The airline industry has a lingo all its own: biffy for a door on a plane you hop in front of after guzzling three cups of coffee and a ginger ale; tarmac for an airport runway that doubles as an airport parking lot; and UM or unaccompanied minor for Mom and/or Dad have two weeks of peace and quiet.

For today's vocabulary lesson, I bring you the terms contract of carriage and Rule 240. Before your eyes glaze over and you think about jumping to a more entertaining online venue (as if there is one), hear me out. This information may come in handy.

Each airline is bound to its contract of carriage, the guidelines and rules that constitute a contract between the passenger and the airline. With deregulation, the airlines file their conditions of carriage with the Department of Transportation (DOT), explaining what they will do for passengers in delayed situations and other scenarios.

The contract of carriage is posted on the airline's Web site. Here's an example of United Airlines Contract of Carriage Summary or the entire contract at 46 pages

Within the contract of carriage is an airline delay guideline often called Rule 240, a holdover when the term was a federal mandate that airlines followed in accommodating domestic stranded or delayed passengers.

In most cases, Rule 240 is the carrier's obligation to rebook you on another flight or airline if you meet the criteria found in the contract of carriage. If a mechanical problem is causing the delay, the airline has a greater responsibility to find you an alternative, but usually only after an hour or two delay.

Why bring up Rule 240? I think it's important to know what an airline will do for you in a delay situation or rather what you can ask for based on their contract of carriage. The information is available on the airline's Web site under the contract of carriage's delay section.

Another fine resource, My Travel Rights.com, is a Web site created by Al Anolik, Esq., a.k.a. the dean of travel law. He offers a crash course on rule 240, and provides links to each airline's Rule 240 on scheduling irregularities and the subsequent responsibilities to the customer. See My Travel Rights.com, Rule 240.

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Each week we select a city and ask our fellow business travelers to tell us about a favorite hotel and why it's a great place to stay.

Where to you stay in Washington, D.C. or in any of the other following cities:

Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Las Vegas
London
Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco
Washington, D.C.

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Parking lots as easy pickings 

As the big thaw begins and hibernation for business travelers and bears ends, it's that time of year when we take to the wilds and pursue our well-earned leisure time. (Work with me here.) And with that circuitous intro, I bring you my PSA for the upcoming camping season. If you should go in the woods today...

When Yogi and Boo Boo roamed the woods, a bear’s life was simple: Secure an unattended “pic-a-nic” basket, elude Ranger Smith, and then take a nap. Their modern-day counterparts are discovering that foraging for gourmet goodies at National Parks is a bit more challenging these days. But like Yogi and Boo Boo, being “smarter than the average bear” helps. Today’s park bear is a forager of noted intelligence. Why scrape the backcountry for grubs and berries when a food locker called a car is available in any parking lot.

Where you see a car, a bear beholds a bento box. A National Park Service study revealed bears could discern between makes and models, preferring Hondas and Toyotas as lunchboxes of choice due to ease of break-in. (A Miata is the car equivalent of brown-bagging it.) Take the advice of the rangers the next time you go camping. Put all food items in the campground’s bear-proof boxes or store properly.  If your food is improperly stored, it may be confiscated (by equally adept rangers) and a $50 fine may be issued to protect visitors, property and bears.  

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I think we all know the best things about business travel are the drinks, the "networking" and, of course, the monkeys.

At last, we can finally add rock 'n' roll to the mix. How many times have I wanted to bust out my axe and shred when I arrive at my destination? I've lost count!

Fortunately, there's now a way I can go extreme on the road. DeVillain Guitar Company has just produced a folding guitar -- perfect for the road.

It fits in a backpack yet looks just like a regular guitar. Stairway to Heaven, here we come!

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Each week we select a city and ask our fellow business travelers to tell us about a favorite hotel and why it's a great place to stay.

Click here to tells spill the beans on Boston lodgings.

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With the sun never setting on the British Airways empire, the airline has come up with a way to help passengers say goodnight to sleepless flights: downloadable sleep advice.  Resident sleep expert Dr Chris Idzikowski, a.k.a. Dr. Sleep, is featured on a series of free podcasts, covering all things related to travel narcolepsy: 
Episode 1 - Sleep basics
Episode 2 - Managing travel fatigue
Episode 3 - Synchronizing your inner clock
Episode 4 - The business side of sleep
Episode 5 - Overcoming jet lag

Click here to access the free podcasts.

British Airways takes in-flight health seriously and offers one of the best online advisories for a traveler’s health and well being. Take a look at some other related health topics, and nighty night, titans of industry.  

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1. Faster than a speeding bullet train, at 357 mph this new generation of TGV locomotive set a new rail speed record this week. What country developed and launched the train?  Take a look at a video of the event. Watch a video of the event.
   
   
2. What country currently holds the world speed record for the fastest magnetically levitated (maglev) train? Learn how maglev trains work.
   
   
3. Who was the first President of the United States to ride a train?

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It's baaaack--the newly updated General Services Administration (GSA) National Per Diem Directory for fiscal 2007! (Please, no yawning). Excitement aside, this report is a handy tool for the traveler and Travel Manager. It outlines and offers useful information as a relative measure for cost comparisons and standards between U.S. cities for travel expenses as seen in the links below:

Domestic federal per diem rates
Private auto mileage reimbursement rates

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Why's she's smiling...could it be a cell phone ban?

Q: When will cell phone use be allowed on planes?
— Deidre L.

A. Deidre, I dusted off your question (sorry for the delay) because I've been waiting for an answer myself. This week, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) released a statement that clarified its position on in-flight cell phone use.

One thing is for sure, there is very little middle ground in the debate on in-flight cell phone use. As a man who prefers communicating in person, online or through the technology of two tin cans and kite string, my cell phone love sign is in retrograde.

Cell phones certainly have their advantages (emergencies, accepting dinner invitations, and dialing-in to win something at a local radio station) but I would like to see their use on an airborne plane as it stands now: banned.

Deidre, I'm stalling, as I fear the news will make some grown men cry and others breathe a sigh of relief. It looks like in-flight cell phone use in the U.S. may be D.O.A. or at least on hold for now. Europe's another story.

The FCC, the commission that regulates such things, released a Memorandum Opinion and Order (Order) that terminated its proceeding on the examination of cellular phones on airplanes. Translation: the existing rule that requires cellular phones to be turned off once an aircraft leaves the ground will remain in place.

This doesn't mean it can't change, but for now the FCC is not pursuing a more liberal policy allowing in-flight cell phone use. My unofficial poll suggests that travelers are not too disappointed, many remarking that an aircraft cabin is peace and quiet's last frontier (crying babies notwithstanding).

On a side note, the cell phone ban does not stop here; there's the cell phone and car combo to consider. You may be interested in taking a look at a Web site that lists the rules regarding cell phone usage by country. Fines can range from $22 in Austria to $600 in Norway to $1000 in Poland. Silence may not only prove golden but cost effective in some locales.

Click here to add your comments about this story on our Blog.


Have a question for Tom?
Tom Conway, who warns that some folks just don't appreciate an it's-a-small-world-after-all ringtone, looks forward to your questions, comments and tips below.

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Each week we select a city and ask our fellow business travelers to tell us about a favorite hotel and why it's a great place to stay.

Click here to tells us about the Big Apple hotel you've taken a shine to.

Take a look a readers' hotel choices and comments, and add your own.
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Las Vegas
London
Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco

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