No one told him about the
baggage surcharge.
Photo: AP

by Barbara S. Peterson

Recently, I was on a radio talk show when someone asked me point blank: How high would fares have to go before people would stop traveling? It's an excellent question and one that most airlines spend large amounts of money trying to answer . . . before the customer does it for them by walking away. Airlines have always had problems trying to price products in relation to costs; they don't like the term fare increase because it's bad for business, so they use something like surcharge.

The last week has seen a wave of these fare hikes--er, fees. The latest fad is the charge for checking a second bag, which will cost you around $50 roundtrip. American has just joined its major-league brethren in adopting the levy; starting May 12 it will cost you $25 a second bag per flight, and $100 per third or fourth bag. But at least you have a choice about that--you can try to pack light--and some travelers, like VIP frequent fliers and those traveling overseas, are exempt. The tactic isn't limited to network airlines; JetBlue is now charging $20 for that second bag.

by Brook Wilkinson

So you got your May issue of Conde Nast Traveler in the mail the other day, ripped out the five hottest hotels that you just have to check out in the next year, and then settled down on the couch to read our article about the hottest trend in travel right now: Voluntourism.

No? I'll give you a few minutes, then meet me back here.

Okay, now you've read our introduction to voluntourism and how it enriched my trip to Cambodia. Want to know more? You came to the right place. Here are some more resources to help you plan your own volunteer vacation:

Read "The Most Important Question of All," by David Clemmons, founder of VolunTourism.org, to find out not if voluntourism is right for you, but if you're right for voluntourism.

If the answer is yes, check out Clemmons's "10 Tips from a Voluntourism Master" to guide you toward the right trip for your interests and abilities.

Finally, pick up a copy of Volunteer Vacations, by Bill McMillon, Doug Cutchins, and Anne Geissinger, a resource guide with sections on almost 150 different voluntourism organizations, indexed by cost, length, location, and type of work.

You're on your way!

Benoit New York

by Ondine Cohane

Whenever I leave Italy to visit New York, it's strictly no Italian: sushi, Indian, French, please. This is my time to check out the buzz about restaurants. So on one of those perfect New York spring days that make the city's citizens feel like they are living in the best place in the world (and they aren't wrong), I met my friend Norman at Benoit, Alain Ducasse's new Midtown bistro in the former La Cote Basque space.

I had heard, of course, about Ducasse's storming of the city with Adour, which opened to rave reviews in January (the chef seems to reinvent himself every few years here with a resiliency that few can muster). Even those heavyweights Adam Platt and Frank Bruni couldn't find much fault with Adour. But I was more interested in Ducasse's newer arrival: Benoit is an outpost of the old Parisian favorite (there's one in Tokyo, too), and I wanted to see how Monsieur Ducasse would interpret it stateside.

Conde Nast Building: Where
the "magic" happens
2008 Google

by Tom Loftus

Productivity dipped last week after the latest Google Earth, version 4.3, hit servers and the beleaguered workforce found yet another tool to add to its desktop. Don't have it? Get it now! Check out Google Earth's new ability to swoop through a landscape of three-dimensional buildings. Outdoorsy types should appreciate the sunlight feature that allows them to track the sunrise and sunset from any location (thus identifying those shady spots that still might be too cold in late spring). Over at the technology blog Slashdot, one contributor had fun using this suntracking feature to look at the entire globe at once:  "It really brings home why northern latitudes get longer daylight this time of year."

Of course, the required first stop for most Google Earth users: seeing what their houses looks like. My Brooklyn street still looks like a dump, but at least the 4.3 upgrade includes a rough date of when the satellite photographed my nabe.

More Reading:
* Google Street View Gallery:  A neighborhood block party, a kid wiping out on his bicycle, topless sunbathers...all forever immortalized
* Video:  Google Earth 4.3 demonstrated
* UN uses Google to pinpoint refugee crises 
* Some potholes: A municipal company asks citizens to use Google Earth to indicate trouble spots

Lisa Gill, keeper of the List

by Tom Loftus

Another introductory post here, and this time we're debuting 5 Questions with... where Conde Nast Traveler editors sit down with a person of interest to the world of travel. Our person of interest this week? Senior editor Lisa Gill, who only just put down her pen from this year's Hot List. Find out what she has to say about the process below.

CNT: So what makes a property worthy of the Hot List?

Gill: There is no checklist per se, but a hotel is mostly evaluated for the combination of its design, service, location, and value for the money. Moreover, we also look for a "wow" factor that leaves an impression on the guest. There's a real broad range of properties--from a smart guesthouse in Siem Reap that goes for $70 a night to a winery estate/hotel on 900 acres in the Douro Valley that goes for 1,000 euros a night. And lots of stuff in between.

Actual photo

Starting May 1, the Daily Traveler will be featuring Renaissance Man, a noble attempt by resident Conde Nast Traveler stuntman Mark Schatzker at Da Vinci-like mastery of the arts (and golf, for some reason), all in the space of a month's stay in Europe. If you know anything about Mark, you know how difficult this task will be (see here, here, and here). Below, Mark lays out the plan.

by Mark Schatzker

Once again, it is time. For reasons incomprehensible to me, my friends, and even my enemies (you know who you are), the beneficent powers at Conde Nast Traveler magazine have decided to send me on another trip. The timing couldn't be better, considering I've only just recovered from my last excursion.

The theme of this new adventure is self-improvement. But before you get too excited, there won't be much in the way of assertiveness therapy, optimal thinking or auto-hypnosis. No, the idea here is decidedly retrograde, but in a good way. I'm going to become a Renaissance Man.

Every weekend, In This Issue will link new stories from whatever issue is on the stands. What's in store from our best-selling issue of the year?

* May is all about the Hot List.

* Forget what you know about Hawaii. Read our Iconic Itinerary.

* We've also got a conversation with Madeleine Albright.

* And just what is Voluntourism? 

NYC's newest hotel mogul

Welcome to Boldface, where we keep an eye on the travel feats and foibles of the stars. Whether it's an exclusive getaway or an
under-the-radar find, every Friday we'll show how you too can travel like a celeb, without spending like one.

by Beata Loyfman

Not sure if it's the wacky weather or the plateaued real estate, but Hollywood seems to be heading east these days. New Yorkers can now count several members of the entertainment elite as their own. Welcome home Leo, Cameron, and Sting.

Not to be upstaged, Robert DeNiro, whose Tribeca Film Festival revitalized downtown, has done one better and opened his long-awaited Greenwich Hotel. And according to the blog Eater, the on-site restaurant, Ago, is a real winner.

How can you mingle with the newly minted New Yorkers? Book into Bob's (er, Mr. De Niro's) new digs and follow Starpulse's guide to celeb tracking. Maybe you can make it into the circle of trust--or at least be treated to an encore of his hilarious Meryl Streep tribute (thanks, Defamer).

Divers will thank us in 50 years

Our 5-Link Friday section is what it sounds like: Every Friday, we're linking you to five or so travel-related items in the news.

* The 15-megaton "gift" that keeps on giving. Coral is "growing like trees" in the South Pacific's Bikini Atoll.

* Ramps are in season for a short time only, and everyone's jonesing for some. Gourmet's got chef Yoshi Yamada's thoughts--and some recipes--on the wild springtime leek.

* Architects are getting ambitious--let's call it "autocratic architecture." We think it's safe to say China falls into that category.

* Despite what some fashionistas are saying, dresses are still coming out to play this spring. And designers from New York to London to Paris are encouraging it.

* Google Earth's got a brand-new 3D bag. Follow this user guide or check out YouTube to learn more.

Heckler & Koch USP Compact
"Law Enforcement Modification"
(LEM) model

The March 22 discharge of a semiautomatic pistol in the cockpit of US Airways Flight 1536 has put Conde Nast Traveler senior correspondent--and firearms enthusiast--Guy Martin on the story. Guy first reported on the Transportation Security Administration's firearms training program and the pilot's questionable weapons-handling skills in the Perrin Post. He's now taking his voluminous investigation to the Daily Traveler. 

by Guy Martin

Just gotta love German engineering.

The warriors of finance pack their country house driveways with the fine products of Freddy Porsche and Gottfried Daimler; our space program and ballistic missile silos are crammed with the descendants of the crazy-cool rocket engines first developed by Dr. Wernher von Braun and his team of supersmart Nazi scientists. So! It's only fitting that armies, special operations units, and SWAT teams worldwide consider themselves especially well-equipped with Helmut Weldle's excellent sidearms.

Herr Weldle is a designer with Heckler & Koch and one of the prime architects of Heckler & Koch's celebrated Universelle Selbstladepistole, the Universal Self-loading Pistol, or USP.   

Selbstladepistole is the German for "semiautomatic," meaning a magazine-fed pistol that uses the power of its recoil to slide a fresh round into the chamber. It was introduced to the world in 1993, and, over the last 15 years, its adaptability and dependability have made it a favorite among law-enforcement and military shooters. This was the splendid German product that came into play aboard US Airways Flight 1536 on March 22, firing the shot that punched a hole through the port side of that aircraft's cockpit at a reported 8,000 feet about eight minutes out from its destination of Charlotte, North Carolina.  The aircraft was commanded by Captain James Langenhahn, who also wielded the gun and caused the shot to be fired.   

Video: PDT in NYC

by Julia Bainbridge

Perhaps this section of our new blog would more aptly be named Catch of the Week, but as we intend to submit tidbits on international noshables whenever the mood strikes (which, around here, is more like daily), we're going with Catch of the Day. Check here--definitely Thursdays, maybe every other day--for updates on all things epicurean, from Boston to Belgrave. Today, we're following in Slow Food's footsteps by starting local.

Wilkinson in California with a
pre-production Nissan GT-R

by Brook Wilkinson

Do you really love a good road trip but feel overwhelmed by green guilt? Stop worrying and get in the car. That's right, I said it: Go ahead and drive. Why? Driving to a nearby domestic destination is far more ecological than flying across the ocean (not to mention you'll be better off spending dollars than euros).

I was thrilled to learn this tidbit in You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!), which was updated and reissued yesterday, in honor of Earth Day. Co-authors Jeffrey Langholz and Kelly Turner write, "You'll emit less carbon dioxide [driving] than you would by flying, no matter how long or short your flight is."

Now that you can start planning that summer road trip, read on for a few more tips that will help lower your gas budget, courtesy of Langholz and Turner.

A view of Borgo Santo Pietro

by Ondine Cohane

Here in Tuscany, news travels fast. When word reached me a few weeks ago of a new luxury hotel preparing to open outside Siena, I ventured over to see it before the paint dried. Having lived through the maddening, gargantuan process of managing an Italian renovation with my husband, I am always curious to meet people who've gone through the same craziness.

The Maverick stays mum

by Barbara S. Peterson

The U.S. Senate may soon take up a massive bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration, and it may provide a revealing look at where the three senators running for president stand on the hot-potato issue of a "passengers' bill of rights."

Language in the legislation would require airlines to provide passengers with food, water, and working restrooms in case of a lengthy delay, and to allow fliers to deplane if they've been stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours. Carriers would post their policies and list chronically delayed or canceled flights on their Web sites.

A CNT editor on the job

by Tom Loftus

We really didn't want to start a new travel blog.

For one, there are so many sites out there that already do a great job delivering up-to-the-minute travel news, analysis, and easily digestible travel tidbits--our very own Wendy Perrin among them. And then there's the challenge of begging/pleading with staffers to contribute to the blog. It's like herding cats. When not dashing off to the four corners of the earth for one story or another, they're pecking at their stories on ancient typewriters bought at some Parisian flea market or another, pince-nez ever so artfully placed at the tip of their noses.

But apparently we have a handful of staffers who managed to put down the Pernod long enough to discover the "blogosphere" and here we are with a new blog and a passel of hungry bloggers, including:

Mark Schatzker--he of the "80 Days or Bust" fame--who, starting May 1, will be blogging about his quest to become a Renaissance Man.
Barbara S. Peterson--undercover TSA agent extraordinaire--on business travel and the business of travel.
Guy Martin on security.
Brook Wilkinson on green travel.
Word of Mouth contributor Ondine Cohane on whatever's new in the world of travel.

That's just to start. As this thing takes off we'll have weekly posts on international noshables, celebrity travel, breaking news, tech reviews, dispatches from our globe-trotting reporters, and much more. So keep your lunchtime open for a visit to the Daily Traveler.

Oh, and one more thing. The Daily Traveler follows Truth in Travel. We are committed to reporting on travel fairly and impartially. We travel anonymously and pay our own way.