):

• November 10 - Miami Book Fair at Miami Dade College, 305-237-3000


• November 14 - Philadelphia Geographical Society, 610-649-5220


• November 17 - Howland Cultural Center, Beacon, NY, 845-831-4988 and 845-831-4614


• November 18 - Barnes & Noble, Kingston, NY, 845-336-0590