One of the knocks against smaller boutique hotel chains is that their loyalty programs just aren’t that great. When you compare it with the wide selection of a Marriott, or enormous hotel chain, smaller boutique chains just can’t compete on sheer numbers alone. Fortunately, they compete in other ways.

I’ve been going to Kimpton Hotels for several years now because their service is fantastic, the rooms are spacious and beautiful, and it’s a great experience overall. What makes it even better is that you can join their Kimpton InTouch program and it gives you free Wi-Fi and two “honor-bar” items, basically $15 to spend in the room’s mini-bar. It always infuriates me when I find out my $200 a night room also charges me $20 for Wi-Fi, so that’s a perk.

The next time you are thinking about boutique versus a major chain, take a quick peek at the loyalty program to see what you can get for free just by signing up.

Many anthropologists further their education and potential for advanced employment with a forensic science degree. That could be what Israel and Jordan just may need to save the Dead Sea in education in forensic sciences could be what Israel and Jordan just may need to save the Dead Sea (or what some Israelis call), the Salt Sea.

Over the past fifty plus years the Dead Sea, both a tourist attraction and environmental phenomenon has quickly continues to evaporate.
Just six months ago, when visiting Israel and the Dead Sea, after floating in its wonder, the Israeli tour-guide explained how different people, of all backgrounds, have come up with different possibilities to save the Dead Sea. She explained that one option was to mix water from the Red Sea into the Dead Sea, but that many people were contemplating this idea.
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Not having your bags show up on the luggage wheel upon your arrival used to just be an aggravation held against airline ineptitude. But these days, the stakes have been raised: now you’re expected to pay a fee for your luggage. In the event that your bags are lost or sent somewhere else by mistake, you’ve essentially paid for services not rendered. And as it turns out, most airlines offer no easy way for you to get that money back.

For instance, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue both bury their bag fee within the overall ticket price. If your luggage is lost, there’s no paper trail that will help you establish a strong case against these companies for reimbursement. In essence, the apparently lowered costs of traveling with these airlines comes with the risk of not being compensated in the event your bags don’t accompany you to your destination.

Other airlines assure fliers with promises of reimbursement in the event that bags are lost, but in practice, it’s much harder than they make it out to be. Alaska Airlines, for example, shows off a seemingly impressive reparations package offered to those who have their bags misplaced. They will either debit you $20.00 toward another ticket purchase or give you 2,000 frequent flier miles. But as it turns out, claiming these reimbursements is easier said than done. It requires that you speak to an airline authority within two hours of lost luggage and it’s only for one bag per person, so if more were lost you’re out of luck.

Delta is the only other airline that offers something even remotely close to being considered luggage-fee restitution in the event of lost bags. The Delta package is a little different, but is essentially the same thing as Alaska’s, only in exchange for a 12 hour wait time as opposed to only two, fliers get the luxury of being able to have two lost bags compensated for instead of just one.

As far as the rest of the airlines go, name your carrier and be ready for disappointment. They won’t let you board a plane with luggage without paying for the extra weight, yet they won’t refund you that charge in the event that your luggage never arrives.

Simply put, paying for luggage is a certainty and being compensated for lost luggage is a rarity in a world where airlines are severely strapped for cash and fuel costs continue to skyrocket.

In European nations, the occasional riot is still a simple fact of life. The people over there take to the streets if student loan interest is raised a little bit, let alone if their economy teeters on the verge of collapse. Currently, all the news is about the riots underway in the streets of several cities in the U.K. One of the advantages of even low-class hooligans being able to get their hands on a 4G Slide Android phone is that we get to see some pretty unforgettable, yet equally intimidating footage of block-wide fires. With Greece rioting fresh on our minds and the European debt crisis allowing the potential for any member nation of the EU to default and descend into anarchy, those wanting to visit the culturally-supersaturated continent can find themselves hesitating.

Rest assured however. The likelihood of being in some way affected by potential rioting is a statistical improbability. Chances are overwhelming that you’ll instead go to Europe and have a wonderful time. But in the event you find yourself in the middle of a country about to dissolve into insolvency, here’s what you can do:

WATCH THE NEWS

With Internet access you can always keep up-to-date on the news wherever you are. English-language news is sure to cover any sort of increased disturbances in foreign nations. Get a hefty dose of information from multiple news sources; you don’t want to fall prey to sensationalism or a false sense of security.

TALK TO THE LOCALS

Whether it’s your hotel’s front desk clerk or a barista at a cafe with a little English under her belt, if you’re concerned about your safety and the state of social stability in the area, ask someone what’s going on. You’ll generally get a more truthful and specific picture than you would from just watching the news. They can tell you what the real dangers are especially for tourists. They can also fill you in on the background of the hostilities.

READ YOUR PASSPORT/CONTACT CONSULATE

If trouble is without a doubt brewing around you, then look at your passport or look online for instructions provided by the U.S. State Department on what to do in the event of an emergency when traveling abroad. You certainly won’t be the only American with concerns if there are others in the country as well. That means you can either expect anticipatory assistance or a clogged system depending on when you decide to seek help. Help can either be reassurance of your safety or advice on how to salvage currency with lost value.

STAY STREET SMART

Don’t get involved. Whatever the reason or lack thereof riots in the magnitude that we’ve seen recently in the news are the result of deep-seeded domestic drama that foreigners have little to no business getting themselves into. Avoid turning it into a voyeuristic experience, or else you could become a target of individuals fearful of being identified. Refuse to respond to provocation unless your life is in danger. Guests should remain cordial no matter how badly the hosts are behaving.

Otherwise, take it easy and enjoy your time as much as possible. The bigger the riot, the more relevant your travel experience story will be years from now. Look at it as an authentic European experience.

Travelers who purchased tickets prior to the removal of FAA taxes after the government failed to fund the agency are entitled to a refund according to the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS has instructed airlines, who are not required by law to do so, to dispense the refunds to customers who submit the necessary forms. The airlines are unsure why the IRS is making them handle the refunds when tax payments are traditionally instantly considered monies of the Treasury Department. According to the Air Transport Association, which represents dozens of airlines, its not the responsibility of airlines to get refunds to customers. It’s the duty of the IRS.

The result has been a series of mix messages sent out to the public. The IRS is telling citizens to approach their respective airlines for the way to get back their tax payment. Airlines are telling customers to go to the IRS. In the middle, are a number of unhappy individuals who just want the money entitled to them by law.

The mishap occurred as congress failed to continue funding the Federal Aviation Administration prior to the August recess. After President Obama pleaded with congress to not let 4,000 workers employed by the FAA be left with uncertain fates, congressional leaders returned to restore funding to the federal agency. However, for the brief time in between, the FAA was not being funded and therefore taxes typically applied to airline ticket purchases were removed. The resulting action on the part of the airlines was to make up for the price difference with increased fare charges.

The IRS is currently attempting to establish a dedicated means for customers to get their tax refunds through the government agency’s website. They apparently have to sort out the complications of having no paper trail for electronic ticket purchases. It’s for this reason and the simplicity for airlines to track customer records that the IRS is currently asking airlines to handle the refund and for customers to try to reach an agreement through the airlines before submitting paperwork to the IRS.

The government might be borderline broke, but bureaucratic bedlam never takes a break.

One of the unmistakable pressures of an overseas journey is making absolutely sure you bring everything you need while at the same time bringing the minimal amount of stuff with you as possible. Try as we might, it’s inevitable that at some point during an international trip we’re going to want to beat ourselves over the head for forgetting an essential. Avoiding this is nearly impossible especially for first time travelers. But take it from a guy who’s gone through the ordeal twice. The following are things you need to bring before making a B-line to Barcelona and beyond:

Universal Adapter
Anyone who’s seen a comedy about Americans going to another country is no doubt familiar with the folly of forgetting that electrical outlets vary from region to region. What most people don’t realize is that it isn’t some sort of hallmark of backward nations or exotic locations. Great Britain and Australia, two English-speaking nations, each have outlets separate from each other and our own. Most electronics stores sell an adapter that can be amended to fit in any outlet on Earth. It’s well worth it to get one before departing.

Concealable Cash Carrier
Getting pick pocketed while traveling overseas is a common crime for American travelers to be the victims of. It’s not that it’s somehow a rampant occurrence in every country besides the US, but rather chances are you’re going to be sight-seeing in highly populated urban areas where crime is common. In addition, overseas travelers simply have a habit of sticking out like sore thumbs. Nothing fancy is required, but it’s smart to find a way to carry cash around freely without it sitting in a pocket or bag where it’s easy to get to.

The Health and Medical Coverage Situation
Depending on your destination a variety of different situations can occur which could require you or a traveling companion to need medical attention. In some countries universal healthcare is extended to every life within their borders, while in others no such coverage exists. Even if a nation’s single payer will provide for emergency care, long-term attention in the event that it becomes necessary would not be covered. Before you go on any overseas journey, it’s imperative that you talk with your own health insurance provider if you have one, and research the healthcare situation in the country or countries you wish to visit.

Smartphone
Since nobody wants to pay the ridiculous surcharges often associated with using a mobile phone overseas, people tend to leave their phones turned off the whole time. But so long as your phone can get a Wi-Fi signal, you can utilize your data access features. This means a whole army of apps can be at your disposal, which can make international travel so much easier. Translators, landmark finders, and distance logs are invaluable on an international trip.

There are countless things that are handy to have or have sorted out before you depart for an international trip. Unfortunately you only have so much luggage space and time to plan. But take it from a seasoned traveler, the aforementioned will prove to be precious when you embark on a trip overseas.

Prop 19 would’ve made the consumption and controlled distribution of marijuana legal in California according to state law. The proposition failed when it was put on the November 2010 ballot, however, with roughly 54% of voters against it and 46% for it. But the move to make marijuana more than just medicinal in California isn’t going away. It’s certain those who battled to get Prop 19 passed will try again. The effort will inevitably succeed: polls conducted in the Golden State have indicated a steady increase in those accepting of making weed legal or at least decriminalizing it for more than a decade. When it does pass, what will be the effects in the state’s rate of tourism?

There’s no doubt that if all Americans were capable of legally consuming cannabis in one state and one state only, it would ignite an onslaught of outside visitors. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 25.8 million Americans consume cannabis at least annually and more than 16 million Americans smoke marijuana monthly. There’s really no way these individuals would deny themselves the luxury of taking the drug legally, as well as explore all of the marijuana “enhancements” a state where the drug has been legalized can offer: paraphernalia, culinary infusion, et cetera.

This is especially the case when you consider California’s preexisting lures of tourism. Napa wine country? Try taking tours of marijuana fields, sampling different “buds” at the end of the day. Maybe it’s not your thing, but for millions of Americans it’s the very definition of a good time. But it’s the addition of California’s beauty, the perfect temperatures, world renowned cities, and historical stature that makes the potential for a marijuana tourism boom to really bolster the weakening west coast economy. People won’t just journey into California to experiment with the novelty of legalized cannabis; they’ll want to see one of the most famous geographical locations on the planet.

Californians who sill view the legalization of cannabis in their state – the nine percent that chose to bury Prop 19 – should seriously consider the ramifications for the introduction of a new industry in their state. It’ll bring people, who bring money. California has endless beauty and represents the ideal notion of American possibility, yet the state’s economy is more than at a standstill; it teeters on the edge of a cliff. Millions of visitors could mean billions of dollars.

The money to be made will eventually make the interest to keep California cannabis legal only for those who receive medical permission to consume it an impossible case to make. Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that marijuana is virtually harmless to the human body. Economic evidence indicates marijuana is virtually a saving grace for the California tourism industry. When the day comes when California makes cannabis legal for all, the biggest problem might be making sure there’s enough for everybody.

As Jet Set Citizens, we tend to avoid super touristy locations or expensive resorts; however, there is a time and a place for the occasional luxury vacation. While I certainly prefer a more off-the-beaten-path vacation nestled in the heart of a country’s culture, I do also enjoy a good few days lounging on the beach and being served fruity drinks every once in awhile. If you have the funds and feel like pampering yourself, a few great places to consider for vacation include:

Athletic Resorts
In keeping with the Jet Set Citizen mindset of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, travelers can certainly embark on a vacation that is geared towards athletics. A tennis resort, a scuba diving school, or even an equestrian center can all provide excellent vacations, and they also offer something new to be learned. Although travelers won’t have much interaction with the outside world at resorts such as these, they will be able to stay active and will have the time needed to hone skills and be around peers with similar interests.

Cruises
Backpacking is a great way to see multiple countries in one trip, but then again, so is cruising. Cruises can range in duration from 3 days to months on end, and travelers don’t have to worry about a thing. Unlike backpacking, you won’t have to worry about the safety of where you are eating or sleeping and all activities will be planned for you. Although the guess work and random destinations are often a highlight of traveling on the fly, not having to worry about when and where can also be nice from time-to-time too.

All-Inclusive
If you truly don’t want to do anything for a few days, but don’t want to sit at home in front of your TV, choosing to stay at an all-inclusive resort can be a nice option. Generally flight and accommodation packages start low online, and everything from drinks to activities to your hotel room is including in an affordable price. Don’t expect to find much culture when staying on resorts like these though. Even though many great all-inclusive resorts are located in countries like Mexico or Barbados, they are highly Americanized, and are generally just for those who need a little rest and relaxation for awhile.

Just when we were finally accepting the new world order of having to subject our most intimate of intimates to airport security scanners, sources are now saying that the machines may be responsible for rapid increases in cancer for TSA employees. Union representatives for employees at Boston Logan International Airport have uncovered a “cancer cluster” among those who work side-by-side with body scanners at the airport, the same airport where several of the 9-11 hijackers boarded their flights on September 11th. Pressures at Boston Logan to make sure passengers are safe is the highest priority, but it might be the resulting harm to employees that does the most damage.

The issue has quickly spiraled into a controversy after the TSA failed to take any necessary steps to investigate the matter. In fact their response was borderline condescending: telling employees that their risk for late-life cancer is at the same level as everyone else’s. This caused the story to snowball into a soap opera TSA officials may have an extraordinarily hard time getting themselves taken out of. At the center of the scandal: whether or not the TSA intentionally withheld vital information or knowingly used questionable evidence to push for the implantation of full body scanners in American airports.

According to sources recently released documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act have proven that the TSA and Department of Homeland Security both mischaracterized data provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Apparently the NIST had not definitively proven that body scanners are safe to stand near for long periods of time. On the contrary, the NIST had said that body scanners do in fact emit enough radiation that workers should avoid standing near them as much as possible.

TSA employees are on the record now saying that they were consistently kept in the dark when they asked questions about the safety of body scanners when they were first being installed in December of 2010. An official from the union that represents TSA workers said that she doesn’t believe the agency is sharing enough information with its workforce.

Scientists and medical professionals are not mincing words when they speak about the dangers of working around body scanners. Dr. Michael Love, operator of the biophysics department x-ray at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has openly declared that statistically someone is going to get skin cancer from the radiation that body scanners emit. Studies once considered biased and untrustworthy are now being considered as evidence in what could end up becoming criminal negligence. For instance Columbia University did a study a year ago that determined that body scanners cause an increase chance of developing skin cancer. The Inter-Agency on Radiation Safety has stated that body scanners should not be used on children and pregnant women.

So…what does all this leave for you, the traveler? Consider that unless you are a pregnant woman, a child, or a frequent (and I mean frequent) flyer, you should be okay. The kind of dangers that have been discussed are only likely to occur for individuals who are exposed to body scanners for months on end or have bodies weakened enough or young enough that the emitted radiation can do some damage. You can walk through body scanners in peace for now. But take this issue as an opportunity to re-examine your own thoughts on airport security measures. How many people might die from body scanners? How many people might live because they’re used? Something has to give, because the strip search isn’t much of an alternative as far as I’m concerned.

It’s important to know your rights in the event you are bumped from a flight. You not only need to be aware of what the U.S. Department of Transportation has deemed as your rights and the airlines’ responsibilities, you need to also ensure that the compensation is adequate and that your rescheduled flight is not going to initiate a costly series of personal dilemmas. Bumping is not illegal, and the reparations provided by the airlines are only loosely regulated by the DOT. But the guidelines in place are there to protect you and being armed with the knowledge of what is entitled to you in the event of a bumped flight before it occurs is a sure way to make certain you are properly compensated and experience minimal disturbance in your travel schedule.

Overbook happens because airlines anticipate that on every flight there will be a few “no-shows” in addition to unoccupied seats. They sell more seats than the plane has in order to maximize their profit per flight and avoid the inevitable likelihood that one or two reserved seats on a high demand flight will go unused. The proactivity of this measure is often undercut, however, by the event of a flight’s anticipated no-shows showing up – and the oversold flight has too many passengers allotted that can be fitted onboard.

The DOT mandates that airline policy in this situation be to first see if there are any passengers who can afford to wait for the next available flight. This is called voluntary bumping. While there are likely several passengers who simply cannot afford to wait on any given flight, typically one or two are in no immediate hurry to get to their destination and can stay behind. In the event that an airline selects you as a candidate for a volunteer bump and you oblige, the following information should be considered:

The DOT has no specific rules regarding exact amounts of compensation for voluntary bumpers other than a guaranteed future flight arrangement. They do advise you to inquire about the compensation offered to those involuntarily bumped and negotiate an agreeable deal based off of that. You’ll have to be wary of when the next available flight will be, because you want to ensure that a hotel stay if necessary as well as ground transportation costs are covered by the airline. These factors are familiar bargaining chips to airlines and shouldn’t be a problem getting if you make the case for them.

Those involuntarily bumped are entitled to more rights per DOT. If the rescheduled flight is more than a certain amount of time after the original flight, you are entitled by law to receive a refund on your one-way ticket cost. If the time is doubled, so is your compensation. The time varies from flight to flight so check with the DOT. The aforementioned guidelines regarding voluntary bumps receiving hotel and alternative transportation compensation also apply.

If you find yourself being asked to be bumped from a flight or forced to be, know you’re well protected. Airlines are required to hand out pamphlets informing bumped passengers of their rights and entitlements, but don’t take their word for it. Know the laws before you’re bumped to better ensure you bounce back up without losing sleep or your shirt.