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| Vol. 5 | Issue 5 | January 30, 2007 |    |
A program that predates Registered Traveler, has 10 years of operational experience,
speeds business travelers through airport crew lanes and also avoids the need
for individual visas to 17 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member nations may
soon be open to Americans and Canadians. The APEC Business Travel
Card has so far been issued to 17,000 travelers in Australia, Brunei, Chile,
China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. At
the end of last year, the United States agreed to honor the card, and is in discussions
to allow U.S. travelers to participate in the program by the end of this year.
Similar to the Registered Traveler program, applicants for APEC Business Travel Cards must apply through their home country’s immigration agency, hold a valid passport, and have no criminal record; they also must prove their business affiliation and that they travel across or around the Pacific on business. Each country may have additional requirements for its citizens. Costs vary from country to country; Australians, for example, pay about $120 (A$155). Approved participants get a credit-card-size ID, valid for three years, that lets them use the crew lanes at most airports and incorporates multiple-entry visas to all other participating economies.
The United States, Canada, Mexico and Russia are the only members of APEC
who do not yet issue the cards to their qualifying citizens. All four
are in at least exploratory stages of adopting the program, with the United
States now recognizing the card at its borders and Mexico giving cardholders
priority processing. Whether U.S. participation will be tied in with Registered
Traveler cards or lanes has yet to be determined. 
The union for British Airways cabin crew last week announced plans for a series
of short strikes Jan. 30-31, Feb. 5-7 and Feb. 12-14. Although it said it hoped
to resolve issues through negotiation, British Airways last week announced
cancellation of all flights from Heathrow and several from Gatwick for today
and tomorrow in order to give its passengers a chance to make other plans.
Ten hours before the strike deadline, however, an agreement was reached and
there will be no strike, either now or in February. The airline hoped to reinstate
most if not all of the 1,300 flights it cancelled, though passengers who have
not rebooked, or who do not have a confirmed reservation, are advised to check
with the airline before heading for the airport. The latest details are posted
on the home page at www.ba.com; check
the arrivals and departures section of the site for information on individual
flights. Due to
the late reinstatement of service, some flights from Heathrow (LHR) may not
have full catering; in those cases, ticket-holders will be offered vouchers
to spend in the airport. North American catering is not affected. Anyone who
cancelled a reservation and wishes to rebook their original flight will be
guaranteed the fare they originally paid.
The Secure Flight program of the Transportation Security Agency, which is
designed to handle no-fly lists, has been in test since 2004. It will not,
however, be fully functional until 2008, according to TSA chief Kip Hawley.
Current no-fly lists are airline-administered and based on lists of names provided
by the government. When Secure Flight is fully operational, it will provide
real-time access to federal databases of suspected terrorists. Hawley did say
that the so-called “clear list” is now easier to get on; passengers
with names similar to those found on the no-fly list should be able to get
expedited electronic notation within 10 days.
Farecast.com, the Web site
still in beta test that predicts the likelihood that any given airfare (so
far, from 75 U.S. gateways) will
go up or down, is putting its money where its mouth is. It is introducing its
FareGuard program, in which, when you find a fare predicted to drop or stay
unchanged, you can buy a guarantee. Until Feb. 1, FareGuard will cost $3 a
flight; after that it increases to $9.95. If you “guard” a
price on an itinerary and, within one week, cannot buy a fare as
low as predicted, Farecast will refund the difference between what they predicted
and what you had to pay.
Paris-based carrier Aigle Azur Airlines has joined the EuropeByAir
Flightpass Program. As the first intraFrance carrier in the program,
it adds a number of secondary French cities to the network, which now has
20 participating airlines and also includes Eurostar, the cross-Channel rail
link. FlightPass now covers 190 European destinations at a typical unrestricted
fare of $99 one way.
New airline Silverjet made
its first flight last week, from London’s Luton Airport (LTN) to Newark
International (EWR). The all-business-class airline features inclined flat-bed
seats and
operates out of a private jet facility at Luton, allowing passengers without
checked baggage to arrive 30 minutes before departure. Silverjet is also promoting
itself as “carbon-neutral,” earmarking a certain amount of its
ticket price as a carbon-offset contribution and letting flyers reinvest their “Carbon
Points” in climate-friendly projects around the globe. Environmental
impact of air travel has become a huge hot button in Europe.
Sel et Poivre
853 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10021
tel 212 517 5780, fax 212 517 4785
http://seletpoivrenyc.com
It’s always nice, and somehow reassuring, to go back and find that a favorite restaurant hasn’t changed much. I first discovered Sel et Poivre more than a decade ago when I almost literally tripped over its sidewalk cafe on a summer day. When I once again found myself staying in a property on the Upper East Side, I made an online reservation and then kept my fingers crossed that it would be as I remembered. And, for the most part, it was.
Sel et Poivre meets most definitions of a bistro: French country food rather than haute cuisine, cozy atmosphere and reasonable prices. The bar top is wood, not the classic zinc, and it has some nontraditional menu items such as seafood linguine, burgers and tuna sandwiches, but let’s not quibble.
The restaurant is long and narrow, but makes the most of its space with pale yellow walls and crisp white tablecloths. I missed the added ambience of the open French doors and sidewalk tables — but that would have been a bit chilly in December.
I had the escargots de Bourgogne and then the skate au beurre noir, which was served with a lemon-caper sauce, rice and leeks; total cost at dinner, $27. My guest had the prix fixe pre-theater menu: mesclun salad, sliced leg of lamb, and chocolate mousse, for $17.95. Hers was the better choice; my snails were oversauced, and the day’s skate shipment must have come in fillets too large for the plate, since I instead got what seemed to be a nicely arranged collection of ends and trim pieces — each too small to retain much flavor. All around us, people were getting assiduous service from a host of waitstaff, but we had the one waiter who made himself so scarce that we had to resort to hailing down other waiters to go find him. We seemed to be his only table, but if he was hanging around to get one last tip, he did little to earn it.
Sel et Poivre offers a nice selection of reasonably priced wines, my guest’s food was perfect, other waiters picked up the slack for our slacker, and the prices are very reasonable for New York, so even though I didn’t have a perfect meal this time, I’ll still look forward to going back again.
Score: ••••• Mary Hunt
You have until Feb. 5 to book tickets for American Airlines’ end-of-spring
sale to Europe. The sale fares are good for travel from Feb. 28
through March 30 and require a minimum stay over a Saturday night. Destination
cities are London (LHR), Manchester (MAN), Dublin (DUB), Shannon (SNN), Brussels
(BRU), Paris (CDG), Frankfurt (FRA) and Zurich (ZRH). Sample round-trip offpeak
fares are New York (JFK)-London $300; Chicago (ORD)-Dublin ($288); Miami (MIA)-Paris
$354. Add about $200 for taxes and fees.
Until May 19, three round trips or six one-way trips on Acela earn a voucher
for a free round-trip ticket either in Acela business class or in coach class
on other regional trains along the Northeast Corridor. Vouchers can be used
between June 1 and Aug. 30. You must register for the program first, either online
or by calling 800 307 5000, option 2; mention registration code 12207.
Dollar Rent A Car customers who rent an intermediate car or larger for at
least three days between now and April 15 at any participating location
worldwide can earn
triple mileage in
the frequent flyer programs of American, Delta, Northwest or US Airways. Use
promotion code DR7S. And at Dollar’s corporate sibling Thrifty Car Rental,
midsize or larger cars rented for at least three days during the same period earn
1,000 bonus miles on the
same four airlines. The Thrifty deal is restricted to rentals beginning Sunday
through Wednesday.
“Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” the museum tour
that features more than 130 treasures belonging to King Tut and his family,
makes its only East Coast stop in Philadelphia beginning Feb. 3. Fifteen local
hotels are offering the King
Tut Hotel Package,
starting at $189. The package includes a night’s lodging and two VIP
tickets to the exhibition, which is being held at the Franklin Institute. All
sorts of Tut-themed events, from special restaurant menus to a geocaching treasure
hunt, are on the docket throughout Philadelphia during the exhibition’s
eight-month visit.
This time last year, it was still the Club Med Crested Butte, but now it’s
The Elevation Hotel, and celebrating its first winter season with a discounted
four-night package. Including airfare, the package starts at $864
a person for four nights’ lodging, three days’ lift tickets and
ground transfers until Feb. 9; the price increases by $72 from Feb. 10 to March
19. Those rates reflect airfares from Kansas City (MCI) or Dallas (DFW); other
gateways are higher-priced.
