TSA, JetBlue sued for racial profiling

A discrimination lawsuit charges federal officials and JetBlue Airways with racial profiling for refusing to let a passenger board an August 2006 flight at Kennedy International Airport because he wore a T-shirt inscribed with an Arabic phrase.

The incident is part of a discriminatory pattern at airports since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, two civil liberties groups said in filing the lawsuit.

The ACLU, joined by the New York Civil Liberties Union, filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of Raed Jarrar. The Iraqi architect was barred from the JetBlue flight for wearing a shirt that read, in English and Arabic, "We Will Not Be Silent."

Last August, a Transportation Security Administration official pulled Jarrar away from a boarding gate and told him his shirt made other passengers uncomfortable, the complaint said. Jarrar was told to cover up the message if he wanted to board the flight to his home in Oakland, Calif.

Hotels

Parking boosts costs for travelers

Travelers certainly know by now that their hotel rooms are costing more than they did a few years ago. Less noticed, though, is what's happened to hotel parking rates.

According to PKF Consulting, hotels that charged for parking over an eight-year period ending in 2006 saw their parking revenue rise 51 percent.

Many major hotels have boosted parking rates in recent months, and the fees can add up to a big slice of a guest's bill.

For example, the daily fee for parking a car at The Peninsula New York, which, like many big-city hotels, offers only valet parking, increased last month from $55 to $60. Many big-city hotels charge extra for an SUV or oversize vehicle. The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, for example, charges $8 more, or about $63 a day.

Nearly 4,000 hotels responded to a parking question in an industry survey last year, and 87 percent said they provide free parking. But only 19 percent of luxury hotels and 40 percent of hotels in urban areas said they do not charge for parking, according to the survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

Airports

Security agency stalls new air-pass program