Briefs: Buy airline tickets online after midnight

By Times Wires
Published January 27, 2008

If you're booking air fare online, does it matter what day or time you book?

The co-founder of Lessno.com, a Web site that offers international flights, says yes.

"Our experience with airlines has shown us that they update available seats around midnight Eastern time every day," said Assen Vassilev, who is also the company's CEO.

He added that weekend specials are usually released Thursday night. So, Vassilev said, late Thursday night is a good time to check for the best deals.

New bridge, same traffic woes

The new $137-million Sanibel Causeway won't reduce the legendary traffic congestion between Fort Myers and Sanibel Island much.

There's still only one lane in and out. The new causeway eliminates the drawbridge and that helps. But getting off the island between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. will still be a headache, especially from February to April, peak tourist season.

In September, the last leg of the 2.7-mile causeway was finished, replacing the old causeway, which was built in 1963. The toll to cross onto the island is $6. Leaving is free.

More Americans visit Israel

In 2007, 529,000 Americans made the trip to Israel, according to Arie Sommer, Israel's tourism commissioner for North and South America. The previous record year was 1999, when 515,000 Americans visited the country.

About 25 percent of all tourists to Israel come from the United States, with the top six states of origin being New York, California, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Though some Americans go to connect with their Jewish heritage, Sommer estimates that as many as a third of U.S. visitors are Christian. Itineraries that include sites connected to the New Testament and the life of Jesus are popular. For more information on visiting Israel, go to www.goisrael.com.

A guide to traveling with kids

The Rough Guide to Travel With Babies & Young Children (Rough Guides, $15.99) includes a variety of tips, including coping with road trips and plane travel, health concerns and cultural issues.

For example, writer Fawzia Rasheed de Francisco notes that in India, "get your children to apologize profusely if they inadvertently touch someone with their shoes, as this is considered especially offensive." And remember that "patting children on the head is considered disrespectful in many countries."

Leave lithium batteries at home

To help reduce the risk of fires, air travelers are no longer able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage.

The ban began Jan. 1.

Passengers can still check baggage with lithium batteries if they are installed in electronic devices, such as cameras, cell phones and laptop computers. If packed in plastic bags, batteries may be in carry-on baggage. The limit is two batteries per passenger.

Zoos, aquarium going green

Saying it needs to live up to its name, the Wildlife Conservation Society is taking steps to make the Central Park and Bronx zoos and its other animal parks more environmentally friendly.

The organization's efforts to shrink its energy consumption at the Bronx Zoo, above, Central Park, Prospect Park and Queens zoos and the New York Aquarium range from installing a water-saving system at the Bronx Zoo's sea lion exhibit to altering that zoo's power plant to use only natural gas, rather than burning both diesel fuel and natural gas.

Get Spoleto Festival tickets

Tickets are on sale now for the annual Spoleto Festival, scheduled for May 23-June 8 in Charleston, S.C. The 140 performances include artists and ensembles from around the world in some 45 productions.

Among the offerings are a new production of Anthony Davis' Amistad and The Burial at Thebes, Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney's adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone and the American premiere of Monkey: Journey to the West by Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng.

Other highlights include a jazz series, the Boston Ballet, chamber music and Laurie Anderson's Homeland. Tickets range from $10 to $150. For details, go to www.spoletousa.org or call (843) 579-3100.

[Last modified January 24, 2008, 14:26:23]