Holiday travel headaches include body scans, high gas prices

Those are some of the things travelers could face if they head out of Northeastern Wisconsin for the Thanksgiving holiday.

An improving economy means more people are hitting the road and the skies this week, said Tom Frymark, president of AAA Wisconsin. The association says 42.2 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles for Thanksgiving

"Many (Americans) are in a better financial situation this Thanksgiving than a year ago," Frymark said on the organization's website.

If there's a main difference on the travel scene this year, it's what fliers will encounter at the nation's airports. The federal Transportation Security Administration has instituted stricter passenger-screening procedures, including aggressive pat-down searches and machines that see through clothing, at almost 70 large airports, including Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee.

The controversial body-scanning devices haven't been installed at Austin Straubel International Airport in Ashwaubenon, but travelers will see them in Milwaukee as well as Chicago O'Hare, Detroit Metro and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Getting through security at Austin Straubel otherwise should seem like business as usual, said Timothy Decker, federal security director for airports in Northeastern Wisconsin.

"Will there be a wait at security? Maybe a 10-minute wait, but only at the busiest times," he said. "Otherwise, previous year and this year should be pretty much the same."

Critics of the fresh procedures complain that they are invasive, and some worry that they'll cause delays. Frequent travelers, unions, passengers groups and civil libertarians are filing lawsuits and urging boycotts of new procedures.

Heinz profit beats estimates; sees more cash

Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co (HNZ.N) posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, helped by price increases and growth in emerging markets.

The company, which also makes Ore-Ida frozen potatoes and Smart Ones frozen entrees, affirmed its earnings outlook for the complete fiscal year but raised the target for how much free cash it expects to generate.

Profit in the second quarter, ended Oct. 27, was $251.4 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with $231.4 million, or 73 cents a share, a year previous.

Analysts on average were expecting 76 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales fell 1.2 percent to $2.61 billion, hurt by the impact of foreign exchange rates and falling short of analysts' expectations for $2.67 billion.

Sales volume increased 0.3 percent, driven by 2.6 percent growth in emerging markets. Cost increases lifted sales by 0.6 percent.

Heinz said it is still on track to deliver fiscal 2011 growth of 3 percent to 4 percent in sales and 7 percent to 10 percent in earnings per share. It raised its free cash flow target by 15 percent to $1.15 billion.

Free Travel Lead Opportunities Now Available for Travel Agents

Travel planning service Travelection.com recently launched a new site where travel agents can find new travel leads, offer their services through a bidding process, and boost their business. Travelection.com offers without charge service and leads to travelers and travel agents.

With the new Travelection.com website, travel agents can connect with people who need expert assistance in making their travel arrangements. Using the details these travelers provide on the website - such as travel destination, itineraries, desired accommodations, expected dates of departure and arrival, duration of the journey, and special considerations - travel agents can customize and offer suitable packages to best match these travelers' needs. (Travel agent specific site: Travel Leads).

Travelection.com offers free service to travelers and free leads to travel agents. Travelers and travel agents can sign up for an account without the need of a credit card. The only charge involved is a fee that Travelection.com takes for every booking that travel agents make.

"People have this common idea that the business of being a travel agent is largely dead," said Kevin Thompson, CTO of Travelection.com. "While that notion is definitely untrue, there are travel agents out there who need a helping hand in finding new travel leads. This is what we are aiming to do with our travel service."

Vegas Ranks No. 4 On Yahoo Holiday Travel List

Las Vegas looks poised to cash in this holiday period with travelers looking toward Sin City as one of their top destinations for the final weeks of 2010.

According to Yahoo! Travel, Las Vegas ranked No. 4 on its list of the most popular cities for holiday travel.

Austin, Texas, Orlando, Fla., and Chicago took the top three spots, respectively.

Las Vegas’ ranking is likely a testament to the drawing power of its annual New Year’s Eve celebration.

This year, fireworks will launch from the rooftops of seven Las Vegas Strip hotels, including the MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood and Caesars Palace.

The city’s newest resort, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, is also opening in December and has announced a New Year’s Eve concert featuring Jay-Z and Coldplay that will be shown live on its marquee.

Last year’s festivities drew 315,000 visitors, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Weary of online booking, clients return to travel agents

Vacationers who hire Suzanne Burr book their travel the old-fashioned way. They tell Burr where they want to go and what they require when they arrive, and leave it to her to make it happen.

Burr's business has been booming in recent times, in part because some people who've been booking their own trips on the Internet are returning to her. "They would push the button on some of these websites, and that was it," Burr says. "There was no one to ask a question. Nobody to ask for help. When it comes to really spending money and wanting an advocate, people are turning back to agents because people care. A computer doesn't."

For some travelers, do-it-yourself booking is losing its luster. A study by Forrester Research found that in the first three months of this year, 28% of leisure travelers in the U.S. who booked their trips online said they'd be interested in going to a good traditional travel agent. That's up from 23% in 2008. Another Forrester statement finds that the number of leisure travelers who enjoyed using the Web to plan and book their vacations dropped to 46% last year, down from 53% in 2007.

The findings reflect a growing frustration with sites that fail to simplify an increasingly complicated travel process or to meet a vacationer's specific needs, some analysts and travelers argue.

Cathay Pacific Sees Record Profit on Travel Rebound

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong’s largest carrier, forecast a better-than expected record annual profit on rebounding travel demand and asset sales.

Net income will likely be at least HK$12.5 billion ($1.6 billion) this year, the airline said in a statement today. That’s more than double last year’s profit and it surpasses the HK$11.7 billion average of 18 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The airline’s passenger numbers surged 11 percent through October, while freight volumes leapt 20 percent, as business travelers resumed flying and Chinese exporters boosted shipments overseas amid the economic pickup. The carrier has also sold stakes in an air-cargo handler and a maintenance company, as well as benefiting from rising profit at affiliate Air China Ltd.

“Demand for both air travel and cargo has helped Cathay Pacific and that will translate into good earnings,” said Jay Ryu, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co., who has a “buy” recommendation on the carrier. “With the economy recovering, business-class travel appears to be coming back and that could help lift earnings next year as well.”

Cathay said its forecast includes a HK$2.2 billion gain from the sale of shares in Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. as well as a 57.1 million euro ($78 million) fine from the European Union tied to anticompetitive actions in the air-cargo industry.

Top Democrat seeks small business tax form repeal

Senator Max Baucus, chairman of that chamber's tax-writing committee, said he would introduce legislation to repeal that part of the law, which requires filing so-called 1099 forms, after small business groups complained it would become a paperwork nightmare.

Republicans, who won control of the U.S. House of Representatives election and gained seats in the Senate in the recent elections, have vowed to try to repeal the entire healthcare law. They have also sought repeal of the 1099 provision separately.

Baucus noted that the change was originally proposed under former Republican President George W. Bush.

Baucus said he was convinced by business groups' complaints that it was an administrative burden.

"I have heard small businesses loud and clear and I am responding to their concerns," Baucus said in a statement.

Obama last week said that he would fight any attempt to repeal the legislation, but would be willing to consider some Republican ideas. He suggested the two sides work together to change the new business transaction reporting requirement.