It is always interesting to get around a group of frequent flyers. It seems they all have stories about the times their luggage was lost or delayed. If you fly much, chances are you have experienced this a time or two, even though the airlines have improved in this area.

Reports of mishandled bags are down 11% for the first six months of 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to U.S. government reports. The reports are based on the amount of mishandled baggage reports filed by passengers. Mishandled includes delayed, lost or damaged luggage, plus baggage with items missing.

Airtran Airways had the fewest reports with 1.61 reports per 1,000 passengers for the first half of 2010. American Eagle was the worst at 7.56 reports per 1,000, although they have seen a 9% improvement over last year. According to the European Commission, carriers in Europe are nearly three times worse at handling bags than carriers in the U.S.

So how can you avoid baggage delay or loss? The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) suggests the following:

• Make sure you have your name, address and a telephone number where you can be reached at your destination city on both the outside and inside of your luggage.
• Don’t check in at the last minute. You might make the flight but there is a good chance that your bags won’t.
• Get a claim check for each bag and hang on to them until you reclaim your bags at your destination.
• Know where your bags are checked to, and whether or not you have to pick them up to clear customs short of your final destination.
• When possible, book nonstop or through flights.

Here is some additional advice:

• Remove old luggage tags to avoid confusion.
• Be at the luggage carousel when bags are off-loaded. Bags are often mistaken by passengers who don’t realize they grabbed the wrong one until they get home.
• Anytime you have a change in itinerary after your departure, such as occurs when you miss a connecting flight, be sure to ask a gate agent to locate your luggage and have it tagged for your new flight.

If your luggage is delayed or damaged, be sure to file a claim with the airline before leaving the airport. DOT recommends that passengers “Insist that the airline fill out a form and give you a copy, even if they say the bag will be in on the next flight. Get the agent’s name and an appropriate telephone number for following up (not reservations).” They also suggest you ask the airline if they will deliver the bag without charge when it is found and to ask about an advance or reimbursement for any items you must buy while your bag is missing.

Of course, the best way to avoid luggage delay or loss (as well as baggage fees) is to not check any bags. Unfortunately, that’s not practical for most of our clients. However, by following these tips you hopefully will have fewer lost bag stories to tell your frequent flyer buddies.

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs monitors global activities that relate to the safety and well-being of Americans traveling or living abroad. The Bureau has three types of travel-related notifications that it issues—Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts and Worldwide Cautions. It is important for travelers to understand the differences and to read the details of any notification that affects their intended destination.

Travel Warnings are issued when long-term conditions make a country dangerous or unstable. Travel Warnings are also issued when the U.S. government has limited ability to assist its citizens in the particular country due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a reduction of its staff.

Currently there are 30 countries on the Travel Warnings list. Warnings include the date issued and are usually open ended. There is, for example, a Travel Warning for Russia due to ongoing wildfires that are creating hazardous levels of air pollution. No one knows how long that condition will last, and the State Department has authorized the departure of its non-essential embassy personnel.

Travel Alerts are issued to advise travelers of short-term conditions that pose significant risks to U.S. citizens. Although usually issued as a country advisory, they often deal with concerns within particular regions of a nation. Travel Alerts can include everything from terrorist attacks to high-profile sports events. Currently there are four countries and one region listed on the Travel Alerts list.

Travel Alerts have an issue date and typically an expiration date. Like warnings, these also may deal with specific regions. For example, their currently is a Bolivia Travel Alert discouraging travel to three specific regions where large groups are protesting the Bolivian government. Other parts of the country are not affected by the Alert.

The State Department also issues Worldwide Cautions to inform U.S. citizens of global conditions that may pose a risk. These cautions also deal with regions of the world and will outline terrorist or other concerns that exist within that part of the world. As these Cautions tend to be very broad in nature, it is always best to refer to the Warnings and Alerts to get specific country concerns.

State Department notifications can be very general or overly cautious, so it is good to get additional information as well. Please see our July 10^th blog Keeping International Volunteer Teams Safe for a list of additional sources. State Department Travel Alerts, Warnings and Cautions can be found at www.travel.state.gov.

“I’m sorry, but your passport information does not match the information in your reservation,” the airline ticketing agent tells a passenger as he checks in for his international flight.

“What do you mean it doesn’t match,” asks the passenger. “The reservation name does not include your middle name as it appears on your passport,” the agent replies. “I’m sorry, but under federal law, we must deny boarding.” The passenger responds, “But I’m traveling with 25 other people on a mission trip.” “It doesn’t matter,” says the agent, “we can be fined $27,500 under the Secure Flight Program if we let you board the plane.”

This scenario could happen to you or your short term mission team starting this fall under U.S. government regulations known as the Secure Flight Program (SFP). Although the program started phasing-in last year, airlines begin strict enforcement on international flights starting in November. SFP requires certain passenger information be entered into their reservation at least 72 hours before departure or the airline will deny boarding. Starting September 15 the SFP information must be in the reservation before a ticket can even be issued. It is required for all travel starting November 1 regardless of when the tickets were issued.

The SFP information includes the passenger’s full name as it appears on their government issued identification. This means that international travelers must use the name exactly as it appears in their passport, even if it is different from their driver’s license or other IDs. SFP also requires the passenger’s birth date, gender, and a Redress Number if they have one. Redress Numbers are for those who are accidentally put on a government watch or no-fly list, or who are mistaken for someone on the list. For more information on redress visit http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/customer/redress/index.shtm .

What does this mean to Ministry Travel clients?

It means that you need to accurately provide all of the above information when making your reservation. Many times groups make their reservations before all of their members have received their passports. This can create problems if the passport has different information than what was given at the time of reservation. This happens a lot with married vs. maiden names—the married name is given for the reservation but their passport is in the maiden name. Other common problems are with middle names, especially if the person has multiple middle names or if they have a hyphenated last name.

Here are some suggestions for group leaders.

• Make sure that your trip applications or registration forms ask participants for their full legal name exactly as it appears or will appear on their passport.
• Require that team member’s provide a copy of their passport with their trip application or registration. If they don’t yet have a passport, give them a time frame that they must apply for one—say within two weeks after trip registration (sooner depending on when you are leaving)—and then require a copy as soon as they receive it. This not only ensures that you have accurate information to make the reservations, but also provides passport copies for your team leader to carry during the trip–which makes getting a new passport easier if one is lost or stolen while traveling.
• Refer to the passport copies when you provide passenger information to your Ministry Travel agent. Make sure that it is clear to the agent what the first, middle and last names are.
• Once you receive reservation confirmation from your Ministry Travel agent, immediately double check the spelling of each person’s name in the reservation against the passport copies. If there are any discrepancies, notify Ministry Travel right away.

By following these suggestions you will ensure that everyone on your team meets the Secure Flight requirements and that no one will be denied boarding when it’s time for your ministry trip. For more information, visit www.tsa.gov/secureflight.

Usually the trip through airport security is pretty uneventful, except for the occasional guy with the giant belt buckle who forgot to remove it before going through the metal detector. Sometimes, however, those trips turn out to be quite bizarre. According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) their screeners can expect about anything.

Like the passenger with the unusual movement on his leg.

After twice setting off the walk-through metal detector the man was taken aside for additional screening. That’s when TSA security officer Luis Feliciano noticed the man’s leg. When asked about it, the passenger nervously admitted that he was trying to smuggle a baby alligator onboard his flight. He had placed the alligator inside a sock and taped it to his thigh. Good news for the alligator—he was rescued. Bad news for the passenger—he got a fine.

“The knife was supposed to be in my other Barbie,” is what a man told screeners in Wisconsin as he tried to get through airport security. The man had a 4.5 inch knife hidden inside a Barbie doll box in his carry-on bag. He told officials he wanted to take the knife on his trip and thought it was safest to store it in the Barbie box—but he said he thought it was in his checked bag. Turned out he did have two more Barbie boxes in his checked luggage.

Sometimes you see things at security that don’t make sense, like why they make people get out of wheelchairs or do additional screening on people with canes. There’s good reason, according to the TSA. During a one-week period, screeners found a box cutter hidden under a wheelchair, a knife with a 3.5 inch blade concealed in a baby carrier, and a 5 inch blade hidden in the cane of a passenger. “Families with small children, individuals with disabilities, and the elderly don’t appear to be security threats, but to keep all passengers safe, security officers can’t afford to take any chances,” the TSA said in a statement.

In addition to carry-on luggage, the TSA also routinely inspects passengers’ checked baggage. During one inspection in Atlanta, security officers discovered 30 dead snakes and a dead bird in a passenger’s bag. “I have found snakes before but what surprised me about this was how many there were,” said Christopher Hendericks, the TSA officer who made the discovery.

Knowing that alligators, snakes and knife-wielding Barbies are trying to make their way onto flights suddenly makes the inconvenience of airport security at lot less inconvenient.