 1 packing list
 2 Space Limitations+ e-mailing onboard
 3 Air Quality and Air Sickness
 4 Temperature
 5 Noise
 6 Food
 7 Fear Of Flying
 8 Jet Lag
 9 'bumped'
 10 Pets
 11 Special Circumstances
 12 metal detectors
 13 insurance ripoff
 14 scams
 15 missed flights
 16 'rule 240'
 17 ..More

\1 A small backpack of not more than 20-25 pounds for any trip anywhere for however long, especially on extended trips. Buy the rest on arrival. You do have to carry what you bring...and luggage and what to bring (for business and other dweebs):
 Wear comfortable clothes for the flight, if you can. If you wear a suit during the flight, it will get wrinkled, and you won't enjoy yourself. It would be better to travel wearing jeans and t-shirt, and then change at your hotel. (If you do decide to not wear a suit, be sure to include a suit in your carry-on luggage, just in case your bags get lost.) Also, wear comfortable shoes or sneakers -- you almost certainly will be doing a lot of walking in the airport. Hush Puppies or Rockports are good.
 Carry lots of business cards and keep them handy. You will meet a lot of people on airplanes.
 Carry lots of good reading material. It gives you something to do when you do get stuck in an airport (or in a plane that's 37th in line for takeoff).
 Buy inexpensive but high quality luggage. Good looks won't last, since even expensive brand-name luggage will get scuffed after a few trips, and the more expensive luggage won't last any longer than the cheap luggage. Why pay a premium when you'll have to replace it anyway?
 Be sure to get sturdy hard-sided luggage, with reinforced sides. Soft-sided luggage will get crushed or torn. Check the wheels,  since flimsy wheels will jam or get broken off. Handles should be securely attached to the bags, or removable, since handles that are left on the bags will be used by the baggage handlers to pull the bags, sometimes with several bags on top.
 Buy a luggage carrier or get luggage with built-in wheels. Make sure the wheels are sturdy enough to survive plane travel.
 Make sure your luggage is waterproof. If it's raining when you arrive, you luggage will probably sit outside in the rain for a few minutes. Wrap important items in plastic inside the luggage.
 Carry a portable electric shaver (if male), soap, and shampoo with you. Not every hotel provides these amenities.
 Bring your own travel alarm. Not every hotel provides rooms with an alarm clock, although most will give you a wake-up call upon request.
 Carry the most important items with you as carry-ons. If you can travel light (no checked luggage), do so. Don't check anything you can't afford to lose. Carry at least one suit with you onto the plane, even if you have others in your checked luggage.  Being forced to wear a t-shirt and jeans to a meeting can ruin even the best of presentations. The "two carry-on" rule is widely ignored -- you can often get away with three carry-on bags, especially if one is a garment bag. Carry a duffel bag in your luggage for expansion space on the return, if you happen to buy any souvenirs. 
 Pack half the clothes you think you need, and use the hotel's dry cleaners
 If you use a laptop with modem, include a long modular phone cable with you (25 feet) and a modular jack splitter. Both are available at your local Radio Shack or drug store. Also buy a 15 foot extension cord for your power supply.

Checklist of things to bring with you: [ ] Fanny Pack or Money Belt [ ] Small Screwdrivers [ ] Swiss Army Knife (one with scissors), Can Opener, Flashlight Pocket knives should have blades no longer than three inches. [ ] Camera, Batteries, Film (especially for overseas travel) [ ] Business Cards [ ] Sewing Kit, Safety Pins, Shoelaces [ ] Bandages, Sun Block, Lotion, Insect Repellent, Cough Drops, Decongestants, Aspirin, Lip Balm [ ] Toilet Paper (especially if traveling in some parts of eastern Europe, Asia, and the third world) [ ] Shaving equipment, Mirror, Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Soap, Shampoo, Towel, Tampons, Dental Floss, Nail Clippers, Comb/Brush [ ] Plastic Baggies (Ziploc), Duct Tape, Scoth Tape, Rubber Bands, Small Box, Nylon Cord [ ] Medication should be carried in the original bottle. Bring a copy of your prescription, if possible. If the medicine contains narcotics or other controlled substances, carry a letter from your doctor certifying your need for them. [ ] Washcloths [ ] Umbrella/Raincoat [ ] Alarm Clock/Watch, Earplugs, Night Shades [ ] Padlock & Coated Wire, Compass, Binoculars [ ] Extra small change. A roll of dimes in the US; a pocketful of coins overseas. (Public restrooms in Europe are often coin-operated.) [ ] Small tape recorder or pad of paper and pens, for notes/journal. [ ] Empty backpack or duffel bag. A canvas bookbag may also be useful. [ ] For wet climates, don't take cotton clothes, which get soggy and don't insulate as well when wet. [ ] Clean clothes [ ] 

Documents: Passport, visas, tourist cards (for Mexico and certain South American countries), money, driver`s license, credit cards, travelers checks, credit cards, international certificates of vaccination (the so-called "yellow card"), and insurance certificates. Bring photocopies and keep them separate from the originals, plus a few photographs if you lose your passport. Leave a second copy at home with family or friends. Pack liquids in plastic bottles and then double wrap in a zip-lock bag. The following items should be included in your carry-on and not in your checked luggage: [ ] A change of clothing. [ ] Prescriptions. [ ] Passport, visa, and other important travel documents. [ ] Basic toiletries. [ ] Valuables, including jewelry and cash, and any fragile items. If going on an extended trip, cut your hair and go to the dentist before departing. Don't forget about rent, bills, taxes, and so on, and let a friend know where you'll be.

\2 Space Limitations
 One obvious problem is lack of space. This does vary considerably from airline to airline, and from airplane model to airplane model. If you travel a lot, you might want to sample different airlines and airplanes to determine your preferences. If you are very tall, you may prefer an aisle seat. This will hopefully give you a chance to stretch your legs into the aisle from time to time. Even better is to get a "bulkhead seat": there is usually more legroom in those positions. Be advised, however, that those seats go quickly; it pays to book ahead! Oddly, something that helps you feel less cramped is to travel with a friend instead of alone. The better you are acquainted with someone, the harder it is to have your "personal space" violated. 

Cathay Pacific Airways expects to install e-mail capability on its entire fleet starting in spring, together with access to a multitude of Web pages stored in the planes' intranet, part of a local area network, or LAN, accessible only on a particular plane. . Two months ago, Air Canada became the first commercial airline to enable passengers to send and receive e-mail on their laptops while in flight, as well as surf the intranet. Air Canada will continue the test period until May, aboard five 767s, and if the tests are successful the airline will install the system throughout its fleet. . Singapore Airlines is winding down testing of e-mail and intranet capability at the Matsushita Implementation Lab in Irvine, California. If all goes well, testing is likely to begin next month on daily flights between Singapore and Los Angeles. . Also getting ready is SAS, whose tests are expected to be carried out this autumn. . For this year, at least, SAS is the only carrier using a wireless system, which requires a device called a wireless LAN card, according to Laura Alikpala, director of marketing for Tenzing Communications, the Seattle-based global Internet Service Provider supplying the e-mail and intranet applications for all four airlines.

There are different systems even among the three other carriers. Air Canada and Singapore Airlines will each have a telephone network aboard their planes, enabling passengers to dial up through a modem to an onboard network server. Cathay Pacific will use a broadband high-speed data network, with access through a standard USB connection (a cord used only for data transmission, not voice and data like a phone cord) into outlets in the seats. Each airline will decide whether the systems will be available to all passengers or only to those in first class or in first and business class. . After the systems are rolled out on Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, Singapore and SAS, passengers will have access only to the intranet, not the entire World Wide Web. . "Air-to-ground communication is still extremely slow when you try to download a Web page," Alikpala said, so the pages you'll browse on your laptop will be stored in the airplane, for faster access.

\3 Air Sickness
 If you get motion sick easily, you may be more comfortable if you take some sort of motion sickness drug before you fly. Note that you must take the drugs before you get sick; there is unfortunately nothing that I know of that will relieve motion sickness once it has started.
 My personal drug of choice is Drammamine? (TM), a readily-obtained over-the-counter medication. Unlike Bonine? (TM), another over-the-counter drug, it tends to make one drowsy. I feel that this is a benefit on a long plane ride! Another motion sickness treatment (usually used for boating) is scopalamine patches. These patches go behind the ear, and usually have no noticeable side effects. I believe that in the USA, a prescription is required. Furthermore, there can be unpleasant side effects, such as dry mouth, blurry vision, and one other one that I forget. (Oh yeah - loss of memory.) Motion sickness is caused in part by a discrepancy between what the eye sees and what the inner ear feels. (This is why the driver of a car gets sick much less frequently than a passenger: the driver is continuously watching the road, getting a good idea of what is coming next.) It may help to close your eyes the moment you start to consider thinking about getting airsick. If you do come down with discomfort, one relatively easy but embarrassing way to feel better is to empty your stomach. "Barf bags" are usually located in the pouch on the back of the seat in front of you. Frequently, using them reduces and/or eliminates the discomfort. The air that you breathe inside an airline cabin isn't nearly as good as what you will find most other places. The cabin is pressurized, since the air is so thin at altitude. However, they don't pressurize it to sea level; it is substantially weaker. (This is part of why air travel can be so draining; you can end up with mild altitude sickness!) Furthermore, the air is very very dry. This can lead to dehydration, which can also make you feel lousy. I strongly advise bringing a litre or two of water with you, and guzzling that non-stop throughout the trip. Finally, the air is filled with the exhaust products of your fellow travelers. One of these can be cigarette smoke; while smoking has been banned on domestic US flights, such rules are not followed around the globe. Although it might horrify some Americans, not all countries even mandate separate smoking sections! Another exhaust product is germs. Because airplane tickets are so expensive, and because such effort is involved in making such a trip, people will fly sick. If your immune system is compromised in any way (HIV, chemotherapy, immunoglobulin deficiency), you may well want to wrap your face in a scarf or wear a surgical mask. 

\4 Temperature
 Because of the altitude, airplanes can also be quite cold (especially the floor). I always take a jacket with me on the plane and take one of the blankets that the airline provides. Wool socks are not a bad idea either. On the larger planes, there is usually a little fan that blows on you. The airflow can be adjusted by twisting the unit.

\5 Noise
 Planes are also very noisy. You might not think this is a big deal, but it wears away at you. Consider bringing some earplugs with you. Most of the large jets have sound systems built-in. Many of the newer planes also have built-in TV systems for movies and infomercials. Usually, you have to pay a small fee (generally around five US dollars) to rent headphones if you want sound. Be advised that the sound quality will NOT rival that of a compact disk player: the tapes get played over and over again, and the lack of fidelity can pain a purist. You can bring portable tape and/or compact disk players aboard with you, but airlines may restrict their use (especially on takeoff and landing). There is some concern that the electromagnetic fields generated by consumer electronics can interfere with the airplane's navigational signals. I don't know if these concerns have been empirically substantiated, but I don't care. I'd rather be bored than in a plane crash. 

\6 Food
 Food on airlines is about what you would expect, considering that all the food must be prepared ahead of time and served to a large number of people with very different taste preferences. It is amazing that the food is as good as it is, but still, it frequently will not please you. U.S. carriers are pretty good about accommodating standard dietary preferences, but you have to help them out. If you are vegetarian or keep kosher, tell your travel agent when you purchase the ticket, and the airlines will usually accommodate you. If you have food allergies, you are probably safest bringing your own food with you. (In fact, even if you eat anything, you are probably better off bringing your own food with you!) Be advised that many countries have import restrictions on foods; If you bring food, be sure that you either finish it all on the plane or make sure that it will clear customs. Morley Selver suggests never getting on an airplane hungry. You might think you will get a meal shortly, but the following could happen: 1) Everyone boards the aircraft, then they decide they have to fix something. They are not sure how long it will take, therefore nobody is allowed off. 2) You take off on a 3 hour flight that has 2-1/2 hrs of turbulence where the flight crew is not allowed to serve meals. 3) You do not like the food. 4) There is an electrical problem with the galley and your half of the plane does not get a meal. The best bet is to eat before you get on or take something you can snack on (e.g. a granola bar). If you take two, you may be able to sell one for $10.00. :-) See also Diana Fairechild's Airplane Meals.

\7 Fear Of Flying
 Most people have a fear of heights. This is a reasonable survival trait! However, when coupled with extreme media coverage of disasters, this can lead to very debilitating fear of flying. Furthermore, for many people, not having any control of the plane makes the fear worse. This is not unlike how one usually worries more as a passenger in a car than as a driver of a car. This is not necessarily a rational fear, if looked at in the context of all possible hazards. There are far fewer fatalities per airline passenger-mile than there are per automobile driver-mile. This is probably due in part to the fact that someone else is doing the driving, and that someone else has been extremely well trained, is not tired, is not drunk, and has a backup in case he or she spills coffee in his or her lap. Knowing a little bit about aerodynamics can sometimes reduce your anxiety. Despite what we all learned from watching Saturday morning cartoons, you do not hang in the air until you look down, you can not run into and become part of a painting, and, in particular, you do not go straight down the moment you run out of speed. Cartoon Laws Of Motion do not apply in The Real World. Even if airplanes flew like bricks, the plane would cover quite a few horizontal miles were it to fall. But planes are not bricks, they are sideways sails. Lift is generated by the forward motion of the plane, so the plane does not even fall as fast as a brick. In the time that it takes for the airplane to get to the ground, the pilots have quite a bit of time to search around for a convenient highway to land on. Captain Tom Bunn, who is both an airline captain and a licensed therapist, tells me that a 747 at cruising altitude that lost all power to all engines would have about 132 miles to find a suitable road on which to make an emergency landing. Captain Bunn is president of SOAR, which counsels people with fear of flying. (A friend of mine swears that the way to conquer fear of flying is to take soaring or hang-gliding lessons so you can feel the force of the lift. Windsurfing might also help.) Furthermore, commercial jets always have at least two (and usually three) engines. The chances of two failing simultaneously are very very slim. So relax. Personally, I lost all fear of flying after living close to an airport for a few years. The airplanes kept going up and they kept landing. They kept going up, and they kept landing. Over and over and over again, hundreds of times per day. And never once did a plane crash at that airport. This made me understand at a very visceral level just how safe air travel is. If all this logic doesn't help you, join the ranks of thousands and do what they do: get drunk before you get on the plane! (Note: I got some pretty irate email from an airline steward complaining about how awful drunkards were to deal with on the plane. If you aren't a happy drunk, booze might not be the best relaxant.) 

\8 Jet Lag
 Jet lag is your body's way of asking you not to abuse it by upsetting its normal cycle. Basically, your body is used to falling asleep at certain times of the day. If you go waltzing across multiple time zones, your body doesn't much care: it still wants to fall asleep at its normal time, and it doesn't much care if it happens to be three in the afternoon. There have been some studies that suggest that paying close attention to what you eat when can reduce the transition time; for example the Argonne National Laboratory has published a Jet Lag Diet. For more on jet lag, see Diana Fairechild's Jetlag. Two good rules of thumb: it takes about one day per hour of time shift to totally get over jet lag. It is also much harder to travel east than it is to travel west. Jetlag is a phenomenon where one feels tired, fuzzy, and generally fatigued, sometimes accompanied by dull headaches, due to a time zone change. To reset your clock, there are several things you can do: Stay up 24+ hours and go to sleep at the normal time for your destination. Do not take a nap at your destination until it is the normal time to go to sleep. When you wake up in the morning at your destination, go for a half hour walk in the bright morning sunlight. (If there is no sunlight, a bright light can substitute.) Do not eat right before you go to sleep. Eat a light dinner. Eat your meals according to the destination time zone. Do not drink any alcoholic or caffeine-based beverages during your flight. Drinking other liquids is OK -- some people recommend drinking a lot of water. Don't forget to adjust your watch.
 Things that affect the sleep-wake cycle: Sunlight. Properly timed bright light is very helpful. Turn off the lights in your bedroom at bedtime in your destination time zone, and leave the windowshades down in the morning. Time of Meals Amount of Sleep It is easier to shift forward (e.g., waking up at noon home time instead of 7am) than it is to shift backward (e.g., waking up at to sleep at 2am). Carbohydrates make you sleepy. Protein will keep you awake. Eat heavy carbohydrate meals for two days prior to the trip and a heavy protein one on the day of departure.

Some people recommend taking melatonin at dusk or bedtime (for your destination) a day or two before departure, and continue for a day or two after you arrive. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland at the base of the brain during the night, and can be used to shift the circadian rhythm ("body clock"). Melatonin production is highest in the dark and is suppressed by exposure to sunlight. Melatonin is available from many health food stores (as a "food supplement"), but this may be changing due to action by the FDA. Melatonin is not a tested, FDA-approved drug. It is known to have side effects after extended usage. The drug is still available in Europe and Canada. BE SURE TO CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN BEFORE TAKING MELATONIN OR ANY OTHER DRUG.

Most flights are run according to the time of the departure point, not the destination. If you need to sleep according to the light/dark cycle of your destination, bring along eye shades and ear plugs. 

Note that you can regulate your body's production of melatonin using light, achieving much the same effect as taking the drug.

Or you could give in, and just not plan to do anything really important during your first day in the new time schedule. If you can arrange it, just don't switch over to the new time zone, if you're only going to be there for a few days.

The Argonee National Lab anit-jet-lag diet is available as the file ftp.cs.cmu.edu:/user/mkant/Travel/jetlag.txt 

\9 bumped
 Making the most of getting bumped. Airlines sweeten the pot for your fun and profit

It was a stormy night outside the Continental Express commuter airline lounge at Newark Airport. Inside, hundreds of disgruntled and delayed passengers slumped in pseudo-leather seats waiting for a dozen or more flights. Cellphones jangled; children ran amok; tired business people tapped on laptops.

Finally, a flight for Rochester was ready to board. In fact, it was too ready. It was way overbooked.

"May I have your attention in the boarding area. We are looking for a few volunteers. We will offer a voucher of $250 good for travel anywhere in the U.S., plus hotel and meal vouchers to anyone willing to stay overnight and take the first flight out to Rochester in the morning," a Continental Express gate attendant announced at 8:03 p.m. There were no takers.

At 8:05 p.m. the deal was sweetened to $350. At 8:15 p.m., the attendant did her best Monty Hall let's-make-a-deal imitation and offered $400, plus the other perks, but no joy. At 8:18 p.m. she practically pleaded a deal for $450. A party of six women shouted "Bingo!" and headed to the desk.

Last year, more than 1 million passengers volunteered to be bumped by the 10 leading air carriers, and 56,000 were bumped off a flight non-voluntarily. If you've got the time, the nerves and the flexibility, getting bumped is something you can do for fun and profit.

First off, you'll have to do some research. You want to figure out which are the busiest routes -- say northern climes to major Florida cities during the winter -- and what days they fly from your local airport. Then, the next time you have to make the same trip, book well in advance on a flight likely to be overbooked (you can even ask your travel agent or an airline agent to check the flight to see if it's oversold), and build in extra travel time in your plans.

Likely overbooked flights include those scheduled before and after holidays, afternoons and early evening flights on Fridays and Sundays, non-stops to the opposite coast or a distant domestic destination and frequent business routes, including Chicago, Washington, Dallas and Boston. The nature of an overloaded air travel system means the last flight of the day likely will be oversold. Also, if you must stay overnight before getting the next available flight to your destination, the airline is required to provide hotel and meal vouchers.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's "Fly Rights, A Consumer Guide to Air Travel" at www.dot.gov/airconsumer/flyrights.htm suggests getting answers to the following questions before volunteering to be bumped: "When is the next flight on which the airline can confirm your seat?" The alternate flight may be just as acceptable to you. On the other hand, if the airline offers to put you on standby on another flight that's full, you could be stranded.

"Will the airline provide other amenities such as free meals, a hotel room, phone calls or ground transportation?" If not, you might have to spend the money they offer you on food or lodging while you wait for the next flight.

"DOT has not said how much the airline has to give volunteers," the Web site says. "This means carriers may negotiate with their passengers for a mutually acceptable amount of money -- or maybe a free trip or other benefits. Airlines give employees guidelines for bargaining with passengers, and they may select those volunteers willing to sell back their reservations for the lowest price. If the airline offers you a free ticket, ask about restrictions. How long is the ticket good for? Is it 'blacked out' during holiday periods when you might want to use it? Can it be used for international flights? Most importantly, can you make a reservation, and if so, how far before departure are you permitted to make it?"

TAKE THE VOUCHER AND FLY - The DOT also has rules for people who are bumped involuntarily. Those rules are outlined at the same Web site and in a 58-page pocket-size booklet, which can be bought for $1.75 (including postage) from the Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, CO 81009. Be sure to include your name and address.

People willing to be bumped for the free voucher but still hoping to get to their destination the same day should bring information about other flights scheduled from the same airport. For example, if you agreed to be bumped from an American flight from Hartford to Miami, you can grab the voucher and then ask that American book you on the next available flight, on American or another airline. The airline is required to honor that request if a flight is available but probably won't volunteer the information.

ADVICE FROM FLY FREE - Vicki Mills, at Fly Free, Stay Cheap Web site, www.fly-free.com, tells the story about a flight her husband was taking to Seattle.

"He heard them [the airline] asking for volunteers, so he offered his seat. When he went to get his voucher of $300, it turned out that to guarantee him on the next flight, they had to upgrade him to business class, if that weren't enough good fortune, it turned out that the next flight was leaving 10 minutes later and he actually arrived in Seattle before his original flight. It just goes to show, with a little sense of adventure you never know what good things are in store for you," Mills explains in a section of the Web site about the advantages of being bumped.

The rules, as outlined by the DOT, have been under review since April. The compensation amounts have not changed since they were set in 1978:

"If the airline can arrange alternate transportation scheduled to arrive at the passenger's destination within two hours of the planned arrival time of 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 the two- or four-hour deadline, the amount of compensation doubles, with a $400 maximum," according to the DOT.

The DOT is also reviewing whether the rules should be extended to include flights that are currently excluded -- charters, planes with 60 seats or less or inbound flights to the US. Passenger rights groups are particularly interested in compensation since the percentage of passengers bumped continues to increase. The DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report for 2000 found that 1.04 per 10,000 passengers was bumped last year, up from the rate of 0.88 in 1999.

Bill Mosley, a spokesman for the DOT, said there is no deadline for the DOT's review, although the staff has been asked to make its recommendations in a timely manner.

For more advice on making bumping work for you, visit bestfares.com and www.freetraveltips.com. The Hartford Courant. 

\10 Pets

You can ship your pets on an airline, but you need to put the animal in a special animal container. Flying can be pretty traumatic for people, who know what is going on and asked for it; imagine what your poor pet is going through! NOTE! Alert reader Robin Fingerson tells me that almost all vets recommend strongly AGAINST tranquilizing pets in aircraft, especially in the hold. In some breeds with short noses, they can suffer breathing problems and other side effects. Some countries have really strict pet quarantines. Island nations (e.g. Britain, New Zealand) and particularly paranoid about rabies, and require quarantines that are a significant fraction of a pet's lifetime. Shawn, Ian, Gus and Oxo Jaquiss sent me email with great info about travelling with pets. If you are travelling with a dog or cat, you must say so when you make your reservation. All airlines will allow at most one dog in the presurized portion of the cabin (to prevent barking fights). The dog must be in a travel cage which fits under the seat in front of you and sedated. (If the dog is small, try to get a cage which fits under the seat, so you can keep watch on the pet. Otherwise, the dog will travel in the pet area of the baggage section, and you won't see the dog until the flight is over. The pet area is pressurized but may not be heated/cooled. Get nonstop flights since the pet area can get pretty hot while on the ground.) Cats can travel in a carrier that fits under the seat in front of you. Only one cat per carrier except for kittens. Most airlines will allow at most three cats in the main cabin, with sufficient number of rows separation. Some airlines will charge you extra (~$50 each way) for a small dog or cat. Many airlines require that the dog be given a tranquilizer supplied by your vet. Most veterinarians no longer recommend sedating your animals when transporting by air. If you let your cat out of its carrier, be sure to watch it carefully. Most cats tend to run when in an unfamiliar place. In the US, service animals travel free of charge on all airlines and can accompany their master in the main aircraft cabin. Service animals include guide dogs for the blind, signal dogs for the deaf, and assistance dogs for the mobility impaired, among other animals. Proof of disability may be required (i.e., attaching a harness to your dog won't get the animal on for free). Canadian provinces have similar laws for service animals. If traveling to a foreign country, be sure to check the local regulations, as some countries restrict the travel of animals and do not make a special exemption for service animals. America West and Southwest do not take pets, with the exception of service animals. AA, UA and US all take dogs. US charges $30. AA and UA charge $50. (Small dogs.) United charges $50 per carrier for cats in the pet area, $30 for cats as underseat baggage. All carriers require a recent (10 days old or less) veterinary certificate of health, but rarely look at it. All airlines embargo pets if the outside temperature is in the 90's (or perhaps even 80's). AA won't carry a pet if the temperature is less than 45F (enforcement of this rule is uneven). UA says they won't handle pets when it is -10F. US says they always handle pets except on certain commuter flights. US allows you to bring your pet out to the gate and have it boarded just before you get on the plane. AA sometimes will, but usually won't, allow this. The following is what the airlines charge (1-way) for a pet which fits under the seat in front of you, as of August 1, 1992. $30 Alaska $45 Delta, Northwest, USAir $50 American, America West, Continental, TWA, United You may want to consider using a boarding service instead of bringing your pet with you. Many veterinarians provide this service for short durations.

\11 Special Circumstances

There are some things beyond your control, and airlines actually have some flexibility in these circumstances. If you are ill, you can usually cancel or reschedule your flight. You will need a note from your doctor and to fill out a number of forms at an airline office. If you are flying to a funeral of a relative, many airlines will waive the advance purchase restrictions on fares, resulting in much cheaper tickets. You will need to tell the airline the name of your relative, your relationship to the dearly departed, and the name and phone number of the dearly departed's funeral home

\12 metal detectors

There is a lot of misinformation about what can and can't be safely passed through the airport x-ray machines and the metal detectors. ASA 400 film, when passed through the airport x-ray machines, gets fogged. I know this from personal experience, having ruined a roll of film by accidentally sending my camera bag through the machine.

Higher film speeds will be more susceptible to fogging; ASA 100 film is probably much more resistant to momentary exposure. Some X-ray machines have labels on them that say "film safe to ASA 1000"; I do not know whether such X-ray machines are kinder and gentler to your film.

Nevertheless, film should not be sent through the airport x-ray machines. In any event, the effects of X-raying film is cumulative, so sending the film through even "film-safe" X-ray machines several times can damage it. Packing the film in a lead-lined bag should protect it.

If you're carrying film with you on the plane, ask them to hand check it. When they see the lead-lined bag on the monitor they'll want to check it anyway, so you might as well save yourself the suspicious looks by telling them its film in advance. Supposedly European x-ray machines are kinder and gentler on film, but I don't believe it.

The next time I travel to Europe, I'll run a roll through and see. Many foreign airports will refuse to hand-check film, so your best bet is to pack it in a lead-lined bag and store the bag in your checked luggage. Can airport X-ray machines damage floppy disks, magnetic tapes, and portable computers? Probably not. I would be more worried about the metal detector than the X-ray machine. If the magnetic field is set strong enough, walking through with a floppy diskette, computer tape, cassette tape, or video tape can erase the tape. Although there have been a few unsubstantiated reports of portable computers being damaged by X-ray machines, it is unclear whether the X-ray machines were responsible. Given the flimsy construction of early notebooks, and the roughness inherent in any kind of transportation, whether by plane, car, or train, it's likely that they wouldn't have survived the trip even if they hadn't been passed through the X-ray machine. So what do we know? + A Mayo Clinic study says X-ray machines don't damage floppy disks. + The Apple Powerbook manual specificly states that the machine should not be passed through airport X-ray machines. The Powerbook Companion, on the other hand, states that X-rays don't harm the powerbook. Given that most airports are willing to hand-check computer equipment and magnetic media, it's probably best to keep them clear of *both* the metal detector and X-ray machine, just in case. Do not rest your film or notebook on top of the x-ray machine -- they aren't as well shielded as they could, especially on top. The electrical transformers in X-ray machines, if not properly shielded, can harm magnetic media. Unless you rub your wallet along the coils of the metal detector, and the field strength is set very high, walking through is unlikely to wipe the magnetic strip on your credit cards.

\13 insurance ripoff

FLIGHT INSURANCE PROFITS FROM IRRATIONAL FEARS

Flight insurance (the kind sold at airports) is arguably the worst buy in all of travel--worse even than a full-fare Coach ticket. And it's priced at almost 100 times its real value. When I first started flying on business, I often traveled with a slightly older colleague. Whenever we went to the airport, we always went to a vending machine that dispensed flight insurance. The entire flight-insurance industry was built on thousands of travelers like my colleague, who were somehow convinced that they were at greater risk on a commercial flight than they were when driving on a highway, making repairs around the house, or doing just about anything else. No matter that statistics didn't support such a conclusion. Despite today's outstanding airline safety record, insurance companies continue to push their flight insurance. Although the vending machines seem to have disappeared, you can still buy it at airport counters or travel agencies. In addition, the charge cards that tout "free" flight insurance (when you use your card to buy a ticket) also try to sell you additional insurance, automatically, each time you buy a ticket. What does flight insurance cost? Right now, the travel agency at my home airport sells a policy that provides $400,000 worth of death benefit for $17 a trip plus a $1 "policy fee," with lesser payouts for loss of limbs, eyes, and such. That's $4.50 per $100,000 of coverage. My charge card, which gives $100,000 in free insurance, will add an additional $250,000 of coverage for $4 per trip--a comparative bargain at $1.60 per $100,000. But what is that insurance really worth? A major charge card's fine print inadvertently discloses its real value. That card includes $350,000 worth of accident insurance free with each ticket. And the fine print notes that the card's issuer buys the coverage from an insurance company for 17 cents a transaction. That works out to a bit under 5 cents per $100,000 of coverage. Obviously, the price of flight insurance is an utter gouge no matter how you buy it. I don't know of any other consumer product or service where the markup is as high as it is with that separate flight insurance policy. Of course, it's easy to avoid the gouge: Just don't buy flight insurance, either as a separate policy or as an automatic add-on by your charge card each time you buy a ticket. If you need accident insurance at all, a year-round policy that covers you wherever you are is likely to be a wiser choice than one that pays off only in a plane crash.

\14 scams

Thefts at Airport Screening Stations

If You Travel Via Commercial Airlines and Carry a Laptop Computer Or Briefcase Containing Valuable Material... This is Vital Information to Know It involves two persons who look for a victim carrying a laptop computer or other valuable carry-on' baggage and approaching a metal detector. They position themselves in front of the unsuspecting passenger and stall until their mark puts the laptop on the conveyor belt. Then the first hustler moves through the metal detector easily. The second deliberately sets off the detector and begins a very slow process of emptying pockets, removing jewelry, etc.

While this is happening, the first hustler picks up the laptop as soon as it appears on the conveyor belt, walks away quickly, heads into the gate area, and disappears among the crowd. When the passenger finally gets through the metal detector, the laptop is gone and there's no way of proving the person who set off the detector and employed the delaying tactic had anything to do with the theft. In fact, a third hustler will also sometimes be involved and take a hand-off from the first. Then the computer is out of the restricted area before anything can be done to stop the theft (even if the passenger becomes aware of it while still waiting on the other side of the metal detector).

What can you do to prevent it from happening to you? Of course the obvious is when traveling with a laptop computer (or any 'hand carried' valuables which must be placed on the airport's security conveyor belt for examination by x-ray) is to try and avoid lines at the entrance of the metal detector. Better yet... try to fly with a friend and make sure one of you has cleared the detector before either puts anything on the conveyor belt! When you don't have a traveling companion and there are unavoidable lines, you must delay putting your luggage and laptop on the conveyor belt until you're sure you'll be the next person through the metal detector. And, as you move through the detector, keep your eyes on the conveyor belt and watch for your luggage and laptop to come through (as well as keeping a 'sharp eye' on what those in front of you are picking up).
 Avoiding Travel Scams
 When planning a trip, here are some tips for avoiding travel scams. + Beware of unsolicited travel opportunities. + There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. If a travel opportunity sounds like a "great deal", it probably isn't. Either they'll take your money and run, or there are hidden charges. For example, many so-called "free vacations" or "vacation giveaways" require you to stay at a specific hotel -- at exorbitant rates. + Beware of extremely low-priced offers, unsolicited offers involving Florida or Hawaii, and opportunities that try to pressure you into buying on the spot. + If you're elderly, be especially careful. Scam artists will try to confuse and manipulate you. + Ask detailed questions (e.g., what is covered by the price and what isn't, whether there are any additional charges, the names of the hotels, airlines, airports, and restaurants, exact dates and times, cancellation policies, and refund policies), and get it all in writing before you buy anything. + Never give personal information, including credit card numbers, social security numbers, bank account numbers, or similar information to an unsolicited telephone salesperson. If you must, ask for a telephone number and call them back the next day, after you've had time to check them out. Call the Better Business Bureau and use the telephone number to verify if they're a legitimate business, and if so, whether there have been any complaints. You can also check out the company with the state attorney general's office and the local consumer protection agency. + Pay for purchases with a credit card, never with a check or money order. When you pay for purchases with a credit card, you're protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act against fraudulent charges. + Never give out your frequent flyer number over the phone, unless you initiated the call. + Don't assume that just because a company places advertisements in a newspaper or has a toll-free 800 number, it must be safe. It takes time for a company to generate enough complaints for a Federal Trade Commission to start an investigation. Moreover, not all 800 numbers are toll-free these days, and its possible for an individual to get their own toll-free number. + Do not give your tickets to anyone other than an agent of the airline at the ticketing/check-in counter, the gate, or the airlines offices. A common scam is for someone wearing a uniform similar to that of the airline to provide some excuse for taking your tickets (e.g., claiming there is a problem with the tickets). If you're not sure that someone is an airline employee, check their ID with the airline. + If you've encountered a problem, or are suspicious of an offer, call the National Fraud Information Center, a hotline operated by the National Consumers League. The number is 800-876-7060 and can be reached from 9 to 5 EDT during the week. You can also call the local Better Business Bureau, the State Bureau of Consumer Protection, and the Attorney General's Office. A good booklet to read is "Telemarketing Travel Fraud", a free publication of the Federal Trade Commission. Call 202-326-2222 for a copy, or write to Federal Trade Commission, Public Reference Branch, Room 130, Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580

\15 missed flights

Occasionally, you will not be able to go out on your scheduled flight. Sometimes the bump will be because the passengers did not follow statistical means, and fewer people cancelled than the airline expected. In such cases, the airline will usually give you some sort of prize - free tickets or vouchers for travel on that airline. Occasionally, the bump will be for safety reasons. In the past three years, I have been stuck on the ground because of fog, thunderstorms, a (apparently false) smoke alarm, and an unresponsive backup rudder motor. I don't mind these delays at all. I'd rather be late to Chicago than the late Kate Sherwood! If you are stuck somewhere overnight because of something that was the fault of the airline, they will usually furnish you with a hotel room, breakfast, and the first flight out in the morning. If you are stuck somewhere because of the weather, that's your own problem. Either you hang out in the airport (another good reason to bring food with you!) or you impose upon your great-step-half-aunt Martha that you haven't seen in seventeen years. If you miss a flight because of your own stupidity (like yakking for too long with Aunt Martha), most airlines will help you out if it doesn't inconvenience them too much. For discount airlines like Southwest, however, you'd better make sure you don't miss your flight! Morley Selver notes that if you are waiting to board a flight and it is suddenly cancelled, there will be a race to the next airline counter to try to get on the next flight. Instead of following the sheep to the counter, head for the nearest phone and phone the airline reservations system. You get the same result without standing in line.

\16 "Rule 240" the magical phrase you might have heard from other travelers at the ticket counter when things go wrong. But what exactly is "Rule 240" and how can you use it as a passenger.

Technically referred to a Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) requirement that each operating airline provide detailed info to the CAB on what it offers passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled (free accommodations, meal vouchers, free phone calls, etc).

At the time there were at least 239 other tariff rules, but because of the large use of the particulars to this rule, the process of handling delays made the term "Rule 240" well known to others in the industry besides ticketing agents. CAB was finally phased out in 1985, in part due to deregulation of the airline industry that started in 1978. As a result of this, airlines are no longer required to inform the government of the specifics they provide to stranded passengers.

Airlines are, however, required to submit a "condition of carriage" to the Department of Transportation and usually information about Rule 240 is included. The "Contract of Carriage" between the airline and passenger regulates that information be provided to a passenger if requested, and guarantees what the airline will do for any stranded passenger.

"The legal theory is that conditions of carriage form a contract between airline and passenger, even if the passenger has no actual knowledge of the terms" (courtesy of Mark Pestronk, well-known attorney specializing in travel law).

Before deregulation in 1978, Rule 240 was a federal requirement. Today, it is a term -- no longer a federal requirement -- nor in fact, a law or even a rule. Most airlines continue to abide by the old rules even though they technically are not required to do so. However, Rule 240 states that an airline must deliver you to your destination within two hours of the originally scheduled arrival time. If they cannot, they must place you on another carrier. Under Rule 240, you are also entitled to a meal voucher, a free phone call, and a lounge pass.

It's important to remember, though, that Rule 240 applies only to mechanical delays, or delays that are completely the fault of the airline. Rule 240 does NOT apply to weather-related delays or force majeure. A force majeure is any condition beyond the airline's control. These include weather, acts of God, riots, civil commotion, embargoes, wars, hostilities, disturbances, unsettled international conditions, and any strike, work stoppage, slowdown, lockout or any other labor-related dispute involving or affecting the airline's service, etc.

If you become a victim of a force majeure event, you are unfortunately at the mercy of the airline. Airlines can cancel, terminate, divert, postpone or delay any flight without notice in these situations. The airline's only obligation is to refund the price of your ticket -- less any penalties (which depends upon the airline's policy). Many airlines will try to accommodate you in the best way they can, but Rule 240 does not require them to do so in the case of an airline strike or force majeure.

In the past two years, the airlines have come under fire for the massive amounts of delays and cancellations as well as lost baggage, poor service, etc. All members of the American Transport Association (ATA) have come up with their own variety of a customer service plan or commitment. Regardless of the customer service plan, unless it is incorporated into the "Contract of Carriage," the service plan (and your rights as a passenger) have no legal standing. There is legislation underway right now to force airlines to incorporate their customer service plans into their "Contract of Carriage" but until it is passed, the only legal rights you have are the ones printed in the "Contract of Carriage."

What can you do to be a knowledgeable passenger within your rights when things go wrong?  Many ticket and gate agents are not even knowledgeable about CAB, Rule 240 or even the ramifications of both the "Contract of Carriage" or the new customer service plan. It's not uncommon for miracles to happen at a ticket counter when a passenger mentions "Rule 240." However don't count on it -- be prepared and know your legal rights.

Always have your carriers' "Contract of Carriage" document handy when traveling and be familiar with what you are entitled to as a passenger.

Each carrier has their own "Contract of Carriage" or "Rule 240" guidelines -- what works for one airline is not necessarily going to be provided to you by another airline in a similar situation.

Every carrier is by law, required to provide you with a copy of the "Contract of Carriage" -- though it's not safe to count on a copy being at the ticket counter or check-in gate.

If the flight is delayed and you request assistance to reach your destination, be prepared to be courteous, but assertive (not aggressive).

Once an airline has granted you a "Rule 240" exception in the event of a delay, you should get either a "Flight Interrupted Manifest" (FIM for short) or your ticket endorsed over to another carrier. Without this, the new airline will not accept you without charging you more money. Simply taking your ticket to another carrier will not get you on the flight -- the original carrier must provide either the endorsement or the FIM.

In the event you have an electronic ticket, you will not receive a document that is endorsable, nor the carrier's "Contract of Carriage." It is wise advise to go to the carrier's Internet site and print out a "Contract of Carriage" to travel with, as well as the confirmation of the electronic ticket.

And always remember "Rule 240" in the event of a mechanical delay or a delay completely at the fault of the airline

\17 ..more

Check you bags with the valet, and go straight to the gate with your tickets. Standing in line all the time at the check-in counter will rub you the wrong way after the nth time. Try to spend as little time as possible in lines at airports. Do not pick your flights at the airport ticket line; call the 800 number instead. This effectively puts you ahead of everybody in line. If you like to tip skycaps, a buck a bag is the going rate.

Up, Up and Away! In the 50s, mass travel was but a gleam in a pilot's eye. Singers and poets sang the praises of the burgeoning jet age; Ol' Blue Eyes seduced the blue rinse set by asking them to fly him to the moon. Airports tended to be rather small and intimate by modern-day standards - light, airy, optimistic places like Washington DC's Dulles Intl Airport, where the roof was built in the shape of a wing as a signpost to a brave new world of jet-setting. It was designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen to convey the spirit of flight. Today, with more than 2400 passengers passing through it every hour, it relies on a complex system of shuttle buses to ferry passengers from one terminal to another.
 The boom in air travel since the 60s has meant that airports have become a mundane necessity of life - monumental, labyrinthine shopping and entertainment complexes intended to move millions with minimal fuss. They cost billions to construct and are designed to be spacious as well as functional, perhaps to counterbalance the claustrophobic nature of plane travel itself. An elaborate series of universally recognisable signs has been designed to keep people on the conveyor belt of through-traffic.
 The busiest airport in the world is Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. In 1996 it averaged 2084 daily take-offs and landings - about one every 40 seconds. In 1998 it hosted almost 73.5 million arrivals, departures and transfers, turned over more than US$236 million and employed about 33,000 people.
 Modern airports are businesses in their own right, often owned and operated by private contractors offering a diverse range of products and services. At Singapore's Changi International Airport, for example, you can pray in the prayer room, perfect your swing on the putting green, sing to your heart's content in the karaoke lounge, work it out in the gym, sweat it out in the sauna, cool down in the rooftop swimming pool and jacuzzi and spruce up in the hairdressing salon. For intellectual stimulation you can take a tour of the Science Discovery Corner or a free two hour bus tour of downtown Singapore. Shopaholics can indulge more than 130 retail outlets.
 For sheer diversity of services it's hard to beat Changi, but from Kuala Lumpur to Salt Lake City you'll find plenty of time-killing diversions to check out once you've checked in. San Francisco International Airport is leading the growing trend to exhibit art at airports, with up to 14 shows on at any time. All four terminals at London's Heathrow have their own Caviar House serving seven types of sturgeon eggs. The US$3.5 million Disney-designed Encounter Restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport is the place to see and be seen in LA: it's housed in a Jetsons-style tower in the middle of the airport. In classic progressive Dutch style, Amsterdam's Schiphol houses a casino and plans to open a bordello; Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport has a bookstore stocking more than 60,000 secondhand books and 5000 magazines; Salt Lake City's airport has an 18-hole golf course on its grounds, and Kuala Lumpur's new airport offers hiking trails in adjacent jungle.
 Other airports are a little more, well, improvised. Zanzibar's, for example, is an open-walled shed with woodcarved check-in desks that are moved into place an hour before each plane arrives. Baggage claim is a wooden shelf, two men and a trolley.
 Once upon a time a catnap was a matter of parking yourself on the floor; now, more airports are allocating space to sleep. Copenhagen's airport is a veritable sleeper's paradise, with a sleeping lounge on a separate level in the main terminal and 'Please Be Quiet' signs plastered everywhere. There is even a Web site devoted to the topic of sleeping in airports - the Budget Traveller's Guide to Sleeping in Airports: http://www3.sympatico.ca/donna.mcsherry/airports.htm
 Airports are curiously barren places considering that, for many people, the act of arriving and departing is so emotional. The monumental nature of airports can leave people feeling small and insignificant; the sanitised, clinical environment can make passengers feel like mere cogs in a machine. With glass-walled jet-ways and tubular concourses, Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport is post-modern travel par excellence. But behind the stern design-school facade is 'Sir Alfred', a resident of the airport for the past 10 years - a non-citizen of the world. The mustachioed and mournful Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian political refugee who has earned his nickname by claiming British origins, has lived out of a baggage cart for a decade because his identity papers have been lost. When the French government finally offered him residency in September last year Alfred refused, declaring he felt at home at CDG, where he has been adopted as the airport's unofficial mascot.
 For more musings on airports, check out these links. A number of Web directories list airports and provide links to their Web pages: http://www.kataokas.net/aptintllist.html http://www.landings.com/_landings/pages/ap/ap-a.html http://www.smilinjack.com/ http://www.airport.travel-guides.com

How to Deal with Passport Control Staff
 Passport control staff can be quite intimidating. They'll stare at your passport, stare at you, stare at your passport. The idea, of course, is to see if they can rattle you, get you to betray any nervousness. Most passport control staff employ similar techniques. To avoid creating problems, you should react as follows: Never volunteer anything. Only speak in answer to the officer's questions. Volunteering implies you are nervous about something. Answer all questions simply, directly, without qualification or elaboration. As when you filled out the landing card, use easily understandable words. When they ask you what you are doing in the country, just say "business" or "pleasure." The more you elaborate, the more questions you will provoke. Never try to be funny. In the first place, seeing hundreds of people a day, the passport officer has undoubtedly heard your joke before. In the second place, the officer is trained to be suspicious of anyone trying to jolly him up. That's why passport officers never smile. You come in cracking jokes and you'll end up being examined in detail. Never complain about the passport procedures. In the first place, the officer dealing with you can't do anything about the procedures. In the second place, his only concern about the procedures is how they make life uncomfortable for him, not for you. You're just one of the fifty-plus quota an hour he's got to get through before he can have his coffee break. Wasting his time with your complaints will just make him hostile. Look the officer in the eye. Passport control staff usually put great store in the eyes. Look them in the eye as long as is comfortable. When you finally look away, do it for an apparent reason, such as to adjust your bag or to glance at your ticket. 

How to Beat the Long Foreigner Lines at Passport Control
 Fly the foreign airline. When flying to a foreign country, use the foreign country's airline. Nationals tend to fly their own country's airline. Thus, there will be fewer non-nationals like you on the plane and so fewer people in the non-national passport control line. Use the foreign airline terminals. Similarly, in large airports with more than one international terminal, consider going through the transit lounge to another terminal which serves primarily the national airline of that foreign country and exit passport control there. If you are unfamiliar with the layout of the airport, ask the flight attendants on your plane or consult your Airport Pocket Guide. Bluff you way through the line for nationals. Pretend you don't know you're in the wrong line. (To be safe, have someone save your place in the foreigner line.) Get to the foreigner line first. Try at the very least to get ahead of the other foreigners from your plane. This means that (i) you should be the first off the plane and down the concourse and (ii), at those airports where you have to pick up checked baggage before approaching passport control, you should have no checked baggage. Choose the fully-manned two-window booth. Often there will be several lines, each one feeding into a separate passport control booth. Each booth often has two windows, one on the left side and one on the right side. Sometimes both windows are manned; sometimes only one is manned. Be sure to choose a line which leads to a booth with both windows manned. A line leading to a booth with only one window manned will go at half the speed of one leading to a booth with two windows manned.

How to Fill out Landing Cards So as to Avoid Problems at Passport Control
 When flying into most foreign countries, you are required to fill out a landing card. Usually the flight attendants will pass the cards out before descent. When filling out the card, observe the following hints: Normally there is only one card required per family.Each member of the family will not have to fill out a card. If in doubt, check with the flight attendant. Print in easy-to-read block letters. Sloppy writing will only lead to questions at passport control. Keep everything simple and definite, again in order to avoid additional questions at passport control. (a) When the form asks where you are staying in the country, give only the first place you will stay; don't bother with the subsequent places. If you don't have a place to stay yet, ask a fellow passenger for the name of a local hotel and put that name down; if you are questioned on it (which is highly unlikely), you can truthfully say that is where you intend to stay. (b) When asked for your place of birth, just put the country--unless the card specifically asks for more. Most of the passport control staff couldn't care less in what city you were born. Even worse, in some non-Western countries, they're likely to think the name of the city is the name of a country and spend quite a while trying to look it up in their manual. (c) When asked for your occupation, try to reduce it to one simple, easily understood word. For instance, don't say, "Professor of Applied Mathematics" or "Speech Therapist," say, "Teacher." Don't say, "Real Estate Agent" or "Insurance Broker," say, "Salesman." More specific words are likely either to confuse them or to raise red flags. Be aware that other countries may have different conventions or forms of notation from the US. (a) Most countries write the date "day/month/year" rather than "month/day/year." To be absolutely clear, write the month's abbreviation instead of its number. (b) Many countries' forms will place the family name in a different place. US forms tend to put the last name first on the forms. Others put it last. Still others will actually put it penultimate. Be sure to read the form carefully. (c) Different countries have different descriptions of the same part of a name: for instance, the first, Christian, given or proper name, versus the last, family or patronymic name or surname. If you aren't entirely sure which is which, ask the flight attendant. If the form has carbon copies, make sure all the copies are legible. If not, you'll have to stand aside at the passport control desk to fill it out again. Note, after you have completed the form, the best place to put it is inside your passport, since you will have to give both to passport control. You will probably need to fold the form to fit it inside your passport. If you don't get a landing card on the flight, do not despair. Passport control always has plenty. If there is a line at passport control, as there usually is, you will have plenty of time to fill out the card before your turn comes