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Flexibility key to better fares for air travel during holidays

December 16, 2009 By

Iowans who are planning one last vacation before the year is out need to book their flights within the next few days or face very expensive airfares. Travel consultant Jeanenne Tornatore says you might consider celebrating the holidays at home and waiting until after December 25th to get away.

“If you are flexible with your travel and you want to go during those off times, typically we see that the week following Christmas tends to be a less-traveled week,” Tornatore says. “Often, if you want to head to those popular destinations like Orlando or Vegas, going the week after the big holidays can be a really great time to go and a really great time to save.”

College football fans are headed for bowl games, as the Hawkeyes are playing in Florida and the Cyclones will be in Arizona. She says Iowans can save a bundle on bowl game trips by adjusting their schedules slightly. “Those days when most people are going to be traveling to and from that destination, which for a bowl game is probably the day before and the day after the game, if you can travel a couple of days early and be flexible with your travel and come back a day or two later, you’re going to avoid some of those crowds and you’re going to avoid the really packed flights,” Tornatore says.

“The more full your flight is, the more expensive your airline tickets are going to be.” She says the three most popular weeks for travel this year were or will be: Christmas, Thanksgiving and July 4th. Tornatore says many Iowans delayed traveling earlier in the year.

“What we saw in 2009 was that, at the beginning of the year, people were wondering if they were really going to be able to afford that vacation and what they saw as the year went on was that destinations were really making it a buyer’s market for travelers,” Tornatore says.

“Places they thought they couldn’t go for a vacation actually were within their reach.” During all of 2009, she says the most popular destinations for Iowans were: Phoenix, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Accident prompts detour on westbound Highway 30, in Ames area

November 25, 2009 By

A head-on collision on Highway 30 in the Ames area has prompted a shut-down of the westbound lanes.

Authorities are diverting traffic off Highway 30 at the University Street exit that takes drivers toward the Cyclone stadium. The detour winds through Ames and drivers reenter Highway 30 on the west side of Ames, at the South Dakota Street exchange.  Commander Mike Brennan of the Ames Police Department says authorities are not sure how long this detour may last. 

Eastbound traffic on Highway 30 through the Ames area is still moving.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With: ,

Weather could cause delays in holiday travel

November 25, 2009 By

Winter weather is expected to make an appearance over much of Iowa today, on what’s predicted to be one of the busiest travel days of the year. Chris Hills is a former air traffic controller who now does analysis for an on-line travel agency. Hills says Iowans who are flying today may run into slow-downs, down the line.

“You guys do have flurries and snow forecast for you, however, flights are getting in and out of the airports on time,” Hills says. “If they are traveling to one of the busier hubs that’s expecting bad weather, like Chicago O’Hare, that’s when passengers could start seeing delays.” While the roads may look fine in Davenport, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Omaha, Hills says you need to check on all of your flight connections.

“We’re expecting 60 to 75-minute delays into O’Hare later on this afternoon,” Hills says. “If you’re traveling to the East Coast, we have low clouds and rain showers from New York all the way down into Washington D.C. and there are delays because of this weather.” For Iowans who haven’t flown in a year or two, Hills says they need to bring along extra cash to pay the baggage fees, usually around 25-dollars per bag, each way.

“Almost all airlines are charging for checked bags, but if want to avoid those fees, pack a carry-on,” Hills says. “If you want to avoid extra fees, if you do have to check bags, make sure you pack light because there are weight limits and if you go over those weight limits, the airlines are going to hit you with another fee.” While many Iowans will be enjoying Thanksgiving meals with their far-away families, Hills says if they want to take a taste of that feast home with them, they’ll have to follow the rules.

“One thing people don’t really think about, but it’s important around this time of year is, when you’re traveling back home and you’re bringing leftovers, a lot of those leftovers fall under the 3-1-1 rule, things like gravy and cranberry sauce,” Hills says. “If you are going to bring that home, you’ll have to check that or else try and get that into a three-ounce container.”

That 3-1-1 rule says that all liquids and gels need to be in three-ounce containers, with all the containers in a clear one-quart plastic bag, and only one bag is allowed per passenger. For more information, visit the Transportation Security Administration website at: “www.tsa.gov“.

Filed Under: Weather Tagged With:

Iowa sleep expert not sure naps would work for pilots

November 25, 2009 By

Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration revoked the pilot certificates of two pilots who overshot their destination in Minneapolis by 150 miles. The pilots have claimed they were on laptop computers and became distracted, but many aviation experts insist the two must have fallen asleep.

The incident has raised questions if the FAA should allow pilots to take turns taking short naps. Airlines from other countries allow the practice, but Dr. Eric Dyken, Director of the Sleep Disorders Clinic at University of Iowa Hopsitals, isn’t so sure the proposal would “fly” in the U.S.

“You may open up a can of worms,” Dyken said. “If all the people on the plane know, ‘one of my pilots is sound asleep’ – what if the other person has a sleep problem and they both fall asleep? My thought is (the pilots) are probably doing the best they can, but there are limits to what a human being can endure.”

The issue of operator fatique is nothing new to the transportation industry, but Dyken doesn’t believe it’s been a topic of extensive research. He suggests the University of Iowa might conduct a study involving U-of-I Hospital doctors and others who often work long shifts.

“When are they best at their job? When are they safest on the job for both themselves and the patient? A lot of things that make public policy are data or research driven and we just haven’t done the research,” Dyken said. “We really don’t know how much you can push any given individual before you reach the breaking point.” Dyken tells his patients that they should try to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night.

“The statistics show that if you get much less than 7 or much more than 9, you probably have some other sleep related problems, health-related pathologies, that lead to early death and health related issues,” Dyken said. The Northwest Airlines Flight 188 from San Diego, California to Minneapolis on October 21 included 144 passengers. The pilots landed the plane safely, but over one hour late in Minneapolis. Dyken made his comments on the Iowa Public Radio program “Talk of Iowa.”

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Human Interest Tagged With:

Thanksgiving holiday travel expected to be up

November 20, 2009 By

After several consecutive drops in the number of travelers on holidays this year, the forecast calls for a turn-around during the Thanksgiving weekend. Rose White, spokeswoman for Triple-A Iowa, says many people who held off on taking trips during the past several months will be hitting the road in the upcoming week.

Triple-A projects 38.4-million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home during the Thanksgiving weekend, an increase of 1.4-percent from last Thanksgiving. Most of those travelers, about 86-percent, will be in cars. About 2.3-million people will fly, while the rest will be going by bus, train or ship. White says the expected increase in travelers for this holiday isn’t considered much of a surprise, given how far the number fell a year ago.

White says, “The increase in travel is welcome news because if we look back to the other major holidays over the summer period, including Memorial Day, Labor Day and July 4th, travel had been down.” She says Thanksgiving travel last year had fallen 25-percent from 2007, due to the financial and housing crisis.

White says this year’s expected travel boost reflects an improvement in consumer confidence from a year ago and a growing sense that the worst of the global economic crisis is behind us. White says motor vehicle traffic for the holiday is expected to rise compared to 2008, despite the fact gasoline is much more expensive than a year ago.

She says travelers across Iowa can expect to pay $2.59 a gallon for self service unleaded. That’s up quite a bit from last year, when gas prices in Iowa averaged $1.94 a gallon. The national average is $2.63 a gallon, up from $2.06 a year ago.

Filed Under: Human Interest Tagged With: ,

Report says tourism impact on state increased in 2008

October 22, 2009 By

The latest survey says the impact of tourism dollars on the state moved up to $6.4 billion in 2008. Iowa Tourism Office Manager, Nancy Landess, released the latest numbers at the annual tourism conference being held this year in Tama. Landess says they saw a 2.2% increase in the tourism impact in 2008 over 2007. She says that’s “very encouraging” because of the impact of the a harsh winter, high gas prices, the floods in 2008, and the economy in general.

Landess says things like “staycations” are more popular now. Landess says it’s a trend for people to stay closer to home and see attractions in their state. She says promotions such as the one with the Iowa Lottery are leading to good numbers so far this year for tourism and she expects the up trend to continue. Landess says promoting the attractions is key to getting people’s attention.

“Keeping Iowa top of mind is certainly very important, they don’t just wake up and think they are going to go somewhere in the state,” Landess says. She says people have to be aware of the places to go, so they are thinking about staying in the state when they take a trip. Landess says the state budget cuts will leave them with less money to promote attractions, and that’s one of the issue they’re discussing at the tourism conference.

She says forming partnerships to pool state resources with the industry resources will be important to keep promoting the state with the resources available. The tourism report says travel spending in the state created just over 300-million dollars in state tax revenue. It says 92 of Iowa’s 99 counties increased their tourism-generated expenditures. For more information about Iowa tourism, visit: www.traveliowa.com.

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Agencies submit cuts; governor rides rails

October 20, 2009 By

As state agency directors submit their layoff plans to the governor’s office today, Governor Chet Culver is riding a train to promote wind energy.

Culver boarded the “Iowa Unlimited” train in Nevada this afternoon, with stops scheduled in Iowa Falls, Mason City and finally in Manly where he will tour the Iowa Northern Railway Company’s distribution center for wind turbine components that are shipped by rail. This is Culver’s fourth trip on an Iowa train route this year to promote state and federal investment in rail lines.

“The other neat thing we’re doing is we’ll be able to invest in the depots and modernize them,” Culver says.  “…Many of them have been on the decline and they don’t have all the services that people need, which can impact whether they ride (the train) or not.”

For example, Osceola’s Depot is undergoing a nearly $600,000 update.  ”And they’re bringing that historic place, you know, back to life,” Culver says.  The single-story brick depot in Osceola was built in 1907 and renovation of the exterior began this summer.

During an interview with Radio Iowa that was conducted on Culver’s last train trip through southern Iowa in September, Culver said it was important to upgrade the rails, too, so trains can run faster. Switching equipment is being installed along the rail line that enters southwestern Iowa after the stop in Omaha and exits southeastern Iowa at the Burlington stop.

“Because you do have the freight and the Amtrak trains that have to work together: 40 freight trains and two Amtraks daily,” Culver said, “so that’s exactly what we’re going to be doing on this track is putting in some switches — I think four of them are planned — so that…Amtrak can pass the slower freights.” 

Governor Culver ordered an across-the-board cut in executive branch agencies on October 8.  Today, October 20, state agency directors are submitting their plans for enacting a 10 percent cut in spending.  Aides to the governor say a detailed list of those plans will be released to the public midday tomorrow.

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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