Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.travel From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: travel Thu, Feb 20 1992 Date: Thu, 20 Feb 92 06:16:57 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Travel USA TODAY Update Feb. 20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BUSINESS CLASS IS FIRST-CLASS: American Airlines' new domestic business class, begun this month on nonstop New York-Los Angeles flights, is luxurious. The seats are sheepskin and leather. A wine list and choice of entrees are available. The headsets are free. "The service in this section is really like first class," says 1960 Olympic gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson. And it's much more comfortable than coach. (For more, see special Business package below.) TRAIN DEVELOPMENT MAY SLOW DOWN: Transportation Secretary-designate Andrew Card on Wednesday defended the Bush administration's plan to slow development of an American-made magnetically levitated train. Transportation legislation passed last year calls for the USA to quickly design and build maglev trains. They travel at speeds that can exceed 300 mph, propelled above a guide rail by superconducting magnets. CRUISE LINE OPENS BEACH: In response to a dramatic increase in cruise bookings, Princess Cruises has opened Princess Cays in the Bahamas, a newly developed private beach for its passengers. The beach is at the southern tip of Eleuthera Island. The port includes a barbecue and picnic area, retail store, refreshment bar, lookout tower, music stage and dance floor and a mile of coastline. MAKE SEAT FIT FLIER: Most airline seats don't fit comfortably, according to Louis Sportelli of the American Chiropractic Association. Many coach seats curve forward at the top, the opposite of the way they should be, he says. Some tips to make the seat fit the traveler: Put a pillow against the seat back to reduce lower-back strain; use a neck pillow; and change position every half hour or so. AIRLINE HAS DOWN UNDER FARES: Air New Zealand Wednesday announced rates as low as $282 each way to Auckland, New Zealand or Sydney, Australia, and as low as $382 each way to Brisbane or Melbourne, Australia, from Los Angeles or San Francisco. Stopovers along the airline's Coral Route, which includes Fiji, Tahiti and Western Samoa, are an additional $200 each with a maximum of three stopovers. Restrictions apply. CAMDEN TO OPEN AQUARIUM: Down-at-the-heels industrial town Camden, N.J., is set to open a $52 million aquarium next week on its waterfront. The facility is one of a wave of such attractions opening nationwide. The aquarium is the first phase of a long-range plan to revitalize Camden, a plan that eventually could also bring a hotel and marina as well as commercial developments to the waterfront. AQUARIUMS SPRING UP EVERYWHERE: In addition to the new aquarium set to open in Camden, N.J., others are springing up across the USA. The Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, opening May 1, features the world's largest freshwater tank (60 feet wide, 25 feet deep). Others include the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, two hours from Portland. It opens May 23 and focuses on the Pacific Northwest's water system. MOUNTAIN GUIDE PERMIT REVOKED: The National Park Service Wednesday revoked the concession permit of Genet Expeditions, which for 24 years guided on Mount McKinley in Alaska. The service cited unsafe practices. Two clients have died on climbs since 1979, according to records. Genet has appealed the revocation and would not comment. RAIL SYSTEM CONSIDERED: A Salt Lake City business group has hired former mayoral aide Mike Zuhl to lead a public relations drive for a light rail system between Draper and downtown. Voters will decide in November whether to hike the sales tax by a quarter cent to pay for the system. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BUSINESS: CLASS' POPULARITY SOARS: Domestic business class isn't new. TWA's had it for 10 years. But its popularity is clearly taking off. United and Delta have recently added business class on some domestic flights, though American, which premiered its business class this month, claims it's going further. Its remodeled DC-10s do have the same first-class and business-class seats as American's overseas flights. FLIERS GET PAMPERED: Paying $998 for a one-way business-class seat, a traveler would expect to be pampered. American gets an A for effort on that score, says USA Today's Doug Carroll. The service and space are so good that American's first-class seats - at $1,325 one way - will seem a waste of money to many fliers. Travelers are offered menus with three choices. Meals are served on china. CLASS IS NICE BUT OVERPRICED: As nice as American's business class is, though, it seems overpriced. The regular fare, $998 one way, is nearly a third higher than the $752 full-coach fare. Frequent fliers can upgrade for less. But it's hard to beat TWA's $550 one way for business class. American's top strength: Schedule. It has seven flights each way daily between New York Kennedy and Los Angeles International. (End of package.) 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Weather Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Travel Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002200000D0220 WEAT- R C Showers-to-hit-West-again............. A D0220 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM