Prepare for flight cutbacks

A dangerous wildfire near Big Sur, California, prompted authorities to evacuate the town on Wednesday. A previous, more limited evacuation order was expanded to include all of Big Sur—closing businesses and shuttering houses from Andrew Molera State Park to Limekiln State Park along Pacific Highway 1. Anyone who has ever driven through Big Sur, or stopped to hike its trails, knows that it's a national treasure. I've been three times in the past few years, and I'm still not done with the incredible sunsets at Nepenthe restaurant, the cool redwood-shaded hikes of its parks, or the routinely breathtaking views as you round corner after corner on the drive to and from San Francisco. We covered lodging in the town—and its environs—in our recent magazine cover story Big Sur: Into the Redwoods. Also check out our road trip up Pacific Highway 1, from 2006. Here's hoping incomparable Big Sur is back, and soon.

The car rental company just introduced a self-service express check-in program at 50 major airport locations that promises to get travelers to their cars within 10 minutes. Hertz is so confident in its streamlined process that it will fork over a $50 credit towards your rental if your wait runs longer. To be eligible, you must check in at Hertz.com—be sure to print out a confirmation—and, once at the airport, use one of the new kiosks or express counters. Participating airport locations include Atlanta, Chicago (O’Hare), D.C. (Dulles and Reagan), L.A., Maui, New York (LaGuardia and Newark), and San Antonio. It's the latest bit of evidence that Hertz may be paying more attention to what its customers want. The company recently dropped a complained-about refueling policy and will now charging market prices (plus a fee) to those who purchase fuel through Hertz, as we blogged about here. But will the 10-minute guarantee actually ease the car-rental process? And what other improvements would you like to see? MORE How to save on car rentals (Tuttle's law)

This fall, it may become possible to pass through security without unpacking your laptop—if you have the right bag. The TSA's laptop initiative, begun earlier this year, called on manufacturers to make prototypes and then submit them for testing. Such "checkpoint friendly" bags should be on the market by early October, according to the New York Times. The problem with current bags is that many don't allow the X-rays to get a good view. What's more, things like computer cords and other paraphernalia make it hard to separate the dense laptop from whatever else is in the case. The new bags meet TSA guidelines by either having a fold-down section that separates the laptop or a "stand-alone protective sleeve that contains no extra clutter and can be readily viewed through the scanner," as NYT columnist Joe Sharkey puts it. Jaunted thinks the new laptop bag plan is "stupid" because the manufacturers won't be able to label their new bags with anything more explicit than "checkpoint friendly" (the agency won’t allow for a "TSA Approved" sticker). Too harsh! I say the new bags may actually be useful. But only if the manufacturers, which include Targus as well as Pathfinder, manage to brand their bags in a way that makes it absolutely obvious that they've passed all of the TSA's little rules. Of course, the TSA will also have to make sure that its staff can easily recognize what's new about these bags and let them pass through the X-ray with their precious laptop cargo intact.