Travel News Roundup: Name Changes and New Fees

There's been a bit of odd travel news that might have a bearing on your future planning -- a court decision that forced a major travel company to change its name. That unfortunate firm is Gap Adventures, of Toronto, whose name apparently came to the attention, recently, of the Gap retail clothing chain, which proceeded to sue, claiming infringement of its allegedly exclusive use of the word "Gap." Would you believe that a federal district judge recently ruled against the travel company, ordering it to change its name? And last week Gap Adventures capitulated, announcing it would henceforth be known as G adventures -- the letter G followed by the word Adventures ( www.gadventures.com ). If you should be in the market for a small group trip -- a low-cost journey in the company of no more than 14 persons, to some exotic quarter of the world -- you will now want to look for the offerings of G Adventures, formerly Gap Adventures.

This is the second major name change of a famous travel company within the past year. For reasons too complex to explain, the famous Elderhostel was made to change its name to Road Scholar, all within the last 12 months. In the world of travel names, wonders will never cease.

Also in the travel news last week was an Federal Aviation Administration proposal to greatly increase the cost of the fee that air passengers pay to cover security at airports. Until now, air tickets had to be surcharged by $2.50 for every segment of the trip, and that sum has apparently proved to be too little to cover the cost of the T.S.A. and other security functions. So the administration was faced with the choice: should the increased expense be paid by taxpayers at large, out of general tax revenues, or should it be paid by air travelers? In the proposed federal budget for the next fiscal year, air travelers have been chosen to bear the added cost.

All the travel world is furious, of course, violently up in arms, over that proposal; but I for one feel it is absolutely reasonable. The cost of security at the airports should, in my view, be paid by the people who make use of airports. If the increase goes through, you'll find the cost of air transportation to be considerably higher next year. So what else is new?