• If you are traveling with another person, divide and conquer: While one traveler waits for the baggage, the second traveler can be waiting in line for the rental car.
• If you are under 25 years old, let your travel agent know before you make any reservations. Some rental cars companies require that the driver be at least 25. For others, the minimum age is 21. The rental counter is not the place you want to find out you are not old enough to rent a car.
• Decide before you get to the counter what insurance you will require. Most of the time you will not need additional insurance from the rental company.

• Most cars are rented with unlimited mileage, and you pay for the gas. You take it out with a full tank, and you bring it back with a full tank. As you are leaving the airport, scout around for a gas station where you can fill up. Be sure to allow extra time; and if you’re returning the car on a Sunday or a holiday, stop in and ask if they will be open.
• Verify the rate before you leave the counter, and know what the restrictions are.
• If you reserved an economy car and one is not available, ask to be upgraded at no additional charge. Most of the time you will get the free upgrade if you have a reservation. If you just walk up to the counter, you will probably have to pay the regular rate for the available car, but it never hurts to ask.
• Know where you are going and how you are going to get there. If you get lost, use common sense. Most rental car companies will provide you with maps and directions (be wary of any that do not).

• Before you leave the lot, check three things: 1) Make sure that any damage to the car is noted and you get a copy; otherwise, you could be liable. 2) Check to see if the gas tank is full. If it is not, show the attendant and get a written acknowledgment. And 3) Write down the mileage and make sure it matches with the starting mileage on your receipt, especially if your rental agreement is by the mile or contains mileage limits.

Flanked by members of Congress, airline industry representatives unveiled their voluntary bill of rights for passengers in June, known as "Customers First", which includes pledges to inform travelers of flight delays and cancellations.

Terms of the agreement, issued by the Air Transport Association on Capitol Hill, provide that carriers will develop individual customer service plans that will notify customers of known delays, cancellations and diversions; assign a customer service representative to handle passenger complaints and ensure that all written complaints are responded to within 60 days; make every reasonable effort to provide food, water, washroom facilities and access to medical treatment for passengers during long on-aircraft delays; and disclose cancellation policies resulting from the failure to use each flight coupon, rules and restrictions on frequent flyer programs and, on request, information on airline seat size and pitch.

Additionally, airlines will petition the U.S. Department of Transportation to increase the baggage liability limit of $1,250 per bag.

U.S. corporations are looking beyond their borders for business resulting in the sending of employees overseas more often, according to a recent survey of corporate travel decision-makers conducted by Air Travel Card. More than 60 percent of the executives said they have employees that travel internationally and expect the frequency and duration of those trips to increase over the coming years.

"While the number of business trips is on the rise, so is the length of these trips," said Rob Volmer, manager of corporate communications for Air Travel Card. "Of the individual we surveyed, 75 percent said that their average business trip last three days or more; that's up from two days in our 1997 survey."

The survey also said that the majority of business travelers prefer to make reservations with a professional travel agent.

The survey also found that most business travelers don’t have much time to plan their trips. Almost half said they get less than a day's notice for some upcoming business trips.

Parents will find it easier than ever to plan a family Alaska cruisetour with Princess thanks to the company’s helpful new "family friendly" designation for land excursions.

This new feature was designed to indicate the most popular activities for children and parents to enjoy together at each of the cruise and tour operator’s wilderness lodges.

A total of 37 tours - more than half the available excursions - have been designated with a "family friendly" symbol in the 1999 land excursion booklet. These point parents to those tours that have particular appeal for kids.

Tours chosen as "family friendly" are those that actively involve participants and engage children’s imagination, but are not too strenuous. Among the many excursions are activities such as a sled dog kennel tour in Denali, a Talkeetna River float trip, a horseback in Kenai and gold panning in Fairbanks.

Excursions operate from each of Princess’ exclusive riverside wilderness lodges - McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge - as well as in Fairbanks and Anchorage. They are open to all Princess cruisetour and land-only passengers.

Princess offers a variety of land tour options that can be combined with cruises - a total of 59 cruisetour options for land and sea vacation packages of 10 to 18 nights.

All tours offer the exclusive Princess wilderness experience including stays at one or more of Princess’ wilderness lodges and transportation on the company's exclusive Midnight Sun Express domed rail cars.

For more information about a Princess Alaska cruise or tour, contact the cruise vacation experts at Carlson-Wagonlit Travel

Advertising is popping up everywhere for "Millennium Parties" at hotels, resorts and aboard cruise ships. And while the moment upon which Dec. 31, 1999, becomes Jan. 1, 2000, is worthy of celebration, most people don’t realize it’s is actually not the "Millennium" for another 366 days. It’s not even the beginning of the 21st Century.

Since there was never a year "zero", the first year of the first century and the first year of the first Millennium was 1 A.D.

A century being 100 years and a Millennium being 1,000 years, both would begin Jan. 1, 2001. So technically speaking, anyone advertising "Millennium" cruises, tours or parties, would be offering something that should occur over Dec. 31. 2000. Most travel packages billed with the name "Millennium" will occur over Dec. 31, 1999, however.

All this confusion came out of the Year 2000 computer problem. Over the last few years, the Year 2000 problem became abbreviated "Y2K", then some writer erroneously called it the "Millennium Bug". The term "Millennium Bug" caught on so it became something to use in advertising - even though it is not correct, especially in describing Y2K. Computers will work fine in 2001.

To complicate matters further, the year 2000 is a leap year; whereas most final century years are not. The year 2100, for instance, will not be a leap year.

Leap years occur every four years, except for the last year of a century when it’s not the last year of a Millennium.

Confused? You probably need a vacation.