Be prepared if your carry-on bag won't fit

Air travel

Agata Cieslar, a student heading to the United States, was one of the last people to board the Lufthansa flight from Krakow, Poland, via Munich, to the U.S., and she found little space left in the overhead bins. In fact, the flight attendant insisted that she give up her carry-on bag.

Cieslar protested that all her valuables were inside — her laptop with her research and term papers, her camera, her jewelry. "There's nothing to worry about," she said the flight attendant told her. "I'm just storing it in the back of the plane and you can get it when we stop in Munich." Cieslar reluctantly acquiesced.

On arriving in Munich, though, she learned that the bag was not on the plane: The attendant had put it outside, where it arrived too late to be checked and was put on another flight. Four days later, the bag showed up in Washington, D.C., minus the laptop.

Cieslar and the airline are talking about compensation.

Meanwhile, be aware that most airlines reserve the right to check your carry-on if the overhead bins are full. And most airlines, including Lufthansa, decline liability for electronics.

So if your computer won't fit under your seat, leave it at home.

Bird flu, terrorism, tsunami make tourism stumble

Terrorism, avian influenza and the tsunami are deterring many tourists from vacationing in Asia, a recent survey shows.

More than half of 5,010 respondents to the ACNielsen and GMI Research survey said they are less likely to travel in Asia this year because of terrorism, safety concerns and bird flu, while 35 percent may avoid the region in the aftermath of the tsunami, according to the survey.

Since the December 2004 tsunami killed 220,000 people in 12 countries bordering the Indian Ocean, Asia's tourism recovery has been hurt by heightened fears caused by offshore quakes, bombings in Indonesia and the spread of the potentially pandemic H5N1 bird-flu virus.

The March survey questioned past international travelers from Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S. on their travel intentions for 13 Asian countries. Equal numbers were surveyed from each of the countries.

Thailand was the most popular destination, while Indonesia and Sri Lanka were the least favored, the survey showed. Tourists from South Korea were the most sensitive to risks.

Terrorism fears prompted 58 percent of those surveyed to say they are less likely to visit Asia in 2006, with 66 percent unlikely to visit specific destinations.

Indonesia is widely perceived as most affected by terrorism, followed by the Philippines, India and Sri Lanka.

Speedy checkpoint test is moving ahead slowly

Only 20 airports will be allowed to start programs in the next year that speed trusted travelers through checkpoint security, says the Transportation Security Administration.

The TSA imposed the limit so it can test technology needed for the what's called the Registered Traveler program: a nationwide network of airports offering pre-screened passengers a fast pass through security.

Airports could start the program as early as this summer when TSA begins approving applications, agency chief Kip Hawley said. However, some airports have balked at Registered Traveler because the TSA has not listed security procedures it will waive for people who pass a background check. They found little new in TSA's recent statement that travelers "should receive an expedited and more convenient checkpoint experience."

"We're still where we were before — on the fence," said Jeff Fitch, director of public safety and security at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

"We're still a little short on details," said Pasquale DiFulco of the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, which runs Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports. The TSA won't disclose security procedures it will waive, saying it doesn't want to tip off terrorists. It has said registered travelers may not have to remove shoes or coats or take laptops out of cases, though they still will be selected randomly at checkpoints for more intense searches that include pat-downs.

Airports that plan to run Registered Traveler programs include Los Angeles, Cincinnati and San Jose, Calif.

Orlando, Fla., has been testing it.

Travel ticker

• Cancún's beaches have been pronounced fully restored, six months after Hurricane Wilma slammed the popular Mexican resort area and washed away sand (and damaged hotels). The beaches "are totally rebuilt" using sand dredged from elsewhere, said the Cancún Convention and Vistors Bureau.

• British Airways has raised its trans-Atlantic fuel surcharge for tickets sold in the U.S. by $10 each way to $65 as it struggles with higher jet-fuel prices and competition from lower cost carriers.

• China's travel industry will grow by 23 percent this year to be the world's third-largest, the World Travel and Tourism Council said, behind the U.S. and Japan. It will be worth $301 billion in 2006 compared with $246 billion last year, thanks to rapid economic growth.

Seattle Times news services and staff