=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2006/04/30/TRGGGH0JEV= 1.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, April 30, 2006 (SF Chronicle) Budget airline moves from SFO to Oakland John Flinn -- Jeanne Cooper -- Larry Habegger Aviation Budget airline moves from SFO to Oakland Hawaii-bound flights on budget-priced ATA Airlines will now depart from Oakland rather than San Francisco. Last week the airline shifted all its SFO operations across the bay to Oakland International Airport. The move was necessitated by ATA's new code-sharing arrangement with Southwest Airlines, said ATA spokesman Rick Hightower. Southwest doesn't fly out of SFO. ATA last week also inaugurated nightly nonstop service from Oakland to Hilo on the Big Island, currently the only nonstop flights from the mainland to that destination. The flight leaves Oakland at 7:35 p.m. and arrives at Hilo at 9:50 p.m. The return flight departs at 8:20 a.m. and arrives in Oakland at 4:15 p.m. The airline also offers one nonstop flight a day to Maui and two to Honolulu. Fares to several Hawaii destinations are going on sale, but you must act quickly: The $179 one-way fares to Honolulu, Hilo and Maui must be purchased by May 2 for travel through June 15. The 7-day advance-purchase fare is based on a round-trip purchase and don't include taxes and fees. For information, visit www.ata.com. AVIATION Airline plans to link Wine Country, L.A. Horizon Air will begin service between Santa Rosa's Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport and Los Angeles next spring, the company announced last week. The airline will also launch flights between Santa Rosa and Seattle. Beginning March 20, Horizon will offer flights to LAX twice daily Sunday through Friday, with one flight on Saturday. Seattle will have a single daily flight. The airline will use 74-seat Q400 high-speed turboprop aircraft. Flight times will be one hour and 40 minutes to Los Angeles, two hours and 15 minutes to Seattle. Fares are yet to be determined. World Travel Watch Rio de Janeiro offers women-only transit Rio de Janeiro now has "women-only" cars on subway and above-ground trains, thanks to a new law that went into effect April 24. The cars are marked with pink stripes and will be part of all trains during the weekday rush hours. Legislators passed the bill after receiving many complaints from women commuters about groping and unwanted sexual advances on crowded cars. Mexico City and Tokyo have similar arrangements. In other transportation news, Varig Airlines is in financial trouble, canceling many flights, both domestic and international, in the past month. The company is restructuring its debt, but more cancellations might be on the way. Tanzania: Authorities have closed two routes up Kilimanjaro that lead to Arrow Glacier, a spot where three Americans were killed by falling rocks in January. Park officials determined that the likelihood of similar slides in the area was too great to keep the trails open. Scientists have warned that global warming is melting Kilimanjaro's snow and glaciers, and more rocks might be dislodged by strong winds. For U.S. State Department advisories, visit travel.state.gov or call (88= 8) 407-4747. UNITED STATES Family vacations average $261 a day On average, a family of four should expect to pay $261 a day for food and lodging when traveling in the United States this summer, with hotel rooms averaging about $141 a night -- a 9 percent increase from last year. But prices vary widely depending on the state you visit, according to an annual study recently released by AAA. If you've been dreaming of a vacation in North Dakota or Nebraska, you're in luck: The average price for hotels and meals for two adults and two kids is a mere $191, compared with $559 in Hawaii. The next most expensive states: Nevada, Rhode Island, New York and California, where the daily tab ranges from $348 to $321. There are only three other states where the family of four can bunk and dine for $200 a day or less: Kansas, Iowa and Oklahama. When AAA first started tracking vacation costs in 1950, the average price of meals and lodging for a family of four was $13 a day, The cheapest states for sleeping also have the cheapest gas: $2.69 per gallon regular in North Dakota, for example, compared with $3.11 in Hawaii. Washington Post --------------------------------------------------------= -------------- Copyright 2006 SF Chronicle