World Tourism Blog

Eurostar scrambled to get tens of thousands of passengers home for the holidays as it resumed service of high-speed trains under the English Channel on Tuesday, four days after a service shutdown caused by a hallmark of Christmastime travel: snow.

The first train pulled out of Paris’ Gare du Nord station in the morning carrying 750 passengers, many of whom had been stranded since the rail link between Britain, France and Belgium was suspended Saturday.

Hundreds of others waited in a line that stretched across the cavernous Paris train station, as Eurostar staff circulated with trays of pastries and coffee in paper cups.

Eurostar has identified the problem that caused trains to break down in the Channel Tunnel, sparking the shutdown — unusually dry, powdery snow that got into the engines. The shutdown affected 40,000 people and left French President Nicolas Sarkozy indignant.

Eurostar offered its “deepest apologies,” promised compensation and pledged to do its utmost to make sure passengers can celebrate the holidays with their families.

“We’re worried about the passengers first and getting them where they need to be for the Christmas break,” said Ian Nunn, Eurostar finance director. “We’ll worry about reputational damage afterwards.”

People who were supposed to travel over the weekend were given priority as trains started up. Service was less frequent than usual: About two out of three regularly scheduled Eurostars were running.

At the Paris station, Britain’s Isabella Comba was worried.

“My mother’s sick, said I really want need to get home to be by her bedside,” said Comba, who works at Sotheby’s auction house and was hoping to catch an afternoon train to Cornwall, in southwestern England. “It will really throw off my plans if I’m not able to get to London today.”

Eurostar’s operations chief, Nicolas Petrovic, gave a detailed technical explanation of what happened. Normally snow in the region tends to be wet and heavy, he said, but unusually dry snow got past the train’s snow-screens and into the engines Friday. Then the snow turned into condensation inside the Channel Tunnel, where temperatures were higher than those outside.

The condensation caused the trains’ electrical circuits to fail, he said.

“It’s the first time we have (had) these snow conditions in 15 years,” he said. Eurostar has commissioned an independent review into the problems.

Nonetheless, Transport Minister Dominique de Bussereau expressed incredulity that mere snowfall had caught Eurostar off-guard. So did ordinary travelers.

“It’s not like it never snowed before,” said Jennifer Eboule, a 21-year-old French student waiting in line at Gare du Nord. “It’s hard to understand how something like that could cause such a big problem.”

Sarkozy summoned the head of France’s SNCF rail operator into the Elysee Palace on Monday for a one-on-one meeting and ordered him to get the Eurostar moving again, saying the situation was “unacceptable for travelers.”

Problems started Friday after five trains failed inside the Channel Tunnel, trapping more than 2,000 passengers for hours in stuffy and claustrophobic conditions. Exhausted, sometimes teary-eyed passengers appeared in British and French TV broadcasts complaining that they had been left underground for more than 15 hours, without food, water or any clear idea of what was going on.

Eurostar’s operations chief blamed Eurotunnel, which operates the Channel Tunnel, for the delay in rescuing passengers from the stuck trains, and did not exclude the possibility of legal action.

While Eurostar works on getting the huge backlog of passengers home, it is blocking any new ticket sales until after Christmas. Hard money training.

Forecasts for 2010 predict that more people will be traveling, but the numbers are still well below what they were before the recession. Still, if you can afford to get away, interesting events will drawing visitors to destinations around the world, from Shanghai to South Africa to Orlando.

And here’s a surprise: Mexico is turning up on some top 10 lists for 2010, despite the swine flu epidemic and worries over drug violence.

DESTINATIONS: Several destinations will be in the tourism spotlight in 2010 thanks to headline-grabbing events, including the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Feb. 12-28; the FIFA World Cup soccer games in South Africa, for a month beginning June 11; and the Shanghai World Expo, May 1-Oct. 31, a 21st century world’s fair that organizers are hoping will attract as many as 70 million visitors.

Another destination that will get attention in 2010 is Oberammergau, Germany, where the oldest continually acted Passion play in Europe has been performed by the locals roughly every 10 years since the 1600s. The show will be staged May through October, and is typically seen by a half-million people.

Spain is expecting more pilgrims traveling the Camino de Santiago, an ancient route to Galicia, where the cathedral is said to house the remains of St. James the Apostle. Typically the route draws more visitors when the saint’s Feast Day, July 25, falls on a Sunday, as it will in 2010.

Closer to home, Universal Orlando opens the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure this spring. For theme park fans keeping an eye on new attractions for 2010, “the Harry Potter project at Universal is in a category of its own in terms of scope,” said David Mandt, spokesman for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. The marquee attraction will be a high-tech ride called “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” that will take guests through scenes and rooms from the blockbuster Potter movies.

Universal Hollywood also has news for 2010. Its King Kong attraction, which burned down in 2008, is swinging back onto the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot tram tour next summer. The new 3D attraction, King King 360, will transport visitors to Skull Island where they will witness “the eighth wonder of the world” tussling with dinosaurs and other critters.

Disneyland’s California Adventure Park is also debuting a big new attraction in 2010 called World of Color. This unique nighttime water show uses a kaleidoscope of color, powerful fountains and audio and visual effects to take viewers on a journey through animated Disney classics like “The Lion King,” “Toy Story” and many others.

Disney will also be offering a free day’s admission to parks on both coasts to 1 million guests who complete a day of volunteer work in the new year. The “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program will provide certified volunteers with a one-day ticket to any park at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., or Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla. Disney is partnering with HandsOn Network, a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities, to connect people with projects and to certify that the work was done.

And finally, never mind that worries about swine flu and drug violence led to a 12.5 percent decline in air travel to Mexico by U.S. citizens for the first nine months of 2009 compared to 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Lonely Planet’s U.S. staff’s top 10 list for 2010 declares that “H1N1 is so 2009,” and puts Mexico as the No. 4 destination for the new year, adding that it’s “still a good bargain, easy to get to for most Americans.”

Yahoo’s list of most popular cities for 2009, based on consumer interest and activity, includes Cancun and Cabo San Lucas. And Mexico City was on Frommer’s top destinations list for the new year.

George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com, says if flying to Mexico is too expensive, just drive to a port and take a “crazy cheap” cruise to Cancun. “Get the vaccine and don’t tangle with any drug lords,” he added.

But if even a cruise is beyond your budget, you can still be a trendy traveler by hopping in your car and driving to the nearest national park. Visits to national parks in 2009 were up 4.13 percent over 2008 — 286.2 million compared to 274.8 million — and that’s without even counting attendance for the entire month of December. The inauguration of President Obama helped draw visitors to park sites in Washington, but millions of Americans traveled to parks elsewhere, too, recognizing them as perfect destinations for a recession vacation.

ECONOMICS: Domestic leisure travel is expected to increase 2 percent in 2010, with an increase in leisure travel spending of nearly 5 percent, according to the U.S. Travel Association. IBISWorld, an industry research firm, forecasts an increase in tourism revenues for 2010 of just 1.2 percent.

But even with this small recovery, numbers for 2010 will be lower than they were in 2008. The USTA said travel expenditures in the U.S. are expected to total $712 billion in 2009, then rise to $745.2 billion in 2010 — still lower than the $772.9 billion in expenditures in 2008.

The World Travel & Tourism Council predicted that the industry worldwide would show a 5.5 percent decline for 2009 over 2008 once all the data is counted. For 2010, the organization’s president, Jean-Claude Baumgarten, said travel and tourism activity “is likely to be flat at best.”

The lodging forecast for 2010 from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows a small increase in the number of average daily rooms sold, up 2.5 percent to 2.68 million rooms in 2010, compared to 2.61 million in 2009. But that’s the lowest number since 2003. Hard money training.

A museum is showing artwork collected by a Delta flight attendant who started handing out crayons to passengers after the Sept. 11th attacks.

The Palm Springs Air Museum is showing “Plane Art — Connecting People” through Jan. 25. Several dozen pictures are hanging at the museum, and many others are available for visitors to leaf through in folders.

The pictures were collected by Delta flight attendant Jewel Van Valin. She got the idea a few months after 9/11, when the airline began substituting paper for linens as tray table covers.

She said one passenger who noticed the change “threw his head back and rolled his eyes, and I could tell he was thinking, ‘What’s next?’ That look clinched it for me.” Van Valin had a box of crayons in her flight bag and started putting a crayon on each tray.

“The passengers started laughing and drawing,” she recalled. “It was a way to reconnect after 9/11.”

She later contacted Crayola, and the company now supplies her with Rainbow Twistables, which are crayons that have four colors in one tube.

Van Valin says that passengers are wary initially when she asks them if they’re “ready to have some fun, but then the crayons come out and they start laughing.”

Some passengers tell her that they don’t know how to draw, “but I tell them that it’s not about drawing, it’s about having fun.”

Van Valin hangs the pictures up on airplane paneling during flights so passengers can see each other’s work. She saves all the pictures and estimates she has about 3,500 drawings.

“Jewel started this following 9/11 to calm passengers nerves as they flew Delta,” said Palm Springs Air Museum director Sharon Maguire. Maguire added that Van Valin’s idea proved that “one resourceful, caring person can connect people, start conversations and build relationships.” Hard money training.

Struggling to communicate with foreigners in their own language is one of the most interesting aspects of traveling for many people, but new smartphone applications and other technological advances are changing the game.

It’s nearly 2010, another milestone in a century where sci-fi fantasy is fast becoming high-tech fact. Travelers are boldly traveling where (and how) they’ve never traveled before, free from the burden of guidebooks, pocket-bulging brochures and absurdly oversized fold-out maps that shout “tourist” (and “pick my pocket”).

These days, destination, museum and other sightseeing guides fit in the palm of your hand — along with a compass and GPS — so you’ll never be late for a flamenco show and lost in Sevilla, or anywhere else on earth, again.

They’re available as applications for the cellular phenomenon that is the smartphone. BlackBerries, iPhones, Androids and other devices can search four-star Florence restaurants by the moonlit Arno River or surf for hotel recommendations and book a room, all on the spot.

Need to SitOrSquat in Spain? Toilet apps like Have2P (includes an “urgency detector”) and SitOrSquat (it functions worldwide) locate lavatories and offer restroom reviews. Tap the smartphone screen and presto! — a renewable resource of travel tools and information materializes. Hard money training.

Visitors by the thousand streamed into the newest casino-resort on the Las Vegas strip early Thursday, an influx that casino officials hope will help yank Sin City from its two-year economic funk.

Fireworks and fanfare inaugurated the official launch of the Aria Resort & Casino, the 4,000-room, 61-story centerpiece of the $8.5 billion CityCenter complex. Crowds began swarming through the doors around midnight, welcomed with cheers and dozens of photographers snapping pictures. Models stood at aisleways and casino executives greeted guests, and hundreds got a preview of an Elvis-themed Cirque du Soleil show to debut in February.

“It’s beautiful,” said 73-year-old retiree Bernard Bouley of Saint Jerome, Canada, about 30 miles from Montreal.

Bouley waited for the opening with a friend in a small park outside the Crystals mall, peering inside the doors to Aria’s lobby and glancing at the colorful fountains outside the resort’s main valet.

MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren said that while many experts thought CityCenter would never open, its employees drove the company to make sure it carried through on grand design.

“It was because of (the employees) that we got here, and the promise of 12,000 people that wanted to work hard to provide for their families,” Murren told The Associated Press. “It was that promise — that we didn’t want to let them down — that got us here.”

About 5,000 VIPs began entering Aria after 6 p.m. for a gala, greeted by smiling cocktail servers with trays of Dom Perignon champagne and displays of hors d’oeuvres of caviar, seafood and other savory treats.

“This is really 21st century Las Vegas,” said architect Cesar Pelli, whose team designed Aria. “This is really setting up very high standards that will be very hard to match — but I hope they will try.”

Earlier Wednesday, CityCenter owners MGM Mirage and Dubai World thanked architects, employees and each other at a morning ceremony.

Murren, flanked by executives and employees of the Las Vegas-based company, then rang a bell used for prizefights at the MGM Grand to remotely close the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of MGM Mirage were unchanged at $10.35 Wednesday.

A Nevada gambling regulator last month likened CityCenter’s development to a 12-round boxing match, with the opening signifying its midpoint.

“I think clearly that that was the seventh-round bell. Our foe is weakening,” Murren told the AP after hammering the bell 56 times. “Our foe — the economy, the recession, the financial crisis — our opponent is now the one that’s close to its knees, and we’re just gaining momentum and gaining strength.”

As CityCenter begins operating, it’s now up to its 12,000 employees to deliver an entertaining, exciting environment that makes guest want to keep coming back, Murren said.

Aria’s rooms, along with those at CityCenter’s Mandarin Oriental and Vdara hotels, increase room capacity on the Las Vegas Strip by 8.5 percent, UBS Investment Research analyst Robin Farley said.

Murren said investors have wondered whether CityCenter would finish, and now they want to know whether it can be successful in this economy without cannibalizing its other resorts.

Like many other businesses, the Las Vegas gambling industry has been hit by the economic downturn. Casino officials are hoping the Aria with its size and glamour can help put customers back in the game.

MGM Mirage owns the most casinos on the Strip, but Murren believes CityCenter will help, not hurt, the company’s other resorts.

The room increase has competitors worried, as visitation to Las Vegas has decreased in the past two years as consumers spent less time and money traveling and gambling.

On Tuesday, a representative of the venerable Sahara hotel-casino less than three miles from CityCenter said it would shutter two of its towers until demand improves. A day earlier, Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel in downtown Las Vegas closed its 365 guest rooms and cut 100 jobs to cut costs. Hard money training.

More than a million people faced travel chaos over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays as baggage handlers and check-in staff at Heathrow and Aberdeen airports announced strikes in tandem with work stoppages by British Airways cabin crews.

BA applied for an emergency court injunction on Wednesday to stop the 12-day strike by its workers, due to start Tuesday, and also held last-ditch talks with union leaders. Talks ended Wednesday evening without news of deal.

BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh has called the planned strike, which escalates a bitter dispute over job cuts, pay and working conditions, a “senseless” action that will ruin Christmas for many ordinary people.

The BA walkout would likely ground most of BA’s planes at a time it normally operates 650 flights and carries 90,000 passengers each day.

And travelers seeking alternative flights were hit Wednesday with the news that baggage handlers and check-in staff at London’s Heathrow and the Aberdeen airport will hold a trio of 48-hour strikes — the first also starting on Tuesday.

In more bad news for air passengers, Scottish airline Flyglobespan announced it would file for bankruptcy and all its flights were grounded starting Wednesday evening.

There was no relief to be found on the rails, either. British Eurostar train drivers announced Wednesday they will walk out on Friday and Saturday, but the operator of the train service between Britain and continental Europe said it was confident it could run a normal service by using replacement drivers from France and Belgium.

The baggage handlers, check-in staff and Eurostar drivers are all taking action over pay disputes — an issue unlikely to win favor with Britons, whose holidays this year come at the end of Britain’s worst recession since World War II.

The planned strike couldn’t come at a worse time for BA, which has been one of the airlines hardest hit by the global recession because of its heavy running costs and reliance on increasingly unpopular premium fares. Already expected to post record losses this year, analysts estimate the airline will lose up to 30 million pounds ($49 million) a day if the strike goes ahead.

BA argues the disputed changes to staffing and pay — including a pay freeze in 2010, a switch to part-time work for 3,000 staff and a reduction in cabin crew sizes from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from Heathrow airport — are necessary to ride out its dire financial situation.

Unite is the union behind both the BA and ground staff walkouts at London’s Heathrow and Aberdeen airports planned for Dec. 22, Dec. 26 and Jan. 3.

“People will probably think they (the strikes) are orchestrated but they were not. It is unfortunate timing,” said Kevin Hall, Unite’s regional industrial officer.

Hall said the union had been trying to get SAS Ground Services, the employer of the Heathrow and Aberdeen ground staff “to move on a fair wage deal for months.”

Unite union general secretary Tony Woodley said the cabin crew staff were prepared to call off their strike — but only if BA agreed to suspend its imposition of new work conditions on cabin crew.

“Let’s have a pause for peace, and we will call the strike off,” Woodley told BBC television.

Talks between BA management and Unite leaders were still taking place Wednesday afternoon, but BA earlier filed for the injunction at London’s High Court, claiming irregularities in the strike ballot made it invalid. Justice Laura Cox indicated she would announce a ruling on Thursday afternoon.

The union said Monday that 92.5 percent of the approximate 13,000 members balloted had voted in favor of the BA walkout.

The airline’s lawyer, Bruce Carr, said the ballot unlawfully included the votes of hundreds of members the union knew would not still be employed by BA at the time of the strike because they had accepted voluntary buyouts.

Carr said the union encouraged the ineligible members to vote “knowing that for many of them, this would be a chance to inflict damage on their former employer without any personal or financial costs.” Hard money training.

Remember getting through an airport without removing your shoes, dumping your water bottle or showing ID?

Remember when buying plane tickets by phone was faster than using a clunky Web site with a dial-up connection?

Remember when you needed a guidebook to plan a vacation, and when you had to phone ahead to get directions?

All these things are different now, thanks to two forces that have changed travel and tourism in the last decade profoundly and forever: Terrorism and technology.

Long before Sept. 11, 2001, air passengers walked through metal detectors and had their carry-on luggage screened by X-ray. But these procedures failed to prevent the 9/11 attackers from boarding four jets with knives and box cutters.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the Transportation Security Administration was created, “the number of prohibited items doubled or tripled,” all checked bags were screened, and “the scrutiny passengers undergo was increased,” said Robert Baker, director of global security intelligence studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz.

A few months later, in December 2001, Richard Reid tried to blow up a plane by igniting explosives in his shoe. That led to barefoot passengers padding through the checkpoints. Then in August 2006, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up aircraft using liquid explosives. That led to restrictions on liquids and gels.

Today, travelers who forget that snow globes, wine and water bottles aren’t allowed through airport checkpoints seem absurdly out of touch. And there’s little sympathy if you miss your flight because you didn’t allow enough time for security lines.

The attitude toward air travel has changed over the last decade too. Flying isn’t fun anymore. It’s just one big headache: Flight delays, lost baggage, overbooked flights, fewer onboard amenities and fees for things that used to be free.

Despite the hassles, though, Americans fly more now than they did a decade ago. U.S. air travel hit a record high in 2007 with 769.6 million passengers, 100 million more than flew in 2000. Even with the recession, more people flew in the first eight months of 2009 — 478.6 million — than in the first nine months of 2000 — 453 million, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Why do we take so many flights when it’s so unpleasant? Because families are spread out; jobs require travel; and relatively low ticket prices encourage it. Bureau of Transportation Statistics data comparing average domestic itinerary fares for the second quarter show that they were actually 11 percent lower in 2009, at $301, than in 2000, at $339.

Technology is the other big force that’s changed travel in the last decade. Expedia and Travelocity began accepting online bookings in 1996, but the phenomenon of using the Internet to routinely book and plan travel has exploded in the 21st century.

In 2009, for the first time, more than half of travel bookings were made online, according to Douglas Quinby of PhoCusWright, a travel industry research company. (If you’re surprised that online bookings make up only 50 percent of travel, consider this: Most group travel, most cruises, many complicated itineraries and even the majority of lodging reservations are still booked through a travel agent, by phone or in person, Quinby says.)

But the Internet’s impact on travel is not just in booking; it’s also in planning trips. Instead of buying a guidebook, today’s traveler might consult a destination Web site. To find a restaurant, you might go online to Yelp or Chowhound, or ask friends for a recommendation through Facebook or Twitter. For hotels, you might visit TripAdvisor.com, which started allowing customers to post reviews in 2001 and today has over 30 million of them.

Technology has even changed the way we drive to our destinations. MapQuest started offering directions online in 1996, the same year GM introduced Onstar. Google Maps dates to 2005. An early handheld Garmin GPS device sold for $589 in 2003; today’s Garmins start as low as $89. But you might not need one if your phone has a mapping app. Hard money training.

Weather permitting, Boeing Co. plans to finally get its new 787 jetliner into the air Tuesday, more than two years after it had intended.

The test aircraft completed its ground tests during the weekend, including a 150-mph dash down the runway at Everett’s Paine Field during which its nose gear briefly lifted off the pavement. Tuesday morning, pilots Michael Carriker and Randall Neville hope to take the 787 on a four-hour flight over Washington state, beginning the extensive flight test program needed to obtain the plane’s Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Before landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field, the two-member crew will perform a variety of basic tests and systems checks, said Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokesman Jim Proulx. “They will essentially make sure that the airplane under normal circumstances flies the way it’s supposed to fly,” he said.

Proulx said good visibility, no standing water at the two airports and gentle or no wind are needed for the initial flight, but he noted it was raining when Boeing’s previous all-new airplane, the 777, made its first flight 15 years ago.

Tuesday’s forecast called for rain, 10 mph winds and a cloud ceiling at about 1,500 feet, National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Buehner said — nothing to prevent a modern jetliner from flying.

The plane is the first of six 787s Boeing will use in the flight test program, expected to last about nine months and subject the planes to conditions well beyond those found in normal airline service. Chicago-based Boeing, which has orders for 840 787s, plans to make the first delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airways late next year.

The 787 is a radical departure for Boeing: About 50 percent of the plane is made of lightweight composite materials, with large sections produced by suppliers around the globe and assembled by Boeing at Everett. The plane, Boeing says, will be quieter, produce fewer emissions and use 20 percent less fuel than comparable aircraft, while passengers will enjoy a more comfortable cabin with better air quality and larger windows.

But the program has been plagued by ill-fitting parts and other problems. The first flight was supposed to be in 2007 with deliveries the following year, but Boeing has been forced to push that back five times — delays that have cost the company credibility, sales and billions of dollars. Most recently, Boeing said it needed to reinforce the area where the wings join the fuselage, with tests completed on that fix just two weeks ago.

An eight-week strike last year by Seattle-area production workers also hampered the program and was a factor in Boeing choosing North Charleston, S.C., in October as the site for a second 787 assembly line.

The 787 remains Boeing’s best-selling new plane to date, though some airlines have been forced to cancel or postpone purchase plans due to the weak global economy.

The version being tested will be able to fly up to 250 passengers about 9,000 miles. A stretch version will be capable of carrying 290 passengers and a short-range model up to 330. Hard money training.

Two of the world’s most famed blue diamonds will be on display together starting in January.

The 31.06-carat Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond will join the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History on Jan. 28, the museum announced Monday.

It’s the first time in more than a half-century that the Wittelsbach gem has been on public display, and it will remain at the museum until Aug. 1.

Both diamonds first became known in the 17th century and while they are together scientists plan tests in hopes of learning if they came from the same mine in India where the Hope is known to have originated.

The Wittelsbach Diamond was first reported in the 1660s when Philip IV of Spain gave it to his daughter, who was to marry Emperor Leopold I of Austria.

In 1722 it became the property of the Wittelsbachs, the ruling family of Bavaria. It disappeared after World War I, resurfacing in Belgium in 1951, and it was auctioned last year by Christie’s in London for more than $24 million. It was acquired by jeweler Laurence Graff, chairman of Graff Diamonds International Ltd.

Smithsonian officials have declined to estimate a value for the Hope Diamond, simply referring to it as priceless.

“To have two of the world’s most historical stones — the Wittelsbach-Graff and the Hope Diamond — displayed together, is a testament to the stones’ history and importance,” Graff said in a statement. “I believe the diamond’s appearance at the Smithsonian will represent another significant chapter in its remarkable history.” Hard money training.

Waiting. That’s the worst mistake a traveler can make these days.

It’s what Femi Adenuga did after buying tickets for his parents to fly from Lagos to Pittsburgh through Travelocity. “A week after the purchase, while e-mailing the itinerary to my dad, my eye caught a single letter error in my mother’s first name,” said Adenuga, a college student. He contacted Travelocity, which got in touch with Delta Air Lines, which urged him to cancel the ticket and buy a new one.

Delta’s official ticket name policy, outlined on its site, is abundantly unclear: “In general, Delta and Northwest do not allow a name to be changed on an existing PNR.” (A PNR is shorthand for Passenger Name Record, which is a fancy way to describe your itinerary.)

In general?

I can think of lots of exceptions, including this memorable case involving a canceled destination wedding and a ticket that needed to be changed for obvious reasons. But I digress.

Adenuga shouldn’t have waited to review the names on his tickets. As I’ve mentioned a time or two, many travel agencies can change a ticket name if the error is caught quickly. A week later, you’re pretty much at the mercy of your airline.

I’m dedicating this column to travel mistakes, a topic will be familiar to anyone who reads this feature or follows my misadventures as National Geographic Traveler magazine’s ombudsman. I haven’t collected all of my favorite travel errors in a single column in a while, and the industry has changed. Not necessarily for the better, I might add.

Travelocity tried to help Adenuga, to no avail. Delta refused to change one letter, instead telling the online agency it would “make a notation” in the record, but adding that it couldn’t guarantee authorities would allow his mother into the country. Based on that advice, Adenuga bought a new ticket, and Delta issued a voucher for the amount of the first ticket. Hard money training.