Going my way?

Web site helps solo travelers hook up

There are plenty of online sites to link people with similar interests, no matter how obscure their passions. Now one has emerged for travelers who want to meet others while on the road. Meetingaway.com was started by an inventor who wanted to make the process of meeting fellow travelers more efficient. The site enables travelers to search for people by event type or arrival/departure city. It also allows members to post their events and travel schedule, so other members can set up meetings with them—a golf game, or perhaps a date. Members are provided with a color-coded digital calendar that posts their past, current and future plans. Membership is free. Even if you don’t use the site to get together with anyone, it could be a way to monitor the comings and goings of your competition.

Knock, knock. Who’s there?

Road warriors fret over London hotel security

The world’s most dangerous cities are: Baghdad, Johannesburg, Lagos, London and Bogota. Wait a minute—London? That’s the finding of Portman Travel, a large U.K. business travel agent that surveyed more than 500 London-based business travelers who expressed concerns over their safety. As a result, Portman launched an accreditation for British hotels called the Portman Seal, awarded to properties with improved security like cameras in public areas, safes, single-sex floors, spyholes in doors and same-gender employees used for room service deliveries. Meanwhile, London will add almost 10,900 hotel rooms by 2010, in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.

In brief

Chicago is laying plans for another makeover aimed at keeping tourists and conventioneers happy. If all goes well, in two or three years Navy Pier could have a monorail, a new hotel, a new 900-seat theater, an indoor Ferris wheel and an 80,000-square-foot water park … OzJet, Australia’s business-class-only airline, ceased operations less than four months after taking flight. It has since shifted to charter operations … All 43 American Airlines Admirals Clubs worldwide are receiving upgraded PC technology: new Lenovo ThinkCentre desktop computers, flat panel displays, Lenovo ThinkPad Z60 notebooks and Thinkpad X41 Tablet PCs. Lenovo acquired the PC operations of IBM last year … Qatar Airways’ new A340-600 aircraft will have a redesigned livery and a dedicated first-class lounge where premium passengers can relax on leather sofas, eat snacks or belly up to the stand-up bar. Doha-based Qatar has ordered 10 long-haul A340-600s for deliveries beginning this summer over a two-year period. The carrier plans to make its first foray into the North American market later this year with scheduled nonstops to the U.S.

Best airports worldwide

Incheon (South Korea)
Singapore and Hong Kong (tie)
Kuala Lumpur

Best airports by region

The Americas
Halifax, Ottawa, Denver
Asia/Pacific
Incheon, Singapore and Hong Kong (tie),
Kuala Lumpur
Europe
Brussels and Copenhagen (tie), Zurich,
Helsinki
Middle East/Africa
Dubai, Cape Town, Durban

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