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We spend a lot of time criticizing the TSA in our own country, but what about airport security outside of the U.S.? if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('fa4a632d-5708-48a7-82d5-2abc3aa802d2');Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)We depend on other nations to keep us safe, but sometimes their airport officers can be maddeningly strict—or frighteningly lax. On the one hand, I don't want to criticize TOO much—we depend just as much on airport security abroad as at home to keep us safe. On the other hand, it's worth calling out when things go too far (or not far enough). This question came up in our office recently in response to an event at Heathrow Airport in which a woman was forced to get rid of the breast milk she was carrying before she was allowed through the security checkpoint. According to her blog, the Heathrow Airport specifies that you may carry baby milk if you "carry only what you need for the flight." When I checked the Heathrow Airport website, I found this statement: If you are travelling with an infant, these items can exceed 100ml and do not have to fit into the resealable bag. However, the amount must be sufficient for your trip only and you may be asked to open the containers and taste the contents. Since this woman was not traveling with an infant, whether or not the officers were in the right becomes a little more murky. Still, was it worth it to hassle a mother trying to transport food back to her child? It seems like determining whether or not the contents of the packages were breast milk should have been fairly simple. I've certainly had my share of frustration with airport security. I'll never forget the time I was denied boarding to a flight because I showed up—literally—thirty seconds too late. My traveling companion was just ahead of me and I saw him enter the plane just as I was turned away. I was furious, but no amount of complaining would convince the gatekeeper to change her mind. Then again, I've also been in airports where I was waived through security without so much as a second glance. It was fast and easy, but it didn't make feel particularly safe as I boarded that plane. All of this has me wondering—what's the most outrageous experience you've had with airport security OUTSIDE of the U.S.? SEE MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: Should TSA Pat-Downs Be Outlawed? 7 Surprising Items That Trigger Airport Security Confessions of an Airline Agent

Budget Travel has always tried to celebrate the companies that make travelers' lives easier, more enjoyable, and just plain better. Travel isn't exactly easy these days, and when a company dares to pull off a wonderful innovation, it deserves a hand. On May 27th, the Novotel Auckland Airport opened in New Zealand with some qualities we wish airport hotels around the world would emulate. Rates start at $149, which isn't cheap, but sometimes it takes a higher-end brand to have the guts to try new things. Here's are the five perks that most caught our attention: Bathrooms are built to make the whole room feel larger. Every bathroom has a clear partition, but it becomes opaque at the touch of a button. You can read comfortably in bed. Each headboard is contoured in a way for you to rest your back against it while sitting up in bed. In a nice touch, it's printed with images of the toi toi grasses native to New Zealand. Rooms are quiet, but their windows are still large. Even though the hotel is only 160 feet away from the airport, its guests will hear no airplane noise "even from an Airbus A380 taking off," promises the company. But while some hotels achieve soundproofing by either having tiny windows, this Novotel kept its windows large—but double glazed. Check-in is being speeded up. Soon, guests will be able to skip the front desk and go straight to their assigned room using a code sent to their phone to unlock the door. Its design reflects the local style. Rather than use a cookie-cutter look that could be located anywhere, the stylish lobby has "a living wall" of native plants and the restaurant has artwork by the country's Maori people. This Novotel also has all the advantages you would otherwise expect of an airport hotel: Its connected to the terminal, its restaurant is open all day, and its lobby has electronic monitors posting arrival and departures information. Do you have any thoughts on airport hotels to share? Feel free to post a comment. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL 5 airport innovations worth praising Coming soon: Turn your smartphone into a hotel room key 5 ways to keep your cords tidy and organized in your bag

It's often the most convenient and, let's face it, cheapest way to travel. But after another fatal bus crash this week, riders getting ready to make an intercity trip this summer or hop on a bus to a nearby attraction, might be wondering just how safe buses really are. "The bus industry continues to move approximately 750 million passengers on an annual basis. And we continue to be one of the safest forms of transportation. But the problem is there are a few companies that are not operating according to the rules and regulations and those are the companies that need to be put out of business," said Pete Pantuso, president of the American Bus Association. if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('b494eb79-b590-45e5-b001-89c4f57436d3');Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)One such company is Charlotte, N.C.-based Sky Express, the operator of a bus that killed four people and injured 50 others when it crashed on Tuesday on the I-95 North in Virginia. The crash occurred just four days after the DOT announced that it had conducted more than 3,000 surprise passenger bus inspections in May—and ultimately issued out-of-service citations to 127 drivers and 315 vehicles—as part of a new initiative to improve bus safety that came in the wake of several deadly bus crashes across the country, including a widely reported crash in which 15 people were killed in the Bronx in March. Immediately following the Sky Express crash last, the DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued the company with an unsatisfactory safety rating and placed it out of service for violating multiple federal safety regulations. Under the out-of-service order, Sky Express is prohibited from operating interstate transportation services. While the DOT is indeed cracking down in an effort to curb the problem of unsafe bus companies that often operate under the radar, Pantuso said he felt the federal government can, and should, do more. Sky Express has "a long-standing history of operating outside the margins of safety," said Pantuso. "Their public record goes back to 2006 with just continued violations over that period of time." The DOT "should have flagged a company like that that was out of sync in so many areas and should have put them out of business earlier," added Pantuso. Pantuso noted that companies like Sky Express often find numerous ways to skirt state and federal regulations governing bus safety. For instance, he said, some bus companies will state they are headquartered in a state where regulations or more lax, even though they are primarily operating in another state. So, what can consumers do to make sure the bus company they're using is safe? The FMCSA has an online Safety Measurement System in which travelers can search carriers to pull up their safety record. ABA also has a search option on its homepage, whereby users can search for ABA member bus companies in their area. Do you find buses to be a safe mode of transportation? Let us know by voting in our poll or by commenting below. More from Budget Travel: Is it time for major bus companies to send drivers to charm school? Happy Birthday, Boltbus! Is the era of cheap airfare ending?

In his new book The Tao of Travel (which we recently touted), Paul Theroux has a list of places with names that sound better in one's imagination than in real life. Some of Theroux's examples and his descriptions: Timbuktu: "dust, hideous hotels, unreliable transport, freeloaders, pestering people, garbage heaps everywhere, poisonous food." Marseille: "just a short walk from the pretty harbour are sullen neighborhoods of public housing, tenements, refugees and bewildered immigrants, with no one saying, 'Bienvenue'." Mandalay: "an enormous grid of dusty streets occupied by dispirited and oppressed Burmese, and policed by a military tyranny." Personally, I found Bethlehem, Pa., and Mystic, Conn., to be disappointing, given the associations in my mind with those evocative names. What about with you? Where are the places that turned out to be better in your imagination than in real life? MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL 8 Common Air Travel Snafus (And How to Beat Them) New Budget Airline Vision Delivers Cheap Fares Quiz: Can You Spot the Travel Rip-off?