Double trouble for travelers: baggage thieves and cellphone crooks

It's a good thing travel is so enjoyable because, frankly, there are things to worry about when you take a trip. Things such as whether your baggage will be waiting for you at the end of a flight and whether someone might be tapping into your cellphone.
Let's talk about luggage first. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, mishandled baggage complaints, including theft, rank second only to flight problems as the most common consumer complaint. Although  actual baggage theft from luggage carousels and other pilferage may account for a small percent of mishandled bags in the U.S., it is still prevalent in some parts of the world.  In fact, the U.S. State Department, in its  Country Specific pages, provides destination information on international airports where pilferage may be a problem.

The US Travel Insurance Association, through its  TRIP  web site, offers the following tips to lessen the chance that your bags will vanish:
* Use hard-sided luggage.
* Pack valuables in your carry-on
*Avoid luggage that looks expensive.
* Pack only items that are easily replaced or those you can live without.
* Use a TSA-approved lock or plastic cable ties to secure your bags.
* Make your bags conspicuous by choosing eye-catching colors or distinctively colored straps.
For more details and additional tips, visit www.trip.ustia.org.

Now about those cellphones.  AVG Technologies, an online security specialist, warns that cyber crooks are increasingly targeting mobile users with fake apps that steal data or trick users into accepting fraudulent charges. Here's how travelers can help protect themselves:
*Any mobile device should be equipped with security software. Not surprisingly, AVG Technologies recommends AVG Mobilation.
* Be careful when downloading apps for your phone. Pay special attention to their names. If you want Free Wi-Fi Finder, then make sure it's Free Wi-Fi Finder and not Free Wi-Fi Finding.
* Do not "jailbreak" your device to get around limitations set by your carrier or manufacturer. Doing so will remove protections built into the device.
* Check your phone bills. Many carriers now allow you to check your usage and charges online. Report any suspicious activity quickly.
* Exercise the same caution as you would on your computer. Most people have no idea their cellphones can be attacked. And that is one reason why cyber crooks are going after them.


Trivial question
What is the highest mountain in Canada? (Answer somewhere below.)

Hey, Tweeters, you could win a Hawaiian stay

To mark its 30th anniversary, the oceanfront Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa,on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii Island,has launched a photo caption contest via Twitter.  The monthlong  contest (#WaikoloaMarriott30) will give entrants the opportunity to win a five-night stay in a Royal Suite at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, overlooking ancient Hawaiian fishponds and the white-sand ‘Anaeho‘omalu Bay. @MarriottHawaii will post one photo of Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa each weekday for 30 days. People can enter by replying on Twitter with a caption that best describes the photo. Entries must include the hashtag #WaikoloaMarriott30. Of the 30 daily qualifiers, Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa will randomly select one contest winner the week of Aug.22 For all the rules, visit  www.marriotthawaii.com/waikoloamarriott30.

Fascinating fact

West Virginia is the only state in the Union without a natural lake.

Coming up at Disney World: Royal Guest Rooms

Opening early next spring, the Royal Guest Rooms at Walt Disney World's Port Orleans Resort-Riverside allow princes and princesses of all ages to stay where Disney royalty have stayed. Guests find regal touches left behind by some of their favorite Disney characters --  fiber-optic special effects above ornately decorated beds, gold and crystal accents, custom linens and drapes, and in-room art and details including Princely banners and well-known Princess friends. The 512 Royal Guest Rooms will start at $189 per night.

Search Amazon.com for Walt Disney World 

Worth quoting

"To put it rather bluntly, I am not the type who wants to go back to the land; I am the type who wants to go back to the hotel." -- Fran Lebowitz

Trivial answer

Canada's highest mountain is mount Logan in the Yukon. At 19,551 feet, Logan is the second-highest mountain in North America, after Mount McKinley, which is 20,320 feet.

These streets weren’t named for elephants OR circuses

One of the many things I love about London are the names of its streets. You know: places like Bleeding Heart Yard, Houndsditch, Spitalfields, Elephant and Castle. But how did they get those colorful names anyway? The Associated Press recently looked into that question and came up with these answers:

* Bleeding Heart Yard is from a legend that a noblewoman's still-pumping heart was found there after she was murdered in the 1620s.

* Houndsditch comes from the ditch where people dumped dead dogs in the Middle Ages.

* Spitalfields, the site of a popular market in east London, is a contraction of "Hospital Fields." The New Hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate was located there in the early 12th century.

* Elephant and Castle, in south London, may be a corruption of "La Infanta de Castilla," which in Spanish refers to Catherine of Aragon, the Spanish princess who was the first (but not the last) to marry Henry VIII..

And there are more:

* Piccadilly Circus gets its name from a stiff collar called a "picadil" and a picadil tailor’s mansion called Piccadilly Hall. In this instance, “circus” merely means a circular area.

* Pall Mall, which cuts through London’s center, may have got that name because British nobility liked to play "paille maille" on long, straight streets.

* Chalk Farm, in north London, is a corruption of "Chalcot Farm," which the AP says no longer exists but was chosen as the name for the nearby Underground stop “simply because it was memorable.”

For a lot more about London, including a three-night flight-and-hotel offer starting at $599, go to www.visitlondon.com.


Everyone groan -- here comes a travel joke
A passenger piled his suitcases on the scale at an airline counter in Chicago and, after paying the airline’s outrageous fees, told the ticket agent, "I'm flying to Los Angeles. I want the square case to go to Denver and the two round ones to go to Boston."
"I'm sorry, sir, but we can't do that," said the ticket agent.
"Why not?” answered the passenger. You did it the last time!"

Las Vegas resort gives a $100 beverage credit
The Signature at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a Mobil four-star resort, is celebrating its third birthday with a deal. Throughout July, when you book the Signature Celebration package, rates start at $129 per night for a junior suite -- and you get a $100 beverage credit. If it happens to be your birthday, too, you get a complimentary upgrade to a one-bedroom suite.
Call 877-727-0007 and mention booking code “BIRTHDAY.” The website is www.signaturemgmgrand.com.

And speaking of beverages ...
The Deerfield Inn in Deerfield, Mass., is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a new tavern and name for the restaurant. In a tribute to acclaimed painter and late 19th century Deerfield resident, James Wells Champney, the name is now Champney’s Restaurant and Tavern. What’s more, the beverage menu features a whopping 101 custom-blended martinis, and restaurant guests get a free treat -- some of the inn’s signature Dense Chocolate Torte for dessert.
Visit www.deerfieldinn.com or call 413-774-5587 .

Worth quoting

“There ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”

                                                                                                                                            -- Mark Twain

2 months of music, dance, theater, flamenco
For 60 days this summer, Madrid will welcome performing artists like Sara Baras, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Cesária Évora, Gilberto Gil, Jerry Lee Lewis, Youssou N’Dour, Carlos Saura and James Taylor. The Spanish capital’s Summer in the City Festival will have 1,166 performances – 65 concerts, 50 plays, 30 dance companies, 200 film screenings and two circuses. Events begin Thursday and run through Aug. 23. Prices, locations and times vary. For the rundown, click here.  To learn about Spain, visit www.spain.info.

Fascinating facts
With a coastline of 2,650 miles, Chile makes up more than half the western coastline of South America. This ultra-thin country is between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes, the earth's longest exposed mountain range at more than 4,300 miles.

Answer to Monday’s trivia: Buenos Aires
The striking span pictured below is the Puente de la Mujer in Buenos Aires, a 335-foot-long suspension pedestrian bridge The central portion can turn 90 degrees to allow water traffic to get by.