Airpass smackdown: LAN vs. Oneworld in South America

Last week I reached out to you to send me your questions about how well an iPad works as a travel tool. I headed down to New Orleans for the French Quarter Festival with husband and baby, toting my iPhone and an iPad. No laptop, no guidebooks—just a light and slim day bag big enough to fit the device. Here's how it scored. The flight test (A): Before setting off, I downloaded a number of apps, videos, and news readers that would help keep me, my husband, and my 17-month-old entertained on the flight. I got Scrabble ($10), the New York Times Editors' Choice (free), USA Today for iPad (free), ABC Player (free), Twitterrific for iPad (free), an Elmo video from iTunes ($9.99), and a series of celebrity Sesame Street podcasts (free). Elmo took up a good 20 minutes of the 3-hour flight time. And then, once my daughter fell asleep, I happily read the day's New York Times—stunningly sharp pictures and all, in full layout—without crinkling paper and waking her up. The street test (D): Top of mind to us all, including reader Jason, was whether the iPad works as an on-the-go travel device. "Does pulling it out on a street corner make you a target for crime like a big visitor's map or guidebook might?" Considering that we happened to walk right by the New Orleans shooting, minutes after it happened, I wasn't incredibly inclined to pull my shiny new toy on the street. But also, since I have the first generation iPad, only Wi-Fi enabled (the version with 3G comes out later this month), I would be at the mercy of a wireless signal and walking around like a fool holding it up searching for a strong signal. Sorry Jason, I had to go with my gut on this one. I never felt comfortable enough. But more importantly, I didn't really see the need to. Instead, my handy iPhone was my go-to when we were trying to figure out whether we needed to sort out which direction to turn to get to Café du Monde. The in-room surfing test (B+): The iPad has stunning surfing potential. But once again, you're really at the mercy of your signal. When it's good, it's great; I've begun to surf on it primarily at home, instead of using a laptop. It's just that fast. We were staying at the Omni Royal, and I was sure to sign up in advance for Omni's Select Guest loyalty program, which grants members complimentary Wi-Fi—skipping the $10 daily fee that nonmembers pay. It was supereasy to connect the iPad with the Wi-Fi signal, and the first day, I happily read the day's news, emailed from both work and personal accounts far easier than on my iPhone, looked up a menu at a restaurant, plotted out turn-by-turn walking directions to sites, and figured out the day's weather. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi was down the next day, so I ended up turning to my iPhone. The flight check-in test (F): I'm a big fan of checking in for a flight before heading to the airport, and I tried to do so from the iPad. No go. After a minute or two of waiting for a page to load, I found out why: JetBlue's site uses Adobe Flash, an unsupported technology on the iPad. If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does. The verdict: iPad is unparalleled as an in-room entertainment, reading, and research device for travelers. But when it comes to using a real on-the-go tool, I'll happily leave my big slim iPad friendly bag at home, and just slip my iPhone in my pocket.

Like many folks I know for whom schlepping around an extra bag (or two) of gym clothes, train-ride reading material, and brown-bag lunches is a given, I've really come to rely on my assortment of ripstop nylon Baggu totes—they're cheap, lightweight, and eminently wad-up-able. And up to this point, the Del Mar, Calif.-based company has done brisk business with a pretty narrow array of styles—the original Baggu, Baby Baggu, and Big Baggu—all iterations of the same basic shape. As these bags have no closures and no real structure, they've never been ideal for travel (although mine did come in very handy on my last beach trip, where a couple Baggus stood in as beach-towel and snorkel-gear totes that took up no room in my suitcase). But now, the company has introduced two new styles that have serious carry-on potential: a snap-top tote with adjustable shoulder strap in heavyweight cotton canvas ($20), and my favorite, a very simple, APC-esque recycled-cotton-canvas backpack ($28), a style that Verena von Pfetten of Styleite, who is currently leading the charge for a backpack resurgence, would likely go nuts for. Both of these new additions have interior pockets, come in nine rich, mostly gender-neutral colors (red, fuchsia, navy, blue, olive, teal, ivory, mustard, and black) and are available now at baggubag.com.

The attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest Airlines jet showed that airport security remains flawed. The TSA is trying to come up with new tactics to keep terrorists off of our planes. Is there anything smarter than can be done? We've blogged in the past about pre-screening passengers by filtering info from law enforcement databases, collecting "biometric data" with iris scans and other tests, and making passengers walk through whole-body scanners instead of mere metal detectors. Here are a few technologies that could help spot potential terrorists before it's too late, similar to the systems for detecting "pre-crimes" used in the Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report." ROBOTIC MIND READING Under this system being tested in Israel, passengers would be shown photographs of known terrorists and studied for how they react. Passengers with guilty consciences or a touch of paranoia may react to the stress physically. Infrared cameras would measure jumps in a traveler's heart rate and breathing rate. If the passenger's vital signs reveal hidden nervousness, the passenger may be questioned further by officers. POP QUIZ STRESS TEST Imagine you're approaching the airport security gate. You step up to a machine and put your passport on a scanner and rest the palm of your hand on a sensor. Then you answer a series of written questions that are flashed on a screen (or are spoken to you in audio mode, if you prefer). A machine measures your body's reactions during this question-and-answer session. Are you acting suspicious? You'll be pulled aside for further questioning. Such a scenario may not be a sci-fi fantasy anymore. New technology, memorably named SDS-VR-1000, is being tested to do precisely this. KEEPING TABS ON THE SECURITY WORKERS A tragedy might go unprevented if an officer is distracted and daydreaming while the image of a bomb comes across their X-ray screen. But new monitoring equipment—similar to cardiogram machines—would continuously study employees to spot check their competency and help managers know when their employees need to take breaks. The technology, being develped by Eltel, is similar to the camera-monitoring system used by casinos to catch any signs of suspicious behavior by their staff or customers. Do any of these programs work? The verdict is still out. Consider those infrared devices used to tell if a passenger's heart rate is speeding up. The machines sound awfully similar to those thermal imaging devices that are supposed to detect whether a passenger is running a fever—and which are not effective, according to a recent study. False alarms are another worry. Many innocent passengers are bound to be mistakenly fingered as possible bad guys. Even if the devices were 99.999 percent accurate—which would be surprisingly good—they would set off about 20 false alarms a day nationwide. Yet for many Americans, the inconvenience and added expense could be worth it. What do you think? How would you feel about being exposed to "incriminating stimuli" at the airport security gate to see how you react?

Unless you've been stuck under a rock for the past week, there's a new device on the market called the iPad. Some are calling it a "game-changer," some are calling it an unnecessary extra. What remains to be seen is whether it will become a useful tool for travelers — and one worth the $500 (starting) price tag. In the effort of sussing that out, I'll be bringing one along with me this weekend on a trip to New Orleans, for the French Quarter Festival. I'll be mapping, eating, and, you know, dancing in the streets. Since these tech toys are only as good as the apps you download onto them, I'd like to know what you think I should test. Are there apps you're interested in hearing about? Challenges you want me to overcome? Questions you'd like answered? Send 'em my way today and I'll report back next week.