Travelers

Maybe for one reason or another you've thought about staying in "eco-friendly" hotels when you travel, but you're not eager to join the League of Environmental Hairsplitters to figure out a conscientious choice. You're not unusual. The most recent industry survey of U.S. travelers - not at all intended to promote the idea - concluded just the same that "green is mainstream. " More than four in 10 considered environmental impact to be important when planning travel. To find out about environmental impact, there are a few useful shortcuts to consider.

There was a guest conductor at 30th Street Station yesterday morning. Mickey Rooney raised a "baton" to direct the High School for Creative and Performing Arts band, which greeted the actor and others when the Celebrity Train stopped in Philadelphia en route to Washington. The train trip started in New York, re-creating the ride taken in 1933 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt traveled to his inauguration. Some descendants of FDR were among the passengers yesterday.

Grabbing a bite to eat at Philadelphia International Airport is a completely unsatisfying experience. The food is bad, the prices worse. Better to pick up a fresh pretzel from the vendor at the end of the Schuylkill Expressway than to overpay for a stale imitation from an airport snack bar. So we're pleased to know that Aramark company (formerly ARA Services) - currently responsible for the dreadful, overpriced food at airport concessions - has bowed out. Aramark will be replaced by Marketplace Development Center, a Boston-based airport developer, and Redwood Advisory, which operates the Shops at Liberty Place, and whose owner, Ricardo Dunston, did an excellent job some years ago as manager of the Gallery.

The fun doesn't have to end just because summer is over. The Delaware Valley is brimming with things to do in autumn. How about a drive through the covered bridges of Bucks County on a brilliant autumn day? There are few settings more stunning or romantic for viewing the fall foliage. And the Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens in Chester County helps visitors forget that winter is on its way. Children are sure to enjoy a trip to Newlin Mill in Delaware County, where they can watch the giant white-oak wheel of the 18th-century grist mill turn as it grinds corn into meal.

At the Philadelphia airport yesterday, holiday volume, combined with the wintry weather, added up to long waits for many.

Supporters of an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba held a festival in Camden last night for the Ninth Cuban Friendship Caravan. The caravan, which is traveling from Canada to Cuba, is collecting donations for distribution on the island.

It's not here yet, but there may soon be a way to bypass those long lines at airport security checkpoints. The Federal Aviation Administration is looking at a plan to prescreen passengers who agree in advance to background checks. Those passengers would be issued "smart cards" to show at the screening area and pass through quickly. The plan would depend on a smart technology to verify the card holder's identity using a fingerprint or a retinal scan. The Air Transport Association, which represents the major airlines, has endorsed the smart card idea.

The holiday week forecast looks good for travelers, high school football games, and Black Friday shopping. For the Philadelphia area, the next five days look rain-free with highs in the mid to upper 50s and lows around 40. In outlying areas west and north of the city, however, freezing or near-freezing overnight temperatures are likely through the weekend, except on Friday night, when the low could be closer to 40. Saturday and Sunday, also...

London, Barcelona, and Guatemala will be hot destinations this year. Travelers will look to customize their trips and to connect with people with similar interests. And airlines will package their annoying fees to make it easier - but not necessarily cheaper - to pay them. Those are a few 2011 travel tips from Pauline Frommer, creator of a popular series of 14 guidebooks for budget-conscious but comfort-craving travelers. Frommer has been traveling the world since she was 4 months old, touring Europe while her father, Arthur, updated Europe on 5 Dollars a Day , the revolutionary guidebook that first came out in 1957.

WASHINGTON - Philadelphia International Airport and the three airports used by the Sept. 11 hijackers to initiate the terrorist attacks will be among 28 where preapproved frequent fliers can get through security faster as the Transportation Security Administration expands expedited screening. The expansion marks a potential shift in TSA screening processes begun after the 2001 attacks, said Jeffrey Sural, a former assistant TSA administator. "This is the beginning of a wholesale change to the screening experience," said Sural, now a lawyer and public-policy adviser.

It's going to be another busy Memorial Day weekend on the nation's highways. From Thursday through Monday, 31.2 million Americans will drive 50 miles or more to a beach, campground, or other getaway, according to the car lobbying group AAA. That's a small increase from last year but still well short of the record 37.3 million who drove during the holiday in 2005. Gas will cost slightly more this year. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline has risen seven cents in the last week to $3.66 and could increase over the weekend.

Question: I have a concern that I tried addressing with a specific Days Inn and with Wyndham, which owns Days Inn, but have not received a response. I recently stayed at the Days Inn in Fernandina Beach, Fla. I made a reservation for a nonsmoking room and was given a smoking room when I checked in. I spoke with a manager, who told me he was sorry he couldn't offer me a nonsmoking room. The only rooms the hotel had left to sell were smoking rooms. So, my question to Wyndham is: Is it their policy to accept a reservation for a nonsmoking room when no such room exists?

LOWELL, Mass. - Boston's police department and mayor's office will conduct twin reviews of the response to last month's bombing of the Boston Marathon, Police Commissioner Ed Davis said Saturday. Davis said the aim of the reviews is to learn from the experience and prepare for the future. "We are very anxious to get those reviews underway and learn lessons from anything that might pop up as an issue of concern," Davis said. "I expect that this whole year will be a time of review and reflection on what happened.

Travel and entertainment become priorities as summer approaches. So here are smartphone applications that smooth the way through an unfamiliar airport, or that find your favorite band performing at a nearby venue. Get around unfamiliar airports with Gate Guru by Mobility Apps L.L.C. The free app for Android and Apple devices has terminal maps and a list of eateries, shops, ATMs, and other amenities, including reviews of the food, that you can filter by terminal within an airport.

US Airways Group and American Airlines say their pending merger should win regulatory approval because their networks are complementary and out of more than 900 domestic nonstop routes, only 12 have overlapping nonstop flights. But a study released Tuesday by the Consumer Travel Alliance says that the merger would eliminate connecting-flight competition between the airlines on 761 common connecting routes, and that the new American would be able to raise ticket prices on those flights.

Clyde Harley Vadner, 84, formerly of Strafford, Chester County, who spent three decades at Coca-Cola and achieved the goal of visiting each of the more than 3,000 counties in the United States, died Saturday, April 27, of natural causes at his home in Jefferson City, Mo. Born in Webster Groves, Mo., on Oct. 13, 1928, Mr. Vadner met his wife of 53 years, Marilynn Whickar, as a student at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. They married June 18,...

Question: I recently booked two tickets through an online travel agency for my husband and me to fly to the Philippines. When I got his ticket, I noticed that "Jr. " was missing from his name. I went back to the site and discovered that there was no space provided where I can put a "Jr. " I called the agency, and a representative told me it was "not a big deal" and that I should not worry about it. They suggested I call Delta Air Lines to give them a "heads-up. " This weekend, I called Delta and asked them about the name issue.

WASHINGTON - With flight delays mounting, the Senate approved hurry-up legislation Thursday night to end air traffic controller furloughs blamed for inconveniencing large numbers of travelers. A House vote on the measure was expected as early as Friday, with lawmakers eager to embark on a weeklong vacation. Under the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration would gain authority to transfer up to $253 million from accounts that are flush into other programs, to "prevent reduced operations and staffing" through the Sept.

A Burlington County couple allegedly fleeced hundreds of would-be travelers of more than $700,000 between 2007 and 2011 by promising phony vacation deals and used some of the money to buy a luxury house in Marlton, state Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said Tuesday. Daryl Turner, 41, and his wife, Robyn Bernstein, 43, recruited customers with mass postcard mailings offering complimentary cruises and airfares, but pocketed the hundreds in "fees and surcharges" each customer doled out to qualify, authorities said, announcing charges in a state grand jury indictment.