Roy Rogers said it best, "Happy trails to you, until we meet again." Whether a happy trail or incident-free business trip, traveling safely is job one in my book. Crime can dim a trip to the City of Lights, or take a bite out of a visit to the Big Apple, especially if you're an easy target. The first line of defense from theft in any city is being prepared and taking precautions. Consider the following safety tips:

1. Try to blend in with the culture you're visiting. No need to sport a kilt in Glasgow or don a bowler in London, but consider what's appropriate attire for the local scene.

2. Leave valuables in the hotel safe (and crown jewels at home). Bring a list of your credit cards and company phone numbers for emergencies. If traveling as a couple, carry different credit cards in case a stolen/lost card needs to be cancelled.

3. Daypacks, purses and computer cases are beacons of opportunity for thieves. Slinging your tote across your back is the universal sign for, "Please, steal this!" Wear your purse or satchel across your chest and secure it with a formidable grip.

4. Keep wallets in a buttoned or zipper-secured inner coat pocket.

5. Consider using a money belt or travel purse, the latter fitting under a blouse, shirt or coat.

6. Choose ATMs in well-lit, secure settings.

7. Beware of strangers or situations that could distract you. (Mimes have been known to work in pairs.)

8. Travel light. Wallets and purses should contain only items with which you need to travel. Leave the coupons, library card, car title, and wads of ATM receipts home.

Travel safety can cover a lot of ground, so I wanted to leave you with some of my favorite links for comprehensive travel safety information.

U.S. Department of State: How to Have a Safe Trip.

U.S. Department of State: International Safety Issues

American Academy of Pediatrics: Family Travel Safety Tips

Tom Conway, who never travels without his nightlight, looks forward to your questions, comments and tips.

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched a great new site for travelers, providing passport, visa and health information at a glance. Just type in the particulars of your travel plans and the IATA Travel Centre provides tailored information by itinerary on passport, visa and health requirements, as well as taxes at arriving and departing airports and consumer and currency regulations. The service is offered free of charge to individual travelers. 

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What would a new year be without a resolution or two to toil over? Our pals over at TripAdvisor.com rang in 2008 with a cheeky little list of no less than 10 resolutions for the world traveler.  Sounds like they want us to all behave.

1. Be kind to transportation employees. Offer a smile at check-in, over- tip a taxi driver, hug a security attendant.

2. Have patience. Don't board until your zone is actually called, and please do "remain in your seat with your seat belt buckled until we arrive at the gate."

3. Be environmentally friendly. Turn off the lights when you leave the hotel room and reuse your towels -- we know you do it at home.

4. Wear socks with shoes when traveling. We all suffer in the security line, please don't make it worse.

5. Conserve room in the storage areas. Check a bag for Pete's sake. It's okay ... you can do it, we're here to support you.

6. Become less germaphobic. Shake hands with the passenger next to you. It's friendly, and exposure to germs builds your immune system.

7. Think before you pack. When in doubt leave it at home -- they will confiscate your scissors, you will hold up the lines.

8. Spare us the view at the beach. No one wants to see you in your skimpy swimwear. Seriously.

9. Be yourself and pipe down. Auditions for Borat are closed, so leave the fake accent at home. Also, speaking loudly in English does not help those who speak another language understand you better.

10. Dress nicely while traveling. Draw the line at jeans -- sweatpants and pajamas just look silly.

What are you're New Year's travel resolutions?

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Airline food is as much fodder for the comic as fare for the traveler and even though meals have all but disappeared on most domestic flights, we still like to torture the flight attendant with that simple albeit loaded question, “What's for dinner?”

I should know better by now and just pack along provisions for survival, which for me would be power bars and Altoids. As for my other fair travelers I offer a tip, a helpful site to visit before you considered lugging a larder of Scooby Snacks through security: AirlineMeals.net.

The site is, well, delicious, chockablock with images of airline meals from around the globe and around the block. You can see what you're missing in business or first class or marvel at the art-like forms of many entrees, springing to life through the camera lens of a hungry (or not so hungry) traveler. 

Browse meals photos by airline, but be warned it's a lot like eating potato chips; you can rarely stop at one. And when it comes to garnering the most photos, Singapore Airlines fries the competition with 1243 photos of in-flight fare. Take a look at What's for Dinner? on your next flight.

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Q. Don't airlines have to compensate you if they cancel a flight?
— Virginia P.

A. Yes, Virginia, there is compensation clause, but let's proceed with caution for clarification.

Airlines are not required by law to compensate you for a delayed or cancelled flight. However, an airline is obliged to compensate you if your flight is oversold and you are involuntarily denied boarding, that is you check in on time and the plane leaves the gate without you.

In most cases and on most domestic carriers, the conditions or contract of carriage provides the following parameters for compensation:

• If booked on an alternate flight within an hour of your original flight, you receive no cash compensation. 
• If you are booked on a flight that gets you to your destination one to two hours later, you are entitled to a cash payment of $200.
• Over two hours, you are entitled to a cash payment of $400.
  
  Congress is working to up these figures.
  
  There are three exceptions where an airline is not obligated to provide denied boarding compensation:
• If the passenger is re-accommodated on another flight scheduled to arrive within one hour of the original flight
• If the passenger fails to comply with ticketing, check-in or reconfirmation procedures (such as arriving late to the gate).

If an aircraft of smaller capacity is substituted (for instance, going from a 767 to a 757).

You can find this information (along with other passenger-airline guidelines) in the airline's contract of carriage, which is usually found on the airline's Web site or printed on the rarely-seen-nowadays ticket jacket.

Here's an example of the conditions/contract of carriage as seen on American Airlines Web site.

Bumping can be voluntary and involuntary.

If you volunteer to give up your seat for a later flight, the airline rewards your patience and strong constitution for airport concessions with a travel voucher for future travel. You'll find that the value of the voucher is directly proportional to the difficulty the gate agent has in securing that needed seat for another passenger.

If no one volunteers, then you have the involuntary denied boarding situation mentioned at the beginning, and basically a very unpleasant scene at the gate. (Think Jerry Springer shot on location at the airport.)

How frequent are denied boardings on domestic carriers? The Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report keeps track of such things and posts the statistics by airline.

Between April and June 2007, there were 192,678 voluntary denied boardings and 18,428 involuntary denied boardings out of 150,536,464 total passengers. While that is only about 1.22 involuntary denied boardings per 10,000 passengers, it's one too many if it's you watching the plane push back.

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It’s here--the General Services Administration (GSA) updated National Per Diem Directory for fiscal 2008! (Please, no yawning). Excitement aside, this annual 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.  The GSA auto reimbursement rate is parked at 48.5 cents per mile. 

Domestic federal per diem rates, click here.
Private auto mileage reimbursement rates, click here.

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New suitcase, $142.
Cab to the airport, $45.
Not being allowed to board a flight you hold a ticket for, priceless.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking public comment on possible changes, including compensation, to the rules governing airline oversales, or "bumping." Here's your chance to comment on several proposals that could change the compensation totals airlines are required to provide ticketed passengers left behind.

Bumping: A Brief History
The bumping rules were first adopted in 1962 to balance the rights of passengers with the needs of air carriers to minimize the effect of passengers with reservations who do not take their flight. When a flight is oversold, the airline must first seek volunteers who are willing to give up their seats in return for compensation offered by the airline. The airline may bump passengers involuntarily if not enough of them volunteer, and these passengers are eligible for cash compensation in most circumstances. The rule applies to passengers bumped from an oversold flight that departs without them, not to those affected by delayed or canceled flights.

Bumping: Current Rules
Under the current rule, if the airline can arrange alternate transportation scheduled to arrive at the passenger's destination within two hours of the planned arrival time of the oversold flight, or four hours on international flights, the compensation is the amount of the fare to the passenger's destination with a $200 maximum. If the airline cannot meet these deadlines, the amount of compensation doubles, with a $400 maximum. These payments are in addition to the value of the passenger's ticket, which the passenger can use for alternate transportation or have refunded if not used. There are occasions when airlines are not required to pay compensation, for example, where the passenger is provided alternate transportation scheduled to arrive at the passenger's destination within one hour of the planned arrival time of the oversold flight.

Further information on the Department's bumping rule is available at DOT's Air Consumer site.

Bumping: Show Me the Money
The DOT is seeking comment on the following five proposals:

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With the recent round-the-world escapades of a would-be groom and confirmed tubercular, travel health is on the front page and in the front of every traveler's mind. CNN takes a look at the subject in: "Business travelers exposed to health risks."

As someone who holds his breath in an elevator, the confines of an airplane make me pale with worry as the air 6C was breathing has now made its way back to me in 8D, and will repeatedly throughout the flight. (Appears the gent had garlic for lunch.) Let's hear it for the Hepa filter and staying home.

And while an apple a day may keep the doctor away when you’re biding your time at home, what’s the answer to good health when you’re on the road?

Here are two of my favorite sources of health information for the traveler:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
World Health Organization (WHO).

Be sure to check out Travelers’ Health from the CDC. Look here for regional outbreaks, health references and vaccination information. And while Avian flu may be in the travel news, it's malaria that remains one of the most serious diseases on the planet, killing over one million people a year.

Also, check the following links to learn about international health issues and destination information: Travelers' Health by region and World Health Organization by country

Here's to your travel health and finding out what you need to know to stay healthy before you go.

Have a question for Tom?
Tom Conway, who contends airline blankets are really polyester-blend petri dishes, looks forward to your questions, comments and tips.

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Q: I'm a pro when it comes to business travel, but I'm a little fearful about our first family trip this summer. Any tips for traveling with children.
— Jim B.

A. Jim, I am a bit out of my element on this one. It's kind of like asking Paul Prudhomme about low-fat cooking or Dolly Parton for make-up tips. Truth be told, there was a time when I would arch an eyebrow in silent judgment, praying that the boarding troupe of diapered ones would bypass me, my row, my section, and my plane. Now that family and friends have (and travel) with kids, I'm a changed man (peer pressure notwithstanding). Uncle Tom has a new perspective. Traveling parents need all the support they can get. So what if you've climbed Mount Kilimanjaro barefoot with a Steinway strapped to your back. Have you ever flown across the Atlantic with a toddler? I have, and I think a hike up Africa's tallest peak may be the less challenging option.

With help from my extended family of travelers, here are some tips for traveling with wee ones.

Jim, hopefully there's enough info here to get you and your kids from point A to Point B, from diapers to dorm rooms and in between. Safe and happy travels to you and yours.

Oh one other thing and this is directly from the TSA Website and posted twice.

"NEVER leave babies in an infant carrier while it goes through the X-ray machine."

Have a question or comment for Tom?
Tom Conway, who thinks there may be a business opportunity in travel nanny rentals, looks forward to hearing from you.

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We (Expedia Corporate Travel) recently hosted an online seminar about travel safety. One traveler's question focused on hotel security and specifically the hotel key card. She asked if it was necessary to dispose of or destroy hotel passkey cards after your stay. The assumption is that the card retains your personal information, such as name, address, and credit card information. It's a question I hear often.

In fact, I've even received several chain emails regarding this hotel passkey card conjecture. You know the ones that state unequivocally if you don't forward the email to 15 friends to warn them about the inherent danger of the keycard, you'll experience lifelong flatulence, insistent telemarketing calls and bad hair days for the rest of your life!

My hunch was this was all hooey, but considering the dire consequences (and my proclivity for bad hair days) I sought the expertise of some in-house technical experts and hotel gurus. (At Expedia, we have an inexhaustible source of travel know-it-alls, and thankfully most do indeed know it all.) And thanks to their insistence on using small words and speaking slowly, it all began to make sense to me, rolling eyes notwithstanding.

Here's the scoop. The passkey card chain email is rife with urban legend inaccuracies. (They were mocking me at this point.) While the magnetic card does hold some information, it's usually limited to room number and lock sequence, as the door's lock box is most often battery powered, localized and rarely if ever connected to the hotel's computer system. Basically, there's no need or economic benefit for the hotel to have any more information directly on the card.

I was also directed to an article in Computerworld where staffers tested 100 hotel cards in an effort to unlock the urban myth. It's a good read if you want to know more information on the subject, and also take a look at the additional links to related passcard topics.

Computer World: It's Just the Key to Your Room

Snopes: The Keycard Myth

How Things Work: Security Passcards

Hopefully, this information (like the mint on your hotel pillow) will make you feel better about your next hotel stay.

Have a question for Tom?
Tom, who reminds you that a few careless raids on the hotel mini-fridge can jeopardize your financial future, looks forward to your comments. 

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Ever since the TSA violently removed my beloved box o' wine from my grasp as I headed toward boarding, I've been enjoying airline travel much less.

Fortunately Vino Volo has come on the scene here on the West Coast. Italian for "wine flight" (two great things that go great together!!), these wine lovers are classing up airports with their tasteful wine bars and retail stores.

So far they have stores open at the Dulles, Sacramento and most recently, Seattle, airports. Next time you need to kill some time at an airport or need to pick up a last-minute gift, check out Vino Volo!

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