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                             THE STANDARD'S
                        T E C H  T R A V E L E R
         Travel and the Travel Industry in the New Millennium
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                                        | http://www.thestandard.com |

Monday, February 12, 2001

NEWS BRIEFS:
* No More Telephone Menus ... What's In a Name ... Priceline for
Procrastinators

TOP STORY:
* Terminal Velocity?
The travel industry turns to digital tricks to solve airport
congestion.

SITE REVIEW:
* GreenGlobe21.com

NEWS BRIEFS
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NO MORE TELEPHONE MENUS: American Airlines has launched a free,
automated system that delivers flight status updates in a variety of
electronic formats, including telephone voice messages and text
messages sent via e-mail, alphanumeric pager, text-enabled wireless
phone or PDA. With a form on the airline's Web site, users can enter
the number of any American flight, select a preferred method of
contact and request notification of arrival and departure times along
with gate numbers and baggage claim locations.

WHAT'S IN A NAME: Consumers might soon be saying "bye-bye" to
ByeByeNow.com, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
earlier this month. The Florida-based vacation-package specialist uses
its Web site to feed business to a network of franchise travel
agencies and supports franchisees with a range of Web-based customer
relationship management tools and a 24-hour call center. Meanwhile,
some 30 employees of Bid4travel.com have joined the dot-com
unemployment rolls after the Denver-area travel discounter cut
two-thirds of its 45-member staff. Company officials say they are
seeking new funding or partnership opportunities to keep the vacation
auction service afloat.

PRICELINE FOR PROCRASTINATORS: In other auction news, Priceline.com
has upgraded its hotel-booking engine so that travelers who place
successful bids by 6 p.m. EST can check in on the same day. The
company says last-minute bookings are available at more than 200
participating hotels in the United States and Canada, primarily in
urban areas. Bids for air travel on Priceline.com still must be
submitted at least a day in advance for domestic flights or three days
in advance for international flights.

TOP STORY
~~~~~~~~~
Terminal Velocity?

The travel industry turns to digital tricks to solve airport
congestion.

By Morris Dye

If it seems like airports are a lot more crowded these days, there's a
good reason: U.S. Department of Transportation statistics show an
average increase of almost 20 million passengers per year boarding
planes at U.S. airports during the 1990s. The swell has given rise to
longer lines at checkout counters and border controls - and spawned an
organization that hopes to help solve the problem.

The Simplifying Passenger Travel initiative (simplifying-travel.org ),
which launched last year, is backed by the International Air Transport
Association and the Airports Council International, among other
groups. Its aim? To boost the capacity of existing terminal space by
reducing the amount of time passengers spend queuing up for airport
formalities. To do this, the group has looked to create standards and
coordinate the technology efforts of airlines, tech firms and other
parties in the travel industry.

Already the list of these efforts runs long. Self-service check-in
kiosks are becoming commonplace in major airports as electronic
ticketing becomes increasingly popular. (A new service from British
Airways even allows e-ticketed passengers to check in via WAP-enabled
mobile phones before arriving at the airport.) Some airlines are
testing the use of radio frequency chips in luggage tags to lick the
problem of lost bags, and Swissair is using the same wireless
technology for fully automatic hands-free check-in at the Zurich
airport as passengers equipped with special "e-pass" cards move
through immigration checkpoints.

"First-generation systems, such as the U.S. INSPass program, have been
around for many years," says SPT Program Director Thomas S.
Windmuller, referring to automated immigration kiosks in use at some
U.S. airports. "The key to getting to the next stage is to establish
or refine programs in accordance with agreed global standards and
procedures so they can be linked together in ways that benefit
passengers at both ends of the journey," Windmuller says, adding,
"despite the success of such programs, they are not yet compatible
with one another on an international level."

INSPass, which stands for Immigration and Naturalization Service
passenger accelerated service system, is a good example of how
information technology is already greasing the wheels of automated
border crossings. The program combines smartcard technology with
handprint scanners that confirm the identity of the cardholder,
allowing eligible frequent travelers to bypass normal immigration
controls. A similar system is being implemented in Canada, and
smartcards are used to expedite travelers across the busy causeway
that links Singapore and Malaysia. In Australia, a virtual visa system
that eliminates the need for a passport stamp has been in place since
before the STP was formed.

But for all its ambition, SPT's push raises a bit of a Catch-22: The
more successful it is, the greater the risk of privacy violation.
"Individuals who decide to use such a system may well be giving up
more than they are receiving in conveniences, time-saving and
hassle-reduction," warns Beth Givens, director of the nonprofit
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Deborah Pierce, a staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, articulates similar concerns: "Who has access to this
information? Can the individual see what information is being kept on
him or her and amend it if necessary? What other databases will all of
this valuable personal information end up in? How will individual's
travel itineraries be tracked and used?"

For SPT's part, Windmuller says, "it is essential to tackle these
concerns head-on," with industry and government sponsors cultivating
consumer confidence in much the same way banks have cultivated
consumer acceptance of automatic teller machines.

As SPT pilot projects move forward in London, Amsterdam and Sydney,
attention will be focused on what Windmuller sees as the biggest
hurdle standing in the way of this holy grail of ground services: "The
development of the business case to justify investments in these
systems. We see this coming from the increased efficiency that SPT
will bring."

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SITE REVIEW
~~~~~~~~~~~
GreenGlobe21.com

This London-based nonprofit was formed in 1994 to set environmental
policy standards for the hotel and tourism industries and to develop
an independently audited certification system to help consumers choose
truly "green" travel businesses. While much of Green Globe 21's Web
site is geared to the travel trade, it also provides extensive
reference material of interest to the traveling public, including a
directory of companies that have applied for membership, and a much
shorter list of those that have actually earned GG21 certification.
The site also offers tips on how to travel in an environmentally
sensitive fashion and an educational component with facts and figures
about the state of the world's natural resources and wildlife.
Visitors who fill out a free registration form gain access to a
booking engine for GG21 member companies as well as an online
bookstore specializing in sustainable travel. Not the sexiest travel
site on the Web, to be sure, but GreenGlobe21.com provides a useful
and informative launching pad for eco-conscious consumers.

STAFF        
~~~~~
Written by Michael Shapiro and Morris Dye. Send e-mail to
techtrav@yahoo.com.
Editor: Steven Zeitchik (szeitchik@thestandard.com).
Deputy Editor: Michele Keller (mkeller@thestandard.com).

Copyright 2001 Standard Media International

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