What's the deal with the KLM cityguides?

Items keep going missing from fliers' luggage. Are many airport and TSA employees thieves? Here are a few headlines, plus some tips on how to lower the chance your bag will be looted. • Political commentator Laura Ingraham told listeners of her national radio show that in July her crucifix may have been stolen out of her bag by TSA agents or employees of either Continental Airlines or Newark Airport. • In late July, surveillance video at JFK Airport revealed that a TSA screener spent six minutes with a gym bag belonging to a Brooklyn high school student, who says his bag was $100 in cash lighter after the screening was completed. • Earlier this month, a federal court arraigned a former TSA worker for having stolen watches and a debit card out of several bags he was in charge of monitoring at LAX airport. He is accused of attempting to re-sell the watches on eBay. Overall, about 14,000 travelers a year report to the TSA that items are missing from their luggage. Thousands more file claims with airports and airlines. Those figues may undercount the true total of suspected thefts, says Ingraham, in an interview with The Daily Caller: She said the process for reporting these kinds of crimes is so cumbersome that many people don't have the time or willpower to get to the bottom of them. For instance, Ingraham said a Continental Airlines customer service employee in Newark told her that she shouldn't be putting jewelry in her bag in the first place. "Blaming the victim is also a really lovely way to deal with the flying public," she said. Here are some precautions to take to reduce your chance of having your baggage pilfered. if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('2e93321f-719a-4c53-b7f2-70333a0ff49b');Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)• Don't put electronics, cameras, jewellery, or eyeglasses in your checked bags. Airlines do not insure those types of items, which are a prime target for thieves. • When packing, snap a photo of the items that you're putting inside. It'll help support your claim of stolen items later in case you're unlucky and get robbed. • Use a TSA approved lock for your bags. Two companies sell them, Safe Skies and Travel Sentry. • Follow the advice on the TSA's website: "ALWAYS watch your belongings as they advance through the x-ray equipment at the security checkpoints - for secondary screening, INSIST that your belongings be brought to you." Does bag thievery worry you? Vote in our poll. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: 4 Most Common Reasons Airlines Lose Luggage Confessions of a Baggage Handler New Shoelaces Ready for Airport Security

When a traveler dies, their frequent flier miles face an uncertain fate. Most airlines officially won't allow transfers of mile balances from the deceased's account into a spouse's account. But exceptions are made in special circumstances and for especially loyal customers. Case in point: United and Continental, two airlines that have tended to take different positions about what happens to miles after a frequent filer passes away. Continental has been quiet about it, but has allowed the miles of deceased OnePass members to be transferred to another member with a OnePass account at no cost. A copy of the death certificate is needed along with a letter from the executor, according to USA Today and AirfareWatchdog. United, on the other hand, has a different policy. Its rules state that customers don't "own" their miles. Upon a member's death, his or her miles become property of the airline. In reality, though, United will allow a transfer to a heir if the heir shows polite persistence, pays a fee of at least $75, and provides adequate documentation, such as a copy of a page from the will stating the name of the beneficiary. A United spokesperson told me that this policy is one of the areas that the merger partners have not yet aligned between MileagePlus and OnePass programs. A decision on it will be part of the announcement this fall of the new MileagePlus rules and procedures that take effect January 1, 2012. In the meantime, one workaround is for heirs who have access to the deceased's username and passwords to pretend to be the deceased person and redeem miles for an award ticket issued in the survivor's name. In general this is against the rules of the airlines, but, putting ethics aside, it is unlikely the airline will ever know. Is it wrong to pretend to be the deceased person? On the one hand, the deceased certainly would have liked to see the miles he or she earned be put to use rather than vanish. On the other hand, it can be painful to continue to receive marketing materials addressed to the name of your lost loved one. And if the airline catches you, it may lock the account and deny you future access. For me, the most galling things is that frequent flier miles aren't considered a traveler's "property." Since when? That's absurd. A flier earned those miles, and he or she should be able to pass them along any way they want, as far as I'm concerned. The other indignity, I think, is having to pay a fee of $50 or more to transfer the miles. Surely the cost of processing an electronic transfer is not $50 or more. It's an insult to customers, who have done nothing to deserve a fee. What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: Hipmunk: Finding "ecstasy" in affordable lodging 10 best affordable beachfront hotels How rental car companies undermine credit card insurance

Everyone has heard of Google Maps, which in 2009 became the most widely used mapping tool. But what are some of the lesser-known travel tips and tricks for using Google Maps? Here are five worth checking out. 1. The "Find Me" Button. You don't need a cell phone with a GPS chip lurking inside to be able to pinpoint your location automatically on an online map. When using a desktop or laptop computer, Google can estimate where you are based on the WiFi signal you're using, along with collecting data from your browser. To take advantage of this automatic geo-location feature, search on your city, and then click the small circle in the left-hand corner of the screen between the zoom-in/zoom-out slider bar and the giant navigation circle. Google will plot a blue dot on the screen at your location. 2. Find a hotel in a specific neighborhood. Go to google.com/hotelfinder. Type in your US destination and see it in Google Maps. You can then spotlight the area you are most interested in staying in by drawing a box around it on your screen. Google will then fetch rates for hotels located in that district for the travel dates you request. Google will even tell you if today's rates at those hotels are above or below the average going rate for the hotel. 3. Get an instant sight-seeing tour of your destination. Go to citytours.googlelabs.com, punch in the name of your destination, and then enjoy a customized, day-long sightseeing itinerary, with suggested landmarks to see and a detailed walking map with directions. Click on any landmark's name to find opening times or other details. 4. Get turn by turn transit directions (so you know when to get off a bus or train). Okay: This feature requires that you have an Android smart phone. Search for "Google Maps" in the Android Market and download the Google Maps mobile app. You'll get stop-by-stop directions for buses and light rail in over 400 cities. The tool will even buzz you when your stop is coming and that you have to get off. But you'll need a data connection, of course, so this tool won't work in a subway. Click here if you need an explanatory video. 5. Download an offline map to go. This feature also only works on Android phones. You'll need to use the Google Maps app or view Google Maps through your device's Internet browser. The problem: If you're traveling overseas, you may not want to ring up a bunch of roaming charges for using a data connection on a foreign carrier. After all, Google Maps needs a data connection to download map details, and the data connection can ring up your bill when you're roaming on a different network than your home carrier's. The solution: Download a giant map of your destination and then save it to use offline on your phone during your jaunt. Here's how: Before you leave your hotel and while you still have access to WiFi or strong data coverage, find your destination on the map by doing a search, such as by typing "Atlanta" into the search box. In your left-hand screen, underneath some photos, you'll see the word Places and a list of notable landmarks. Click on any one of these open up a Places page near your destination. (It doesn't matter which one, as long as it is in your destination.) Then click on "More." You'll see an option to click to download a map of the area for a 10-mile radius. That size map is large enough to cover most area you might cover on a walk or drive around town. It's now saved on your phone and you can use it offline to zoom in on any relevant part of your trip, without needing a data connection. Sadly, this feature doesn't work on iPhones. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Open secret websites for booking hotels Test Lab: Using Plnnr to plan a trip Some cruise lines take the "all" out of "all-inclusive"

The treasure hunt is on at enormous yard sales scheduled for upcoming summer and fall weekends across the country. Grab some cash (small bills come in handy), polish up on your negotiating skills, and hit the road in the weeks to come at one of many upcoming epic yard sales. This weekend (July 30-31), for instance, the eastern part of New York's Finger Lakes region hosts the 50-Mile Garage Sale. Next weekend (August 4 to 7), the absolutely ginormous 675-mile 127 Sale, which stretches along Route 127 from Alabama all the way to Michigan, takes place. Looking forward, there are plenty of other huge yard sales scheduled: The 150-mile Heavenly Highway Yard Sale (September 9-10 in the Arkansas Ozarks), for example, and the U.S. 80 Hi-Way Sale, concentrated in Texas and Louisiana (October 14-16). As for the National Historic Road Yard Sale, which stretches over 800 miles from Maryland to Illinois, a little patience is required: The event occurs in late May or early June (in 2012, May 30 to June 3). To find out about other yard sales, there are plenty of sites and apps to help organize a treasure hunt. Small-time (one house, or perhaps a block) sales generally don't have websites, but if the sellers know what they'll doing they'll post the event at Craigslist. As for the sprawling yard sales that run for miles and involve hundreds of sellers, check out the list of annual events at Yard Sale Dreamland. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: America's Best Flea Markets Global Flea Market Finder How to Shop Every Flea Market Like a Pro