BLOW OFF STEAM AT AIRPORT SECURITY

In the February 9th article we took a look at flaws in today's airline industry. Most frequent travelers are already all too familiar with those problems. Now comes a chance to be heard (or, more accurately, read) via a blog that the Transportation Security Administration (T.S.A.) has set up. Go to www.tsa.gov/blog and see for yourself. The postings are mostly T.S.A. people writing about their accomplishments, but there's a place to comment, and the comments are often brutally honest. Will this blog change anything? Probably not. But at least you'll feel better if you can blow off some steam, and then the security checks might not seem so demonic. Reminder: Note also in the February 9th article the mention of the Open Skies Agreement, which will soon be allowing international airlines more freedom in flying from any European Union country to the U.S., and vice versa. This should mean more competition which, in turn, will hopefully mean better choices of flights and lower fares. One more website to look at that can lower your stress level: http://www.gethuman.com/ has compiled short-cuts for scores of company telephone "menus." Rather than listen to endless droning about which number to press, the tips in this website will help you get directly to that most elusive of animals, the human beings on the other end of the line. And many of the companies listed on the site are travel companies: airlines, car rental agencies, and so on. This article supplements Chapter 3 in Personal Finance, pages 88-98. Access the text by clicking on the box in the right column.