TSA Tax May Increase

A recent Senate-passed budget resolution would doubles and eventually triple the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) passenger security tax. The budget resolution passed by the Senate would double the TSA passenger security tax to $5 per one-way trip and would trip the tax to $7.50 per one-way trip by 2017. It is estimated that this will cost airline customers $2.5 billion annually over the next 10 years. The bill has not yet gotten final approval or is being sent to the President.

Since 2007, the TSA's budget has increased 18 percent

Airlines Upgrading Wi-Fi

Airlines are attempting to up-grade the on board experience with better Wi-Fi. The problem is that there is just so much Wi-Fi and broadband to go around per airline and the more people are connected, naturally the more of that is gobbled up.

The provider that has most of the aviation market, Gogo, is upgraded their capacity so that soon as much as one half of the people on board any flight will be able to use the service without putting a huge drain on the system.

Another provider, ATG4, has added another modem to their service and most providers are increasing satellite capacity.

Oh well, remember the days when you were disconnected from the world while in flight? Sigh.

Another business travel app - Jot Not

 JotNot- If you hate tracking and filing expense reports, try JotNot.  With JotNot, you can take pictures of documents, like receipts, and store them for later use. Both the free and paid versions include a camera stabilization feature, snapping a photo when the phone is still. Once the document is photographed, it is placed into a frame with grid lines so you can orient it properly. You can also make multi-paged documents.

Gate and Seat Guru's

Here is a fun new App for those who like to eat while travelling.  GateGuru compiles reviews on airport restaurants and other businesses and then plots them on a detailed map.

Speaking of Guru's - try the Seat Guru App to find seat maps for just about every plane configuration. It has a very good layout and will tell your which seats are limited in recline, which are exit rows. etc. If you really want not to be surprised about where you will be on that next flight get this App.  (Sorry, but it can't tell you if the person next to you will have 1000 pictures of their kids).