This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Enjoy new investment freedom! Get the tools you need to successfully manage your portfolio from Harrisdirect. Start with award-winning research. Then add access to round-the-clock customer service from Series-7 trained representatives. Open an account today and receive a $100 credit! http://www.nytimes.com/ads/Harrisdirect.html \----------------------------------------------------------/ No Ticket Needed for Airport Clubs May 21, 2002 By JOE SHARKEY No ticket? No problem. Reflecting the first major relaxation of airport security checkpoint rules since Sept. 11, Continental Airlines sent out e-mail messages informing members of its airport Presidents Clubs that they "can access any of our 27 clubrooms without presenting a day-of-departure ticket." At security, "simply present a valid Presidents Club card and government-issue photo identification to enter the airport's security checkpoint," says the Continental message, which is headlined "Presidents Club: No ticket required." David Messing, a Continental spokesman, said that the airline had requested clearance from the Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency in charge of airport security. A spokeswoman for the agency, Deirdre O'Sullivan, confirmed the new arrangement, which she said was intended to "enable persons who have business" in the clubs to go through security without having to present a ticket. Those people "go through the same search" at checkpoints as any ticket-holding passenger, she said. Spokesmen for both Delta Air Lines and American Airlines said yesterday that members of their airline clubs could also get access without having tickets. Another Setback for Saturday Stays The dread Saturday-night-stay requirement that airlines impose on less expensive advance-purchase tickets to discourage business travelers from buying them is not dead, but it continues to wobble. United Airlines took out ads yesterday reminding business travelers that its 25 percent to 50 percent off sales on fares purchased 10 or 21 days in advance continue through the end of September. No Saturday night stay is required. "While they've been around since Oct. 1, they haven't got national attention," Joe Hopkins, a United spokesman, said of the fare sale, which was originally set to expire at the end of 2001. Northwest Airlines continues to offer business fares without a Saturday-night-stay requirement through its BizFlex campaign. Two months ago, America West promoted sharp competitive fare-cutting on certain routes when it, too, announced a wide range of fares without Saturday night stays. The activity on advance-purchase fares "blows apart the myth that business travelers make their plans at the last minute," said Kevin P. Mitchell, the chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, a group that advocates lower and less complicated airline fare structures. Mr. Mitchell said preliminary results of a survey he was conducting of frequent business travelers showed that while some still make last-minute flight arrangements, the average advance time for booking tickets is 10.5 days. Airport Shops Doing Fairly Well Over all, airport traffic is still down 10 percent from last spring, but airport retail shops and restaurants, which initially were hit hard by lost sales and layoffs after Sept. 11, are doing fairly well, said Greg Paradies, the president of Paradies Shops, a major operator of airport terminal specialty retail shops and restaurants. Contrary to expectations, shops inside airport security zones tend to do better than those that are freely accessible to the general public outside those zones, he said. That is because passengers are fixed on getting through security and "even if the line isn't that long, they don't think much about shopping" until they pass through, he said. And then they tend to stock up on food for flights that do not serve food. "In those airports where we have primarily post-security stores we are performing very, very well," Mr. Paradies said. "Those where we have primarily presecurity stores are not performing as well." Do and Don't List for Airline Travel Looking for the definitive guideline on what the Transportation Safety Administration says you may or not carry on board an airplane? The latest do and don't list is available on the agency's Web site, www.tsa.gov. To find it, click on Briefing Room and then go to Press Releases. In the press release archive, the long list will be found under 4/30/02. Its title is "TSA issues guidelines to help passengers through security, and expands list of prohibited items." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/21/business/21MEMO.html?ex=1022999690&ei=1&en=54cafbd7522d9d17 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company