Adding a Layer of Protection
The emergency medical evacuation membership program MedjetAssist has enhanced its member benefits in a partnership with The Steele Foundation, a global enterprise risk management service. Members of each will now have access to a broader range of medical and security services while traveling. MedjetAssist members will now be able to draw on Steele’s incident management and executive protection expertise, Global Rapid Response travel advisory centers, evacuation support and security consulting services. Additionally, in Mexico, Steele’s FirstCall vehicle tracking and emergency roadside response will now integrate Medjet services. Visit www.medjet.com.

The Book You Hope Everyone Reads
Whatever the boarding pass says, a traveler’s real class is determined by his or her travel manners. So says Gailen David, in his blog, www.dearskysteward.com. An advocate for civility in the skies and at the airport, David suggests a starter list of Jetiquette Dos and Don’ts. On the Do list are: planning for security checks by packing items that need to be removed at the top of carry-on bags; using only your own seat space; going to the lavatory to blow your nose; and being aware of signals that seatmates might prefer not to chat. Among the Don’ts is the bane of all air travelers — don’t let children kick the seatback in front of them. These and other fine points of civilized flying are in his new book, Jetiquette … The Customer Experience and You. Founder of Jetiquette Academy, David coaches individuals and companies on business etiquette, business image, international protocol, dining skills and customer service.

Beats a String on Your Finger
If your passport expiration date is not something you keep in your date book, you can now register it free with the passport expediting company ItsEasy.com, and they will notify you nine months before it expires, allowing time for the six-months validity requirement that most countries impose. And they will continue to remind you until you renew it. With the reminder comes links to the appropriate forms and instructions. This service is particularly helpful with children’s passports, which expire after five years and are more easily overlooked. ItsEasy.com also maintains an emergency help desk at New York’s JFK Airport. Visit www.ItsEasy.com.

New Routes
Warnings of declining passenger numbers don’t seem to bother airlines, as they continue to add new routes. On May 1, American Airlines will launch daily nonstop flights between Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW) and Madrid Barajas International Airport (MAD) in Spain. Visit www.spain.info. A week later, Icelandair debuts new routes to Stavanger, Norway (SVG), and Düsseldorf, Germany (DUS), bringing its European destinations to 20. Visit www.icelandair.us.

Who’s in First?
Curious to know who’s on your flight? Join Air France and KLM’s Bluenity community to find out. Register online to contact fellow passengers for taxi-share or to identify friends or associates to meet in the lounge or on arrival. The community also maintains a reader-generated bulletin board for information on each destination — restaurant and entertainment buzz, hotel recommendations and more. Register at www.bluenity.com.

EL AL Comforts
EL AL, Israel’s national airline, unveiled the first of its four new Boeing 747-400 jumbo aircraft on its New York (JFK) flights. Improvements will be noticeable in all classes, with state-of-the-art sleeper seats in first and business classes and enhanced seats in economy. Every seat is now also equ ipped with an electronic socket for laptops and a sophisticated digital in-flight entertainment system that offers an even wider variety of programming. Similar upgrades on three other B747-400 jumbos will be completed in April.

New Starwoods in the East …
The 429-room Westin Jersey City Newport debuted in February. Located in the heart of Jersey City’s waterfront financial district, just 15 minutes from Manhattan, the hotel is convenient to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and one block from the Pavonia–Newport PATH station, Newark Light Rail and NJTransit buses. Visit www.starwood.com.

Also in the Starwood group, The St. Regis Atlanta Hotel & Residences opens this spring in Atlanta’s Buckhead community. The 151 luxurious guestrooms and suites and 51 branded St. Regis Residences will share a 7,800-square-foot Remède Spa. Visit www.stregis.com/atlanta.

And Hyatts in the West
The January opening of Seattle’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified hotel, the 346-room Hyatt at Olive 8, signals a serious commitment to earth-friendly practices. Lights switch on and off as guests enter and exit rooms, bathrooms have dual-flush toilets and water-reducing showerheads, and green housekeeping includes the use of chemical-free cleaning products. Urbane restaurant and bar uses ingredients from regional farmers and serves only beers and wines produced in Washington and Oregon. Visit www.olive8.hyatt.com. Also in January, the first North American Andaz opened in West Hollywood, replacing the former Hyatt on Sunset. Art and luxury are Andaz hallmarks, along with incorporating each locale into the guest experience. Visit www.andaz.com.

Shares Well with Others
The shifting sands of codesharing are difficult to follow. The most newsworthy of the new alliances is Air France and KLM’s preliminary accord with Iraq to help Iraqi Airways offer service to European cities and to renovate Baghdad’s airport (SDA), which on Jan. 1 was returned to Iraqi control. The codeshare enables Iraqi Airways to fly international flights, including to/from Europe. Visit www.airfrance.com.

Virgin Atlantic and BMI have expanded their existing codeshare agreement so that customers traveling on BMI’s U.K. domestic and Middle East networks can make seamless connections to Virgin Atlantic’s North American flights. Passengers can now book with Virgin Atlantic and connect at London Heathrow (LHR) with BMI flights to travel between New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Boston (BOS) and Los Angeles (LAX) and points in the Middle East. Visit www.virgin-atlantic.com.

JAL expanded its Europe Network under a new codeshare agreement with British Airways, adding Lisbon (LIS), to JAL’s Europe network, along with Aberdeen (ABZ), Edinburgh (EDI), Glasgow (GLA) and Newcastle (NCL) in the U.K. Visit www.jal.com.