Tag Archives: Travel

Motorists to hit U.S. roads in record numbers on July 4th weekend

Motorists wait in line to cross the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge during morning commute hours in Oakland, California

By Jarrett Renshaw

NEW YORK (Reuters) – With gasoline costing the least since 2005, U.S. motorists will hit the road this upcoming July 4 holiday weekend in record numbers, according to the nation’s largest motoring group.

AAA projects 36.3 million people will drive 50 miles (80 km) or more from home during the holiday period, the third consecutive year of record-breaking forecasts. That is up 1.2 percent from last year, continuing what is expected to be a historic summer driving season.

Despite recent seasonal increases, gasoline prices remain well below the levels of recent years. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.31, which is 47 cents less than one year ago. AAA expects most U.S. drivers will pay the lowest Independence Day gas prices since 2005.

“Spurred by the lowest gas prices since 2005, more people than ever are planning to travel this Independence Day weekend,” said Marshall Doney, AAA president and CEO. ““We are well on our way for 2016 to be a record-breaking year for summertime travel.”

Including airplanes and trains, AAA projects nearly 43 million Americans will travel this Independence Day weekend, the highest July 4 travel volume on record and five million more travelers than over Memorial Day weekend. The holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, June 30 to Monday, July 4.

Americans used an average of 9.72 million barrels of gasoline a day in the four weeks ending June 17, the highest level recorded since the Energy Information Administration started collecting weekly consumption data in 1991.

The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Transportation shows the U.S. road renaissance, spurred in part by the crude oil rout and lower unemployment, remains strong.

U.S. road travel rose 2.6 percent in April, compared with a year ago, according to data released last week by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The April figures mark the 26th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in vehicle miles traveled, according to DOT data, reflecting the surge in U.S. driving activity fueled by low pump prices.

Driving in the United States is closely watched since the country accounts for about 10 percent of global gasoline demand.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Lighten up at airport security lines, U.S. judge tells travelers

A Transportation Safety Administration agent looks over a line of passengers at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – It is the job of airport security screeners to stop terrorists, not to referee disputes between passengers waiting on line, a U.S. magistrate judge has ruled, in dismissing a lawsuit brought by an unhappy traveler.

Judge Howard Lloyd issued the decision late on Tuesday, in a year when thousands of waiting passengers have missed flights because of tighter security requirements and staff shortages at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

Justin Ngo, of Sunnyvale, California, filed his lawsuit in nearby San Jose, after TSA agents refused to detain a family waiting behind him at a checkpoint at Honolulu International Airport in February 2014.

In his complaint against the TSA, the airport and officials, Ngo said a mother and her children kept hitting his luggage while playing, ignoring his requests to stop, while the father repeatedly kicked the luggage and told him to “Lighten up!”

He said he suffered emotional distress and that the TSA was negligent and an accomplice to assault and harassment.

But the judge said Congress created the TSA soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to combat terrorism and prevent “mass murder” in the skies, not mediate disputes between careless or impatient passengers on line.

“When Ngo entered the security checkpoint, the TSA was a gatekeeper obliged to determine whether he should be permitted to pass,” Lloyd wrote. “The TSA had no duty to detain a family at his command.”

Ngo, who represented himself in the lawsuit, had no immediate comment on Wednesday.

The case is Ngo v. Transportation Security Administration et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 16-00481.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Howard Goller)

U.S. warns of possible terrorist attacks in Europe

A group of tourists walk through the streets in downtown Valencia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department warned Americans on Tuesday of the possible threat of terrorist attacks in Europe this summer, saying targets could include tourist sites, restaurants and large events such as the European Soccer Championship in France.

“We are alerting U.S. citizens to the risk of potential terrorist attacks throughout Europe, targeting major events, tourist sites, restaurants, commercial centers and transportation,” it said in a travel alert expiring Aug. 31.

“The large number of tourists visiting Europe in the summer months will present greater targets for terrorists planning attacks in public locations, especially at large events.”

The travel alert noted that France will host the UEFA Euro 2106 soccer championship from June 10 to July 10 and that the French government had extended its state of emergency, imposed after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people, through July 26 to cover the July 2-24 Tour de France bicycle race.

“Euro Cup stadiums, fan zones, and unaffiliated entertainment venues broadcasting the tournaments in France and across Europe represent potential targets for terrorists, as do other large-scale sporting events and public gathering places throughout Europe,” the department said.

It also said the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day event is expected to draw up to 2.5 million visitors to Krakow, Poland, between July 26 and July 31, saying local infrastructure may be strained by the large number of visitors to Poland.

“Poland will impose border controls at all of its national borders from July 4 to August 2, and visitors to Poland during this period should be prepared to show their passport and undergo stricter security screening throughout Poland,” it said.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by James Dalgleish)

EU makes it easier to suspend visa-free travel amid immigration worries

A barbed wire is seen in front of a European Union flag at an immigration reception centre in Bicske

By Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union ministers on Friday backed making it easier and faster to suspend visa waiver with third countries and said relaxing travel rules for more states was not imminent amid deepening public concern about immigration into the bloc.

The EU is in politically sensitive talks with Ankara on easier travel requirements for Turks seeking to visit Europe for up to three months and with no right to work.

The 28-nation bloc is planning the concession as part of a deal whereby Turkey helps curb the influx of migrants and refugees to Europe. But some EU states are anxious about opening up to a mainly Muslim nation of 79 million people.

To assuage such concerns, the EU is beefing up a mechanism that allows it to suspend visa waiver with any of some 60 countries that have such agreements in place. The plan, endorsed by 28 EU interior ministers on Friday, enjoys backing in the European Parliament, which must sign off on it as well.

“Visa liberalization has great advantages for the EU and third countries,” said Klaas Dijkhoff, migration minister for the Netherlands, which now holds the bloc’s rotating presidency.

“Yet we need… to make sure that visa liberalization cannot be abused. I’m pleased that we agreed today on a mechanism that makes it easier to act against abuse.”

As well as Turkey, the EU is currently working on lifting visas for citizens of Ukraine, Georgia and Kosovo. Countries which already enjoy such travel benefits include Japan, the United States, South Korea, Venezuela, Israel and Canada.

NO MORE VISA LIBERALIZATION SOON?

German interior minister, Thomas de Maziere, said the EU should not grant visa-free travel to more countries until the suspension mechanism is in place. His French colleague, Bernard Cazeneuve, said more relaxed travel rules for the four countries were not a matter “of the coming weeks and months”.

Dijkhoff said the 28 ministers agreed that the four candidates must meet all criteria given to them by the EU to enjoy visa-free travel and that, while they were capable of eventually doing so, that was not the case yet.

In proposing extending the EU visa-waiver program to the four countries, the bloc’s executive European Commission said Ukraine, Georgia and Kosovo had already fulfilled their requirements, while Turkey was due to meet them by end-June.

But diplomats from EU states differ on whether that is the case, with most agreeing though that at least Georgia has done its homework in full.

Visa liberalization for Turkey, a key puzzle in the broader migration collaboration, has now been pushed back to July or, more likely, the autumn, sources told Reuters.

The new safety mechanism cuts to two months from six now the period after which a country can seek to suspend visa-waiver if it sees a sharp rise in overstays, asylum requests or readmission refusals from a non-EU state that has had travel rules relaxed.

The changes would apply to the countries of Europe’s free-travel Schengen zone, which comprises most EU states and several non-EU ones, such as Norway. Britain and Ireland are not part of the Schengen area and would not be affected. Immigration is a top issue in Britain’s June 23 vote on whether to leave the EU.

(Additional reporting by Tom Koerkemeier, Editing by Ralph Boulton)

U.S. motorists to hit roads on Memorial Day holiday in near-record numbers

Traffic flows along Coast Highway 101 through San Diego's North County beach town of Encinitas, California

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The number of Americans traveling by car for the Memorial Day holiday will hit an 11-year high this year, fueled by a growing economy and low gasoline prices, the nation’s largest motorists’ advocacy group said on Thursday.

AAA projected 33.9 million people will hit the road and drive 50 miles (80 km) or more from home during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday period, the most since 37.3 million in 2005.

The expectation for strong driving numbers is welcome news for U.S. refiners, who are banking on the summer driving season to resurrect profits that plummeted during the recent fall and winter seasons.

The 2.1 percent increase in driving volumes for the May 26 to May 30 period from the holiday weekend a year before will bring the auto share of holiday travel to 89 percent, the highest since AAA began tracking in 2000, underscoring how low pump prices have led consumers to consider driving as a low-cost alternative to flying.

“The great American road trip is officially back thanks to low gas prices, and millions of people from coast to coast are ready to kick off summer with a Memorial Day getaway,” Marshall Doney, AAA president and chief executive, said in a statement.

The national average price of gas is $2.26 a gallon, roughly 17 percent less than the average price of $2.75 on Memorial Day last year.

Overall holiday travel, including airplanes, is expected to reach more than 38 million travelers, also the second-highest after 2005 figures, AAA said.

The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Transportation shows the U.S. road renaissance, spurred in part by the crude oil rout and lower unemployment, remains strong.

U.S. motorists logged 232.2 billion miles in February, the most for any February, up 5.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That was the largest year-over-year bump since at least 1991, it said.

Driving activity in the United States is closely watched since the country accounts for about 10 percent of global gasoline demand.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

Security fears overshadow world’s biggest travel fair

BERLIN (Reuters) – Security fears are on everybody’s lips at the ITB travel trade fair in Berlin this year as a battered tourist industry seeks to reassure travelers and tour operators that they need not shy away from booking summer holidays for this year.

Attacks in tourist hotspots like a Tunisian beach resort and the city of Paris over the past year have rattled travelers’ confidence, sending bookings for Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt plummeting and heralding a slowdown in demand for international travel.

“People have money to spend, but there’s a strong negative impact from the geopolitical situation. People fear attacks,” Roy Scheerder, commercial director at low cost Dutch airline Transavia, told Reuters at ITB.

Airlines, tour operators, hoteliers and travel search companies at the fair said they had seen more caution than usual in bookings at the start of the year, often a popular time for people to book trips.

A survey by consultancy IPK International projected that growth in the number of international trips taken would slow to 3 percent this year, down from 4.6 percent in 2015.

Rolf Freitag, founder of IPK, said security fears had knocked off about 1.5 percentage points from the expected growth this year. Of 50,000 people in 42 countries surveyed at the start of February, 15 percent said they would either not travel or holiday in their home country this year.

Hotel groups like Marriott International and Best Western expressed concern over tourist bookings for Paris after November’s attacks on the French capital, which may have a knock-on effect on other destinations.

“It has a ripple effect. If you think about someone traveling from the United States to Paris, Paris was not the only city they would visit, they would also go to other parts of France or Europe, and that has been curtailed,” Best Western CEO David Kong told Reuters.

The beneficiaries are destinations perceived to carry a smaller risk of becoming the target of attacks.

“The really hot markets are anywhere that’s safe. Spain is on fire for this summer. Italy is very strong,” Darren Huston, chief executive of Priceline Group and its subsidiary Booking.com, told Reuters.

Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling, for instance, has added more capacity to Spanish destinations from Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland to keep up with demand, though it highlighted that hotel space was running out.

Destinations in North America and the Caribbean are seeing increased demand, while search firm Kayak said Germans were more interested in hotels in their own country this year.

Some in the industry are clinging to hope that tourists will still travel this summer but are holding off on firm bookings longer than usual due to the uncertain security outlook.

“Past experience has shown us that a country that is serious about tourism and has built an infrastructure always bounces back,” Taleb Rifai, the head of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), told Reuters in an interview.

“Look at Egypt. It has been up and down for the last 10 years. Every time it comes back stronger than before,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Peter Maushagen and Tina Bellon; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Tornadoes reported, flood warnings issued as powerful storm continues east

The powerful storm that shut down major highways and knocked out power to thousands of people across the United States continued to make its presence felt on Wednesday morning.

Portions of northern Wisconsin and Michigan remained under winter storm warnings and various flooding and flash flooding watches and warnings were issued in the mid-Atlantic and South as a storm that brought heavy snow and rain, high winds and tornadoes moved east.

According to the National Weather Service, double-digit snow totals have been recorded in 14 states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming — since Saturday, while wind gusts have surpassed 50 mph in eight states in the southwest, Rocky Mountains and Great Plains.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center received 15 reports of tornadoes in Alabama and Mississippi late Tuesday and early Wednesday. It’s possible that some of those are referring to the same tornado, as they stemmed from just six counties.

The accounts indicated that roofs were blown off houses in Beaverton, Alabama, and near Collinsville, Mississippi. Other reports said twisters toppled trees and damaged buildings.

Alabama Power said about 14,000 of its customers were without power early Wednesday morning, though was down to 6,400 a few hours later. Georgia Power reported about 1,700 customers near Atlanta were without power, and there were scattered outages in Mississippi.

The tornadoes and power outages were the latest impacts of the powerful storm, which had previously been blamed for thousands of power outages in California and Nebraska.

On Wednesday, National Weather Service showed rain stretching from Alabama all the way northeast to Maine. Heavy rain was falling in parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, where flash flood watches were issued. Other flood watches or warnings are scattered along the east coast, including the Washington and Baltimore areas that were recently hit by a major blizzard.

The Weather Channel is calling this storm Winter Storm Kayla.

Those in the storm’s path are encouraged to monitor their local forecasts.

Parts of Mississippi have received more than seven inches of rain since Saturday, according to the National Weather Service, including 7.73 inches near New Hebron. Selected cities in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee have all recorded more than three inches of rain.

Snow totals were far larger.

Some mountain passes in Colorado received more than 30 inches of snow, including 41 inches at Coal Bank Pass and 40 inches near Wolf Creek Pass. Denver was hit by 22 inches of snow.

Heavy winds were expected to generate blizzard conditions in some parts of the midwest.

The Colorado Department of Transportation shut down several roads as a result of the storm, including a 300-mile stretch of Interstate 70 that began in Denver and stretched into Kansas, though most reopened later Tuesday. Some state highways remained closed in Kansas and Nebraska on Wednesday morning, their state transportation departments reported, and many roads in southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa were still completely covered with snow or ice.

Parts of Minnesota received more than a foot of snow, the National Weather Service reported.

The Minnesota State Patrol said that Interstate 90 and many other highways in the southern part of the state were closed on Tuesday, though they were open again on Wednesday morning. A spokesman tweeted that troopers responded to 449 accidents in a 24-hour period statewide.

Flight monitoring website FlightAware.com indicated that more than 240 flights to or from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport were cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

While some interstates reopened, others were still closed.

That included a 200-mile stretch of Interstate 80 in Nebraska that spanned from North Platte to Beaver Crossing, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The National Weather Service’s flood warnings and watches issued for the mid-Atlantic and South warned rivers and streams could breach their banks, which may cause additional road closures.

Blizzard pummels midwest, knocking out power and shutting down interstates

Parts of the midwest were bracing for blizzard conditions on Tuesday morning as a powerful winter storm continued east, knocking down power lines and shutting down major highways.

The National Weather Service issued winter storm or blizzard warnings in portions of nine states and wind advisories in several more as the storm brought more heavy snow to the nation.

Radar showed precipitation falling over Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota on Tuesday morning. The storm was expected to reach Wisconsin and northern Michigan this afternoon.

Blizzard warnings were issued in parts of Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.

The National Weather Service warned that those areas could receive between six to 15 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 50 mph, which could reduce visibility and lead to road closures.

Notably, a roughly 300-mile stretch of Interstate 70 between Denver International Airport and Hays, Kansas, was closed, according to the Colorado and Kansas transportation departments. A 225-mile stretch of U.S. 36 that largely parallels the interstate highway was also closed down.

The Colorado Department of Transportation blamed the closures on “whiteout conditions.” The National Weather Service said one mountainous part of the state received 33 inches of snow.

The Weather Channel is referring to the storm as Winter Storm Kayla.

Portions of Colorado and Wyoming were under winter storm warnings, as were other parts of the five states in which blizzard warnings were issued. The storm wasn’t expected to bring snow to the south, though the National Weather Service issued wind advisories in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina because strong sustained winds were expected in those regions.

Some states should expect severe thunderstorms, the National Weather Service warned, and there was a possibility that tornadoes could touch down in Alabama, Mississippi and the Ohio River Valley later tonight. The service had yet to issue any thunderstorm or tornado watches.

Residents of all of the above states are encouraged to monitor their local forecasts.

The storm has already brought wind gusts of at least 70 mph to six states, according to the National Weather Service, including 90-mph-plus gusts in Texas, California and New Mexico.

About 143,000 people in Southern California were without power on Sunday, according to local utility companies Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, though those numbers were down to about 12,000 as of early Tuesday morning.

The National Weather Service reported that gusts reached 40 mph in Nebraska, and parts of the state received between seven and 12.5 inches of snow as of 8 a.m. Tuesday. More was expected.

The Omaha Public Power District said about 20,000 customers were without power, while the Lincoln Electric System said it was working to turn the lights back on for about 1,800 customers.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation said it closed a 112-mile stretch of Interstate 80 between Kearney and York, and several other state routes were impassible or fully covered.

Some parts of Kansas received 10 inches of snow as of Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service reported. Several state and U.S. highways in the state’s northwest corner were closed to traffic, the state Department of Transportation reported.

More than 130 flights to or from Denver International Airport were cancelled as of mid-day Tuesday, according to flight monitoring website FlightAware.com. The Colorado Department of Transportation said it also closed a 159-mile stretch of Interstate 76 and several state highways.

The storm also brought a foot or more of snow to several locations in Wyoming, according to the National Weather Service, including 24.3 inches near Driggs.

Totals weren’t yet available for Iowa, though the state Department of Transportation reported that a part of Interstate 29 was closed near Sioux City and many roads were fully covered.

U.S. begins implementing restrictions on visa-free travel

United States officials have begun implementing new policies regarding the country’s Visa Waiver Program, the State Department announced Thursday.

The program allows citizens and nationals of 38 countries to visit the United States without obtaining a visa, provided they stay for fewer than 90 days.

Congress sought to reform the program in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks.

The new laws prevent anyone who has visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan since March 1, 2011, or holds citizenship in one of those four countries, from entering the United States through the Visa Waiver Program. They will now have to apply for a visa at a U.S. embassy, a process that includes an in-person interview.

A White House fact sheet says 20 million people visit the United States under the Visa Waiver Program every year, and the program had utilized security checks designed to keep terrorists and other potential security threats out of the nation.

Those who sought to reform the program said there were shortcomings in that screening process, and Congress voted to approve the changes in December.

Representative Candice Miller (R-Michigan), who originally introduced the legislation, issued a statement when it was passed. She said the bill “improves our ability to identify and stop individuals who have traveled to terrorist hotspots to join ISIS and other like-minded organizations before they reach U.S. soil.”

In a news release, State Department officials said “the great majority” of people who use the Visa Waiver Program would not be affected by the changes.

The department added that Secretary of Homeland Security can waive the visa requirement for individuals who went to the aforementioned four countries on a case-by-case basis. People who traveled for diplomatic reasons, humanitarian work, military service or as a journalist may qualify for waivers.

Tornado Outbreak Could Disrupt Holiday Travel for Many

Weather experts are warning there’s a chance for a tornado outbreak this week.

The Weather Channel forecasts potent thunderstorms with the ability to generate tornadoes, damaging hail and high winds are expected to develop in the southern United States over the next couple of days. Meteorologists say that tornadoes are most likely to occur on Wednesday.

The Weather Channel uses its own index called TOR:CON to calculate the risk of a tornado at any given time in a specified area. The channel’s severe weather experts predict that there’s a 50 percent chance of tornadoes occurring within a 50-mile radius of any location in Mississippi, Louisiana, western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas and eastern Texas on Wednesday. The experts also warned there’s a chance — albeit a lesser one — of a tornado outside those boundaries.

The National Weather Service had yet to issue any tornado warnings or advisories on Tuesday.

If the forecasts pan out, the thunderstorms and tornadoes could disrupt many Christmas travel plans. Fox News reported that Dec. 23 is traditionally one of the year’s busiest days for air travel, and previous AAA research has indicated the day is also one of the most perilous times to drive.

This year, AAA predicts that a record 100.5 million Americans will make a journey of at least 50 miles between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3. More than 90 percent of them are expected to drive.