For those of us traveling by air during the holidays, Reader’s Digest offers some great advice to help eliminate passenger pain. Follow these tips to ensure a Merrier Christmas:

» Knees-to-chin is more or less the norm in today’s crowded skies. Those flying JetBlue, for example, experience the most legroom. Try to find out if your prospective airline or the one already ticketed has more or fewer inches between you and the person in front of you.

• A record number of flyers will be in airports for the Christmas-New Year’s period- including SFO

  A record number of flyers will be in airports for the Christmas-New Year’s period- including SFO

  
  Photo: Chris McGinnis
  

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A record number of flyers will be in airports for the Christmas-New Year’s period- including SFO

A record number of flyers will be in airports for the Christmas-New Year’s period- including SFO

Photo: Chris McGinnis

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How bad will your holiday airline trip be this year? About 5 or 6 percent worse than last year. That’s the increase in passenger numbers that travelers are expected to encounter at the nation’s airports over the Christmas-New Year’s period.

Airlines for America (A4A), the trade organization for major U.S. carriers, said this week its members are expecting to carry a record 45.7 million passengers during the 18-day holiday period (December 20-January 6), or 5.2 percent more than last year.

That works out to 126,000 more travelers per day than during the same period a year ago.
To handle the extra crowds, A4A said, its member airlines have scheduled flights totaling an extra 143,000 seats a day during that period.

The numbers are a little different at the Transportation Security Administration, which came out with its own holiday travel forecast. TSA said it expects its airport screeners to handle six percent more passengers than last year, or an average of 2.3 million a day over the holiday period, and it is scheduling overtime hours for its screeners to handle the load. (A4A is predicting 2.54 million a day.)

Both A4A and TSA agree on one thing: The busiest travel day will be Friday, December 21, when TSA is gearing up to screen more than 2.7 million passengers. The airline group said the second- and third-busiest travel days will be Thursday, December 20 and Wednesday, December 26 respectively, while the lightest travel days will be December 24 and 25 and Saturday, January 5.

TSA is advising travelers that airport traffic (on the roads and in the terminals) will begin to pick up noticeably on Wednesday, December 19, with increasing numbers continuing through December 24. It is reminding passengers to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their scheduled departure. The fact that many major airports like LAX, New York LaGuardia and Denver are in the midst of substantial construction and expansion projects will likely contribute to congestion for holiday travelers this year.

Some good news? When Christmas and New Year’s Day fall midweek (Tuesday this year), the holiday travel season is longer and more spread out. In this case, it begins about Wednesday, December 19 and runs all the way to the Monday after New Years, January 7.

What’s feeding the holiday travel frenzy? A4A says it’s because air fares are at “historic lows.”

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If you will be traveling over the holidays, just pray that the weather holds up. We’ve seen a number of serious storms sweep across the nation from west to east in recent weeks, resulting in thousands of flight cancellations and delays. Considering that many flights will be going out close to 100 percent full during this busy period, making a timely rebooking unlikely, a cancellation could mean that you won’t be singing “I’ll be home for Christmas” in the terminal.

Do you have any advice for holiday travelers? Ever been marooned by a storm and unable to get home for the festive season? Tell us all about it in the comments. 

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Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.

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From lack of sleep, UV damage and pollution to temperature changes, cabin pressure and air conditioning, flying can take a toll on the skin.

So what actually happens to the skin when you fly?

First of all, it’s interesting to note that the skin works at it’s optimum when the humidity is around that of the average outdoor climate – between 40% and 70%. Humidity levels on a flight are at maximum 10%. This leaves the barrier function of the skin weak and makes the skin dry. If you’re travelling long-haul, the skin’s barrier can become completely unbalanced, confusing your biological clock and cause disruption to the skin’s regeneration process. Your skin retains less water too, becoming dehydrated and slower to recover from aggressors meaning the appearance of fatigue, fine lines and dullness are more pronounced, making room for a loss of plumpness, redness and sensitivity.

So what’s the ideal skincare routine to keep your skin hydrated before, during and after flying? According to Vichy, the secret lies in making sure your skincare routine is able to respond to three of your skin’s key needs: hydration, comfort and resistance.

Step one: reinforce the skin before boarding and protect the barrier of the skin to minimise water loss by hydrating the skin before you board.

Step two: stay hydrated on your flight. The Aerospace Medical Association recommends drinking one litre of water for every three hours of flight time. Boost the skin’s circulation by massaging an ice cube under the eyes and cheeks, which will also stave off puffiness. Hey, it’s less embarrassing than a sheet mask.

KATHMANDU, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) — Nepal started on Saturday the implementation of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, also known as the Montreal Convention 1999.

The implementation of the convention will pave the way for travelers boarding on international airlines registered in Nepal to get significant rise in compensation in the case of death, injury, and damages to their baggage and flight delays, according to Nepal’s Ministry of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation on Friday.

Nepal’s Lower House, the House of Representatives, endorsed the convention on Aug. 23. The Nepali government then deposited the ratification instrument with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada.

After the ICAO notified its members about Nepal becoming part of the convention, Nepal started implementing the convention from Saturday.

The convention imposes a minimum liability of 113,100 Special Drawing Rights (SDR), equivalent to 155,963 U.S. dollars for each passenger in the case of death or injury. If it is proved that the staff members of the concerned airlines are involved deliberately in causing damages, the convention has made provision of unlimited liabilities from the carrier, according to the ministry.

Before endorsing the Montreal Convention, Nepali airlines were governed by the Warsaw Convention drafted in 1929 and its protocols. The Hague Protocol 1955 which is an extension of Warsaw Convention has prescribed the maximum compensation limit at 20,000 U.S. dollars per passenger for death or injury.

“A significant rise in compensation amount to be borne by the Nepali carriers following the implementation of the convention would encourage international travelers to fly on Nepal-based international airlines,” Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the ministry, told Xinhua on Friday.

“This will be a motivational factor for them to choose Nepali airline. This will also help contribute to Nepal’s tourism sector.”

A host of new flights, Delta’s new boarding policy and some new airport lounge updates lead this week’s air travel news. 

This week United Airlines announced its biggest-ever international network expansion from its San Francisco hub. Starting March 30, 2019, the airline will begin offering nonstop daily year-round flights between San Francisco and Amsterdam on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, complementing United’s existing nonstop service to the destination from Chicago, Houston, New York – Newark and Washington, DC. Next, on October 29, 2019, the airline will add new nonstop year-round service between San Francisco and Melbourne three times per week, also on 787-9s. On December 5, 2019, the airline will launch new seasonal service between San Francisco and New Delhi, India, on Dreamliners, while on April 1, 2019, the airline will begin operating a second flight four times per week between San Francisco and Seoul, South Korea, on Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. Starting March 31, 2019, the airline will operate twice-daily nonstop year-round service to Toronto, while this fall, it will expand its Tahiti schedule to year-round service from San Francisco to Pape’ete. That flight will operate Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays starting March 30, 2019. Finally, also on that date, United will extend its San Francisco – Auckland service to year round, running three times weekly. 

In policy news, this week Delta reported that it will shift from boarding by zone to boarding by branded fare purchased, as of January 23, 2019. SkyMiles Medallion Members and eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express Credit Card Members will continue to receive priority boarding, the airline said. 

As a result of the new policy, boarding zones for Delta-operated flights worldwide will be renamed to reflect the branded fare purchased. The new boarding order name will be featured in the airline’s online shopping experience, boarding passes and the “today” screen of the Delta app, and on jetway screens and on boarding signage at the gate. Each fare will also have an associated color, visible on boarding screens and signs at the gate. 

In airport lounge news, this week KLM Royal Dutch Airlines opened the first part of its new non-Schengen Crown Lounge at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. With what the airline describes as a completely new setup and ambiance, the lounge offers catering and tech amenities, and it is located between E and F Piers at the airport. Refurbishment of the second part of the lounge continues, with its opening date scheduled for summer 2019. 

In the United States, this week Air France opened a completely renovated dining area in its lounge at New York – JFK. The area now sports a more convivial and contemporary feel. Looking ahead to February 2019, the lounge will also introduce a new range of services, the airline says. 

In other flight news, this week Delta announced plans to expand its service from Boston Logan with new multiple daily nonstop flights to Chicago O’Hare, Newark, Washington – Ronald Reagan and Cleveland. The Chicago, Newark and Washington, DC, service will begin September 9, 2019, while the Cleveland service will begin April 1.

Also in 2019, from June 8 through August 17 American Airlines will operate new nonstop service between Chicago O’Hare and Durango, CO. The airline also reported that its seasonal summer service between Durango and Los Angeles will return again in 2019, from June 6 through September 3. 

In Europe, this week Air Italy inaugurated its first direct flight from Milan to Mumbai, becoming the fifth new international destination from the airport for Air Italy so far this year. 

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