Here's Another Round-up of Notable Travel Events and New Products

The past seven days have been a fairly active week in travel, and no one could have been busier than our aggressive Secretary of Transportation, Ray La Hood. He launched, first, a major campaign against "distractive driving," by which he refers to the practice of young people in particular to text on their cellphones while at the wheel -- an act causing 40,000 traffic accidents (and many fatalities) in 2011. At the same time, he publicly refused to endorse the program of several European nations to assess a tax on carbon emissions by their air carriers flying overhead, something that might compel the aircraft manufacturers to reduce harmful blasts from their engines. He also declared that the airline deregulation act did not permit him to require that airlines waive the surcharges they are imposing on the sale of "premium economy seats," something that makes it difficult for families with small children to sit together on flights without incurring a financial burden. One wishes that he could have been more activist with regard to these latter two issues, but the good Transportation secretary has taken so many fine political stands, that we have to occasionally be sensitive to the conflicting pressures on him.

On a wholly different note, AirBaltic -- the flag carrier of Latvia -- last week launched a service (SeatBuddy) for seating compatible passengers next to each other. Responding to a questionnaire which they receive on booking a flight, passengers indicate the "seat mood" that they'd hope to find in their seatmates -- they indicate, for instance, whether they themselves enjoy making small talk with perfect strangers, or whether they're so business-oriented that they want to "network" with the person seated next to them (introducing them to a business opportunity), or whether they'd simply prefer to relax without speaking at all to the person next to them. The questionnaires are then run through a computer, which determines the seating chart for that flight by placing persons of similar moods next to one another. Sounds like a swell idea, doesn't it?

A Spanish travel company operating solely in Spain and called Fresco ( www.frescotours.com ) has joined the rapidly-growing list of tour operators that are junking their large motorcoaches in favor of 12-passenger vans, and thereby limiting their tour groups to a dozen persons. They go even further by designing the majority of their tours to operate solely on foot, without a vehicle at all. I'm receiving rave reviews from persons who have used them for touring areas of Spain.

Speaking of Spain, I've vehemently responding to readers who have expressed unease about traveling to Spain in view of that country's economic distress. I point out that Spain isn't at all similar to Greece in the severity of their economic problems, that Spain actually enjoyed a recent surplus in their government's annual budget, that its cities are calm (although affected by severe unemployment), and that the problem of their banks results from unwise loans to real estate speculators, somewhat similar to our own recent troubles with sub-prime mortgages. Just as we all travel peacefully within the U.S., people are traveling peacefully in Spain, and can be expected to continue to do so.

A new, travel-related website called NerdWallet (www.nerdwallet.com) compares the advantages of owning different credit cards, and might be of assistance to travelers who meticulously analyze the costs (and refunds) of those well-known plastics.

Seen the booking charts for Las Vegas' ultra-posh Vdara Hotel lately? In this relatively new hotel on the Strip, where every unit is a suite and equipped with the most luxurious amenities of any Vegas hotel, twenty-two days in July are now priced at only $109 or $119 a night per suite -- that's not per person but per suite. By simply avoiding a few weekend dates, and otherwise booking the Vdara on those nights when an astonishing $109 is charged, you'll live like royalty on a budget (but in a city that gets awfully hot in that peak-summer month).

Later this week -- on Thursday afternoon and early evening -- daughter Pauline and I will be speaking at the Library of Ketchum, Idaho, about recent important developments in travel. If readers reside in either Ketchum, adjoining Sun Valley, or other nearby towns, we'd be happy to meet and greet.